diy solar

diy solar

Would you do Eg4 or something different?

OffGridForGood said:
Do you have SA?
look in Configuration, scroll down most of the way in the menu, you will see the section for doing exactly this.
or you can likely do the same in settings in the MPP, that is what I did.
Click to expand...
Where did you change it in the MPP settings? All I can find is by voltage, which is the same as the options in the battery settings in SA. I have the LV6548 but you would think it's the same in your 6048. Maybe not.
 
I have a similar story to you guys also, minus the farming..and thats the one thing I wish I did have, and will at some point. Not for business, but the pleasure. We have some acreage here in NY, but not enough for beef, numerous fields, buildings, etc. We have chickens, dogs, birds, fish and a Gecko lol. I taught myself about computers, software, operating systems, networking etc in high school. I was always very smart, but not a good student, because I wasn't interested in much offered in school back then. Before and after graduating, I did all kinds of jobs but never even considered college...which was a wise choice because it would have been money and time, well wasted.

I ended up getting my class A CDL when I turned 21 and worked as a delivery driver busting my hump everyday. After years of that I decided it was time for school. I worked and lived on my own, while having to pay every penny for college. I got a degree in Business/Finance and was majoring in Accounting. One of my professors was an accountant and he said this is definitely your thing, you'll make a ton of money, you ace all my classes. I said ok, I'll make a bunch of money working for some firm and be happy? So upon graduating I decided theres no way Im sitting at a computer screen, crunching numbers all day for the rest of my life. So I started another degree in Informations Systems/Networking which was in my wheelhouse. I loved it and did great with all those courses as I already had the self taught background. So before finishing that degree, I took a job unrelated to everything I went to school for and never looked back lol. Ive always been the same way as most here..if I can do it on my own..I'm not paying someone else. I tore our house down to the foundation and built a 4k sq ft two story, and only paid for 2 things on the whe project. Siding, because winter was coming and it would have taken me half a year to do it alone..and finishing the sheetrock so it looked professional and also didn't take months. I hung every piece of rock, nailed every shingle, built every wall, ran every pipe and piece of electric...and saved a fortune. And in the end everything was done right and with quality, as you would want your house built. I was never a carpenter or builder, but over the years taught myself and one of my best friends whos an engineer, also drew my house for free, as I exchanged a small amount of computer work for him. Ive had all kinds of crazy medical issues the past few years and cant function like before. Brain doesn't even function like before, but im not giving up. If I can do it on my own..I will. I love hearing all the stories and learning all the things shared here. Great site and group of people! Before I babble on anymore, God bless all of you and I hope everyone has a good Easter!
 
EastTexCowboy said:
Where did you change it in the MPP settings? All I can find is by voltage, which is the same as the options in the battery settings in SA. I have the LV6548 but you would think it's the same in your 6048. Maybe not.
Click to expand...
You are right, in the MPP settings all we have is voltage.
But in the SA you can select the battery type so SA can monitor the battery SOC, with a RS232/485 cable plugged in.
In my set up (with some DIY batteries, one SS and one Canadian Solar) mix-match I use the BMS emulator to allow SA to calculate SOC from capacity and totalizing the energy in/out. It recalibrates when near fully charged.
Since you have the EG4's you will be able to select the battery type from the configuration menu,
They show two depending if your batteries are with or without the display screen: With - use "Modbus RS232/485" without screens use"USB Narada RS485" from the drop down menu.
Then you can pick the SOC you want in SA configuration.
You can see all the settings on the Solar Assistan website, before making any changes on your actual set up.
 
OffGridForGood said:
You are right, in the MPP settings all we have is voltage.
But in the SA you can select the battery type so SA can monitor the battery SOC, with a RS232/485 cable plugged in.
In my set up (with some DIY batteries, one SS and one Canadian Solar) mix-match I use the BMS emulator to allow SA to calculate SOC from capacity and totalizing the energy in/out. It recalibrates when near fully charged.
Since you have the EG4's you will be able to select the battery type from the configuration menu,
They show two depending if your batteries are with or without the display screen: With - use "Modbus RS232/485" without screens use"USB Narada RS485" from the drop down menu.
Then you can pick the SOC you want in SA configuration.
You can see all the settings on the Solar Assistan website, before making any changes on your actual set up.
Click to expand...
Yeah, that's how I've had it set up since the beginning. I still don't see an option for picking the SOC.

1681042781659.png
 
ADK Homer said:
I have a similar story to you guys also, minus the farming..and thats the one thing I wish I did have, and will at some point. Not for business, but the pleasure. We have some acreage here in NY, but not enough for beef, numerous fields, buildings, etc. We have chickens, dogs, birds, fish and a Gecko lol. I taught myself about computers, software, operating systems, networking etc in high school. I was always very smart, but not a good student, because I wasn't interested in much offered in school back then. Before and after graduating, I did all kinds of jobs but never even considered college...which was a wise choice because it would have been money and time, well wasted.

I ended up getting my class A CDL when I turned 21 and worked as a delivery driver busting my hump everyday. After years of that I decided it was time for school. I worked and lived on my own, while having to pay every penny for college. I got a degree in Business/Finance and was majoring in Accounting. One of my professors was an accountant and he said this is definitely your thing, you'll make a ton of money, you ace all my classes. I said ok, I'll make a bunch of money working for some firm and be happy? So upon graduating I decided theres no way Im sitting at a computer screen, crunching numbers all day for the rest of my life. So I started another degree in Informations Systems/Networking which was in my wheelhouse. I loved it and did great with all those courses as I already had the self taught background. So before finishing that degree, I took a job unrelated to everything I went to school for and never looked back lol. Ive always been the same way as most here..if I can do it on my own..I'm not paying someone else. I tore our house down to the foundation and built a 4k sq ft two story, and only paid for 2 things on the whe project. Siding, because winter was coming and it would have taken me half a year to do it alone..and finishing the sheetrock so it looked professional and also didn't take months. I hung every piece of rock, nailed every shingle, built every wall, ran every pipe and piece of electric...and saved a fortune. And in the end everything was done right and with quality, as you would want your house built. I was never a carpenter or builder, but over the years taught myself and one of my best friends whos an engineer, also drew my house for free, as I exchanged a small amount of computer work for him. Ive had all kinds of crazy medical issues the past few years and cant function like before. Brain doesn't even function like before, but im not giving up. If I can do it on my own..I will. I love hearing all the stories and learning all the things shared here. Great site and group of people! Before I babble on anymore, God bless all of you and I hope everyone has a good Easter!
Click to expand...
Amazing how many similarities. I did a truck driving gig when I was basically a kid for 2 years or so. I got started when I was 17 hauling wide loads in Montana, SD, Neb, etc. Ended up going all over the middle of the country, from the CA border to the Rio Grande. Back then there wasn't a CDL that I know of. But I found out that once you pull 14' wide loads in the Montana mountains everything else is fairly anti-climactic. LOL!

I got into the IT thing as a hobby and it turned into a vocation, all self taught other than eventually getting an MCSE which was mostly worthless, but the knowledge gained was good. One difference is I never got a degree. I had good enough grades to skip 12th grade (nobody did that back then so it took some negotiating) and did a year in a crappy junior college, so no HS degree and no college degree either. I spent the last 20 years or more in C-suite offices and board rooms consulting with the CEOs and management, but it was never a problem for me to fall in with my employees and run cable or configure a firewall or whatever the client needed. All my clients knew at one point or another that I didn't have a degree. They didn't really care as long as we provided the level of service they expected and I made sure we always exceeded that.

Dealing with a few medical issues myself but that seems to happen to us all eventually. But at 67 I take no prescription drugs and neither does my wife so I'm going to call us fortunate on that front. Got some neuropathy as a side effect from the jab which almost crippled me two years ago but with PT and a lot of work and refusal to listen to docs who said I just had to live with it, it's more of an annoyance than anything now.

Glad I'm not the only one who can babble on. :ROFLMAO:
 
Zwy said:
You have to hit Disconnect, then hit the Advanced button. Once done with the setting, return to this page and hit Connect.
Click to expand...
I'll look at Adam's video, but yeah, I've done this several times. I'm not seeing anything on SOC settings in Advanced.

1681050023385.png
 
EastTexCowboy said:
Yeah, that's how I've had it set up since the beginning. I still don't see an option for picking the SOC.

View attachment 143821
Click to expand...
After you have the configuration set up for your batteries, go to the Power Tab
you will see options for SOC or Time of day for maintaining the battery SOC between user selected values.
 
OffGridForGood said:
After you have the configuration set up for your batteries, go to the Power Tab
you will see options for SOC or Time of day for maintaining the battery SOC between user selected values.
Click to expand...
Yeah, I'm finally figuring it out. The whole setting the bypass by the time of day is confusing but watching Adam's video it looks like it ignores the time and goes by the SOC. I may try it but it seems like the current settings of on to grid at 52v and back to battery at 53v may work, more or less. Of course it seems to change over time so who knows what I'll get. We're supposed to have some sun for several days so I won't get a chance to test it. I'm not going to drain the batteries on purpose just to see what it does. Appreciate all the help from everyone!
 
timselectric said:
You have many more options than I do.
Click to expand...
Gotta be the difference in inverters. Hopefully as SA and inverter technology continues to evolve we'll see more options and more granular control. I really wish Pierre would build in a function to export a backup of the data that you could then import back again. The data dump that's available might work for that if there was an easy way to upload it. Maybe I missed that. Wouldn't be the first time.
 
EastTexCowboy said:
Yeah, I'm finally figuring it out. The whole setting the bypass by the time of day is confusing but watching Adam's video it looks like it ignores the time and goes by the SOC. I may try it but it seems like the current settings of on to grid at 52v and back to battery at 53v may work, more or less. Of course it seems to change over time so who knows what I'll get. We're supposed to have some sun for several days so I won't get a chance to test it. I'm not going to drain the batteries on purpose just to see what it does. Appreciate all the help from everyone!
Click to expand...
I don't actually use the SA for controlling the batteries recharge from grid by-pass, I use the Inverter settings base on voltages, which at low or high range are in the part of the curve where they are pretty accurate.
For Tim: yeah the SA has differenct screens and functions depending upon which inverter your using. ETC and I are both using similar MPP units so I believe we see the same functions, not sure about the growatt units.
 
Screw it. I went ahead and set it up for 20% and 40% to see how it works. I can always go back to voltage if I don't like it.

Thanks to Adam for the video. It got me past the crap about the time of day stuff.

1681051517632.png
 
OffGridForGood said:
I don't actually use the SA for controlling the batteries recharge from grid by-pass, I use the Inverter settings base on voltages, which at low or high range are in the part of the curve where they are pretty accurate.
For Tim: yeah the SA has differenct screens and functions depending upon which inverter your using. ETC and I are both using similar MPP units so I believe we see the same functions, not sure about the growatt units.
Click to expand...
I also use battery voltage for settings.
My switching is faster or slower depending on how much charging I'm getting. I prefer it that way. On a very sunny morning it switches sooner. But on a cloudy morning it doesn't switch back and forth.
 
I have been using the inverter charging settings for control of the batteries if they get to low voltage as follows:
During winter, when it is not too likely that some great solar sunshine is coming soon, I use (programs 12 (50v) & 13, setting voltage point back to battery mode) at 'FUL' ie fully charged pack. This keeps the battery pack topped up for the frequent utility outages/crappy solar we typically get during Nov- early Jan.
Also, I have a HWT timmer that controls the 30A 240 utility supply to the inverters, and this programable timer is set to only supply utility power during off-peak time of day. It has an over-ride button to force the unit "on" if I really need during On-Peak time of day, but I try to avoid that by charging at night (off peak rate is less than half of on-peak for me) if I can see heading to low battery and the forcast is poor weather.

For this time of year (April) I change the program 12 to "48v" and 13 setting to "51 volts" instead of "FuL" since it is very likely (April to Oct) that good solar weather is not far down the line, and I don't want the Utility to fill up the batteries two hours before the sun comes out and then has no-where for all that energy to go! It seems to work well for me, but I do find myself checking the weather forcast every day or two since getting solar!
 
I have wondered about how to automate this stuff better, but to do that I need an input on what sun is coming in the forecast.
As ETC said, maybe we will see more features coming in a few years that will provide control over this, or allow some more sensitive control.
I have to feel that ten years from now we will all laugh at the simple systems we are running today!
 
EastTexCowboy said:
Now just go buy you a couple of those cubed inverters from SS and you're good to go!

I suppose there's a market for those but at first glance I wasn't so much impressed.

Congrats on surviving the first shipment!!!
Click to expand...
Lol, thanks! Been busy haven't had time to do much or any research. Weather has been beautiful here! Winter finally over?
 
ADK Homer said:
Does anyone know off hand, how many batteries or Ahs required to run the 6500EX's?
Click to expand...
I don't know that there is a specified minimum other than meeting the voltage requirements. But I agree with @Gavin Stone and @timselectric . You're going to want a minimum of a couple hundred amp hours and three hundred is still pretty low. Even if you could do less, why would you?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

A
Starting grid assisted project - to become off grid - with storage questions.
Replies
14
Views
738
OffGridForGood
OffGridForGood
T
Better ways to wall mount enclosures
Replies
4
Views
321
totalconfusion
T
Y
Sizing of Sonotube for mounting a solar panel tracking system
Replies
12
Views
591
Norbert77
N
B
EG4 18kpv + EG4 powerpro wall mount cargo trailer system
Replies
10
Views
367
42OhmsPA
4
D
How do you allocate panels to multiple MPPTs
Replies
11
Views
476
zanydroid
Z

diy solar

diy solar
Back
Top