Unanswered Questions in dc system

I've got a 3.6 kW (DC peak) solar array fed through three parallel MPPT 150/100's to feed a LI battery bank. The system feeds two small DC pumps that need to run continuously. I want to add a small AC 1-phase generator to feed the loads and charge the batteries if the battery voltage gets too low. Is there a Victron product I should use to rectify the generator output, limit current, and control charging? Can this system operate in parallel with the solar/MPPT's or will there be issues with the controllers fighting each other?

I am trying to use a BP100 to disconnect a DC/DC charger from the main battery system.

When the DC/DC charger first starts up, it has a large inrush current that trips the Pylontech battery. I want to use the BP100 to leave the DC/DC charger disconnected until the DC/DC charger has booted up and has begun to output 50V. Once the DC/DC is putting out 50V it does not trip the Pylontech.

What is happening is that, even with the remote jumper removed, the BP100 is still connected and the Pylontech trips out. Victron connect says the BP100 is "disabled by remote", but there is still a connection.

It also seems to be taking the voltage reading from the output instead of the input.

I have tried this in normal, relay and lithium modes.

The DC/DC is connected to the IN and the Pylontech is connected to the OUT

I've compiled a table of all alarms and commands that are identified in the manuals for my Victron system, which is comprised of two Lithium Smart 12.8 200ah batteries, Lynx Smart BMS, Lynx Distributor, Cerbo running DVCC, Multiplus 3000, two Orion 12/12/30 B2B chargers, and an MPPT 100/50 solar charger.

Would you please review and comment on the attached table? Thank you very much in advance for your kind support.System alarm and isolation table.pdf

Hello: System Description · Connection Type Grid Connect / Stand Alone · Voltage 440 Volts / 3 Phases / 4 Wires · Project Location - Cuautla Morelos Mexico. Equipment: · SFV - 80 Trina Solar Brand Panels of 505 Watts, distributed in 5 chains of 16 Panels each. · Smart Solar - 5 Units Model MPPT 250 / 100 Tr VE Can · DC Bus Bar - 5 Units Model lynx Power in 1000 · Victron Inverter - 3 units Model Quattro 48 Volts / 10000VA / 140 Amp · Cerbo GX 1 Unit. · Pylontech batteries - 56 units Model US3000C, grouped into 4 groups each with 14 batteries. · Ethernet Switch - Pylontech HUB 1 Unit. Use Case: The main function of the system is to power 24 extractors of 1 HP (750 Watts) 1.6 amp with an F.P. 0.71. Extractors always on 3 from 7:00 am to 5:00 pm. On average, 12 extractors are switched on throughout the day for periods of up to 4 hours. These devices turn on by means of a thermostat calibrated at 30 ° C Background: System running smoothly for 7 months. Preliminary Testing/Equipment Review: · We checked voltage in the direct current terminals with the battery off to rule out current leakage. · Check fuses in the DC bus bar. · Review in DC and AC wiring. · Preventive maintenance to the exhaust fans to reduce the start peak. · Testing of RJ 485 Ethernet cabling between master and slave batteries. · Scanning with Battery View Software · Continuity and grounding tests of AC and DC wiring. Current Failure: After replacing these cards and configuring the system with the EV. Bus (Firmware V497) and the configuration of the ESS or the electrical parameters is the same as in the manuals of Victron or Pylontech, in the case of the Victron Connect you have the (Firmware V2.41). Recurrent alarms or failures: · When we do the process only of turning on and synchronizing the batteries we have an alarm in the VRM High discharge current sometimes with values of 0.0Amp. and others with values of -0.3 Amp. We delete the alarm and continue with the boot process. · Then we turn on inverters, switches of the 5 strings of solar panels and it gives us the alarm of High DC ripple. We delete the alarm and continue with the boot process. · We put the 3 or 7 extractors and take a load of 12 Amp with an instantaneous peak of up to 20 Amp. So the system continues to operate. · Sometimes we have up to 14 extractors on for 1 or 2 hours and it does not give problem or alarm, but sometimes during the operation High DC ripple alarms are presented and the system remains stable but if this alarm is repeated 3 times in a row in a period of 20 minutes the system turns off and gives the High Dc ripple fault accompanied by Inverter overload on L3. · When this happens the system is not reset since the current peak can reach up to 60 Amp. So we chose to turn off the system and turn on the extractors manually one by one. But the failure continues to present itself as if it were a cycle. Has anyone had this problem with DC Ripple? the system was working with the same parameters without this failure.

Disclaimer: While I am somewhat experienced in the area of off-grid electrical systems, I have yet to have any hands-on experience with Victron's products, so the following question comes from the perspective of someone who has only been able to read the datasheets and manuals.

********

A friend of mine is tired of having to run the noisy fuel-guzzling generator every day to recharge the battery bank on his 49 ft sailboat. Instead of incrementally installing random PV panels until the problem goes away, he wants to first install equipment for recording his DC usage this cruising season so that he can determine his real-world requirements and design a system that balances the desire for extra capacity against seaworthiness concerns and aesthetic considerations.

The plan is to meter the loads downstream of any charging equipment, so as to not have the data obscured when the "service"/"house" battery bank is being charged, such as when motor-sailing or running the generator. For typical DC loads, this is fairly straightforward, and Victron's SmartShunt product in "DC energy meter" mode looks like a good option. If combined with one of Victron's "GX" products, I gather there is even the option of taking the sum of the values from multiple SmartShunts in "DC System" mode, which would be convenient if my friend later decides that he wants to get collect data on individual system branches while still seeing/recording his overall energy use.

The main complicating factor is his third party inverter/charger, which can either be a DC load or a DC source, depending on whether or not he's got the generator running (or is connected to shore power). Short of replacing the inverter/charger with discrete devices, I can think of a few approaches to this issue, some of which are better than others, but none of which seem ideal:

• We could install a single SmartShunt downstream of the inverter/charger, but then we'll fail to account for all of the DC that goes into supporting AC devices via the inverter.
  
  
• We could install parallel SmarShunts (one for the inverter/charger and one for everything else), but then I would imagine our "DC System" readings in the GX software will be thrown off whenever the inverter/charger is in charging mode.
  • A less-than-complete workaround here would be to suppress/zero-out the readings from the inverter/charger's SmartShunt whenever the inverter/charger is acting as a source. Is there a way to do this in the GX software? If not, has anyone achieved this by using a high-current relay/contactor to bypass the SmartShunt and short the inverter/charger's DC- connection directly to the upstream DC- bus? (I'm imagining an AC relay/contactor that is activated whenever generator/shorepower is live.)
    
    
  • I have characterized the workaround discussed in the previous sub-point as less-than-complete because it fails to allow us to take into account for what the DC inverter's consumption would have hypothetically been if generator had never been switched on. Does anyone have a solution here? Does Victron have a standalone GX-compatible AC current sensor that we could use to record the load on the third-party inverter/charger's AC output at times when it is in AC bypass mode due to generator/shorepower (and only at those times)? The idea would be to convert use the data for these periods into estimations of what our inverter/charger's DC use would have been had the generator/shorepower not been online, taking into account the inverter's conversion loss.

Thanks in advance for any solutions!

Hello,

Quick question whether should go AC or DC Invertor.

I have Victron Setup with 2 x 250/85 mppt charging a large battery bank. and a multiplus 5000/24v connected to the grid doing a load share if the house loads gets too high (Over 4kw)

Also have an AC feed invertor on the roof suppling the house and using the excess solar to charge the battery's on a existing feed in tariff (25 per unit :-))

I have got a 7.2kw zappi car charger and would like to use solar to charge the car.

I now have an extra 20 x 250w solar panels that I would like to add to the system. Do I go AC or DC?

1. Buy additional Victron Mppt's and another Multiplus and charge the car

2. Do I buy an ac invertor and feed directly to the Zappi? - The Zappi is far more geared up to looking at excess ac solar than Dc (Currently cant handle DC excess). I guess I could still use the excess ac solar to charge the batteries thru the multi.?

Hope this makes sense?

Many thanks.

Hello, I have built a three phase 60Kw system with approximately 300 panels, four wind turbines. The system is based on 6 Victron quattros. This is a three phase system with two quattros in parallel per phase. 300KwH of batteries.

The system works well, but I would like to work with a real electrical engineer (aka not me) to document the schematic, move the DC system to a busbar system, implement a couple of automations, make sure all the system safety and managment are in place and ultimately make the system such that it can be built out in a container and shipped to specific sites.

Do you have any recommendations of individuals or companies who could help me ?

Got a strange behaviour on my Quattro 8000/24 (fw:320; ve.bus: 2643430) with inverter not starting.

When AC input 1 or 2 were live, Quattro output gave 230VAC. Once the input got disconnected, the inverter did not kick in.

Measured voltage on the DC input showed correct 27VDC.

Switching Quattro off and on (with the rocker swtich) did not solve the issue - with no AC input and 27VDC active inverter was not starting.

We did have to disconnect and connect again the DC, which caused the inverter to start.

The installation is working for over 6 months now and heavily used with no issues. That is the first time I've encountered such a behaviour, which gives me a think about possible fimware bug.

Should anyone have similar experience / know where the issue may be based, please do share in order to provide better end-user experience.

We experience miscalculated data in the historical Consumption data presented in the VRM dashboard

The system includes:

Cerbo GX (V2.62)

3 Quatro Combi-inverters in 3-Phase (V478)

Smart Shunt

The system is charged by Solar with Smart MPPT's and by an external DC Power supply of ~13KW periodically.

Obviously, when the DC input is on, the consumption calculation is reduced down to zero. In reality, the AC-Loads are almost constantly >5000W.

[image]

We assume that it's because the consumption data is read from the SmartShunt & MPPT's but the "Has DC" info is not calculated (as explained in the VRM Portal FAQ).

Question is,

1. is there a way to use the consumption data based on the Combi-Inverter AC-Loads data instead of the Shunt data?

2. Alternatively, is there a way to remove the Historical Data from the VRM dashboard as it is incorrect and confusing the users?

Thank you

Is BlueSolar a better option, if a third party wind controller is on a 48V DC bus? Maybe, because SmartSolar is foreseen for synchronous operation via Bluetooth with other SmartSolar MPPT-s, it cannot tolerate the wind controller which do not communicate with SmartSolar?

I`m building a Camper van on the basis of an 1991 4x4 Van.

90Ah LiFePo Battery

180Wp Solar

30A Alternator

BMS12/200

No land power connection (fully autark setup with very low power consuption)

Is the set up as shown in the picture correct?

Is the power from the solar charger suited to charge the starter battery or do I need a DC-DC charger?

The BMS12/200 fully protects the LiFePo Battery from any harm as well as the starter battery from discharge, is that correct?

many thanks for your expertice!!

[image]

Hi, planing to buy Argofet 100-3 for my boat. I only need 2 outputs currently, with the third one for use when i fit an electric windlass in future. Due to space constraints, it would be easier to wire up my banks to output 2 and 3, blanking off 1 for the time being. Is this okay or do i need to use 1 and 2?

Manny thanks

Lee

Hi Everyone,

I am new to the community.

I have a simple to moderate 12v solar system on my 26ft. sailboat. Because of weight, I want to switch from PWM and lead acid to MPPT and lithium. While money isn’t really and issue, I would still rather not have overkill with components that I might not need, so was looking for some advice as to the exact components that I need.

Current specs:

· 720ah wet batt. bank (lead acid)

· 40A 12v PWM controller (Steca Solarix 4040)

· 350W solar (all in parallel - different sizes because of the shape of the boat):

o 2x 16.7 V Max. (each) / 5.99 A Max. (each) (100Wp) ETFE Mono-Flex

o 3x 17.2 V Max. (each) / 2.92 A Max. (each) (50Wp) ETFE Mono-Flex

· All loads (except motor) connected with terminal bar and then to PWM load terminal (including 2 small 300w inverters for port and starboard), everything with on/off switches and fuses (max combined current @ 35 amps)

· External max 60A 12v trolling motor connected directly to battery, also with fuse and switch.

First of all, am I correct in assuming that I cannot connect different wattage (amperage) panels in series for an mppt system (as the lowest amperage would be taken), and would therefore have to keep everything in parallel?

After the research, this is what I envisioned (using all Victron parts, except for batteries):

· 4x 120ah lithium batts…total 480ah

· Victron smart controller mppt 100/30 (https://www.victronenergy.com/solar-charge-controllers/smartsolar-100-30-100-50)

· The above 350w solar panels in parallel. I know mppt would work better with higher voltages, but I am assuming if I put them in series, it would take the lowest amperage and therefore lose 50% efficiency?

· Cerbo GX ( https://www.victronenergy.com/panel-systems-remote-monitoring/cerbo-gx) I know this seems like overkill, but I need to be able to remoter monitor charge and temp, plus connect a few devices….

· All loads, including motor directly connected to batt through 100A battery protector (https://www.victronenergy.com/battery_protect/battery-protect) whereas the protector would be connected to the Cerbo (is that possible?)

· Mppt control display connected to cerbo?? (https://www.victronenergy.com/panel-systems-remote-monitoring/mppt-control)

· Temp sensor connected to cerbo? (https://www.victronenergy.com/accessories/temperature-sensor-qua-pmp-venus-gx)

The reason I want to switch to a Victron mppt system, is because the batteries are so expensive, that I want to ensure maximum life. So am I missing anything above, component wise? Should I be using a BMV instead of the mppt control display or a BMS in stead of/or in conjunction with the battery protector? Do I need a smart shunt, relay switch or any other components to make this system work efficiently and hassle free?

My goal is to get advice on the exact components to buy. Any and all advice or information is greatly appreciated!

Cheers,

Matt

I have an EasySolar 5000VA (=MultiPlus) connected to a 48V Lifepo4 battery. I was wondering, where or how I could connect a 48V to 24V DC-DC converter.

The DC-DC converter is supposed to power a Teltonika RUT950 4G router (9-36V) which is connected to the GX computer and gives me remote control over the EasySolar, even if its inverter (MultiPlus) is turned off.

I know, that there are several relay's from the MultiPlus and one is there at the SmartSolar charge controller. That relay can be configured when to be switched, but there was no Voltage when I measured, no matter what settings... However, is this the way to go? The router drains max 7W of power... should not be a problem I guess...?

Or could I hook the router directly to a relay without a DC-DC converter?

Or has anybody an idea, how I would power the router the right way?

Thank you!!!

Hi guys.

I am planning on building a somewhat "portable" battery bank in a box.

DC side will be 2 Model S-Modules in series.

Current set of hardware at hand (to be expanded):

• 2 Models S-Modules
• Victron Multiplus II 48/3000
• Cerbo GX

I am leaning towards SimpBMS, but would like to know if there are other suggestions, and systems which will communicate with Victron (trough GX device)?

Any other suggestions on (DC) specific hardware?

Currently I am relatively open, but would like to avoid shunts/Relays wherever possible, to limit standby-power, so leaning towards a DC breaker (with a trip coil). Experiences/suggestions/further thoughts?