Hello everyone.
So I've been experiencing weird behaviour from my Voltronic Max II 8kW inverter. Let me first describe my setup.
Setup
I got the inverter I mentioned above connected to 9 solar panels in series (540Wp each) connected to one of the MPPT inputs. The other one sits empty. I paid a technician from the store that sold me the inverter and panels to make the installation and he did it as I mentioned above, so I suppose that's ok.
Additionally, I have a bank of 8 VRLA batteries connected. Each is 12V and 200Ah. The setup is 2 pairs connected in parallel of 4 in series. The cables coming from the batteries are connected to a bipolar DC high current circuit breaker (200 A) then to a Victor Smart Shunt before finally going into the Inverter.
My house is supplied with grid electricity (230V 50Hz) from a local provider but it's not always great and I suffer a lot from blackouts. I live in a rural area. This is why I added batteries. I have a smart meter connected before the inverter to measure grid power consumption and I have Solar Assistant.
So now on to the issues:
Issue 1
During the day, when the inverter is configured in SUB mode, I can see that the sun is enough to provide electricity to spare to the house. If I turn my AC, for example, I can see the inverter report upwards of 3KW coming from the panels. However, through the smart meter, as well as the power utility's meter outside the house, I can see about 6-7 amps of consumption from the grid, nonstop. No matter if there's enough energy coming from the Solar Panels.
Mind you, this is with the inverter reporting 0W for grid consumption. So I don't see this in solar assistant, but I see it in my power bill.
The only way I've found to avoid this is to configure the inverter in SBU mode. This is not ideal but I can manage. In SUB mode it's always chugging 6-7A. Power Factor is around 6-10% while this happens, if that helps diagnosing. During regular grid usage through the inverter, power Factor is around 80-90%, like during the night in SUB mode.
Issue 2
If I configure the inverter in SUB mode, sometimes I see the Inverter reporting 0 amps discharge current, but the Victron Shunt reporting 10-20A (usually around 14) of discharge current (especially in the night). Now, this isn't all the time unlike the issue above, but it is regular, and I haven't found a workaround to this except simply disconnecting the batteries (which is ridiculous since I want them especially at night).
So I can't seem to catch a break. Is this normal behaviour?
Can anyone help me figure this out without breaking the bank again (hopefully)?
So I've been experiencing weird behaviour from my Voltronic Max II 8kW inverter. Let me first describe my setup.
Setup
I got the inverter I mentioned above connected to 9 solar panels in series (540Wp each) connected to one of the MPPT inputs. The other one sits empty. I paid a technician from the store that sold me the inverter and panels to make the installation and he did it as I mentioned above, so I suppose that's ok.
Additionally, I have a bank of 8 VRLA batteries connected. Each is 12V and 200Ah. The setup is 2 pairs connected in parallel of 4 in series. The cables coming from the batteries are connected to a bipolar DC high current circuit breaker (200 A) then to a Victor Smart Shunt before finally going into the Inverter.
My house is supplied with grid electricity (230V 50Hz) from a local provider but it's not always great and I suffer a lot from blackouts. I live in a rural area. This is why I added batteries. I have a smart meter connected before the inverter to measure grid power consumption and I have Solar Assistant.
So now on to the issues:
Issue 1
During the day, when the inverter is configured in SUB mode, I can see that the sun is enough to provide electricity to spare to the house. If I turn my AC, for example, I can see the inverter report upwards of 3KW coming from the panels. However, through the smart meter, as well as the power utility's meter outside the house, I can see about 6-7 amps of consumption from the grid, nonstop. No matter if there's enough energy coming from the Solar Panels.
Mind you, this is with the inverter reporting 0W for grid consumption. So I don't see this in solar assistant, but I see it in my power bill.
The only way I've found to avoid this is to configure the inverter in SBU mode. This is not ideal but I can manage. In SUB mode it's always chugging 6-7A. Power Factor is around 6-10% while this happens, if that helps diagnosing. During regular grid usage through the inverter, power Factor is around 80-90%, like during the night in SUB mode.
Issue 2
If I configure the inverter in SUB mode, sometimes I see the Inverter reporting 0 amps discharge current, but the Victron Shunt reporting 10-20A (usually around 14) of discharge current (especially in the night). Now, this isn't all the time unlike the issue above, but it is regular, and I haven't found a workaround to this except simply disconnecting the batteries (which is ridiculous since I want them especially at night).
So I can't seem to catch a break. Is this normal behaviour?
Can anyone help me figure this out without breaking the bank again (hopefully)?
Last edited:
