hi all, i cant seem to find a spec on the gateway? it says you wire pv to it, im guessing its ac grid string tied inverter, will any make work? ive not seen givenergy do just string inverter, only hybrid. and what wattage of pv will it take? does the gateway have g100 settings?
thanks
andrewcrosse can't answer all the questions, but the gateway and AIO doesn't support DC.
You have to have a separate AC inverter for the solar.
The AC output of that solar inverter can then be connected to the AIO - so that the solar inverter can be kept online during a grid failure.
Usually solar inverters would go offline during a grid outage as they're grid tied (to follow the frequency) plus you don't want to electrocute any national grid workers!
There's a few topics on the AIO and gateway, so you might want to do a search and have a read of them.
I think the breaker for solar is 32A which would be 7-7.5kW AC maximum.
@TheDragon (GivEnergy) i believe has an AIO and works for GE so will probably give a good answer.
kram the PV breaker is 32A yes.
On my own unit I have 8kw of PV on this, as it rarely gets to full power for any length of time the breaker is perfectly fine with peaks over. Its a C32 so can happily peak at 10x this for 1second.
In fact looking at the ABB spec, 1.5x rating for 5 mins is in spec.
Im not saying you can over use the breaker, but it will come to no harm with occasional over 32A.
If you are looking to be continuous 8kw+ something else needs to be done.
I am in progress asking if we can uprate the breakers on a case by case, installer to get the different breaker, push back is if these large arrays are used in OFF GRID. the AIO will immediately shut off, due to microGrid over voltage
Thanks, I didn’t want to get it wrong.
Just linking back, I assume then that you wouldn’t expect trips off grid with up to 7.5kW of solar connected to a 5 or 6kW inverter and into the AIO.
Assume, when multiple AIOs are supported, each AIO could have a solar inverter connected to it?
I don’t think so, I think the inverter is into the gateway.
However in that situation multiple batteries should soak up a lot more solar before problems with going off grid would trip the safety systems.
kram that would be my understanding too, 12kw of charge capacity for 2 x AIO
TheDragon (GivEnergy)
what made you choose a C curve mcb?
was it the 10x capability as opposed to 1.2X for a B curve?
From a response from GivEnergy to a query I made, I gather that with multiple AIO's, each AIO will have its own Gateway. So presumably you could have 6kW of PV, and a EV charger, for every AIO/Gateway. It's not clear how the multiple Gateways handle a mains outage, presumably the Gateway nearest the incomer will be the 'master' Gateway and do that.
Quite a lot of unknowns still regarding multiple AIOs.
Baychattan That doesn't make sense to me. Surely you don't need multiple gateways? I don't think you need multiple gateway devices for powerwalls. I can kind of understand multiple gateways for homes with 3 phase power but for single phase a single gateway covers it.
Baychattan SO why is there a Parallel Busbar connection in there? Even us at GivEnergy havnt seen the Parallel setup yet. Be sure when I do, I will pull it to bits and digest its workings
Admittedly sticking my nose in as ever but I just don't get the parallel connection "as is" - It just links straight to the busbars? No MCB or anything which seems a bit odd. And it's only 2 terminals, so you can only have two AIOs if the intention is to just connect AIOs directly to it? The cables look good for 100A not 32A which is perhaps another clue?
The only way I can see that connection make sense for many AIOs is:
a) there's a separate parallel marshalling box going to be made (or your spark has to build one) stuffed with AIO breakers which extends the protected "always on" busbar outside of the Gateway itself - each additional AIO then has it's own separate 32A breaker and the one connected directly in the gateway is perhaps made master?)
The Gateway itself just doesn't seem to have enough of the comms "in / out" bits to have multiple gateways linked together whereas the side of the AIO has sockets for:
Gateway In
Gateway Out
Parallel In
Parallel Out
which make sense if your doing everything outside of the gateway local to the AIOs instead.
Just a guess though...
I would imagine that like the power wall it's a single gateway and multiple devices connected to the gateway.
How that connection into it is provided is probably the open question.
TheDragon (GivEnergy)
thank you for the reply,
i expect it has internal wiring/components that will be rated at 32amp, eg transfer contactor to allow grid connection. exceeding it would be fine if it has g100 limitations where it will raise the voltage/frequency to override the string inverters making them throttle back. this is how victron do it anyway.