question

khaled avatar image
khaled asked

Lights Flickering

Hi there,

I have a system of Victron multi-plus II 5000 VA and Fronuis inverter 4000 VA with 6 Q-cell Panels Of 580 Watt each and a 4Kwhr BYD lithium battery.

whenever the pv production is low or close to Ac Load (mainly at Sunrise and Sunset or during a cloudy day), some of lights flicker (only a LED strip)

thanks for help

victron
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Alexandra avatar image Alexandra ♦ commented ·
@Khaled

What is the frequency in the system when this is happening. It may be related to that?

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khaled avatar image khaled Alexandra ♦ commented ·

Whenever battery is not full, the frequency range is 49.9-50.2.

Whenever the battery is full, the frequency range is 51-52.5.

I will take a look on it tomorrow to get more sure from that.

Thank you Alexandra


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khaled avatar image khaled khaled commented ·

Now the battery is 61%, frequency is 49.9-50.1 and the LED strip is flickering

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kevgermany avatar image kevgermany ♦♦ khaled commented ·

Are the lights on the AC side, or DC?

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khaled avatar image khaled kevgermany ♦♦ commented ·
I think it is AC, but how i should know?


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kevgermany avatar image kevgermany ♦♦ khaled commented ·

Are they connected to the inverter side or the batteries.

I saw another post saying light loads on inverters can cause this as the electronics that convert the AC down to DC/LED voltage may not work as expected.

This may help https://community.victronenergy.com/questions/54208/flickering-lights-in-off-grid.html

https://community.victronenergy.com/questions/3342/flickering-lights-in-home.html


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khaled avatar image khaled kevgermany ♦♦ commented ·
As a conclusion, is there any solution?

Thanks for your help

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kevgermany avatar image kevgermany ♦♦ khaled commented ·
You need better advice than I can give, but it may be possible to increase the output frequency a little. Maybe @Alexandra knows.
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Alexandra avatar image Alexandra ♦ khaled commented ·

@Khaled

Could be an artefact from the type of led driver circuit.

If you wave your hand do you get like a strobing effect? Or is the flickering the light strip going on and off?

How are you seeing it? Peripheral vision? That can also be artefact from the way the led is driven.

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khaled avatar image khaled Alexandra ♦ commented ·
I think it is going on and off rapidly
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Alexandra avatar image Alexandra ♦ khaled commented ·
I would say then the smoothing capacitors in the led driver circuit possibly aren't coping with something there? Difficult to diagnose over the internet. Changing the strip to a different one may help.
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khaled avatar image khaled Alexandra ♦ commented ·
Another problem I am facing is that at the victron multiplus II reboots several times at noon of a sunny day whenever the battery is full and after I stop using a high load


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Alexandra avatar image Alexandra ♦ khaled commented ·
@Khaled

Is the system set up according to the BYD/Victron page? Are there any errors reported on the VRM?

Does the power go out completely? What are your ambient temperatures?

Or is it the battery shutting down? The BMU logging any issues?

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khaled avatar image khaled Alexandra ♦ commented ·

There are no errors on VRM there are only warnings about high DC volatge about 56 Volts

Yes the power is completely out.

Temperatures are not high (about 15- 20 celsius )

The battery don’t shut down

Can i have your help by giving you access to my system and take a look on it

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Alexandra avatar image Alexandra ♦ khaled commented ·
@Khaled

I think this is more of an on the ground diagnosis. Is your installer available?

What i do think is happening is that there is nowhere for the PV overshoot to go when the load is switched off. So either lower the charged voltages for the battery or try in DVCC to limit the charged voltage about 55v and see if that helps.

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khaled avatar image khaled Alexandra ♦ commented ·
I did what you have suggested, and the problem still existing.

Is there any problem in the fronius, Victron or the size of the battery??

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Alexandra avatar image Alexandra ♦ khaled commented ·
The size of your battery is the absolute minimum.

I am not familiar with the LV range, I have onky used the Flex and Flex lite modules.

You have basically got the 1:1 rule covered.

The one issue I have had with the flex is sorted by in DVCC just setting the charged voltage to 55v. But that was it.

Maybe PF on the Fronius? I dont know what the regulations are for you?


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khaled avatar image khaled Alexandra ♦ commented ·

does the minimum battery size make any risk to the system (it is sufficient to my use).

what do you mean by PF of fronius?

do you think that the problem will be solved if I replace the fronius Primo 4.0-1 by the suitable MPPT ?


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Alexandra avatar image Alexandra ♦ khaled commented ·

Going full Victron makes integration easier. That is really up to you. I can say all the full Victron systems we have out there are our least problematic.

The Power factor thing; there are a few resources our there to explain it. It is mainly to do with grid voltage and reactive power. I don't know how much the grid may be affecting your system.

https://pure-electric.com.au/news/how-correct-reactive-power-settings-your-inverter-can-increase-your-solar-revenue

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X8tsQhp7hM0

https://forums.whirlpool.net.au/archive/3yzkq7w9

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1 Answer
Alexandra avatar image
Alexandra answered ·

@Khaled

This is not as uncommon as we would like it to be. There are several thread with quite a few different PV inverter makes that have the same effect.

https://community.victronenergy.com/questions/3342/flickering-lights-in-home.html this one as an example.

More expensive Led lights are ultimately the solution. The one other possible issue is a poor neutral connection issue, I read in a thread somewhere a while ago.

It is not even just an issue on Victron. I have seen Axpert, Outback and a few other inverter brand users complain.

There are even articles describing the issue and the reasons why.

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