Sol-Ark Battery Setting 'batt restart(0-100%

[Benzimidazolone]

I am having a hard time finding anything out about the 'batt restart' setting in my Sol-Ark 12k.

What does this setting do? The default is 50% and I have turned it down to 30% but it dies not seem to make any difference that I can tell.

I have 5 x 100 ah SOK batteries connected and have the 'batt low' and 'batt shutdown % set to 20%.

thank you

 

[robby]

It's used in conjunction with the "Battery Shutdown" Value.
So lets say you want the Inverter to never deplete the battery past 10% or 49V then the battery shutdown would be set to 10%.
So at 10% the Inverter will draw nothing from the battery no matter what. The "Battery Restart" level is for when the PV/Grid/Gen starts to charge the batteries and sets the Level for when the Batteries can be used by the Inverter once again.

So lets say Battery Restart is set to 25% SOC or around 51.4V that will be how much charge they will need before they become usable by the Inverter again.

One key thing to note is that the Shutdown and Restart values need to be spaced far enough apart that you do not create a constantly oscillating On and Off system. For example you don't want to Shutdown at 10% and restart at 12% because the Inverter may start Stopping and Starting every couple of minutes. You also don't want the value for Restart to be to much Higher or Lower than the Lowest Value you use in your TOU.

For Instance on my system the Inverter TOU will run the batteries at night into the morning to 20% SOC.
If the next morning it is super cloudy overcast and raining and I am getting Zero charge the Inverter will still use some battery power (60W) and if this should drop my batteries down to the Battery Shutdown value I set of 10% then the Inverter will stop using power from them. I set the Restart to 30% so that when they do recharge and reach 30% they will have a little buffer between the 20% in my TOU.
You do not want to set the Restart to 50% unless your using AGM or SLA batteries. For LFP batteries 25-30% is a good number.

 

[FullCircle]

Damn, you're good! Thanks, Robby.

 

[Llaves]

The "Battery Restart" level is for when the PV/Grid/Gen starts to charge the batteries

Context is off-grid system.
If I'm understanding correctly, once the batteries fall below the Shutdown SOC, the inverter will stop supplying AC out, but the overall unit remains on. If the sun comes out, the MPPTs will operate and charge the battery, right? Once the batteries reach Restart SOC, the inverter will turn on an provide AC power.
Now an extreme case: The batteries drop below Shutdown SOC, the generator has failed (or there is no generator), and the 12K continues to draw power to the point that the battery BMS shuts down. If the sun now comes out, will the MPPTs operate and charge the batteries?

 

[robby]

Context is off-grid system.
If I'm understanding correctly, once the batteries fall below the Shutdown SOC, the inverter will stop supplying AC out, but the overall unit remains on. If the sun comes out, the MPPTs will operate and charge the battery, right? Once the batteries reach Restart SOC, the inverter will turn on an provide AC power.
Now an extreme case: The batteries drop below Shutdown SOC, the generator has failed (or there is no generator), and the 12K continues to draw power to the point that the battery BMS shuts down. If the sun now comes out, will the MPPTs operate and charge the batteries?

Yes once the Sun comes back out the Sol-Ark will kick back on and start charging the batteries and once the batteries reach the "Battery Restart" point you set, the Inverter will start powering the house again.

 

[sgturner]

If I'm understanding correctly, once the batteries fall below the Shutdown SOC, the inverter will stop supplying AC out,

What I'd like to have happen with my Sol-Ark 12K based system is when the Battery Shutdown point is reached ( I have it set to 10%), have the Sol-Ark switch to using the Grid if there is not enough solar (cloudy day). I can't have the Sol-Ark stop supplying AC to my house if Grid power is available.

 

[629658]

What I'd like to have happen with my Sol-Ark 12K based system is when the Battery Shutdown point is reached ( I have it set to 10%), have the Sol-Ark switch to using the Grid if there is not enough solar (cloudy day). I can't have the Sol-Ark stop supplying AC to my house if Grid power is available.

I’m pretty sure if grid is present the Sol Ark will not shut off the grid to your house. The 200 amp pass through would power the loads from grid if present. If the Sol Ark itself was powered down then you would loose AC power to the house. When I first installed I didn’t have batteries connected yet only PV for a day or so. The Sol Ark functioned just like a normal grid tied inverter. Display showed OFF (only grid was available after dark) but we were on grid with all loads powered. Next day when sun came up it started back up and powered loads with PV.

 

[sgturner]

The manual is not clear on what happens:


"the inverter will shut down", in my mind conflicts with "battery symbol on the home screen will turn red". The Sol-Ark must still be running if its displaying symbols on its screen.

 

[Llaves]

"the inverter will shut down", in my mind conflicts with "battery symbol on the home screen will turn red". The Sol-Ark must still be running if its displaying symbols on its screen.

The 12K is several components in one - an inverter, two MPPTs, a battery charger, and a grid pass-thru, plus a controller to coordinate the actions of the components. With no batteries or batteries below the shut-off voltage, the inverter stage will indeed shut down. But other units in the 12K will continue to operate.

I don't think anyone will defend the writing quality of the manual.

 

[629658]

The 12K is several components in one - an inverter, two MPPTs, a battery charger, and a grid pass-thru, plus a controller to coordinate the actions of the components. With no batteries or batteries below the shut-off voltage, the inverter stage will indeed shut down. But other units in the 12K will continue to operate.

I don't think anyone will defend the writing quality of the manual.

I agree as long as you have grid power to the inverter it will not completely shut off. And yes the manual is awful.

 

[Llaves]

I agree as long as you have grid power to the inverter it will not completely shut off. And yes the manual is awful.

I believe it will also stay online if there is PV input to the MPPT, which will charge the batteries and eventually wake the inverter.

 

[629658]

I believe it will also stay online if there is PV input to the MPPT, which will charge the batteries and eventually wake the inverter.

Correct

 

[sgturner]

So instead of:

Shutdown V: battery voltage at which the Inverter will shut down (battery symbol on the home screen will turn red)

the manual should say:

Shutdown V/SOC: When the battery voltage/SOC reaches this value the following will happen:

• The battery symbol on the home screen will turn red
• No more power will be drawn from the battery
• If the inverter is not connected to the Grid then the AC output will shutdown.
• If the inverter is connected to the Grid then the AC output will use the Grid as its power source

and instead of:

Restart: battery voltage at which AC output will resume

the manual should say:

Restart V/SOC: battery voltage at which the AC output will resume drawing power from the battery.