@iancalderbank Solaredge say that I'll need to go through one of their installers to get it setup. Bit of a nuisance but I suppose no big surprise.
I will do some of the testing suggested above first myself... and make the LAN connection so that any callout can be minimised.
Listed Grade 2 building with large modern extension. LG Therma V 16kw ASHP Underfloor heating + Rads 8kw pv solar 3 x 8.2kw GivEnergy batteries 1 x GivEnergy Gen1 hybrid 5.0kw inverter Manual changeover EPS MG4 EV
I have successfully made the LAN connection (basically easy enough once I got a long enough ethernet cable).
This enabled my inverter to be seen by Solaredge. The diagnostics on the LCD already showed the failed optimiser number.
A further online service call with Solaredge and they swiftly agreed to send a replacement under warranty.
I then added myself to Solaredge system as an "installer" and with a lot of trial and error (not knowing what I was doing!) added my system so that its properly registered (I think) with address, inverter, optimisers. That should enable future monitoring to be much easier as well as getting warranty support etc
Listed Grade 2 building with large modern extension. LG Therma V 16kw ASHP Underfloor heating + Rads 8kw pv solar 3 x 8.2kw GivEnergy batteries 1 x GivEnergy Gen1 hybrid 5.0kw inverter Manual changeover EPS MG4 EV
I can now "see" my inverter and optimisers through the solaredge portal ... BUT...
its not monitoring the actual production etc. Looking at the LAN info via the LCD display it shows:
11110001
If i understand correctly the 1 all show a correct working and 0 = an issue
issue seems to be that its connected to internet but not correctly pinging? or something!
Would @iancalderbank or anyone familiar with Solaredge inverters have any suggestion? I suspect its some final bit of configuration I need to do!
Listed Grade 2 building with large modern extension. LG Therma V 16kw ASHP Underfloor heating + Rads 8kw pv solar 3 x 8.2kw GivEnergy batteries 1 x GivEnergy Gen1 hybrid 5.0kw inverter Manual changeover EPS MG4 EV
Tried turning off DC, inverter, AC for 15 mins as suggested: www.partsxp.com www.partsxp.com
Rebooted Router Turned back on AC, Inverter, DC.....
Result.... no change Still 11110001
BUT
This morning the inverter still shows unchanged 11110001
However the app has come to life and is showing readings for individual panels & optimisers.
So all seems well. Maybe the inverter is showing normal behaviour.
Thanks @iancalderbank for your help. I will update if I discover anything more.
Listed Grade 2 building with large modern extension. LG Therma V 16kw ASHP Underfloor heating + Rads 8kw pv solar 3 x 8.2kw GivEnergy batteries 1 x GivEnergy Gen1 hybrid 5.0kw inverter Manual changeover EPS MG4 EV
Tried turning off DC, inverter, AC for 15 mins as suggested:
Each inverter will have an order in which it likes to be (re-)started.
The hybrid storage inverters I use can be quite pedantic about theirs - to the extent that I've placed a label on the enclosure!
The power-up sequence is intended to start up the electronics using the source which it would normally operate from. In my case, that's the whopping big storage battery.
The power-down order is to ensure that any faults are 'removed' from the inverter's memory before it finally sleeps. If I fail to observe that, the fault code gets displayed again when I power up!
That sequence isn't detailed within the manual. Documentation tends to be written by the author referring to products that are fully functional. Us end-users are only likely to be re-powering a device when there's a fault... which is a quite different scenario.
The 15min delay you used on the SolarEdge inverter seems excessive. You obviously want to ensure that the internal electronics has ceased operating, but unless there's an internal battery to keep it alive, I would expect the power supply capacitors to have lost their charge in 30secs max.
A further online service call with Solaredge and they swiftly agreed to send a replacement under warranty.
That's very good of them.
Remember that the 'fault' may yet turn out to be poor connections to the 'tails' at the rear of the PV panel. They may be full of rainwater.
It would be worthwhile checking these before just swapping out the optimisers.
1: Unplug the panel from the optimiser and place a multimeter across the flying leads from the panel. You should see the open circuit voltage VOC, which could be anywhere from 35v-75v DC.
2: Taking one lead at a time, unscrew the body using a pair of MC4 spanners and look inside. It should be bone dry with no corrosion on the metal contacts.
3: Give the wire a bit of a tug to check that it's correctly crimped/soldered to the contact.
4: Look into the matching connectors on the optimiser. Are they also dry?
5: Reconnect the PV panel leads, fire up the App, and check to see if the fault is still present.
If you find anything 'interesting' whilst aloft, please take photos and post them here.
This post was modified 2 years ago 2 times by Transparent
Very happy to have got monitoring working. I'm guessing the power down/up helped "kick" it into action overnight. Even if it did not really need 15 mins power down.
Yes, will post if I can add anything. Would be nice if "faulty" optimiser is actually OK and I get a new spare!
I have to say I was surprised & pleased that Solaredge were helpful over replacement without major hassle. Perhaps I got lucky with the handler!
It's helped trigger other thoughts... my flat roof has space for 5 more panels. I think I will try and get the 20 panels on flat roof upgraded to add 4 more. Presumably the existing 2 strings of 10 can become 2 x 12? They're 325w panels currently .. again not sure about compatible panels to add but presumably very doable.
The one heavily shaded Solaredge system panel can also get moved to the flat roof where it will get similar output to the other 7. Should be worth the minor effort - just requires 4 clamps for standing seam and the wiring may need cutting & reconnecting.
Listed Grade 2 building with large modern extension. LG Therma V 16kw ASHP Underfloor heating + Rads 8kw pv solar 3 x 8.2kw GivEnergy batteries 1 x GivEnergy Gen1 hybrid 5.0kw inverter Manual changeover EPS MG4 EV
DNO has given permission for 5.5kwh max export - which I don't think we would exceed very often anyway due to non-optimal angle and orientation.
Not sure if they might allow an increase if we ask? Presumably no downside in asking!
Otherwise clipping/limiting to 5.5kwh is likely to be ok considering we have a base load & batteries. So "lost/wasted" output is unlikely to be huge.
Even if I lose out a bit on some peaks ... I will be adding extra output for longer periods and more frequently.
I suppose I could try to do some sort of calcs ...but overall feel that common sense is telling me its worth adding the panels. Payback period may be 5, 10 or 15 years! If 5 panels add (say) 1500kwh output per annum at 15p (Octopus export fixed tariff) then that's £225. Let's see what an installer wants to charge for the job! Hopefully payback in 5 to 10 year range
Listed Grade 2 building with large modern extension. LG Therma V 16kw ASHP Underfloor heating + Rads 8kw pv solar 3 x 8.2kw GivEnergy batteries 1 x GivEnergy Gen1 hybrid 5.0kw inverter Manual changeover EPS MG4 EV
Just noting output so far today. When setting up Solaredge monitoring I added all the working optimisers - but have not yet done a physical check of the position they take in the array.
The only one I know physically is #7 which is under the heavily shaded panel - so it's true position is last in string #8.
As can be seen the heavily shaded #7 has produced only 176w today
Others are mostly in tight range 436 to 464w with slight outlier #3 = 374w. Not sure if it tells us anything about the location of non-working optimiser? As noted above there are actually 8 panels but the 8th was removed from the monitoring by Solaredge (or is not seen anyway). As all the others are low numbers output might that indicate as location #1 is the non-working one?
At a total guess I would expect these 285w panels on a sunny day like today to produce around 1500w each in a full day if the system was working correctly. Certainly 1000w plus by 4pm with further sun likely for a few hours.
This post was modified 2 years ago 2 times by Tim441
Listed Grade 2 building with large modern extension. LG Therma V 16kw ASHP Underfloor heating + Rads 8kw pv solar 3 x 8.2kw GivEnergy batteries 1 x GivEnergy Gen1 hybrid 5.0kw inverter Manual changeover EPS MG4 EV
Just noting output so far today. When setting up Solaredge monitoring I added all the working optimisers - but have not yet done a physical check of the position they take in the array.
The only one I know physically is #7 which is under the heavily shaded panel - so it's true position is last in string #8.
As can be seen the heavily shaded #7 has produced only 176w today
Others are mostly in tight range 436 to 464w with slight outlier #3 = 374w. Not sure if it tells us anything about the location of non-working optimiser? As noted above there are actually 8 panels but the 8th was removed from the monitoring by Solaredge (or is not seen anyway). As all the others are low numbers output might that indicate as location #1 is the non-working one?
At a total guess I would expect these 285w panels on a sunny day like today to produce around 1500w each in a full day if the system was working correctly. Certainly 1000w plus by 4pm with further sun likely for a few hours.
An easy way to check the position and number of each panel would be to cover each of the 8 panels in turn, and note the drop off in output. This should also help identify which panel is not included in the list.
Listed Grade 2 building with large modern extension. LG Therma V 16kw ASHP Underfloor heating + Rads 8kw pv solar 3 x 8.2kw GivEnergy batteries 1 x GivEnergy Gen1 hybrid 5.0kw inverter Manual changeover EPS MG4 EV
@derek-m 🤣 🤣 too late!! I should have... especially I a couple of g&t in....
Sadly not fully conclusive. Not sure if it was me... g&t...or what!
For most part covering one panel dropped all others from say 40 to 50w down to single digits. I used cardboard that covered probably 90% of panel.... so not entirely decisive with such small outputs.
One panel was always on 0w whichever panel was covered. Odd? But if all panels uncovered was similar output as others.
We know the failed optimiser is not even registering. Can't help but wonder if I've more than one fault.
Will try again... but main thing is to replace the known failed optimiser
Listed Grade 2 building with large modern extension. LG Therma V 16kw ASHP Underfloor heating + Rads 8kw pv solar 3 x 8.2kw GivEnergy batteries 1 x GivEnergy Gen1 hybrid 5.0kw inverter Manual changeover EPS MG4 EV
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