Just wanted to show my newly installed ESS consisting of:
3-phase Multi-RS setup
Cerbo GX
Lynx Power in
Lynx Distributor (125A fuses)
3 x 5,12kWh ZYC Simpo 5000 batteries
VM-3P75CT energy meter
Ruuvi Temperature meter
Combined this with my existing Enphase PV system.
The most important reason to choose Victron is to become more resilient against power outages. In the Netherlands they are very rare. However unbalanced energy market and evenly unbalanced political situations could mean a different situation in the future. Another reason is obviously to make better use of your own solar power.
First I was considering a MultPlus system. However the placement of the system would give the risk of noise transmission within the house. And buzzing sound during the night wouldn’t be appreciated by my family. Coincidently the Multi RS was granted certification for grid code in the Netherlands which would allow those to be used as well and give us a more quiet and silent option.
No regrets. It runs smoothly and the configuration was a breeze with the new bluetooth setup in Connect. As well as using the ZYC batteries that install automatically after connecting to the Cerbo. Plus get firmware updates through VRM.
I have an enphase system which installed on AC out.
3 phase q-relay via a circuit breaker on the output side of the bypass transfer switch.
Incoming PV Energy is measured by the 3 phase Victron energymeter.
This will make sure the PV remains functional during maintenance.
Thanks for the details!
How much solar power do you have installed on the AC-OUT? And when your system is both discharging the battery and generating at maximum solar output, what is the maximum (Negative) AC-IN current?
Also, which specific model of bypass switch are you using? Can it be switched under load, and does it switch quickly enough to keep the loads powered without interruption?
So I have about 4400 Wp divided over 3 phases coming from the PV’s So that is not too bad.
Since I only have 3 x 5 kWh batteries (ATM) I limited my (dis)charge rate at 15,3 kWh ~ 66,5A and my feed in into the grid is limited at 15,9 kWh ~ 69A (Max of the 3 RS units)
Regarding the transfer switch I have one from the offgridcentrum in the Netherlands.
However there are obviously plenty of other options for example from Hager.
The one I have is switchable under load and as long as you do not stay too long in the “0” position there is no interruption.
Thanks! I was wondering if it’s possible to feed in more than 23A at 230V per Multi RS, because I have a single-phase system with 4 kWp of solar connected to the AC-OUT.
I’m experiencing some strange behavior:
When solar production is at its maximum and there are no loads (so AC-OUT reads -4 kW), and I’m also discharging the battery, the system limits the discharge power. The AC input current maxes out at -21 to -23A, meaning the battery isn’t discharging at its full 5 kW potential. My AC current limit is set to 40A, but for some reason, it restricts feeding in to a maximum of 23A. However, when charging the battery and running high loads on AC-OUT, it does pull the full 40A from the grid.
From my understanding, your system doesn’t have this issue because your solar is devided over tree units. Thanks again for the information! Just posting this explanation in case anyone else encounters the same problem.
If you have only one unit 23A is indeed the maxmimum you could invert. (6000 VA is around 5300W = 23 A)
When importing you are obviously also using energy without your RS having to work. So indeed you can get higher numbers there up till the maximum of your Grid capacity.
The system will only perform up till the maximum of the “weakest link”
Since I have 3 units my performance is also times 3. Hence the 69A.
Multiplus units are able to be switched parallel so you can increase performance like that. However Multi RS cannot (yet?) be placed in parallel. So afraid ATM this is the max you can get out of your system.
Yes, that is indeed the maximum from the inverter from the battery. But in my case, I am also feeding in excess solar from the AC-OUT. When discharging the battery while simultaneously feeding in solar from the AC-OUT, the system isn’t actually inverting that solar power because it’s AC-coupled.
Since the Multi RS has a 50A transfer switch, I would expect it to simply pass through the 4 kW of AC-coupled solar and additionally invert 5,200W from the battery. This should result in a total AC-IN of 4,000W + 5,200W = 9,200W, which equals 40A feeding into the grid.
I understand your reasoning, and that could very well be the case. I would expect that it shouldn’t matter since the transfer switch physically connects the output to the input, but again, you might be right.
One little thought from my side.
I’m not sure what your energy provider thinks about fully discharging your batteries whilst they more then have their hands full on trying to cope with all that solar excess…
Yes, I’m aware that this is not a very common situation in practice. I trade with the dynamic energy tariffs in the Netherlands, so discharging usually won’t happen when there is a lot of solar production. I was simply testing whether it would theoretically be possible if I were to have high solar production later in the evening with higher prices.
UPDATE: I experienced issues where the system would completely shut down at random moments. (And I mean really shut down… power out in the whole house even though the grid was up)
I’ve been closely working with the Victron crew to get it sorted. Firstly we thought it had to do with the firmware however it turned out to be something else.
Looking at the VE-Can communications in Remote Console we discovered a great amount of bus-errors. So basically what happened was that the 3 RS units were not able to communicate with each other. Consequently resulting in the shutdown.
SOLUTION: I replaced UTP cable used to connect the energy meter to the Cerbo (VE-Can) and it is smooth sailing ever since.
Wanted to share this so if you experience similar behavior… remember to look at your VE-Can communications. It will potentially save you a lot of hassle and annoyance.
Jou systeem lijkt wel heel erg op hoe ik dacht het bij mij op te gaan zetten. Enige verschil is dat mijn Enphase PV systeem ongeveer 6kW kan leveren.
Nadat bij mij de warmtepomp installatie is afgerond staat deze stap wellicht toch wel sneller op de planning dan ik eerst dacht. Wellicht zal ik dan graag jou laatste update / ervaringen horen.
Leuk om te horen. En je mag altijd ff aankloppen. Die 6kw blijft zelfs voor 1 fase binnen de 1:1 regel dus dat gaat helemaal goed komen.
Alleen zal je waarschijnlijk wel uitkomen op 4 accu’s. In principe heb je per 1,5kWp ongeveer 100ah nodig aan batterij (48V).
Nu met het mooie weer van de afgelopen dagen goed kunnen ervaren wat het systeem doet als de batterij vol is. Het BMS van ZYC regelt het allemaal keurig. Ook de hoofdschakelaar omgegooid en je ziet meteen de frequentie shift en hoe de enphase erop reageert.
Many thanks for sharing your system! I am keen to start with DESS and set-up my complete house as critical load. I had it designed with MP2, but run into similar acoustic issues.
As I understand the Grid-codes are now granted, so I could use the Multi RS.
In my case I am considering do go without any grid coupled PV. So basically I would only use the Multi RS, hooked up on 30 panels (2 x 5 per phase). With Trina’s I can keep well witin the spec of the mppt’s.
I have heard mor about these outages however… What is your view on my idea?
The outages were purely due to the UTP wire. Furthermore there were some CAN-bus issues in the Cerbo GX which have been solved in the latest firmware updates as well. So the system is running smoothly. With the grid code in place. The temperature stays really low and it makes hardly any noise.
In other words I can only but recommend the RS over the MP2 especially since in your case you don’t need any additional MPPT.
Just be aware the when using the MPPT’s the RS will run warmer than in my case where I have the AC-PV inverter so might also make more use of fans.
I heard about outages from Halewijn as well. Now I can live with it in that aspect that we are all part of development, but I do not want to bug my family with those when I am somewhere remote.
Do you have your house as critical load?
Good remark about the fans. Makes completly sense indeed. At full sun and charrging a car, there is double work for the unit…
This is less the case with te white units from our friends in Austria (now I have to wash my mouth, I guess) but then , those are HV systems.
You were speaking of running warm. I notice your space is narrow. Is it also small? Would you relate this to their temperature? I always wonder whether one should feed them fresh air, but than this comes from outside an is somewhat suboptimal for open pcb’s in my mind…
The outages I had were like I said a hardware issue. The UTP cable gave errors which caused the units to shut down. Offcourse they should not do that but that bug is definitely crushed now. Did not experience outages since then and all running smoothly for months now.
The other issue I talked about was in the Cerbo but that also affected other products communicating via the CAN-Bus. So that had nothing to do with Multi RS itself.
Yes the space I have it installed in is 60cm x 250 cm. So very small. With an oversized DC computer fan I keep the temperature rise to a minimum. Never saw it more the 2 degrees Celcius above the ambient temperature in my house. (Even while we have this very warm spring)
But then again I do not have an EV and no DC PV attached. However, I am positive the MP2 + separate MPPT’s will run much hotter.
Plus what I notice the 3x 6000VA is really close to the maximum my 3 x 25A grid connection which makes I actually hardly use the power assist function and I’m 100% sure that in case of a Grid failure it will have no problem at all supplying the whole house.
My biggest question now is whether it will be wise to have no AC coupled PV at all. In one way it seems useless, but on the other hand, AC coupled PV never ever fail in my book…
