Hey Everyone,
I hope I can get some advice on my current situation.
Equipment:
Growatt 3000w 48 All-in-One Inverter Charger (Rounded corner model)
2x EG4 48v 100ah Lithium Batteries (non LCD version)
3,300w Solar Array
Problem:
Batteries go into Alarm state and disconnect power to inverter. Usually only one will fault out at a time, sometimes both together. Seems to happen most often when the batteries reach 100% SOC.
-Batteries are currently not setup to communicate with inverter
-Batteries are not connected with ethernet cable to eachother
-Growatt set to USER2 defined battery type. Setup per Signature Solar's phone instructions.
So just installed these two batteries replacing a single 100ah server rack lithium. This is on my fathers camper down here in AZ. I'm hitting the road of Friday and need this sorted out before I go. Much of this is a bit more than he wants to deal with, so a properly functioning system is critical. When I swapped the batteries out I had the inverter in User1 mode (used on last lithium w/o any comm options). I kept the inverter in User1 and adjusted the charging parameters per the spec sheet on signatures solar's website. I also did connect the included ethernet cable from one battery to the next, thinking maybe they should talk to each other ?.
Then came the first alarm. Both batteries had the red alarm light lit and were no longer supplying power to the inverter. Rebooted the system and they worked again for awhile. Then alarmed again.
Next day I get ahold of Signature Solar's tech support. Very friendly fella helped me out. Under his instructions I changed the battery mode to User2, and adjusted the Charge/Float voltage to 56.5v. Also was told there was no need to connect the ethernet cable to the batteries unless they were also connecting to the inverter. So I disconnected that. Also as I was waiting to get in touch with tech support i adjusted the dip switches so the batteries had different addresses (were set the same at first). But not an issue since i'm not using it. After the changes the batteries seemed to be working fine. So great.
Next morning, the battery(s) faulted and alarmed again. I think just one at a time now. (So many alarm lights I can't remember). It was saturday, so spent the weekend checking on batteries and resetting them as necessary to clear the alarm light.
Yesterday I called up signature solar tech support again. "Peyton" was the fella helping me out. I had noticed a peculiar situation with the voltage reading on the inverter, as the batteries reached 100% SOC. The voltage to the batteries would fluctuate, 53.something, 56.5, 54.2, back up to 56.8, all over the place. Which I assumed was the inverter sending charging pulses? lol. To top off the batteries. But I did also notice that the voltage would jump up well over the 56.5v set point in the inverter. 57.5v, 58.0v. This got me thinking. Well I'm pretty sure the BMS kicks out at 60v, so maybe the voltage was jumping up high enough to trip the alarm? Not sure, so I suggested to Peyton that maybe we needed to decrease the 56.5v set point the previous tech has instructed me to use. He said no, and to keep it at 56.5. The spec sheet recommends 56v. But they are the experts so ok. Peyton has me do a complete shut down and restart of the system. Of which one of the batteries alarms again. He asks me to take a picture of the batteries, under load, with a voltmeter and send it to him over email. I sent it over, no response. I called again yesterday afternoon, talked to the operator, she said she would let him know to call me. Nothing yet this morning.
So I take a look again this morning because one of the batteries faults out again, reset, faults again, reset, stays on this time. So without input from Signature Solar I decided to adjust the charge voltage down to 56v. Thinking maybe that will help. Once again I keep an eye on the Growatt screen at the battery voltage. Same thing, reach 100% SOC and the input voltage ranges up and down over and over. This time though, while i'm watching I see the voltage reading hit 60.1v! So I adjust the voltage down another .5v to 55.5v. Hoping the spikes in voltage from the inverter will be less. But just as i'm feeling pretty good about myself, one of the batteries trips again (while i'm not watching).
So I think the issues lies with the Growatt inverter pushing too high of a voltage to the batteries when at 100% SOC. Thus causing the batteries to alarm out. But I do not see a way to keep the inverter from going wild and pushing 60v at the batteries when I only want it to charge at 56.v.
Any thoughts? Thanks!
Josh
I hope I can get some advice on my current situation.
Equipment:
Growatt 3000w 48 All-in-One Inverter Charger (Rounded corner model)
2x EG4 48v 100ah Lithium Batteries (non LCD version)
3,300w Solar Array
Problem:
Batteries go into Alarm state and disconnect power to inverter. Usually only one will fault out at a time, sometimes both together. Seems to happen most often when the batteries reach 100% SOC.
-Batteries are currently not setup to communicate with inverter
-Batteries are not connected with ethernet cable to eachother
-Growatt set to USER2 defined battery type. Setup per Signature Solar's phone instructions.
So just installed these two batteries replacing a single 100ah server rack lithium. This is on my fathers camper down here in AZ. I'm hitting the road of Friday and need this sorted out before I go. Much of this is a bit more than he wants to deal with, so a properly functioning system is critical. When I swapped the batteries out I had the inverter in User1 mode (used on last lithium w/o any comm options). I kept the inverter in User1 and adjusted the charging parameters per the spec sheet on signatures solar's website. I also did connect the included ethernet cable from one battery to the next, thinking maybe they should talk to each other ?.
Then came the first alarm. Both batteries had the red alarm light lit and were no longer supplying power to the inverter. Rebooted the system and they worked again for awhile. Then alarmed again.
Next day I get ahold of Signature Solar's tech support. Very friendly fella helped me out. Under his instructions I changed the battery mode to User2, and adjusted the Charge/Float voltage to 56.5v. Also was told there was no need to connect the ethernet cable to the batteries unless they were also connecting to the inverter. So I disconnected that. Also as I was waiting to get in touch with tech support i adjusted the dip switches so the batteries had different addresses (were set the same at first). But not an issue since i'm not using it. After the changes the batteries seemed to be working fine. So great.
Next morning, the battery(s) faulted and alarmed again. I think just one at a time now. (So many alarm lights I can't remember). It was saturday, so spent the weekend checking on batteries and resetting them as necessary to clear the alarm light.
Yesterday I called up signature solar tech support again. "Peyton" was the fella helping me out. I had noticed a peculiar situation with the voltage reading on the inverter, as the batteries reached 100% SOC. The voltage to the batteries would fluctuate, 53.something, 56.5, 54.2, back up to 56.8, all over the place. Which I assumed was the inverter sending charging pulses? lol. To top off the batteries. But I did also notice that the voltage would jump up well over the 56.5v set point in the inverter. 57.5v, 58.0v. This got me thinking. Well I'm pretty sure the BMS kicks out at 60v, so maybe the voltage was jumping up high enough to trip the alarm? Not sure, so I suggested to Peyton that maybe we needed to decrease the 56.5v set point the previous tech has instructed me to use. He said no, and to keep it at 56.5. The spec sheet recommends 56v. But they are the experts so ok. Peyton has me do a complete shut down and restart of the system. Of which one of the batteries alarms again. He asks me to take a picture of the batteries, under load, with a voltmeter and send it to him over email. I sent it over, no response. I called again yesterday afternoon, talked to the operator, she said she would let him know to call me. Nothing yet this morning.
So I take a look again this morning because one of the batteries faults out again, reset, faults again, reset, stays on this time. So without input from Signature Solar I decided to adjust the charge voltage down to 56v. Thinking maybe that will help. Once again I keep an eye on the Growatt screen at the battery voltage. Same thing, reach 100% SOC and the input voltage ranges up and down over and over. This time though, while i'm watching I see the voltage reading hit 60.1v! So I adjust the voltage down another .5v to 55.5v. Hoping the spikes in voltage from the inverter will be less. But just as i'm feeling pretty good about myself, one of the batteries trips again (while i'm not watching).
So I think the issues lies with the Growatt inverter pushing too high of a voltage to the batteries when at 100% SOC. Thus causing the batteries to alarm out. But I do not see a way to keep the inverter from going wild and pushing 60v at the batteries when I only want it to charge at 56.v.
Any thoughts? Thanks!
Josh