Hi,
We have a new installation consisting of:
1x MultiPlus-II 48/5000/70-48
2x BSLBATT Powerline 5
1x SmartSolar MPPT VE.Can 150/85 rev2
During the night, we find, that about 200 Watts more than load is drawn from the batteries.
Also in the morning, we observed, that from 474 Watts produced by the PV charger only 214 Watts are ending up for loads.
Can the inverter consume 200 Watt? Any ideas please.
Hi there I once had the same issue with a Quatro 10kw it was it was consuming more than the idle power only to find out the issue was emanating from the battery current sensors that were not calibrated correctly i advise to contact the battery manufacturer/supplier and have a look on the battery parameters
I just replaced the two BSLBATT with a single new one. Same problem. So the batteries can be ruled out.
I also compared the inverter settings with VE Config with another inverter (same system configuration - see image below) and found that they are exactly the same.
So it must be a hardware problem of the Multiplus II?
I thought the same - especially when I saw in VRM, that the current reported from the battery BMS are about 30% higher than what the Victron VE.Bus DC current records. But on the second VRM image, the battery is on idle and I still see more than 200 Watts missing.
Surely there is a self consumption and also a loss on conversion. But 200 Watt seems very high. The time where the panel are not producing power from the sun is about 15 hours. 15x 200W = 3000W. That means I need 60% of a 5KW battery to just feed the inverter between sunshine?
What you could try is enabling the 'Has DC System' slider in the GX. It will give you another tile with the calculated discrepancy. And a widget graphing that.
I *suspect* that Victron make some sort of allowance for efficiency/standby losses in the calculation, but I can't confirm that.
It might help you to nail down what the cause of this is..
That is a good idea - thank you.
Did that. And also with three other systems that I look after - for comparison.
It clearly shows, that the new systems draws a far higher power for self consumption.
Even a three phase AC-coupled system is lower.
But what now? :-(
Have you tried the AES settings?
When I understand AES right, then it is only for very low loads (default is 92W). And I have no AES enabled with all other systems which all use only around 50W instead of 200W.
Even better, Use the search mode.
Thanks kevgermany, but AES modifies the sine wave and is rather for idle/standby mode. It is not recommended to use while your appliances/devices use power as it can have a negative influence on their function.
source:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v0s0x0hf66I
It also only saves 20% - and getting down from 200W to 160W is not a real solution for me. Especially also while other installations with the same inverter (and no AES) do not have that problem.
Maybe I need to swap the inverter with one of the other installations to get more clarity.
Strange. The Multiplus datasheet gives max 55W for zero load power consumption: https://www.victronenergy.com/upload/documents/Datasheet-MultiPlus-II-inverter-charger-EN.pdf
@herbcheck Did you come to any conclusions with the power draw, I have a 3~ system with a similar missing amount of power, about 250W all the time.
I am starting to think it is the 3x50W Grid Setpoint used in ESS and 3 x self consumption.
Due to the grid standard for Australia i am unable to set a feed in set point.
@NuclearSpud I too am in the same boat even with a -30 grid set point its not the grid set point im still struggling with this and the repair centre say its ok but cant zero out my smart meter even with -30 grid set point, my distro is having the same issue with my unit the loan unit they lent me works great and can be set to -10 set point that zeros out my smart meter. @herbcheck have you got anywhere with this? I purchased my unit in 2023
