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.
It has to be configured correctly to enable this function to work. It is not activated as default.