Hi all, I’m new here and a layman so please don’t assume scientific or engineer level understanding on my part
We have just refreshed our PV from a 3.8kW Sunnyboy/SMA around 12 old to a new Sungrow system.
I considered adding a battery would be a good investment in our energy needs and have disconnected from gas entirely. We have only had the system installed last week and are now headed for Winter which introduces my real question:
I am wondering if it is possible for the user to control prioritisation of the system with regard to charging battery from our PV array’s production?
We have shorter days atm and charging seems to be an afterthought: It would make so much more sense to have the array charge the battery to store all available power generated during the (shorter) light cycle period. Our setup seems to throw charge at anything including grid and household use.
Is there any way I can control this?
With thanks and regards,
Dave
Hi Dave, most hybrid inverters are designed to feed the household loads first, then charge the battery, and finally any excess energy is exported to the grid.
However, if the battery is very low and very cold, it cannot accept the full charge current until it has warmed up slightly. I suspect this is what you are experiencing. Where are you located and what is the outside temperature? Is the battery outside?
Also, what is the solar array size and total battery capacity?
Thanks Svarky, appreciate your input so please accept my apologies for the delayed reply.
Your suspicion was correct, the installation company had informed me similarly and it must be quite frustrating for them to get hit with such expectation.
I had expected far more granular control of prioritisation of battery over consumption, the guys explained the process more in terms of battery’s ability to accept volume of charge based on temperatures, charge level and suchlike. This made some sense and seemed to cut through my layman’s understanding and I left the company’s offices in far better mood than I entered with.
I intend suggesting they implement some kind of “PV array induction” which informs the new owner of what they can and can’t control which includes the details you and they have discussed.
In answer to your questions:
ADL- South Australia, 11 - 21 C (Autumn)
Outside under newly constructed carport.
30x 440w (13.2) panels over 4 strings (18 @ 356 on 24 deg, 12 on opposite pitch of common ridge)
5 kW hybrid +
5 kW inverter
16.0 kWh battery (about to increase to 19.2 in expectation of better wear leveling)
Hi Dave, is your system not fully charging the batteries and you are seeing substantial export throughout the day? (Do you have some graphs you could post of a sunny day?)
Since you have both a hybrid inverter and a regular solar inverter installed on the same phase, I wonder if the installer actually programmed the hybrid inverter to charge using the excess energy from the solar inverter. It has to be configured correctly to enable this function to work. It is not activated as default.
Hey Svarky, sorry to revive the dead thread but you mention there is a way to enable charging the battery off excess solar only, prioritising load and export first? I haven’t been able to find anything in the SH10RS settings to do this, would you have any further insight? Cheers!
@Matt_Franke, I think you misinterpreted my post. Quote " most hybrid inverters are designed to feed the household loads first, then charge the battery, and finally any excess energy is exported to the grid."
So, the priority for solar-generated power is:
Loads
Battery
Export
The SH-RS inverters can also be programmed to ‘force’ charge the battery using grid power via a charge schedule. For example, if you want to also charge the battery overnight using cheaper off-peak rates.
Ah thanks, you’re right. Hoping to find a way to charge using only the excess after load and export, instead of before export, which would better utilise my clipped generation in the middle of the day (DC coupled hybrid). Hopefully one day they’ll add this as a feature!
Welcome aboard! It’s totally understandable that you’re new to all this. Don’t worry, we’re here to help!
First off, congrats on your new Sungrow system! Sounds like a solid upgrade from your old one. And kudos for going all-in on renewable energy by disconnecting from gas.
Regarding your question about prioritizing your solar panels power to charge the battery during winter, that’s definitely doable. You’re right that with shorter days, optimizing your system’s performance becomes crucial.
To control this, you might want to tweak some settings in your system or look into getting additional smart devices to manage it better. I’d recommend getting in touch with your system provider or installer—they should be able to guide you through it. They might suggest using an energy management system or smart inverter to fine-tune your setup.
It’s all about making the most out of what you’ve got, especially during the darker months. Let me know if you need any more info or help figuring things out!
Hi Dave - I’ve just joined this site but thought I’d take a minute to relate my experience with Sungrow and forced charging.
I don’t have my SH8.0RS set to regular forced charging since I’m not on a TOU tariff.
During Cyclone Alfred, I decided to run a one-hour grid charge to top up the battery by 10–20% as it was below 50%, in case of a power outage. I set the charge limit to 65% but didn’t notice that it didn’t reach this before the hour was up. What I did notice was that the battery stopped supplying load, and any demand beyond solar input was covered by the grid, despite the battery being at 55%.
I tried deactivating forced charge multiple times, and it showed deactivated, but the issue persisted. Eventually, I found that the backup SOC setting under General Settings had been changed to 65%, likely due to the forced charge setting. Lowering it to 1% restored normal operation.
I hadn’t seen any documentation mentioning this interaction between forced charge and backup SOC, so I’m glad I figured it out and I hope this helps.
It has to be configured correctly to enable this function to work. It is not activated as default.