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Posted

Thanks for the heads up i was wondering how to deal with that and not lose the benefit of fitting it in the first place.

The plan is to put on extra load; maybe 3 ACs for the days when he comes (usually 21 to 23 of the month) so we get to use the extra generated.

I have a couple of weeks to play around and try find a solution provided we get enough sunny days.

With the current set up we're likely to knock around 300 units off the bill once the second string is online and we don't go daft with the AC.

This home has always been uncomfortably hot on the 2nd floor (despite fitting insulation) so..... if the solar only knocks a bit off a month once its all up and running; and we get to use both floors in comfort it's still worth it to be honest just for the convenience

I notice Crossy and 007RED have a switch fitted to stop export.

Not sure how it's configured and have yet to ask.

But I suppose fitting one is likely a good idea.

Main thing is as you so rightly mention is not to get nabbed.

Cheers.

PR3

Posted
8 hours ago, PR3 said:

 

I notice there's a country code to input....haven't done that or set the time so need to do it.

I logged into the inverter through the WiFi dongle and set it all up.

Now as I understand it I must install Solarman on a device in order to monitor the inverter?

I no longer see its WiFi signature when I search so can't see what's going on.

I looked on apps and there's 5 to choose from.

Would you kindly point me in the right direction @Crossy and @007 RED.

Cheers in advance.

 

Firstly... well done in getting your system up and running.  It looks a good job.

 

Re:  Country Code.   If I recall correctly, Sofar inverters seem to be set at the factory with a country code # 22, which according to their spec sheet is for "General European" but I found that it seemed to work OK with this setting.  That said, I did change a few days after initial commissioning to # 41 a which again according to their spec sheet is for "Thailand MEA" .  I actually live in a PEA area,  but the pain in the rear fiddling with the change button and passwords at every stage whilst up a ladder put me off changing it again to # 40.  It works well and outputs the right voltage and Hz.

 

Re:  The Sofar monitoring system.  I would recommend initially registering your system via the PC.  I have attached below a link that will take you to the login screen.  Just click on "Registration" (bottom right) and enter the details requested.  It's a simple task.

 

https://home.solarmanpv.com/login

 

Once you've registered, then download an app for your phone via whichever app provider you have for your phone.  The App is called SOLARMAN SMART.

 

FYI... The phone app only provides limited data which cannot be manipulated.  The PC version provides very comprehensive information and data which you can download and manipulate if you so desire.

 

Good Luck.

Posted

 Be aware that after 8-10 years your inverter will blow up they cost about £5-6,000 in the UK so probably even more expensive in Thailand?

Also that solar panels work in series so the whole array will only perform to the lowest performing panel,or if one stops working they all stop working.

For the earlier posts regarding using the majority of electricity at night that is what lithium ion batteries (x 2) are for to store the electricity produced in the day,that will require another inverter also to convert DC to AC cost around £5-6,000 in Britain.

Plus there are plug ins available to make the panels work in parallel meaning they all perform separately to the best of their abilities,they are about £80 per panel in the UK so probably again more expensive in Thailand?

Morale of the story : Being green ain’t cheap!

  • Haha 1
Posted

I never heard of inverter blowing up . Prob a bit over the top , since the prices mentioned are also . In Belgium and Netherlands , prices of inverters are not so much different then in Thailand , leaving the cheapest ones out , so standard grid tie +/-1000 euro .  Inverters with batteries , somebody i know from my work is having a 22kW battery placed coupled with his grid tie inverter , fully programmable on hour by hour base ( in case they charge energy consumption unit price in peak ... ) fully installed with 12y warranty ( including batteries) if i remember correct for around 15000 euro .

Inverter blowing up , prob means , a small smoke trail , possible even a small pop , and some electric smell . 90/100 the condensators are gone and they are repairable . 

  • Like 1
Posted

@007 RED Thanks so much for the detailed description of how to go about sorting the problem regarding no export and the setting up advice, so grateful.

I been on Husband duty today so didn't really get much done with regards to the solar other than cursory glances to check performance and finding the CT device what came with it.

The wiring is red and blue, I imagine the red is the +.

It was a hazy sunshine day with a few patches of cloud around but still managed to move forward pretty much zero between 9am and 3:30 this afternoon.

That felt like a result and is making me think about the next 4 panels.

Anyhoo back to the CT clamp. I was hoping to fit it inside the house consumer unit but there's insufficient space to get the damned thing around the live cable. 

And I'm more than reluctant to start messing around with hot wiring.

Only other place I can find access is the inspection/connection cover on the outside wall.

The thing is.....its about a 20 metre run to the inverter once I've negotiated corners, obstacles and placed it in trunking. 

Will that sort of length affect the performance of the CT device runnning in 2 x 0.5 outdoor cable (i bought 8 metres today so i could still use that up to the switch maybe)?

Otherwise I don't know.

Also the switch used to isolate the clamp, should it be a 2 pole or is a single pole switch okay on the live (I guess)  only reason I ask is that I have 2 single pole in stock.

And ...lol...so many questions. To identify the live rather than the neutral would a clamp meter suffice?

I think a beer is in order, not thirsty just a headache Lol.

Cheers All the Best.

PR3

 

Posted

Cable length won't be an issue ???? 

 

image.png.828d83e7e2912fdabffdf5023c3c605f.png

 

To isolate the CT you just need to break one of the wires, it's low voltage/current** so any cheap switch will do the trick, I used a 125V rated miniature toggle switch.

 

** Do note that these high-frequency "transformerless" inverters can often give a "tingle" on the interface pins, so do kill the power to the inverter before handling the wiring. It's not going to do you any harm other than making you drop the screwdriver, but best to be safe. 

  • Like 2
Posted

Hi Gents,

  Well I wired the CT up. With the arrow pointing toward the meter feed in.

Went to change the reactive settings to zero and just says fail every time.

At the moment there is   Reactive Enable or Reactive Disable.

                                          Under excited,  utility or over excited.

                                          Reactive setting.

 

The inverter is currently on....Reactive enable, under excited and *.** for settings.

If I try to change anything I get a fail notice.

I feel I've done everything right but I'm stumped for now.

 

Meter reader doesn't come for 13 days yet so gives a bit of time.

 

It'll l have to wait til a bit later in the day i got an iceing up aircon to deal with and the lekky gate is playing up...never a dull moment here.

Cheers

PR3

  • Like 1
Posted
39 minutes ago, PR3 said:

Hi Gents,

  Well I wired the CT up. With the arrow pointing toward the meter feed in.

Went to change the reactive settings to zero and just says fail every time.

At the moment there is   Reactive Enable or Reactive Disable.

                                          Under excited,  utility or over excited.

                                          Reactive setting.

 

The inverter is currently on....Reactive enable, under excited and *.** for settings.

If I try to change anything I get a fail notice.

I feel I've done everything right but I'm stumped for now.

 

Meter reader doesn't come for 13 days yet so gives a bit of time.

 

It'll l have to wait til a bit later in the day i got an iceing up aircon to deal with and the lekky gate is playing up...never a dull moment here.

Cheers

PR3

 

Could be the wrong setting? 

 

On your inverter it's "Reflux Power" or "Anti Reflux" I think, check the manual.

 

"Reactive" is something else and should be left as default (it's used for correcting poor Power Factor).

  • Thanks 1
Posted (edited)

@PR3.... my humble apology for putting you through any unnecessary stress.... @Crossy is perfectly correct, it is the REFLUX POWER setting which should be set to zero to stop export when a CT clamp is connected to the inverter and not the REACTIVE setting which I incorrectly advised in an earlier post.

 

FYI... I've just scaled the ladder and checked my inverter setting to make absolutely sure.

 

I hope that you've managed to get it to work now.  Grovel, grovel ???? ????

 

 

Edited by 007 RED
  • Like 2
Posted

Lol that's okay a bit of stress is a normal condition at this house,

I was reading earlier this morning regarding power reflux and did wonder.

So, up the ladder I set the Power reflux at 0 and the inverter wound down and made 0.03 kW despite the sun showing a little and 2 washing machines on.

This was with the CT on or off. 

So I disabled the power reflux and back up to 1kw.

 

I am going to have to do a bit more research in the manual and do a bit more experimenting tomorrow after sorting the gate and with nothing running in the house.

 

Oh I bought another 420w panel when I went for 20metres of 1mm twin cable. 

Lots of self control.

I put it with the other 3 next to the concrete mixer I "needed" earlier in the year hahaha.

Cheers Gents

PR3

Posted
25 minutes ago, PR3 said:

This was with the CT on or off. 

 

Working from memory here but IIRC disconnecting the CT will NOT make it export unless the solar input is zero (the inverter stays at whatever power it was generating at the time.).

 

Connect the CT at any time and it will stop export immediately.

 

We only change our CT connection at midnight coz that's when the auto system does it.

Posted

Hi Gents,

I've removed the CT from where it was and will put it in the consumer unit.

It's a tight squeeze in there so I'd rather only do it once.

@Crossy the images are what I got in the Sofar install kit.

This is what I'm supposed to be fitting I expect.

And the arrow should point towards the meter?

Will bring inside house and put in an enclosure with 2 pole toggle switch I had handy.

20220909_104649.jpg

20220909_104625.jpg

Posted

Yup, that's the beast.

 

Arrow points towards the meter (incoming supply) if it's installed on the live wire as per the instructions.

 

It WILL work on the neutral but needs to point the other way.

 

Posted

Well no idea what's gone on. Just checked the inverter on the way back from the putting some garbage out and it's dead.

Was perfectly fine all day and haven't touched anything.

Tried isolating and firing up again and nothing..oh dear.

Will have a proper look in the morning, hopefully just a fuse or something.

 

Posted

Quick update,couldn't wait til morning so went and checked it out, 232v ac from the connection plug so seems power is not an issue.

I so hope its not failed after only a few days.

I really don't fancy the warranty roller-coaster.

Ahhhh cr*p

Posted

Further update....So I bypassed the overload protection (just in case it couldn't send enough current?) and instead connected to the 2 pole AC mcb on the combiner panel and still no life at the inverter.????

Have contacted the supplier will update as things develop and of course have another check of everything else in the morning.

Fingers crossed can sort it out.

Will try stay positive and look at fitting the second string as soon as.

All the best.

PR3

Posted (edited)
11 hours ago, PR3 said:

Well no idea what's gone on. Just checked the inverter on the way back from the putting some garbage out and it's dead.

Was perfectly fine all day and haven't touched anything.

Tried isolating and firing up again and nothing..oh dear.

Will have a proper look in the morning, hopefully just a fuse or something.

 

@PR3.... Looking at the time that you posted the above e.g. around 9pm, and taking account that you mentioned  "just on the way back from putting out the garbage", I would assume that it was dark.  If I'm correct in that assumption, then your inverter would be 'asleep' and doing nothing.  This is normal.  You should find that once the sun starts to appear on the horizon at around 6:30 am it will, or should, kick back into life.  Likewise, once the sun disappears below the horizon at around 6:30 pm the inverter will go into 'sleep' mode again. 

 

I hope that I'm right and that you've not got a problem with the inverter.

 

Good luck 

Edited by 007 RED
  • Like 2
Posted

@007 RED Thanks for the tip. 

I wasn't even aware they went to sleep.

One thing I will say, they are deep sleepers because nothing I could do would wake it up.

I went outside  just now and the alarm was on because the power supply was off, reconnected everything back up where it should be and all is well.

That really had me worried I tossed and turned all night.

 

So in summary I didn't sleep well at all because the inverter did.????

 

Live and learn I suppose.

Cheers All

PR3

  • Like 2
Posted
1 minute ago, PR3 said:

@007 RED Thanks for the tip. 

I wasn't even aware they went to sleep.

One thing I will say, they are deep sleepers because nothing I could do would wake it up.

I went outside  just now and the alarm was on because the power supply was off, reconnected everything back up where it should be and all is well.

That really had me worried I tossed and turned all night.

 

So in summary I didn't sleep well at all because the inverter did.????

 

Live and learn I suppose.

Cheers All

PR3

Glad that my assumption was correct. 

 

Yes 'basic' inverters go into 'sleep' mode when there is no light to activate the photoelectric cells.  If you look at the spec data for your inverter you will see a mention of something called 'Start-up Voltage... mine is 70V.... which means that the panels need to produce 70V before the inverter will 'kick into life.  At that point the inverter goes into a 'Check' mode and if everything is OK it starts producing AC.

 

FYI... things are different if you have a hybrid inverter that is connected to batteries as these will remain active to monitor/control the 'backflow' of DC from the batteries and convert to AC. 

 

Time to relax now.... have another beer.

  • Like 2
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