question

Oliver avatar image
Oliver asked

AC Coupling with Solaredge, requirements for pure off grid

Hello,

currently I am setting up an off grid PV-system and try to integrate AC coupling with Solaredge SE6000H and Quattro 48/8000. (Battery is BYD premium LVL)

I followed the instructions in Victron documentation: Integrating with Solaredge

The only difference is: There is no public grid available and zero feedback is not required. Therefore no Solaredge Energy Meter is installed.

My question: is the use of the Energy Meter mandatory for the correct working of frequency based power reduction by the SE inverter?

Which country settings (on the SE inverter) did you use in your test environment?


I ask, because my test run failed.

First I used "Spain" as country setting and noticed, that in the SetApp Power Control-->Active Power the P(f) menu was missing. I reconfigured country settings this time to Czech Republic 16A and was curious to see that P(f) was back again.

(Although I doubt, that this setting is at all relevant for my setup as I will not be working in that specific country mode, but in APS (Alternative Power Source) mode.

But to follow the documentation I set P(f) in both menus: In Power Control-->Active Power-->P(f) and Power Control → Alternative Power Source → P(f) and ranging P0 100%@ 50.2Hz and P1 0%@ 51.2Hz.

On Victron side I use the assistant PV-Inverter and with the same tresholds and disconect @ 51.5 Hz.

However the test run failed. (And yes, SE status said I was in APS mode). No power reduction on SE-side happened. Victron modulated the frequency up to 51.5Hz and luckily and thanks to the relay assistant and SE on AC-Out 2 it got thrown off when BatV got too high.


Thanks for any inspiration!!


AC PV Couplingsolaredge
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11 Answers
jbakuwel avatar image
jbakuwel answered ·

Hi @IERTigre,

I don't have experience with SolarEdge. With SMA Sunny Boys though, the country setting should be "Island mode 50Hz". You may want to check whether you should use AC out 1 or AC out 2 or whether that doesn't matter. There are differences between the various models, see for example this comparison (for Multi's).

Jan

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Oliver avatar image
Oliver answered ·

I now use a different configuration as P(f) in APS mode does not work in my setup.

As country settings I use "Italy" and modify the grid parameters (disconnect@ 52Hz) so I can use a slightly wider band for the frequency regulation.

In SetApp: Power Control--> Active Power--> I choose the ramp 50.2Hz (100%) and 51.7Hz (0%).

In the PV Inverter Assistant I set the band from 50.2Hz to 51.7Hz and disconnect @52.1Hz.

I wire the Victron primary relay to the SE GPIO L1 and V and use the Relay Assistant to switch into APS mode once any AC input is detected. (and a second instance of the assistant to release it again)

In SetApp: Power Control--> Alternative Power Source --> P(V) all entries are set to 0%

This prevents power production by SE inverter when a backup generator is present. Not in all cases this might be the desired function, but in this case it is. The same could be achieved by wiring the SE to AC-Out2 and throw it off by using the relay assistant. (and maybe also the solution with the energy meter presented in the Victron paper (integrating with Solaredge))

Nevertheless I now face a problem with the battery voltage getting too high because of slow frequency regulation but would like to address this in a different post.



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nimrod avatar image
nimrod answered ·

Hello I am in the same problems. I have a multiplus with the PV inverter assistance set to 50.2hz 51.2hz 51.5hz. Solaredge Inverter SE3500H HD wave I try germany for country set APS and the same frequencies. When the power control is on the SE inverter does not produce anything and when I turn it off the inverter produces power but the frequency control does not work. The 24v battery charge goes up to 29.9v and the frequency of the multiplus increases but the inverter does not go down and everything stops at 51.5Hz then everything is blocked at this frequency the inverter does not produce anything and the multiplus remains blocked on 51.5hz even if the battery goes down to 25v.

I think we have to make some settings but I don't know what they are so that it works in harmony.

Thanks for your help.


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Oliver avatar image
Oliver answered ·

Hello,

You can understand APS as kind of a special country setting. And you should try to get your off-grid system working while operating within that mode. I understand that you are not connected to the public grid, otherwise this setup would not be legal.

I know that there was a bug in older solaredge firmware. APS mode and especially P(f) did not work as they describe in their own technical note at least not with Spanish firmware. The CTO here in Spain did not make any effort and refused to comply with their own technical specs.

(Since then I refused to offer solaredge products to my customers)

However I followed the rudimentary changelog that solaredge publishes for their new firmware and thought that this bug was solved. (actually it was only a question of activating a backend parameter, which in Spain they wouldn't do).

If you see that no P(f) reduction happens although configured for APS mode, then contact German service and ask them to activate that parameter for you. Afterwards maybe better not to do any further automatic firmware updates.

Victron on their end works correctly and according to their technical papers. The frequency lock you mention is perfectly described in their docs. If you want an earlier release of f then activate the "lithium" option and be well aware of the consequences to the charging curve.

Good luck!

And please update...


3 comments
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andy156 avatar image andy156 commented ·
Hi Oliver, I've been struggling to get this to work as well in the UK. Do you know the name of the back end parameter so I can point the Solaredge technical team in the right direction please? Thanks

Andy

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Oliver avatar image Oliver andy156 commented ·

Hello Andy,


you can refer to "Application Note - SolarEdge Inverter - Alternative Power Source". And ask to activate a backend parameter so you can use APS with P(f).

Also refer to Victron document on that. (Integrating with SolarEdge ). Good luck! Please tell me if it was successful.

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andy156 avatar image andy156 Oliver commented ·
Hi Oliver. That’s the problem. I’ve engaged with solar edge and they are unaware of a backend parameter. It’s been escalated to the next level up and I’m waiting to hear back.
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nimrod avatar image
nimrod answered ·

Thanks I'm contacting solaredge SAV and they tell me that if I change de settings for frequency I will lost warranty.

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nimrod avatar image
nimrod answered ·

I don't understand why the multiplus stuck to 51.5hz all the day ? I juste update the firmware of the multiplus.

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Oliver avatar image
Oliver answered ·

APS solaredge application note

See, above link. There is no reason why you should loose warranty. There is likely a misunderstanding between you and solaredge service.

Refer to above document.

About your doubts with the victron frequency log. Please study victron documentation and you will understand. Search for factor 1.0 and also PV Inverter assistant. And "frequency lock"





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nimrod avatar image
nimrod answered ·

Ok I understand why it stuck to 51.5hz. It is because overcharging state.
I alredy know Factor 1 and PV inverter assistance.

What I don't understand the Inverter is using VDE ARN 4105 in german country and it shoud work in frequency shift without any configuration. But it give no power when I juste set Germany for country.

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nimrod avatar image
nimrod answered ·

I Try a jumper to short the L1 and V terminals of the Communication Board so the Inverter keep going in APS mode but I got a 18X7b error code and the inverter don't go on. I need help I cannot find the good way to drive this SE inverter.

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nimrod avatar image
nimrod answered ·

Hello !

I'm in Pure off grid !

I found the solution. Everything works fine thanks to the German VDE ARN 1405 standard.
It is necessary to make a total reset of the device. Choose Germany as country. Looked at the parameters of network monitoring. Frequency. which are 100% 50.2Hz and 20% 52.2HZ. Then configure the assistance pv inverter with the value 50.2 52.2 and 53hz.
That's all!

Do not touch the APS mode

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wodou avatar image
wodou answered ·

@Nimrod I am very much interested in your configuration/setup.
I have a SolarEdge HomeHub Inverter SE8K-RWB48 with SolarEdge batteries.
I would like to be able to operate pure off-grid when manual switching off the grid in case of an outage.

What did you do in order to operate the inverter standalone in off-grid mode?


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