Dashboard/Portal/Setup Query

Hi, first time posting here so hope I can explain my query adequately!
Setup is 10 Panels/4.2KWh system via Solis 3.6kWh Inverter, 2 X AC3 Couplers to 2 X 9.5 Batteries. Additionally 2.5 Amp EPS Circuit.
1 CT Clamp on live feed from Smart Meter to original Consumer Unit/Distribution Board.
EM115 Main Meter & OB115-Mod PV Meter inside additional Distribution Board of PV Array etc.
Hope one of you knowledgeable people can explain why our GivEnergy dashboard is telling us that we Generated 279.90 kWh and consumed 318.25kWh yesterday.
These figures have been accumulating since installation about 7-8 weeks ago.
The Phone App gives yesterday’s Generation Total of 14.76 and Consumption of 15.92 kWh which we would assume is about right.
The Generation and Consumption totals in the lower section of the first image, I guess are about right.

Additionally and may be part of the same problem, when we charge the batteries the Power Graph shows an additional 3kWh Load (to the house) and 6kWh going to the batteries. Any idea why the 3kWh showing as load, shouldn’t it just show going to battery?
Would this be a GivEnergy portal/dashboard problem, or user error/misunderstanding!
Many thanks in advance,
Mark

It looks like something is doubling up somewhere
Have you got EM115 in the right place?

One battery charging the other? I have not seen what cross charging looks like in person.

SteveCook
Agreed, looks like something doubling up. Don't know about positing of EM115, was installed by the installers...the attached probably isn't much help...can't upload photo at the moment!
Apologies for the delayed reply
Many thanks Mark

THALL
Thanks Thall, no it's not cross charging, have seen that too though and like others waiting for Firmware fix which is still in testing.
Mark

MarkGarage Sadly it will be a hardware fix, totally separate box. Which means cost for a sparky to install :-(

THALL
Thanks Thall, If it has been installed incorrectly the installers can rectify, but I'm not convinced it's and installer error as the App on the phone is correct figures, I think!

SteveCook _ UPDATE Info from GivEnergy "The dual inverter setup is a known issue currently and partly the reason we do not advise it as the energy totals are wildly innacurate. We hope for a fix for this with the release of the EMS, but do not have a launch date for this" ....looks like GivEnergy don't currently like installing 2 AC inverters!

THALL UPDATE - Info from GivEnergy "The dual inverter setup is a known issue currently and partly the reason we do not advise it as the energy totals are wildly innacurate. We hope for a fix for this with the release of the EMS, but do not have a launch date for this" ....looks like GivEnergy don't currently like installing 2 AC inverters!

As a fellow twin AC3 user, I can confirm this is normal. Some, but not all of the calculations done by the GE systems cannot cope with twin AC3 inverters. You will probably find that charging/discharging of one of the two systems will be partly shown as house load.

It is a pain, but you will probably get a feel for what is believable and what is junk. We still feel that the benefits of this setup far outweigh the poor reporting in the Portal/App.

ToothyChris Thanks ToothyChris, Agree with everything you have just said, it’s a great setup with poor reporting! Yes have got a feel for what is believable and what isn’t. Good to know it's not an install error.
Many thanks again.

And you are probably already aware of the trick to stop cross-charging, when you spot it?

Just restart one or both of the inverters from the Portal, or do a 10s Pause then Play from the App.

ToothyChris Thanks again, have managed to stop it but hadn’t understood how although I now realise that I did restart an inverter!
If you have any more tips, please do pass them on – all much appreciated!
Enjoy your evening.

MarkGarage They do not and have not for a while. But they used to be ok with it, plant mode etc. I can not wait for the EMS box, I really want dual ac3's. It is the last piece in my renewable plan.

THALL Thanks THALL, learning all the time! Twin AC3s certainly quick at charging/discharging both batteries.

MarkGarage Indeed. There was rumour of a gen 2 AC3 device. But now the all in one is listed I am not sure there will be a gen 2 AC3. Not sure how much faster it would of been, 3.6kw maybe. For me dual AC3's would eliminate a lot of my grid use. While cooking my power draw moves between 2.5kw and 4.5kw. Plus EV charging, if I had dual AC3's I would reduce my EV charge speed to 6kw etc. Plant mode provides so many options and I really hope this EMS appears soon and fixes the issues with multiple inverters.

MarkGarage dual inverter setup is a known issue currently and partly the reason we do not advise it as the energy totals are wildly innacurate.

Really? It seems perverse to hamper sales and deny consumers the ability to manage their energy consumption because they can't get the cloud portal to do the sums. If the sale of dual AC-connected inverters (as a plant), came with a health warning of "it'll work as you expect it to but we won't yet be able to give you decent reports", or "if you buy more than one of these, you'll have to have separate accounts for them so the numbers look half-decent", then the consumer and their installer would have the choice of optimising their energy management now, or later.

There is at least one user on this forum with multiple AC-connected inverters with battery, installed on separate phases and they seem to be doing the job of soaking up the PV from a three phase inverter. There are users who have dual AC-3s connected as a plant that (apart from cross-charging), seem to working as designed, just not reporting. I'm not aware of anyone with a Givenergy hybrid and AC-coupled, but that configuration should work as well as our dual hybrids which work really well albeit that the portal data is wrong in places. Notwithstanding that, I'm very happy that the plant is doing the job we need of it. When the portal data gets sorted, that'll be the icing on the cake.

Tim Thanks Tim, you are right. Our 2 AC3s and 2 batteries are working well apart from occasional cross charging and inaccurate reporting of some info.
My original query was why is this happening, was concerned that there may have been an install error, but now have a lot better understanding thanks to the Community Forum!

MarkGarage My original query was why is this happening, was concerned that there may have been an install error, but now have a lot better understanding thanks to the Community Forum!

I went through exactly the same 'is it just me, or are they all like this' process, before finally accepting that we were normal and that the two inverters had been set up correctly, in a Master/Slave 'plant' mode. Having said that, I still don't know that Master/Slave actually does anything, given that they seem to operate in isolation and ignorant of each other. There does not seem to be any attempt to balance charge, or balance load, or to balance SOC of the two AC3s.

ToothyChris I think your expectation that they should work together, share load and balance themselves so that each inverter is doing half the work is perfectly reasonable. I suspect that Givenergy put the master/slave configuration in expecting that controlling them in a load/balancing way would be simple, but it seems not. Ironically, our installer specified dual HY5s and installed them side by side but the only common connection between the two is on the busbars of the "solar" consumer unit. They have separate EM115s and for the past year have been ramping up and down in tandem, load sharing and until very recently, the battery SoCs were always within 1-2% irrespective of the actual SoC. Both inverters have panels on the same roof aspect, so they are exposed to the same sun and same cloud all the time. They must have put two AC-3s in a lab to see how they worked together without any modbus connection and decided it just would work in the field. I think that while the Modbus connection between your two AC3s stops them fighting (apart from the odd cross charging) it isn't able to get them working harmoniously.