[RE-wrenches] Conext XW+ always feeding critical loads subpanel from battery bank

Mon Jul 18 17:57:00 PDT 2016

Thanks you for your help. I'm a poor off-grid guy. This should be a
learning experience then....the one time I visited the system around
10:AM,, both CCs were in Bulk, and no grid blackout the night before.
Methinks I should also borrow a programming dongle from a colleague for
this one....

Dan Fink
Adjunct Professor of Solar Energy Technology, Ecotech Institute
IREC Certified Instructor™ for:
~ PV Installation Professional
~ Small Wind Installer
Executive Director, Buckville Energy
NABCEP Registered Continuing Education Providers™
970.672.4342

On Mon, Jul 18, 2016 at 6:27 PM, Maverick Brown <maverick at mavericksolar.com>
wrote:

> Dan
>
> Barring some non-factory-default settings, they are not likely running on
> battery power at night.
>
> When the grid is up, the inverter will go silent at night (asleep) [with
> --- three dashes on its LED display]. That's good.
>
> During the day, the inverter will "prevent" the battery voltage from going
> above its sell voltage (unless some other mode is on like Grid Support or
> Standby, etc.) The charge controllers will attempt to Absorb & Float, but
> the inverter will offload the energy by keeping the voltage at the Sell
> setting. I generally set Sell to the recommended Float Voltage++. I set the
> charge controller float to 1.0v higher and Absorb as appropriate.
>
> There is a lot more to unpack here.
>
> Flooded batteries will consume a good amount of power just to maintain
> float.
>
> As a defense against sulphated plates forming, I program the inverter EQ
> button for a heavy Absorb / mild EQ and instruct the customer to press it
> (every other month opposite month from watering??)
>
> Are you getting 20-25 kWh per day in production?
>
> PS having the inverter always feed the critical loads panel is exactly
> it's intended use.
>
> Thank you,
>
> Maverick
>
>
> Maverick Brown
>
> Maverick Solar Enterprises, Inc.
> SunFlow Systems
> Office:     512-919-4493
> Cell:        512-460-9825
>
> Sent from an iPhone.
>
> On Jul 18, 2016, at 6:50 PM, Dan Fink <danbob88 at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> Maverick; it's 6.0 kW of PV, 2 Midnite Classic 200s, Conext XW+ 5548, and
> 8 Crown Embassy VRSLA 6CEA390 for 390 amp-hours, 48v. Concerns me to be
> cycling those batteries every night when it's not supposed to happen as per
> the permit package.
> "Notes - Battery Backup: During an outage, an automatic transfer switch in
> the inverter opens the grid interconnect, isolating the inverter from the
> utility to prevent back-feeding the local power lines. The inverter then
> draws from the battery bank to provide AC power to the backup sub-panel.
> Battery power is only used to provide power to the backup sub-panel. The
> Battery inverter only sells energy to the grid from the solar array when
> available and not from the battery bank. The battery backup inverter is UL
> 1741 and IEEE 1547 compliant."
>
> Dan Fink
> Adjunct Professor of Solar Energy Technology, Ecotech Institute
> IREC Certified Instructor™ for:
> ~ PV Installation Professional
> ~ Small Wind Installer
> Executive Director, Buckville Energy
> NABCEP Registered Continuing Education Providers™
> 970.672.4342
>
>
>
> On Mon, Jul 18, 2016 at 5:23 PM, Maverick Brown <
> maverick at mavericksolar.com> wrote:
>
>> Dan
>>
>> Does the inverter go silent at night? (---) on the inverter display?
>>
>> There are lots of settings that can influence sell amount.
>>
>> What type and size is the battery bank?
>>
>> What is the solar size?
>>
>> Thank you,
>>
>> Maverick
>> Cell:        512-460-9825
>>
>> Sent from an iPhone.
>>
>> On Jul 18, 2016, at 5:56 PM, Dan Fink <danbob88 at gmail.com> wrote:
>>
>> Installer went out of business, all I have to troubleshoot with is an
>> as-built 3-line that "may or may not be right." The charge controllers are
>> a pair Midnite Classic 200s. Customer complained that system selling only
>> 2/3 of what was predicted back to the utility; that appears to be because
>> everything out of his critical loads subpanel is running off the battery
>> bank all night, every night, grid or no, so it takes 1/3 of the day to get
>> the batteries charged up again every day and start selling to the grid.
>>
>> I have very little experience with the XW+ thus my question for the folks
>> here. My plan for next week is to show up, make my own as-built 3-line, and
>> recommission the inverter. Anyone else seen this sort of thing before? Hard
>> to believe that an electrician would mis-wire or not wire the bypass, I'm
>> thinking software setting.
>>
>>
>> Dan Fink
>> Adjunct Professor of Solar Energy Technology, Ecotech Institute
>> IREC Certified Instructor™ for:
>> ~ PV Installation Professional
>> ~ Small Wind Installer
>> Executive Director, Buckville Energy
>> NABCEP Registered Continuing Education Providers™
>> 970.672.4342
>>
>>
>>
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