Is there a way to utilize the power produced by a solar array/charge controller after a battery is full?

[opi]

I have a Victron based solar power system on my RV. It includes four 200 watt solar panels connected to a Victron SmartSolar 100/50 charge controller. There's also a SmartShunt, a MultiPlus-II 2x 120V, and a 300AH LiFePo4 battery. A Cerbo GX connects it all together for monitoring.

That said, I really like the MultiPlus-II 2x 120V's ability to offer power assistance to the AC input which can be tied to a small generator. The RV is setup with a Honda EU2200i generator and I'm able to run the RV's HVAC unit with most of the power coming from the generator with peek power assisted by the inverter run from the battery during AC compressor start or when another AC device kicks in and exceeds the 1800 watt continuous output of the generator. This power assist functionality is great for the AC side but I'm wondering if there's a way to do the same but on the DC side using power produced from the charge controller and feed it through to the inverter when the battery is full? Currently the charge controller monitors the voltage of the battery and once it senses the battery is full, (having finished it's absorption time and is above it's 13.6V float voltage), the controller shuts down any power output of the solar panels to prevent overcharging the battery even though there's plenty of power to produce and utilize. This functionality though is exactly what you want a charge controller to do and electronically I don't know how it could work any another way with the charge controller being a separate component and not knowing about any other device such as the inverter that could use the excess power. If the charge controller was integrated in with the inverter in an all-in-one type unit I can see how this might be made to work but I'm not sure if any all-in-one units have such functionality built in? Maybe the Sol-Ark will do it as it can power the inverter via solar with or without a battery.

I know that some charge controllers have a dump load function but there would still have to be some communication functionality built into both the the charge controller and inverter to utilize it and I assume the controller would need separate power cabling and the ability to switch power to the "dump" side or in this case to the inverter, to do so. Is there some other ingenious way of doing this?

 

[#40Fan]

Batteries are full. Fridge is cold. A/C is keeping the camper cold.....

Pop a cold one and reap the benefits.

 

[efficientPV]

Typical way is with a voltage monitor. Many people monitor battery voltage and decide at what voltage they want to put a load on. I look at PV voltage and when it is over Vmp for the array you KNOW that the charge controller is lightly loaded and there is excess to be used. I do proportional water heating right from the array voltage using just enough power to bring that voltage down to power point. This is diversion at a different technical level. Looking at battery voltage looks like a no brainer, but it can be a dumb way to do it. Li batteries have really tight voltages and just before evening you can dump a lot of power into something that doesn't matter. This results in needing a much bigger battery than is needed. You may also never fully charge the battery with the maximum voltage for the period of time needed. Using a voltage monitor that has a set timed period for a load is a better option. It will stop and look again. Adding a clock is also good using diversion only in peak time periods and preserving battery later in the day. Diversion controls in charge controllers is better than nothing, but I consider them a poor option.

 

[timselectric]

Increase your loads if you want to use more of the solar available.

 

[Texas-Mark]

Run the generator less.

 

[2strokeforever]

I am in the final testing stage of exactly what you are asking about.
It can power the load from any of the solar power, dc from the panels, dc from the charge controller, or even ac from the inverter (cueerntly using it this way to power my air conditioning)

Any interest in something like this?

It figures out how much excess solar power you have and will "talk" to anything that will accept a 0-5v signal, or a PWM signal. SSR, VFD, ect. It will throttle your load to use as much power as possible, but back off instantly once something wants the power, turn on the kettle, charge...

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