Afternoon. on the 1st March my display (both mobile and portal) show my battery percentage is flat at 48%, despite there being loads of sun today (2nd March). The inverter says idle at 48%.
Also the timed charge (2am-2am Octopus Energy cheap period) hasn't happened.
I've done a firmware upgrade, reset back to factory defaults and re-instated a timed charge and nothing happens.
Anyone got any ideas what else I could do?
petecogle It's not impossible that reset to defaults only resets those changes the portal thinks need changing. If a register had got out of sync, it's possible it doesn't change it. I don't know this for sure, but have got that impression from posts on here. (I don't think I've ever done that on my own inverter.)
Eco flag being turned off covers most of the symptoms, but not the timed charge. (I assume 2am-2am was a typo since that wouldn't have any effect.) Try explicitly turning that flag off then on again.
Another possible option is that charge power and discharge power have become set to 0. Or if your inverter has the pause timer feature, it's been set to pause both charge and discharge. (On my inverter, this doesn't set it to exactly 0, but something like 28W.)
On shakier ground, could it be a battery connection? Not sure if that can manifest in such a way that it can report 48% SoC but not be able to charge or discharge.
Thanks. I've tried switching the ECO flags and lots of other flags. No joy. I've got a call out with the installers as I'm out of ideas and the equipment is in the loft, which I can't access easily. Ho Hum.
Is it accurately recording live consumption data - i.e. is it showing what you are using in the home and also any import/export?
Yes it's showing PV, Load, Import and Export all fine. It's just the battery is not charging or discharging. So effectively a solar power system but without the batteries.
I've now found out that the installer no longer supports GE and won't come back to check and new GE installers will not take on any systems they themselves have not installed. I'm now at the mercy of GE "support". Even though the system is still in warranty, I get the impression the batteries are dead and I've got no-one to replace them. Feeling mightily p*ssed off.
petecogle Have you tried the third-party apps ? On Android, there's https://givenergymonitor.wixsite.com/tutorials or there's the "bbc basic" app which runs on various platforms, inc. iOS - see
https://community.givenergy.cloud/d/5051-bbc-basic-inverter-app-significant-update
https://community.givenergy.cloud/d/3660-can-we-acknowledge-a-bonfide-legend/10
petecogle do you see any notifications in the givenergy portal?
It could be either a stuck inverter, a stuck BMS or the data cable between the two has come loose (although showing 48% is unlikely, it could be the last known value its reporting).
Have you tried powering off everything, the inverter, the battery, the panels, and then restarting it all?
geoffreycoan I have powered off the entire house which has had no effect. I need to get into the loft where the inverters and batteries are. Once I have the appropriate ladder I will do that, but it's going to be next week before I can do that. Then I will follow your logic!
DD Thanks. I've had a look via one of these tools and it shows nothing happening with the battery. I will get physical access to the hardware next week.
Check that the battery isolator handles are in the on position and follow the steps in https://givenergy2025.zohodesk.eu/portal/en/kb/articles/givenergy-battery-troubleshooting-guide
petecogle have powered off the entire house which has had no effect
If the battery BMS has frozen then cutting the house power won’t affect it. You will need to physically power it off by turning the breaker switch off, then powering off the battery by pushing the button on the side.
What type of inverter and battery do you have?
When you do get access to it, seeing what the lights are on the front would be useful.
Are you seeing live (or nearly live) updates on battery temperatures and cell voltages? The data should be visible in the portal.
geoffreycoan You will need to physically power it off by turning the breaker switch off, then powering off the battery by pushing the button on the side.
Other way around - button first then isolator. Flipping the battery isolator on/off with battery powered on can cause cell degredation/damage as its not going to be a clean break (there will be some switch bounce).
Big thanks to everyone who helped me through this. The bottom line was the battery circuit breakers had tripped. Once I got physical access to the unit in the loft I was able to restore the power. The batteries were immediately recognised by the inverter and I can charge and discharge again. I'm glad it's just a simple fix. Quite how I would have diagnosed it without this community forum escapes me. Many thanks again.