ESS: How to prevent Easysolar/Pylontech combination from discharging and charging battery to/from grid

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dutchvictronuser asked Sep 11, '22

ESS: How to prevent Easysolar/Pylontech combination from discharging and charging battery to/from grid

Dear all,

I recently installed a Victron-system as an ESS. When I choose the "Optimised"-modes of the ESS assistant, it will discharge and charge my batteries to/from the public grid. How can I prevent this?

This is my setup:

- Easysolar GX II 48/3000/35-32 (firmware GX v2.89; Smartsolar MPPT 250/70 firmware v1.59);
- SmartSolar MPPT 100/20 48V (firmware v1.59);
- 2x Pylontech US2000C 2.4 kWh; and
- EM24 ethernet meter.

The connections are as follows:

- The grid is connected to AC-in. I do not use AC-out 1+2;
- The grid is 3-phase, but I only have one Easysolar, which is connected to L1; and
- The EM24 is installed directly after the main switch.

The Pylontech parameters are as follows:

- CVL: 53.2V;
- CCL: 0.0A;
- DCL: 50.0A;
- It says 2 battery modules are online, with an installed/available capacity of 100Ah; and
- I configured the settings via VE.configure as set out here: https://www.victronenergy.com/live/battery_compatibility:pylontech_phantom.

The settings are as follows:

- System setup: AC input 1 set to 'grid', monitor for grid failure set to 'enabled', battery monitor set to 'Multiplus II', has DC system set to 'off';
- DVCC is set to 'on', with limited managed battery charge voltage 52.4V and SCS on, rest set to 'off';
- ESS: Grid metering set to 'external meter', Inverter AC output in use set to 'off', AC-coupled PV-feed-in set to 'off', DC-coupled PV-feed-in set to 'on';
- Both MPPTs are set to 'external control'; and
- The inverter is configured for the German grid-code (internal NS protection) with LOM type A.

When I choose 'Optimised (with BatteryLife)' in the ESS assistant, the settings are as follows:

- Multiphase regulation set to 'Total of all phases';
- Minimum SOC set to '75%' (I didn't want to discharge my entire battery to the grid);
- Active SOC limit is 75%;
- Inverter power is limited to 1000W (for the same reason);
- Grid setpoint is set to 10W (I also tried the default of 50W); and
- No Scheduled charging is set.

I thought the problem maybe was a faulty connection as described by Victron here, so I also did what is proposed as a solution there: https://community.victronenergy.com/storage/attachments/28254-2021-12-mpii-esii-quaii-current-sense-socket-issue.pdf

The problem is that the system charges from the public grid (see screenshot) and it also discharges to the public grid (see one from the smart meter, one from the VRM, "actuele levering" means what I'm supplying to the grid).

I instead want to discharge only for own loads, and charge it with my battery, not from the public grid, and I also understand that is what the ESS should do if you choose the Optimised-setting.

Do you know what is going wrong? Please let me know if you need me to provide more information.

And thank you in advance for your help!

ess discharging

screenshot2.png (75.3 KiB)

screenshot1.png (74.1 KiB)

screenshot4.png (76.2 KiB)

screenshot3.png (91.0 KiB)

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kevgermany ♦♦ commented · Sep 12, 2022 at 03:45 AM

@DutchVictronUser

I've edited the title so the question is clearer.

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Modifications Space

Node Red Space

Answer 1 · 2022-09-12T12:39:52Z

ianjoyner answered · Sep 12, 2022 at 12:39 PM

@DutchVictronUser you may need to be on "Individual phase" for the phase regulation? See:

https://www.victronenergy.com/media/pg/Energy_Storage_System/en/multiphase-regulation---further-information.html

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Answer 2 · 2022-09-12T14:02:47Z

dutchvictronuser answered · Sep 12, 2022 at 02:02 PM

Thank you! Why do you think that's necessary? I tried both by the way, but I think that ultimately you would want the regulation to strive towards 0W in all phases combined, right?

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ianjoyner commented · Sep 12, 2022 at 07:38 PM

I was thinking that as you're only using one phase, it may be charging/discharging to balance the other phases, but looking closer at your images the rates don't make a lot of sense, so I'm not sure what's going on there.

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ianjoyner commented · Sep 12, 2022 at 07:47 PM

Where are you AC loads measured?

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dutchvictronuser ianjoyner commented · Sep 12, 2022 at 09:31 PM

Yes, that's a good question, and something I was wondering about as well. The grid is measured by the EM24. I'm not separately measuring the AC loads. I'm not sure, but isn't "AC loads" a calculation of other measured values, for example grid + PV (this doesn't add up in the screenshots by the way, but just as an example)? I looked around the forum but cannot get a conclusive answer to this.

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ianjoyner dutchvictronuser commented · Sep 13, 2022 at 07:14 AM

So it looks like your grid readings in VRM are the opposite of your smart meter. Is your EM24 installed and configured correctly, or is reading backwards?

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dutchvictronuser ianjoyner commented · Sep 13, 2022 at 08:10 AM

The EM24 is showing negative values when it is drawing energy from the grid. Is that how it is supposed to work, or does that mean it is reading backwards?

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ianjoyner dutchvictronuser commented · Sep 13, 2022 at 09:21 AM

I'm still researching the system, so not an expert, but from the examples I've seen, negative is feeding into the grid. See the VRM portal documentation here: https://www.victronenergy.com/live/vrm_portal:dashboard. So yes, yours looks backwards compared to this.

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dutchvictronuser ianjoyner commented · Sep 14, 2022 at 08:25 AM

Thanks. You might be right! Still trying to find out whether it is wired incorrectly.

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dutchvictronuser ianjoyner commented · Sep 14, 2022 at 02:05 PM

So I looked at it further, and don't think it is wired incorrectly. It shows a minus when it is drawing energy from the grid, and that's how it's supposed to be working, I think. If you have any other suggestions, I'd love to hear them.

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