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macca61 avatar image
macca61 asked

ESS not sure how it works ?

Hi im a bit confused on how to get the best out of my solar.

We live full time on our Barge in the UK in the summer we do not have access to shore power and make use of the solar and top up with generator when required .

In the winter we plug into shore power , i am looking at the cost of energy now and want to make the best use of my solar which in the past didnt concern us too much.

Is there a setup specifically that will bias towards solar use and only take shore power when neccessary ?

Regards

Gordon

solar
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4 Answers
nickdb avatar image
nickdb answered ·

ESS is a grid-tied technology which does exactly what you need but it is not used in off-grid setups and generally not with generators (though generators are specifically supported on quattro inverters only).

If you have grid then with ESS you can set schedules and battery minima which will control when the system goes to grid, but inside the set parameters will only run off battery and PV.

It requires a GX device and the ESS assistant loaded.

Reading material:

https://www.victronenergy.com/media/pg/Energy_Storage_System/en/index-en.html


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lifeingalicia avatar image
lifeingalicia answered ·

You did not mention what equipment you already have.

GX & ESS give you virtually endless posibilities.

E.G. Grid (shore power) set to 0 and SOC to 50% will draw from bat first then if SOC < 50 draw from grid.

Or set grid to 100W so it will, if no solar, take 100 from grid and top up with bat up to set max inverter power, above will take from grid at the same time a set SOC will be adheared to and if bat is low it will take all from grid - also will charge bat with any excess from grid & solar.

This makes power bills very predictable and grid point and SOC can be easily varied (manual or external software) adapted to long range weather forecast.

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JohnC avatar image
JohnC answered ·

Hi @Macca61

From a previous post, you have a Multiplus.

Victron don't recommend ESS in your application. It comes with issues that need sorting. Not the least of which is that it can leave lethal ac voltage on the exposed pins of the genset power plug. A real issue if it's not hardwired.

What you need could be easily achieved by using other Assistants. In particular, to operate the 'Ignore AC' function to bring on Grid under your chosen conditions. Could even start the genset too, if you're set up for that.

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lifeingalicia avatar image
lifeingalicia answered ·

Well shore power and gen set I dont think so..

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