EV Charger alternatives

Hi. I have a recent installation of a 5kw Hybrid inverter and a 9.5 battery. With 5kwp panels.

With no real signs of a GivEnergy EV charger soon, I'm looking at alternatives (Zappi, Andersen any).

I've gathered from these forums that an issue with hybrid inverters is that the charger doesn't know where the power is and so it is more difficult to get the system to automatically charge the EV from excess solar. So I'm minded to wait for the GivEnergy one for the integration.

But...how difficult is it in practice with say a Zappi? I would like to ensure I have the option relevatively easily to decide whether solar should go to battery, EV or grid (am on Octopus Flux so like to export when best).

We're a low mileage house (for now) of less than 50 miles in a typical week.

Any recommendations?

I have the Zappi charger and the 5kw Hybrid inverter. There are two scenarios to consider when charging.

1. Overnight when there is no Solar and you need to charge the car, say in a cheaper window, then you also need to charge the house house battery at the same time to avoid draining this battery. If you dont want to add to much energy to the house battery you can restrict the <charge to %> using the options on the GivEnergy portal.
2. During the day when there is excess solar, just set the Zappi to Eco or Eco+ modes and it works well.
   Eco+ will use only excess solar based on what is being exported and wont start charging until at least 1.4kw excess. You can set the <Export Margin> on the Zappi to say 100w or 150w to ensure the two systems dont fight with each other. When clouds come over and lower the surplus, the charging will stop and start automatically. Some cars dont like this and will stop charging. This is a car problem rather than a Zappi problem.
   Eco mode on the Zappi (not to be confused with eco mode on GivEnergy) will work similar to Eco+ mode but will carry on charging at 1.4kw even when a cloud stops solar generation. It uses the house battery to supplement upto 1.4kw until the cloud passes and solar generations picks up again.
   I agree that it would be better to have all components from the same manufacturer so they integrate fully and so I would wait for the GE charger if you can wait but without knowing timescales its hard to plan. The Zappi works fine for me but I dont know about any other charger brands.

michaelhoskins I have used a Zappi with an AC30 and two 5.2Kwh batteries set as Jon-boy describes for over 6 months with no problems.

I’m making do with a granny charger and will continue to wait for the GE EV charger. I just wish they would tell us when we might expect to see it on the market!

Hypervolt charger with GivE system (5kWp PV, Hy5.0 and 8.2kWh).

My charger is closed to 2 years old now, the PV was fitted almost a year ago.

The Hypervolt had some issues with wifi connectivity at the beginning but since that one was fixed by an extender (provided by Hypervolt FOC), I haven't had any issues.

What I like about the Hypervolt is the ability to control the current manually, or it has a similar capability as the Zappi when integrated with solar. Three modes are provided: Boost (or normal charging), Eco (solar topped up from the grid) or SuperEco (only solar but needs a minimum of 1.4kW).

c_squared Please be careful with that. Check the plug and sockets regularly for thermal damage.

rio911 been doing that, it’s good advice. 👍

rio911 thanks. So on the SuperEco mode, it knows when 1.4kw is being exported and then takes that (which just shows as house load on GE)?

michaelhoskins correct

Given possible complications with CT-based solar integration when using hybrid inverter, I've been looking around to see what chargers might allow the power to be controlled through an API. Then an external agent can ask the inverter about what excess power there is, and pass that onto the chargepoint that way. Wouldn't get very quick responses, but as long as you're happy for battery to pick up the slack, it might be a way to do things.

michaelhoskins Yes, it needs a CT clamp, similar to what your PV uses to know what is going on in your house. When you export more than 1.4kW, only then it will charge the car.

You want to be careful if you have: battery, EV charger and/or solar diverter, such as for DHW (domestic hot water). My system wasn't playing nice, so I avoid the superEco mode, and mostly manage the EV charger by manually setting a charging current and letting the battery cover the shortfall.

Jon-boy My Zappi is always set to Eco+ but it never behaves the way you describe it. Charging starts when there is 1.4kW of excess but as soon as the clouds block the sun it doesn't stop charging. Instead it draws from the battery to make up the 1.4kW. Basically it behaves as though it's set on Eco (it's definitely set to Eco+).

I've tried so many different settings and it never works for me. I believe the problem is that because it never draws power from the grid, the Zappi always thinks there is excess so it never stops the charge. As such, I always have to keep an eye on it when I'm charging and manually stop it when the sun disappears behind some clouds. It's an absolute pain in the backside but I can't find any other way to prevent it from inadvertently draining the battery.

Odinias
On the Eddi there is a setting "avoid battery drain" is there not the same setting on the zappi?
And do you have a ct clamp on the battery as well as grid and solar?

positor1 No such option on the Zappi unfortunately. There is an option to pause the GivEnergy battery using the pause button but as we all know this is still bugged and doesn't work. Even if it did work, it wouldn't be ideal as it could mean the house will draw from the grid if the sun goes behind some clouds.

I asked about getting a CT clamp installed for the solar and battery so that the MyEnergi app can read the flow of power from the different sources, but they said its not possible for the battery as its DC. So I didn't bother with either as it would have been a waste of money.

Odinias
ahh you have a hybrid yes? not an ac3 inverter
With my ac3 the myenergy app works great and has its own 3 ct clamps. never drains the battery and the app updates far quicker than the GE app in away mode.

Odinias My Zappi is always set to Eco+ but it never behaves the way you describe it. Charging starts when there is 1.4kW of excess but as soon as the clouds block the sun it doesn't stop charging. Instead it draws from the battery to make up the 1.4kW. Basically it behaves as though it's set on Eco (it's definitely set to Eco+).

Hi Odinas. The only way to get this behaviour is by changing the start/stop delay in Charge Settings -> Eco+ Settings. Check these - especially, in your case, the stop delay.

It is often desirable to delay the terminating of charge if, say, the sun briefly goes behind a cloud. Otherwise on cloudy days the zappi may constantly cycling on and off. Some cars don't like this and stop accepting charge until the cable is unplugged and plugged back in again.

Odinias Do you have an "Export Margin" set on the Zappi settings? say 100w or 150w. This should mean that when in ECO+, when a cloud comes over the battery will initially make up the difference but only to zero export the Zappi will then see that there is no longer the 150w being exported so will back off. As the demand drops so does the battery and eventually they settle, and if my Zappi will stop charging if there is not 150w of export (1.4kw is only required to get started, not to keep charge going). To be honest, I prefer to leave in ECO and let the battery keep the car charging going, it avoids the start/stop.

I use an Anderson charger which has been fitted with a CT clamp which means that it can sense export and grab that. It works very well

This morning I kicked off the BMS upgrade and used the Andersen to hover up the export and push it onto the missus's e208. It all worked nicely and no messing about with the charger software. Just click on the solar tab in the app and move the slider to 100% solar. This tells the charger to not draw any power from the grid.
Very easy and very simple.

Jon-boy I feel incredibly stupid. The export margin was set to zero this whole time that I've had the charger. I've now changed it to 100w and it's now working. To think this entire time I've been manually controlling the charger to avoid draining the battery. I'm such a dufus.

positor1 Yeah i have a hybrid so unfortunately I can't add the visuals on the MeEnergi app to see the battery. I can add it for solar but probably not much point.

Odinias set the Minimum Green Level to 100% and in ECO+ mode with your other settings, the Zappi will only divert export.

Thanks for the replies. So it seems like it's possible to get it working well with a hybrid inverter but may involve a little tinkering. I'll probably give it another couple of months to see if there is movement on the GE charger, and if not take the plunge with something else. The Andersen ones are the best looking in my view so if that can work like Zakalwe says, very tempting