Panels on generating max when forcing battery charge

I've been noticing this week that the panels only seem to generate their max potential for the current conditions if you force them to. They don;t generate what they should naturally. Often instead of diverting extra to the battery, it instead sends it to the grid... and continues to do so until you also force a battery charge.

Apologies if that doesn't make sense... I've been trying to wrap my head around it... and finally managed to capture a few screen shots to demonstrate what I mean. I've been trying to get some screenshots of this happening in as close to real time as possible... but can't always be on phone to do it...

So here's what I've managed to screenshot just now. aprox 1:02pm panels are generating 595w and sending extra to the grid... it was actually sending more as the house was using a lower amount, but it changed as I was taking the image... panel generation remained the same within the 570-610w range... with the house averaging in the 400w range.

At 1:03pm I forced it to charge the battery and immediately the generation jumps to over 1kw... Now this is actually one of the lowest amounts it's jumped to... I've seen it jump from around 600w to 3kw both Monday and Tuesday, and many times more to between 2-3kw this week. In total I've forced this to happen some 10-15 times in 3 days.

As soon as you stop forcing the battery to charge at 1:04pm... generation immediately drops off again. In this instance you could argue that it's a normal fluctuation... but the generation had actually climbed to 1.4kw between the previous screen shot and this one... But look at what it's doing with the excess... it's not only dropped generation without any change in the weather, cloud cover or anything else... in literally 10-20 seconds from making the change to the app refreshing. it drops about 50% and immediately starts diverting excess to the grid instead of the battery.

This is exactly what I've been trying to explain... and no seems to understand or want to listen... PV panels should not be generating only what the house needs plus a few extra watts... and then suddenly find 5x as much just because you told it to force charge the battery, or because you put a kettle on and spiked the power draw in the house.

Those pics don't show how extreme it can get... we're talking it jumping from 600w to 3.1kw without any change in conditions... and when you compare the solcast predictions... my generation only match theirs... WHEN I force this to happen.

I can't explain it, and it can't be explained away with 'variations' in generation when they're this extreme.

It's doing it right now as I type this... sending 300w of excess out to the grid instead of the battery.

Anomnomnomaly something is wrong in your set up. Panels won't generate more energy when you start importing! Have you contacted your installer?

I've just repeated the test again, and it did exactly the same... doubled generation as soon as I forced a battery charge and dropped of again immediately as I stopped it.

The whole thing was done in less than 60 seconds... each time that app showed data updated less than 10s ago.

Cdent Not yet... I've been trying to get some screen shots of it happening so I can contact them... We've not yet paid the balance of the installation. Was due to pay that this week.

I'm about to write an email to them to explain what I'm seeing.

The Solar PV generation and Battery Import/Export are measured directly by the Inverter.

The Grid Import/Export are measured using a CT Clamp around the Main Incoming Tails from the Meter into your Fuseboard/Consumer Unit.

Therefore it sounds like it could be your CT Clamp has been installed either in the wrong direction or on the wrong feed.

Here is the guide on installation you want to look at pages 12/13 for correct orientation or the Arrow depending on what you have installed and how it has been installed.

https://zerohomebills.com/wp-content/uploads/GivEnergy-Solar-Battery-Installation-Manual.pdf

Anomnomnomaly A screen shot of the Power Graph on the Portal would be of more use I think. Could it be a CT clamp not done up, in the wrong position, or the wrong way round?

dragon2905 I've emailed everything to the installers and asked them to look into it.

I'm currently recuperating from surgery a couple of weeks ago... one of the reasons I've had a lot of spare time to look at the app and see what it's been doing. I doubt I'll be able to climb up a ladder to the meter and consumer unit... There's a few items that require moving on the floor underneath everything and they're far too heavy for me to shift without risking stitches and so forth. I can only waddle around at the moment, can't bend far and have to navigate the stairs one step at a time... Can't risk climbing a ladder and can't get close enough to look up without moving large boxes.

Hopefully, it's something as simple as you suggest...

SilverArt

What items would you need to show on the power graph? I can take a screen grab, but not sure which items to select?

Always a good idea to go back to the installer with issues.

Anomnomnomaly

You can't access your Electricity Meter Box or Main consumer unit from ground level? Just so we are clear this is where all your electrical circuits come into your house from the street and where the circuits will trip if there is a fault (or you need to turn them off etc).

Just one other thought its generally better to use the cloud portal to check things, the apps are notoriously problematic.

https://www.givenergy.cloud/login

Anomnomnomaly All of them would be a good starting point. (Battery power, Grid Export, Grid Import, Loaf Power, PV Power & Battery Percentage)

dragon2905 I need a step ladder to reach mine as well, as they are at ceiling level and boxed in.

dragon2905
Do i see "live = black" at the bottom of that image!

dragon2905 They're in the garage and up nearer the ceiling... I'm recuperating from major surgery and can't move stuff out of the way or climb up a step ladder to see everything properly.

positor1 yeah sorry mistake, from copy pasting all over the place.

BLACK = NEUTRAL (in older installs just for clarification)

Anomnomnomaly ahh ok, not that common to have consumer units installed too high for easy access but it did/does happen.

dragon2905
It worries me that someone will see that and have an "accident" but i assume you cant delete the picture now?

had a replacement dongle fitted about a week ago, and it took until Friday for them to recommision the system.

Finally got a little brighter weather today and generating about 1kw right now... and it's charging the battery and showing the max generation... I've tried forcing the battery to charge to see if that makes the generation readout jump like before and it's not.

So I think the problem has been a faulty dongle all along... or there's been some kind of firmware update OTA that I wasn't aware of.