UK Solar inverter problem?

Poppymac · Jun 19, 2021

I'm hoping someone out there has come across this problem.
Just had -8 days ago- a 6k solar panel system plus 4.8k battery pack installed.
When the electrician left the batteries showed 20%full.
Next few days inverter showed producing 30kwh but batteries did not charge.
We normally use 8.5kwh per day, this was from readings taken off the grid meter over 30 days before installation. I also noticed that overnight, on the meter they installed next to the grid meter, it showed we were exported 0.2kwh to the grid when the solar was not produced.
Contacted the installer but they did not get back to us.
Eventually on the 5th day we had a video call and we noticed that the inverter showed our usage grew and waned in time with the production of solar, more produced more we used.
AHH I know what it is said the installation manager, turn the clamp on the red wire the other way round, it's because you've got an old style fuse box.
I did that and the battery started to fill =success I thought.
However, the battery fills but cannot be used.
If I turn the clamp back to its original position the battery discharges, but the same thing happens. My usage goes sky high and the battery discharges quickly.
I turned the clamp back after it dropped 30%, and that night the grid used 4kwh, the battery wàs full and it sent 3kwh back to the grid.

So now we have a full battery not using it, when the solaris not producing the inverter shows no usage.

We use IKwh from the grid overnight and send 0.2back to the grid overnight

Basically: inverter shows more solar more we use, even when we are only running the fridge and freezer
No solar no power used

Can charge the batteries but they can't he used
Using power from the grid not the batteries and sending to the grid overnight

Only asking here as the company are not getting back to me at all now

Thanks

I have photos but not sure I can upload them

Poppymac · Jun 20, 2021

plugsandsparks said:
I think i can see the critical load connection, it is marked A/C Backup, there is also one labelled A/C Grid, be interesting to see where those cables from Solis actually go. They should go to separate "fuse boxes" and did they ask you what you wanted wrt stuff to keep on if there is a power cut, maybe lights ?

Hi thanks. The wires come down through the ceiling in a conduit (another gripe). No they did not ask. Electrician had loads of problems getting the wires down from the cupboard upstair to the meters in the hall. One new fuse box. I'll try and take a video when I get home, I took one but don't seem to be able to find it ?

plugsandsparks · Jun 20, 2021

Ok but i dont have knowledge of that model to help diagnose the problem but i can see its not right. It is either the CT is not giving an accurate account of the grid incoming / outgoing or the parameter settings on the solis are not right. I have had similar problems with batteries not either charging or discharging but it was a much more complicated system involving multi vendor. As this is all Solis, it should work almost out of the box. The installer needs to come to site preferably when he can call tech support for assistance. When he does come back you can ask him what loads are on backup...

Poppymac · Jun 20, 2021

plugsandsparks said:
Ok but i dont have knowledge of that model to help diagnose the problem but i can see its not right. It is either the CT is not giving an accurate account of the grid incoming / outgoing or the parameter settings on the solis are not right. I have had similar problems with batteries not either charging or discharging but it was a much more complicated system involving multi vendor. As this is all Solis, it should work almost out of the box. The installer needs to come to site preferably when he can call tech support for assistance. When he does come back you can ask him what loads are on backup...

Thank you IF they come back. They are not answering me now?

Poppymac · Jun 20, 2021

Poppymac said:
Thank you IF they come back. They are not answering me now?

Ok so I've taken more photos. The wires come down and into the new fusebox can't see wires going into the counter showing import and export, but it's right up against their fuse box.
Two grey wires come out of their fuse box into the two small boxes on top of our fuse box. Earth wire goes to the earth and a clamp with black and white wires clamps onto the red wire that goes into the fuse box.
Whilst I understand you cannot give me a solution, you have helped me know that the system is a new kind of inverter and you said it was 'nice', putting my mind at rest that isn't a bad system. As it is new type, I am assuming this is why they are having a few problems. I know what to say to them, thanks to you. I'll let you know what happens ?

[ElectriciansForums.net] Solar inverter problem?

plugsandsparks · Jun 20, 2021

Well solis are massive in the inverter market and an integrated single box solution for battery storage (now with off-grid working) is basically what has been needed in the market. FWIW Solar companies can be hit and miss with respect to service. When this system is working you will be impressed how the battery fills in the cloudy moments and extends the solar day. Hope it works out

Poppymac · Jun 20, 2021

plugsandsparks said:
Well solis are massive in the inverter market and an integrated single box solution for battery storage (now with off-grid working) is basically what has been needed in the market. FWIW Solar companies can be hit and miss with respect to service. When this system is working you will be impressed how the battery fills in the cloudy moments and extends the solar day. Hope it works out

Thank you ?

Poppymac · Jun 26, 2021

Poppymac said:
Thank you ?

You were completely correct.
After corresponding with you, I contacted Solis in the UK outlining the problem. I received a very quick reply from their engineer, who also happened to be the UK manager and he said straight away it seemed the installer had had problems.
Cut a long story short, the installer came out on Tuesday, reluctantly as they thought nothing was wrong. However after about an hour of trying the clamp in different places and unplugging the fridge freezers, he could see , hooray, there was a problem. So he tried to contact the engineers but was unsuccessful. I emailed the engineer and he spoke to the installer. He went into the system over the internet, got back to the installer, told him what to do and bingo it's working. Still the readout is a little strange at times, but as you say, even today the batteries have been charged quickly even though it is cloudy. Best thing is, we've only used 1kwh from the grid since Tuesday and that will be due to the kettle and oven being used later in the evening
Need to get a slower kettle to maximise the solar . At the moment very pleased with it ?

plugsandsparks · Jun 26, 2021

Glad its sorted, batteries must discharge overnight if they do not you may be charging from the grid.
Here is a pic of the one i had issues with

Poppymac · Jun 26, 2021

plugsandsparks said:
Glad its sorted, batteries must discharge overnight if they do not you may be charging from the grid.
Here is a pic of the one i had issues with

Hi yours looks a similar problem, it just doesn't make sense.
The batteries are discharging overnight now, and in fact they supplement the power a tad in the day if needed and charge back up with the solar.
I can change the time the batteries charge, but for now I'm leaving well alone. Once the new supplier is in place I'll look at the battery charge times.
I'm keeping a close eye on things, but thanks for pointing me in the right direction ?

plugsandsparks · Jun 26, 2021

Nooooooo, that is what it should look like, ?

Poppymac · Jun 26, 2021

plugsandsparks said:
Nooooooo, that is what it should look like, ?

Poppymac · Jun 26, 2021

Poppymac · Jul 17, 2021

Ok update. After 12 days of the system working (although still had problem with the usage showing zero in the evening) the system reverted back to the original problem. Eventually after much back and forth with the Solaris people and the installer, the installer decided it was the emeter at fault, it was loose. I tightened screws to find something was amiss, it was ok one second next it wasn't. Then after a few days the emeter stopped working. Eventually it was changed, but now the battery does not run the fridges and freezers overnight - the grid does. Installer says the batteries only kick in if we use .30 to .50kwh, so we will use the grid. Why have batteries if they won't kick in? They did when the system worked for 12 days. Used 1kwh every 4/5 days. Now using 2kwh overnight . ?. The inverter readout still does not add up either.

plugsandsparks · Jul 17, 2021

My posts 26 and 27 enquired about what is connected to the critical loads circuit, Is this the fridge , freezer you refer to. Without knowing this you will never be able to figure out what is what.

Can you take a pic of the display again

Poppymac · Jul 17, 2021

plugsandsparks said:
My posts 26 and 27 enquired about what is connected to the critical loads circuit, Is this the fridge , freezer you refer to. Without knowing this you will never be able to figure out what is what.

Can you take a pic of the display again

H yes I can.

It has been changed though so that the only one it goes through is the house not the backup light symbol.

This was done previously and it worked well for twelve days

Then when the emeter was changed, the installer changed it to show the house and the backup.

That's when the usage overnight was 2-3 kWh for the fridge and freezer

I asked to change it back to how it was when it worked for 12 days ie house.

I have just changed it back.

See photo.

plugsandsparks · Jul 17, 2021

That looks OK, if you turn on the kettle and oven, you should see it pull from the batteries

Poppymac · Jul 17, 2021

Yes that's not the problem. It does do that. It's at night. The batteries aren't used to run the fridge freezers. The grid is used. I'm hoping that putting it all through the house, then the batteries and not the grid will be used.

Up to now, since the emeter was replaced, the grid had been used throughout the night

plugsandsparks · Jul 17, 2021

At night i would expect the batteries to run down powering whatever is needed. As long as the batteries are flat before the Sun comes out, i guess it does not matter

Poppymac · Jul 17, 2021

plugsandsparks said:
At night i would expect the batteries to run down powering whatever is needed. As long as the batteries are flat before the Sun comes out, i guess it does not matter

Well exactly what I said to the installer.

We have full battery 4.8kw and it's not being used overnight. It discharges to say about 80% as we use the oven and watch TV when the solar is producing less.

At the moment I am using the oven and the solar is powering it along with Some from the battery, with alternating every second or so, using from the grid sending to the grid. Once the oven comes to heat, usage drops and the solar is producing enough .

Once we get only to using only the freezers and fridges it is powered by the grid even though the battery is still 80% full.

That's when the installer vtoldvme the battery wouldn't kick in if the fridge and freezers used less than .30kwh, which I find ludicrous to be honest. Bit sure I believe him.

So tonight I am hoping that as it's all routed to the house, then things will work properly.

See photos with oven on

Poppymac · Jul 26, 2021

Ok still no further forward. On a cloudy day we saw what happened. At 81% the battery powers the fridges and freezers ok. As soon as it hits 80%, the battery goes into 'sleep mode' and power source switches to the grid. No one knows what the problem is - anyone got any thoughts?

plugsandsparks · Jul 26, 2021

Can you take a pic of the display when it is in that state, i.e. your are clearly drawing power but the batteries are not contributing

BXB · Jul 26, 2021

I haven't had a chance to read this in depth, but the fact that the battery hits 80% and stops discharging could indicate that the depth of discharge setting is too high. Generally the installer sets the system so that 10-20% of the battery is not used, as even though lithium batteries can be discharged very low you buy quite a bit of extra life for them by allowing this buffer. The installer or Solis tech should be able to see the setting remotely. It could be as simple as they thought they were setting it to stop at 80% DoD and in fact were setting it to stop at 80% capacity.

Sometimes a factory reset and reconfigure can help.

Most likely something that has already been looked at, but thought I would mention it!

Poppymac · Jul 27, 2021

plugsandsparks said:
BXB said:

I haven't had a chance to read this in depth, but the fact that the battery hits 80% and stops discharging could indicate that the depth of discharge setting is too high. Generally the installer sets the system so that 10-20% of the battery is not used, as even though lithium batteries can be discharged very low you buy quite a bit of extra life for them by allowing this buffer. The installer or Solis tech should be able to see the setting remotely. It could be as simple as they thought they were setting it to stop at 80% DoD and in fact were setting it to stop at 80% capacity.

Sometimes a factory reset and reconfigure can help.

Most likely something that has already been looked at, but thought I would mention it!

Click to expand...

Thanks both of you. I've got videos but I'm unable to attach them - only photos are showing when I try to attach.
With regards to the settings, it is strange.as before the new emeter was installed (before it gave up the ghost completely) for 12 days it was working perfectly. The system was installed on the 9th June.

I will try and take a photo tomorrow as the battery is at 83% at the moment and is powering the lights and fridges although I have to say that the power is jumping either to or from the grid constantly since we are using just battery power.

plugsandsparks said:
Can you take a pic of the display when it is in that state, i.e. your are clearly drawing power but the batteries are not contributing

Poppymac · Jul 27, 2021

Poppymac said:
Thanks both of you. I've got videos but I'm unable to attach them - only photos are showing when I try to attach.
With regards to the settings, it is strange.as before the new emeter was installed (before it gave up the ghost completely) for 12 days it was working perfectly. The system was installed on the 9th June.

I will try and take a photo tomorrow as the battery is at 83% at the moment and is powering the lights and fridges although I have to say that the power is jumping either to or from the grid constantly since we are using just battery power.

plugsandsparks · Jul 27, 2021

I see that the critical load is back (lightbulb), its got to be in the parameter settings as there is clearly a load for the batteries to contribute to, but it has decided it does not want to.
I would try and contact Solis again and see if they will dial in and go through the parameters.