Disconnected from grid?

Please help. During a forced battery discharge this morning the inverter went off line I think. The lights for grid supply on & solar power on are both red and all grid draw & solar export have ceased. Cannot get hold of Octopus who installed or GivEnergy. I have printed instructions for disconnecting & restarting the system. Should I follow those? But the disconnection instructions say “wait 5 minutes before removing cover”. What cover? And why am I removing it? Any help gratefully received after 16 months of seamless operation.

AlisonG But the disconnection instructions say “wait 5 minutes before removing cover”. What cover? And why am I removing it? Any help gratefully received after 16 months of seamless operation.

I don't think you need to worry about that - that will be aimed at people servicing the kit, and the 5 minutes will be to give things like capacitors time to discharge, for safety. (Though I thought some types can retain charge for a very long time.)

You would need to isolate the inverter from all power sources - grid, battery and solar - to ensure that it fully powers down. Otherwise it could probably continue running with power from any of those sources. And then letting it sit will ensure that it wasn't able to keep running on residual stored power. (I'd be very surprised if that takes 5 minutes, but I guess that wouldn't do any harm.)

You might find additional information about starting in the installation guides: https://kb.givenergy.cloud/category.php?id=1

Good luck.

That’s reassuring, thank you. My only problem now is I can’t find the DC isolator switch. Is that the switch on the underside of the inverter that seems to switch the panels on & off? It isn’t labelled as DC isolator. Or am I looking for something else?

AlisonG On my gen-3 hybrid, there's a rotary switch on bottom-left (facing the inverter). But there's also external DC isolators for the two PV strings.

The installation guides probably label all the various buttons and switches and things.

(This will also be a good time to test the RCD, which you're supposed to from time to time.)

Phew. Sorted now. Thank you so much for your help. Found the DC isolator & eventually discovered a tripped switch in the PV consumer unit. Will test RCD switch now I think I’ve worked out what’s what.