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One nice to have thing that would be really helpful in future versions of GS inverters is the ability to see the output wattage, voltage and current on each leg of the inverter. That way once you have the ability to log data to a local computer an inverter owner can get a better picture of how loads are running on the inverter and pinpoint potential problem areas. Either way I may just add that externally in the critical loads panel at some point.
I periodically check the balance with my clamp meter and most of the time it is fairly well balanced but every once in a while it is possible to have the inverter loaded down with a 2000-2500 watt load spread fairly evenly across L1 and L2 and then have a motor start like my 120v well pump and have it pull about 1400 watts once it settles in but the startup surge is enough to kick out the inverter into a transformer voltage error. This is with the battery voltage at 53.2V. I may rewire the well pump to 240v if the motor is capable of multi voltage as this would help spread the starting load more evenly across the inverter. The inverter is fine starting the well pump when the total evenly spread load is around 1000 watts or less but I will need to find a way to make the load for the well pump for even or add some type of soft start to the motor. Maybe this is an excuse to upgrade the well pump with a VFD and appropriate motor. Not sure what the limits are set to (I am aware it is hard limited to 6000W) with the inverter under warranty but it may be a good future test to see what the max inrush capability for the GS inverter is under stock warranty-not-voided settings.
I do plan to order a 12K GS inverter in the future when they are out of development and made available.
21 minutes ago, kuhrd said:One nice to have thing that would be really helpful in future versions of GS inverters is the ability to see the output wattage, voltage and current on each leg of the inverter. That way once you have the ability to log data to a local computer an inverter owner can get a better picture of how loads are running on the inverter and pinpoint potential problem areas. Either way I may just add that externally in the critical loads panel at some point.
I periodically check the balance with my clamp meter and most of the time it is fairly well balanced but every once in a while it is possible to have the inverter loaded down with a 2000-2500 watt load spread fairly evenly across L1 and L2 and then have a motor start like my 120v well pump and have it pull about 1400 watts once it settles in but the startup surge is enough to kick out the inverter into a transformer voltage error. This is with the battery voltage at 53.2V. I may rewire the well pump to 240v if the motor is capable of multi voltage as this would help spread the starting load more evenly across the inverter. The inverter is fine starting the well pump when the total evenly spread load is around 1000 watts or less but I will need to find a way to make the load for the well pump for even or add some type of soft start to the motor. Maybe this is an excuse to upgrade the well pump with a VFD and appropriate motor. Not sure what the limits are set to (I am aware it is hard limited to 6000W) with the inverter under warranty but it may be a good future test to see what the max inrush capability for the GS inverter is under stock warranty-not-voided settings.
I do plan to order a 12K GS inverter in the future when they are out of development and made available.
Shuuuuush. . . Don't give any idea to Sid to add to his plate. I want my pups now, and adding anything extra will throw that out the window. . . I think this is already in the wish list andwill probley pop up sometimes soon.
Yes, the gs is 6k, which means 3k per leg. that is why I bought two gs inverts so I can have 6k per leg. I don't even know how balance my panel is. lol.
10 minutes ago, kuhrd said:One nice to have thing that would be really helpful in future versions of GS inverters is the ability to see the output wattage, voltage and current on each leg of the inverter.
This starts to get extremely difficult to handle from a hardware perspective (not to mention software!) I've considered it in the past, but it is functionally impossible to determine the difference between 2 equally balanced 120v loads...and a 240v load.
With the current hardware, it is possible to determine the total load (L1 + L2), as well as the differential load on L1. Measuring amperage on "N" only would tell you how imbalanced the loads are--which can be determined from (total - L1) with no extra parts.
With the balanced transformers, the only voltage difference between the L1 - L2 legs would be directly related to voltage drop...so rather a moot point.
This is quite a niche idea...so much more suited to a one-off external monitoring device.
Let's not mention that the power sense chip on the WiFi board has gone from about $1.80/ea to $7.03/ea--that is, if you can find it. U.S. suppliers are all but out of stock, with estimated restocking in January of 2022. Sheesh! (Looks like I'll need to be switching to a different power monitoring chip for future WiFi boards.)
16 minutes ago, kuhrd said:I periodically check the balance with my clamp meter and most of the time it is fairly well balanced but every once in a while it is possible to have the inverter loaded down with a 2000-2500 watt load spread fairly evenly across L1 and L2 and then have a motor start like my 120v well pump and have it pull about 1400 watts once it settles in but the startup surge is enough to kick out the inverter into a transformer voltage error.
OK, it shouldn't be tripping/erroring out like that. Sounds like a hair trigger that's just a bit too sensitive...so now I need to figure out what's the matter.
"XFormer Volt Err"...that is very good to know. Looked back in your posting history, you upgraded to firmware v1.1r1 not too long ago?
The only 2 places in the current firmware that could cause this error are:
- max throttle was reached, and no output feedback was detected during soft start (this error more for the DIY'ers out there...had someone blow up a good set of FETs this past February by accidentally miswiring the transformer secondary...ran to full redline throttle with no load, the tranny saturated, and the FETs went like firecrackers)
- battery charge current is too high at throttle of zero (indicating transformer voltage spec is too high, can't regulate charge current.)
Option (1) is kinda the only one that could make sense, BUT it's disabled if soft-start has completed...are you sure the inverter isn't restarting when you plug in the well pump? (Output will drop out for about 1 second, and the Power LED will briefly flash white.)
Oh, well, for that matter, I DID find a bit of a bug a few days ago with soft-start not turning itself off after the 1/2 second "soft start" is completed...this coupled with rule (1) is probably what's biting you ;-). My bad, this will be fixed in 1.1r2.
24 minutes ago, kuhrd said:Not sure what the limits are set to (I am aware it is hard limited to 6000W) with the inverter under warranty but it may be a good future test to see what the max inrush capability for the GS inverter is under stock warranty-not-voided settings.
Output is limited to 6kw, but that's with a few seconds' grace--and a shutdown of that case would be indicated by "ERR: OVERLOAD" (all caps). The error you're getting kinda indicates something else 😉.
6 minutes ago, The Blind Wolf said:Shuuuuush. . . Don't give any idea to Sid to add to his plate. I want my pups now, and adding anything extra will throw that out the window. . . I think this is already in the wish list andwill probley pop up sometimes soon.
Ha, righto, you have every right to want 'em yesterday. I'm working on the parallel/daisy code right now, tweaking the frequency control stuff. Gen start is working well, and so far so good on frequency shift stuff.
This starts to get extremely difficult to handle from a hardware perspective (not to mention software!) I've considered it in the past, but it is functionally impossible to determine the difference between 2 equally balanced 120v loads...and a 240v load.
Sure wished I had them this morning with the big storm hit us, it shut my power down for a hour, and cause a 6 hour print job to fail. . . hopeing the bad storm is gone cause I got a 36 hour print job going now just reached 3 hours into it.
8 hours ago, Sid Genetry Solar said:This starts to get extremely difficult to handle from a hardware perspective (not to mention software!) I've considered it in the past, but it is functionally impossible to determine the difference between 2 equally balanced 120v loads...and a 240v load.
With the current hardware, it is possible to determine the total load (L1 + L2), as well as the differential load on L1. Measuring amperage on "N" only would tell you how imbalanced the loads are--which can be determined from (total - L1) with no extra parts.
With the balanced transformers, the only voltage difference between the L1 - L2 legs would be directly related to voltage drop...so rather a moot point.
This is quite a niche idea...so much more suited to a one-off external monitoring device.
Let's not mention that the power sense chip on the WiFi board has gone from about $1.80/ea to $7.03/ea--that is, if you can find it. U.S. suppliers are all but out of stock, with estimated restocking in January of 2022. Sheesh! (Looks like I'll need to be switching to a different power monitoring chip for future WiFi boards.)
OK, it shouldn't be tripping/erroring out like that. Sounds like a hair trigger that's just a bit too sensitive...so now I need to figure out what's the matter.
"XFormer Volt Err"...that is very good to know. Looked back in your posting history, you upgraded to firmware v1.1r1 not too long ago?
The only 2 places in the current firmware that could cause this error are:
- max throttle was reached, and no output feedback was detected during soft start (this error more for the DIY'ers out there...had someone blow up a good set of FETs this past February by accidentally miswiring the transformer secondary...ran to full redline throttle with no load, the tranny saturated, and the FETs went like firecrackers)
- battery charge current is too high at throttle of zero (indicating transformer voltage spec is too high, can't regulate charge current.)
Option (1) is kinda the only one that could make sense, BUT it's disabled if soft-start has completed...are you sure the inverter isn't restarting when you plug in the well pump? (Output will drop out for about 1 second, and the Power LED will briefly flash white.)
Oh, well, for that matter, I DID find a bit of a bug a few days ago with soft-start not turning itself off after the 1/2 second "soft start" is completed...this coupled with rule (1) is probably what's biting you ;-). My bad, this will be fixed in 1.1r2.
Output is limited to 6kw, but that's with a few seconds' grace--and a shutdown of that case would be indicated by "ERR: OVERLOAD" (all caps). The error you're getting kinda indicates something else 😉.
Ha, righto, you have every right to want 'em yesterday. I'm working on the parallel/daisy code right now, tweaking the frequency control stuff. Gen start is working well, and so far so good on frequency shift stuff.
This is more what I was thinking. https://www.amazon.com/PZEM-004T-Current-Voltage-Multimeter-Transformer/dp/B074QGWMKH/ref=sr_1_6?dchild=1&keywords=AC+voltage+and+current+monitor+arduino&qid=1620189720&sr=8-6
A module similar to this but basically doubled with potentially a higher quality ADC that separately measures the voltage and current across each line and then reports back the serial data. This could be mounted on the output end of the inverter and data reported separately in a menu or even just be available as a serial output separate to the operation of the inverter. I realize that this isn't in the cards right now but I was more just suggesting it in the future if things ever get back to normal and we can actually get things again without huge delays.
Speaking of things being unavailable or hard to find and expensive. I was at the local hardware store today, an 8' 2x4 is currently $10.89 each. Before the pandemic the same item was $2.19 each. They are out of stock and on backorder on nearly 60% of the lumber items in the store. Last month I ordered some square steel tubing and it was nearly 450% higher than I paid for the exact same item and quantity shortly before the initial pandemic lockdown.
I am very much a data person and I like to see feedback for everything on my system. At some point I am working toward finding a way to get the data from the BMSs, the solar charge controllers, the inverter and current across every breaker in the panel to show up in one interface that I can have on a small 14-17" screen driven from a small low power linux machine like a raspberry pi on the wall and also available via an encrypted webpage.
12 hours ago, kuhrd said:At some point I am working toward finding a way to get the data from the BMSs, the solar charge controllers, the inverter and current across every breaker in the panel to show up in one interface that I can have on a small 14-17" screen driven from a small low power linux machine like a raspberry pi on the wall and also available via an encrypted webpage.
Pretty much the same as a project I have had in mind for some time now...a "system central" that allows tying together all the different parts of a system, and writing automated control paths for full automation...so if you're at full charge with plenty of sunshine, then why not pop on that electric car charger too?? Batteries cold? Turn off the MPPTs. Something went wrong? Send you a message, or trip a kill switch breaker...
Just don't have the time to start it just yet 😉.
1 minute ago, Sid Genetry Solar said:Pretty much the same as a project I have had in mind for some time now...a "system central" that allows tying together all the different parts of a system, and writing automated control paths for full automation...so if you're at full charge with plenty of sunshine, then why not pop on that electric car charger too?? Batteries cold? Turn off the MPPTs. Something went wrong? Send you a message, or trip a kill switch breaker...
Just don't have the time to start it just yet 😉.
I here ya there Sid. I feel like I too, am always burning the candle at both ends and the middle every day.
At some point I want to be able to have my system sense when the batteries are full and turn on one or more 48V water heating elements and store all extra energy generated to heat water since my house has a central boiler and a tank for hot water is far cheaper than the equivalent storage capacity in batteries. Originally I was looking at a BMS from ElectroDacus that could divert solar directly to water heater elements when the battery was full but his BMS was setup for 24V at the time and I knew that 48V was the only option I could run If I hoped to run 100% off grid eventually without needing to invest in copper mining futures to handle the current.
and I knew that 48V was the only option I could run If I hoped to run 100% off grid eventually without needing to invest in copper mining futures to handle the current.
Ha. Heard you there 🤣🤯.