Inverter & battery working in an odd way last 2 days or so.

Hi All,
Our System is as follows:

5.8Kw Solar
Givenergy Hybrid 5 Gen 2
Givernergy 2X 5.2Kw Batteries
(all the Givenergy boxes in the loft)
Zappi
Eddi

It is a recent install since the beginning of April. Up to this week, it has been working as expected with little grid import and even able to put a few miles on the car with spare solar. Originally I set a scheduled AC charge overnight in the low tariff period so it would maintain the battery to 30% max. This worked a couple of times when I charged my EV via the Zappi overnight too.

In the last couple of days, The system has decided to charge the battery after midnight to 100% and when the battery is full it will also not supply all the power it could i.e. up to 3.5kw. For example, if you put the kettle on it will ramp up and take say 1Kw from the battery and 2kw from the grid. Then as the sun goes down the system operates OK taking as much as it can from the battery.

I have contacted Givenergy and they have been very helpful. I was asked to update the firmware from 3009 to 3007 today and yesterday they set off the calibration process of the batteries and then they did the calibration again today.

I guess I will see tonight if the battery tries to charge again. The odd thing now though is that after today's calibration, the inverter choked off the solar to 6w (battery 98-100%) After another call to the tech chaps they reset the Inverter and updated its firmware it restarted but now it only is generating what it thinks it needs (it seems) so not generating spare although exporting a bit around 300w. If put a high load on the system (like forcing a charge on the Zappi) the solar ramps up to the maximum but the battery does not kick in or at least not to its max. I saw it reach around 2kw briefly.

As far as I can tell all settings are at default now.

Any thoughts are welcome.

killythebid have you set any Smart Tariffs up? Sometimes these come with tariff automations, like Go, where it'll charge the batter you 100% regardless of what you set it at.

As for the load, I believe that although the HY5 Gen2 can provide higher outputs, you'll be limited by the batteries which can only provide power at 0.5C so 2.6kW max. But doesn't explain why they're only providing 1kW

Cdent

I do not have any smart tariffs just fixed day and night rates. I cannot have a Smart meter as I live in a "dark" communication zone in North Wales. I can have a Smart meter fitted but it will only work in "dumb" mode which is what we are doing for arrangements to get SEG payments. Interestingly I notice on the mobile app it had a "smart tariff" button activated but I think that is only for info in the app.

I had set the grid charge to 30% during the nighttime tariff to top up if the battery was low. This worked fine initially.

Last night the system seems to be back to normal but I disabled the AC charging schedule yesterday as well as Givenergy updated the inverter firmware. So far today the battery/inverter is feeding demand as expected avoiding grid usage.

I have to say, Givenergy has been very helpful and it's great to be able to deal with a company and technical service based in the UK. The ability for them to be able to look at the data from one's system is great too as they do not have to rely on me to explain what is happening.

It has been a steep learning curve since installation at the beginning of April. I was not expecting to be as hands-on looking after the system as I have been. Hopefully, this will settle down soon to a normal background thing.

killythebid Is your EM115 CT fitted in the right place and correct orientation? You will be able to tell if, when you switch on the oven, you see an import which should appear as a red line below the zero on the chart (or simply a -ve value in the logs). If you inverter ramp up output (from PV or battery) to cater for the load, everything would appear to be working OK. If it doesn't respond, try doing a timed export for at least one 5 minute log period and see what the values in the web portal look like. An export should appear on the graph in red above the line or in the log as a positive number. If the EM115 is detecting the grid import/export correctly, I'd say the issue lies with the inverter firmware and a call to Givenergy or web chat (during office hours for both) would be in order.

If the EM115 is not detecting grid import/export correctly, a call to your installer would be in order to get them to site it between the consumer unit and the grid supply.

Tim

I assume the EM115 CT is the one attached to the small meter device fitted in the Consumer Unit of the house. I think it is working correctly and orientated properly on the Grid tail live wire. It does behave as you say when you put a large load on like the oven.

Although I would not put it past our installers to muck it up as I have had to do a lot of checking and correction to get the Zappi and Eddi playing well together including a misused/orientated ct clamp.

Both Givernergy and Myenergi have been very helpful in giving me guidance to get things running better.

There is still something going on when the batteries are or approach full charge. When it is in that state the system seems reluctant to supply enough power to cover higher load seven when the total load is within 3.5kw. Often it will take around 1kw from the battery and then the remaining from the grid but once the sun goes down the battery feed acts as it should and starts to drain without the grid's input.

I have had a firmware update from Givenergy yesterday but it has had no effect on the issue above but does seem to have helped the ac charging issue at night.

killythebid this does sound like a firmware feature that has been reported already but does need fixing.

Tim

I think you are right. Looking around the forum others are having the same or similar issues. Hopefully, there will be a firmware update to come.

Now that any AC charging has been stopped overnight the small amount of grid import occasionally when the battery is full is not a big issue now.

In any case, today the sun has been shining and oodles of generation, enough to top up the EV car with some solar miles and heat the hot water. So all good.