EG4 Powerpro Batteries

[addision]

I need more battery storage. I have an 18.5kw Fortress connected to my two sol-ark 12k's. I planed all this before we got our second electric car. I now have my system permitted and I know I need more battery capacity. The thing is that I got the Fortress battery 18 months ago and the cost is steep compared to current options. I am considering going with the EG4 Powerpro instead and moving the 18.5 to another property.

I do have a few questions though. The Powerpro's appear to give me 14.3kw for about $3800.00 where the Fortress is 18.5kw for about 9k, a big difference in cost. Will there be any configuration concerns I would have with the EG4 Powerpro? I have read that you can only have 3 in parallel, is this true because I would like 4? I tried calling signature solar and they told me they don't know because they don't sell the Sol-ark product.

Other than the EG4 Powerpro, what are some good options for my Sol-ark's for getting the most bang for my buck and an easy BMS/setup configuration? If it is a rack system It would need to go into my garage and the Powerpro I could mount on the outside.

 

[Samsonite801]

I need more battery storage. I have an 18.5kw Fortress connected to my two sol-ark 12k's. I planed all this before we got our second electric car. I now have my system permitted and I know I need more battery capacity. The thing is that I got the Fortress battery 18 months ago and the cost is steep compared to current options. I am considering going with the EG4 Powerpro instead and moving the 18.5 to another property.

I do have a few questions though. The Powerpro's appear to give me 14.3kw for about $3800.00 where the Fortress is 18.5kw for about 9k, a big difference in cost. Will there be any configuration concerns I would have with the EG4 Powerpro? I have read that you can only have 3 in parallel, is this true because I would like 4? I tried calling signature solar and they told me they don't know because they don't sell the Sol-ark product.

Other than the EG4 Powerpro, what are some good options for my Sol-ark's for getting the most bang for my buck and an easy BMS/setup configuration? If it is a rack system It would need to go into my garage and the Powerpro I could mount on the outside.

I'm not sure why they'd have some limit on how many in parallel. I don't know if I'd take that seriously (I personally would be daring enough to try more assuming it's just more parallel batteries, that's all)... What possible side-effects could one have? (famous last words hehe)..

They really cool thing I like about the PowerPro over other batteries is that it is one of the very few on the entire consumer battery market equipped with self-heating (built-in heat pads), which is a plus for people who require battery heating.

I haven't seen one outside the box yet, but I have a neighbor who bought one (still sealed in the box) which I will assist in installing his system (when the house is ready for it), I am anxious to get some hands-on time with it..

Also you may want to confirm if the comms will work with your SolArks, like with the Fortress... (if you care about having comms)..

 

[Quattrohead]

I'm not sure why they'd have some limit on how many in parallel

It's because of the bus bars and certifications.

 

[Samsonite801]

It's because of the bus bars and certifications.

Fair enough, on the certs part of it.

I'd just hook them all up to my own external bus bars anyways if I did it I guess (instead of daisy chaining them on the battery parallel connections)..

 

[addision]

So if I do this and use external busbars, will the BMS still work connected to the Sol-Arks?

 

[Samsonite801]

So if I do this and use external busbars, will the BMS still work connected to the Sol-Arks?

EG4 does sell that communication hub one can get which allows to hook up more brand 3rd party inverters, but it may only work with Lifepower4 batteries on the battery connection side (maybe not also Powerpro), you'll have to check the manual of it to see exactly how it could be used.

If comms don't work (direct-connected), you might have to use a man-in-the-middle solution like Solar Assistant or something. This is where you start getting into uncharted territory, since SolArk doesn't list the Powerpro as a 'supported solution' on their KB showing supported batteries, then comms are on you to figure out if they just happen to work.

Otherwise just charge based on voltages.

 

[Chris72]

I'm not sure why they'd have some limit on how many in parallel. I don't know if I'd take that seriously (I personally would be daring enough to try more assuming it's just more parallel batteries, that's all)... What possible side-effects could one have? (famous last words hehe)..

They really cool thing I like about the PowerPro over other batteries is that it is one of the very few on the entire consumer battery market equipped with self-heating (built-in heat pads), which is a plus for people who require battery heating.

I haven't seen one outside the box yet, but I have a neighbor who bought one (still sealed in the box) which I will assist in installing his system (when the house is ready for it), I am anxious to get some hands-on time with it..

Also you may want to confirm if the comms will work with your SolArks, like with the Fortress... (if you care about having comms)..

Sorry to respond to am old thread. The comms do work with my 2 solark 12ks and the EG4 Power pro

 

[Quattrohead]

Sorry to respond to am old thread. The comms do work with my 2 solark 12ks and the EG4 Power pro

Good to know, what are your settings to make them talk ?

 

[Chris72]

Good to know, what are your settings to make them talk ?

It was actually quite easy. I set the protocol in the Powerpro battery to solark plugged the cable in. See attached PV Pro screenshots.

 

[Quattrohead]

CAN P02-SLK on the battery and BMS Lithium batt mode 0 on the Sol-ark.....simples

 

[Kylepharmd]

It was actually quite easy. I set the protocol in the Powerpro battery to solark plugged the cable in. See attached PV Pro screenshots.

Thanks for posting this! Been looking all over trying to figure out how to get these two talking! The person who helped me set this up hadn't used this battery with sol-ark so we had the battery type as "Batt - %" so I don't think it was actually communicating correctly..

 

[Chris72]

Thanks for posting this! Been looking all over trying to figure out how to get these two talking! The person who helped me set this up hadn't used this battery with sol-ark so we had the battery type as "Batt - %" so I don't think it was actually communicating correctly..

Glad I could help.

 

[Kylepharmd]

I have a follow-up question: how are you able to confirm if the comma are actually working correctly? The SOC is mostly matching up between my SolArk and the powerpro, but aside from that I'm not sure how to tell.


Interestingly, when I go back in to adjust my battery parameters it doesn't show any of the options selected (see screenshot). I update them with "lithium batt" selected and it says it saves successfully, but if I back out and then come back in nothing is selected again. Do you know of this is normal or is something not sticking?

 

[Kylepharmd]

I have a follow-up question: how are you able to confirm if the comma are actually working correctly?

Update in case anyone else comes across this. I had the DIP switch set incorrectly on the battery so they were NOT actually communicating correctly. I got that fixed and once I did, I was able to confirm on the sol-ark screen. On the main menu there is an option that says "Li Batt Info" - if communications are working when you select this you'll get some basic battery info. When I had things connected incorrectly, selecting this brought up a screen with a bunch of zeros because it wasn't actually getting the correct info.

Now I have a new problem, however. When I'm charging from PV, the sol-ark pulls anywhere between 50-300W from the grid. This happens all constantly, even when the PV production exceeds load by thousands of watts.

As an example:

This is right now in the morning making ~1300W PV with a load of only 267W. For some reason the sol-ark is pulling 63W from the grid even though under system work mode the energy pattern is set to "Load First" and the PV production should be more than enough to cover the load.

@Chris72 and @Quattrohead have you seen anything similar with your setup?

I called Sol-Ark and their response was that they don't officially support EG4 batteries and their only suggestion is disconnect the coms from the battery and just manage it manually with the battery voltage (they claim the BMS overrides the inverter settings, but what I think they really mean is they just haven't figured out the programming yet for their inverter to work appropriately with the data it gets from the EG4 BMS).

 

[Chris72]

Update in case anyone else comes across this. I had the DIP switch set incorrectly on the battery so they were NOT actually communicating correctly. I got that fixed and once I did, I was able to confirm on the sol-ark screen. On the main menu there is an option that says "Li Batt Info" - if communications are working when you select this you'll get some basic battery info. When I had things connected incorrectly, selecting this brought up a screen with a bunch of zeros because it wasn't actually getting the correct info.

Now I have a new problem, however. When I'm charging from PV, the sol-ark pulls anywhere between 50-300W from the grid. This happens all constantly, even when the PV production exceeds load by thousands of watts.

As an example:
View attachment 213448
This is right now in the morning making ~1300W PV with a load of only 267W. For some reason the sol-ark is pulling 63W from the grid even though under system work mode the energy pattern is set to "Load First" and the PV production should be more than enough to cover the load.

@Chris72 and @Quattrohead have you seen anything similar with your setup?

I called Sol-Ark and their response was that they don't officially support EG4 batteries and their only suggestion is disconnect the coms from the battery and just manage it manually with the battery voltage (they claim the BMS overrides the inverter settings, but what I think they really mean is they just haven't figured out the programming yet for their inverter to work appropriately with the data it gets from the EG4 BMS).

When you look on the inverter itself is it matching up with what PV Pro is saying? I also think that it's normal to pull a little bit of power from the grid to match the frequency. I believe it's like a keep alive. I have my energy pattern set to battery first. Sorry I forgot to mention the dip switches.

 

[Hedges]

Does (or did) your SolArk ever export to grid?
Always importing some amount could be how it was tuned to avoid ever exporting.
If this is the case, you may be able to adjust closer to zero. Risk is, when "load dump" (disconnect of a large load) occurs, it might briefly export to grid before adjusting power output.

 

[Chris72]

Does (or did) your SolArk ever export to grid?
Always importing some amount could be how it was tuned to avoid ever exporting.
If this is the case, you may be able to adjust closer to zero. Risk is, when "load dump" (disconnect of a large load) occurs, it might briefly export to grid before adjusting power output.

That's also what it could be is 0 export

 

[Kylepharmd]

That's also what it could be is 0 export

It DOES export to the grid and is setup to do so. I posted an update in another thread that it may be the CT sensors picking up some noise or something since (apparently) I don't need to have them installed since I don't have a separate critical loads panel: https://diysolarforum.com/threads/s...-the-grid-when-it-shouldnt.83431/post-1091774

 

[Chris72]

It DOES export to the grid and is setup to do so. I posted an update in another thread that it may be the CT sensors picking up some noise or something since (apparently) I don't need to have them installed since I don't have a separate critical loads panel: https://diysolarforum.com/threads/s...-the-grid-when-it-shouldnt.83431/post-1091774

Where do you have your CT sensors installed? They should be right before the meter but after the inverter on the grid input /output. If you want to disconnect the CT just do it from the inverter pins 3,4,5 and 6. That way you don't have to power anything down. I attached some photos on how I have mine set up.