App shows PV always generating 24x7

I've recently had an install of a 3.6kW PV system with Enphase microinverters, 3.0kW AC coupled inverter and 8.2kWh battery. The PV seems to be working, and the numbers in the app and online dashboard are generally believable, but the PV generation is reported as a constant positive around the clock. The value in the dark is around 8-14W, all the time. Clearly this can't be true unless I've misunderstood the abilities of PV panels.

I'm obviously very new to at this - is this kind of anomalous reading normal for GivEnergy equipment?

mb1 the CT measuring your PV stuff doesn’t care about which way around it is. What your likely seeing is the power consumption of your micro inverters / hub overnight as opposed to the more normal flow going the other way.

hoggy Ah, that makes sense. Thanks for explaining!

hoggy CT measuring your PV stuff doesn’t care about which way around it is

If the AC3 doesn't know whether the other inverter is discharging or charging, what purpose does this CT serve? There was a post the other day about the fact that the AC3 doesn't simply monitor grid import/export for its control. If the design of the AC3 control circuit is predicated on the second CT being used with a PV-only inverter (ie it uses the scale of the value rather than the apparent flow direction), then I can imagine why they are difficult to control.

The hybrid inverters continuously balance grid import/export by diverting surplus/demand to/from the attached battery. I'm struggling to understand why the AC3s don't do the same. Please put me out of my misery and explain (I'm not really miserable, just puzzled).

Tim the grid one on the AC cares. They AC has another CT you clip around the output of whatever your PV inverter connects in to the house - thats the one where polarity doesnt matter.
I suspect the inverter itself doesnt care about that specific CT beyond drawing a PV graph on the app but i dont have one to test.

hoggy So the second CT on the FIT/PV is simply for display purposes; to "complete the picture" on the Givenergy portal?

Tim as far as I'm aware yes. The AC still works at night so I guess it's not a key component of the system if it has that data or not.
It should just care about the Grid really*

*note: as has been shown many times, what common sense should prevail often doesn't always reflect reality with Givs way of doing things!

My system also shows generation at night. If it is the micro inverters I assume this will affect total generated PV as I've always wondered why my totals do not match the enphase app.

It seems strange it does not recognise input from output as the installation instructions state a particular orientation (via an arrow on the clamp).

Is there a way of correcting or accounting for this so the diagram/ totals just reflects the output?

I may be wrong but I'd guess that all measurements could be almost perfect if more expensive measuring kit was employed. Would we want to pay £500 more to get accuracy of +/-5W, for instance? Not me.
However, there is a full moon tonight so perhaps some panels are better than others...?? 😄

The PV CT on an AC3 IS needed.
It will not charge from solar without it

TheDragon (GivEnergy) really? So if you took it off and just had the grid CT it would just sit there on export?

Edit: if that’s the case why do 2 AC coupled in plant end up seesaw charging into each other if they only take the excess from the PV CT reading rather than Grid? That shouldn’t be possible should it?
All seems a bit weird but then Hybrids don’t pick up on “extra export” either if you have something else like V2G I guess.

Have been assisting a very large setup 3 x AC3 and 9 8.2s.
Wouldnt charge from solar.
Giv saidbit needed ID2 and ID3 meters to provide a solar input.

Without it, you'll get meter comms error. Never tested disconnecting the blue CT to see what happens

It would be nice if Givenergy hid any solar values under 40-50w.

TheDragon (GivEnergy) Off topic but does that 3x AC3 setup work ok? My installer isn't happy to install a second AC3 for me until this new EMS box comes out. Plant setup not recommend apparently.

hoggy Hybrids don’t pick up on “extra export” either if you have something else like V2G I guess.

I would expect that if you had V2G, the hybrids would see that and reduce their output to keep within the G99 limits (so long as CTs were in the right place). We don't have V2G but the HY5s both pull back (to very similiar outputs) to reduce total export to <3.68kW.

Getting back to second CT on AC3 ... I don't doubt @TheDragon (GivEnergy) as he's had advice from Givenergy but electrically, I just don't understand why.

Tim

GivEnergy say no. Not support, but the guy with 3 AC3s had a mare getting set up, faulty EM115s needing back end to add ID 2 and 3 for 2 solar arrays.its doing its job but data in the portal is mad. Load isnt matching his iHD display.
Maybe the dual plant was ok for data, but tripple. Seems to be a whole new beast to tackle.

I don't think Plant has ever work right in the portal? There has been people on here since the very beginning saying it just reports rubbish data in plant (you've generated X MW today & so forth) so I'm not sure if your endeavours may be a little fruitless!
(and shame on GE if they are just letting you waste energy on it trying to fix)

Tim I'll be honest Tim i'm starting to lose the will to live with all the "little quirks" these systems have and keeping up with everything they do & don't do (or seemingly some do & some don't do)
There's already people elsewhere saying that theirs works fine without the PV CT on AC Coupled (just skews the portal a bit) and then here flat out no it won't. Likewise batteries that should (since Jan 22) be 90% DOD coming actually coming out the box brand new even now as 80.... (and it's not like they've been sat on a shelf, they've been sold-out numerous times since)

Rather than me second guessing I think it's time I had a break from here (not because I don't like being wrong (I've eaten plenty of humble pie on here!) I just can't seem to give out accurate info anymore which isn't fair on anyone!

TheDragon (GivEnergy) 3 AC3s had a mare getting set up, faulty EM115s needing back end to add ID 2 and 3 for 2 solar arrays.its doing its job but data in the portal is mad.

Yeah, I get that the Givenergy portal won't give the full picture without the additional CT(s), but control of a single AC-3 should be just fine with just the grid CT. Maybe Givenergy should bound the scope of their portal to their plant only, leaving non-Givenergy systems reporting the other systems.

hoggy I think it's time I had a break from here

I understand the way you feel, but I for one value your input. You can't be expected to know all the answers (I'm doubting Givenergy do either) but your knowledge and experience is much valued.

Hi. Just had an Enphase, 3.0kW AC coupled inverter and 5.2kWh battery installed. Straight away I noticed this low pv generation reading throughout the night. Sometimes spiking to 100W! This is an old post, has there been any change to your system @mb1 ? Does sound like Giv Energy needs to just hide the values under a threshold.

MasonDerulo Yes, no change here I'm afraid. I've just got used to it.

The Enlighten app doesn't suffer from this problem, as presumably it is built to understand the power draw of these things.

If it were up to me, I'd probably add a feature to the system to allow you to specify if you have microinverters. If you specify this, it would filter out low values up to a configurable threshold when it's dark (or should be dark) according to the time, date and location. Shouldn't be difficult, surely.

do microinverters cause this then?

The PV CT doesn't care about flow direction so if your micro inverters use power to stay on overnight then the system will simply show it as PV production even if it isn't flowing "IN" from the panels.

I also see this solar "noise" overnight. I have a solaredge inverter with 14 power optimisers on the panels. The solaredge inverter goes to sleep at night so didn't think that meant optimisers were doing anything - certainly it seems they also "wake up" when I look at their voltage graphs - only waking when the sun comes up...

i have 20 solaredge optimisers, i only see between 4 and 18 watts ever and just ignore it, i had assumed it was the PV ct clamp being too close to other cables.