Need help configuring Quattro 24/5000/120/100-100

DIY
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1

Hello, I installed my solar system, which consists of:

  • one Quattro 24/5000/120/100-100
  • one Cerbo GX (my MPPTs, BMV and Quattro are connected to the Cerbo)
  • two MPPT 150|35 [Float at 27.40 / Absorption at 28.80 / Re-bulk 0.20 / Tail current: 2.0A]
  • one BMV-700
  • one Battery Balancer
  • one BatteryProtect

I have a 440Ah, 24V battery bank (four UNITECK Unibat 220.12 batteries connected in series and then in parallel), plus a shore power connection (individual Linky meter).

I also have a 960W plug-and-play system with a maximum output of 960W from the inverter, which can power household appliances, with any surplus used to recharge the batteries.

For this Plug&Play system, I opened VEConfigure and added the PV Inverter Assistant so that my Quattro would take this system into account and prevent overvoltage. However, yesterday, when it was sunny, I experienced an overvoltage condition and had to disconnect the plug-and-play system from the 230V socket.

So my first question is: “Why does the PV Inverter Assistant apparently not work properly?” Is the microinverter not receiving the Quattro’s regulation command? Is it unable to receive commands?

Also, to clarify, my system is installed on my home, which is a 26-metre houseboat, so I can’t enable ESS …

I would also like the Quattro to prioritise solar power, then the batteries, before drawing energy from the grid, in order to reduce my electricity bills as much as possible. I tried the Advanced setting, which prioritises “other solar and wind energy”, but the result is that the shore power remains connected and continues to supply power to charge the batteries, which are already at 100% (battery voltage 27.41V, which is effectively the float voltage), as well as to power the appliances.

Before doing that, I tried configuring several Assistants, including Start & Stop Generator (unsuccessfully). I also tried using the Power Switch tab, but ran into difficulties there too. I used the General Flag, and I also tried using the “AC input control” with added conditions, but the results still weren’t what I wanted … IN SHORT, I’m completely lost and utterly at my wits’ end. I don’t know anyone who understands this stuff, and I’m about ready to throw the whole lot overboard—I’m so frustrated …

If anyone kind happens to see this … please help me.

Thanks in advance,

Matthieu

2

Hello @MTRZ

The solar and wind priority worked perfectly in my tests; see the instructions.

The PV inverters are controlled by increasing the frequency. You should check whether this is working. The plug-and-play system must be able to respond to this as well.

Have a look at the AC input control function in VictronConnect; you can do a lot with it.

And where is your houseboat moored?

3

Hello @DirkW

Thank you for this feedback.

I’m in France, specifically in Port-sur-Saône, at the port.

I contacted the support team for my microinverter to ask them about it, and they told me that their microinverter was capable of receiving information from the Quattro. However, the inverter had to be online (which it is).

So normally, all the conditions were in place for it to work, but that wasn’t the case. I had configured the AC input specifically for my setup, but despite that, I experienced overvoltage events that forced me to physically disconnect the microinverter. My Quattro is apparently rather temperamental…. And I don’t understand why.

Kind regards.

4

The inverter can be controlled by the Quattro if you use the pv inverter assistant configured for frequency shifting, or over modbus, if it is supported.

5

Hello @MTRZ,

the automatic translation has been great so far :wink:

Do you have an MK3 interface? Then you can programme everything using VictronConnect.

For Solar & Wind prioritisation, the voltage should be set 0.3 V (for 24 V) systems below the float voltage.

Alternatively, there are various options using “Conditional AC input connection”.

The big question, which I can’t answer either, is whether Solar & Wind prioritisation can be used at the same time as the AC PV Charger Assistant.

When the batteries are fully charged, the frequency is increased, which causes the microinverter to shut down. You can then read this in the Cerbo for the Quattro.

This is regulated in VDE AR 4105.

Frequency shifting works perfectly with the Hoymiles HM and HMS series.

Best of luck.

Best regards,
Dirk

6

At the time of the overvoltage event, were you connected to shore power? Did the Quattro stay connected to shore power during the overvoltage event? Was the overvoltage on the AC or DC side? How did you determine the overvoltage, just by feel or did you receive some alarm?

There are no commands, since there is no communication between the two systems. The power regulation works by shifting the frequency upwards above 50Hz. But this is only possible when the Quattro is disconnected from shore. Otherwise your system can not increase the frequency.

Without ESS, you can only really use AC ignore/change device state. Meaning, disconnect from the grid.

The older option is using the generator assistant on the Quattro in order to switch the shore ACin on/off:

A bit more modern would be to use the GX instead. Through NodeRed you could change the Quattros state from On to Invert based on whatever value you want. Probably SOC from the Shunt. I personally prefer this option, mainly because you can make changes without the need to restart the Quattro.

This option isnt all that useful, at least to me. All it does is skip absorption and float stage on the Quattro the first seven days that the Quattro is connected to shore power. After that time, it will start to behave like normal, going through absorption and float to keep the battery charged.

7

Hello @chrigu, would you have the method using the GX instead? As for Node-RED, which I don’t know much about but which seems like an interesting option, it would at least save me from having to connect to the Quattro via mk3-USB, which is a real headache for beginners like me.

Regarding the micro-inverter, I was indeed referring to a frequency shift sent by the Quattro to the micro-inverter so that it would stop sending the surplus to the batteries. I’m not sure, but it seems to me that the dock was connected when I experienced this brief episode of overvoltage. I didn’t measure it; that’s what my MPPTs, BMV and Quattro were reporting. I simply physically disconnected my micro-inverter so that it would stop sending power to my batteries. I also had some alarms on the Cerbo GX.

Thank you for your time :slight_smile:

Matthieu

9

Try this…

after a quick test with cerbo gx , DVCC activated, it seem to work

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10

How is the Quattro connected to the mains? ACin1 or ACin2?

Chrigu had shore power connected, as I understand from the text. Therefore, the Quattro will not have raised the frequency.

11

via the ACin1 input.

12

It is recommended to connect the mains input to ACin2.

13

Oh, really? And why? I haven’t seen that anywhere…

14

From the documentation:

Please note that we recommend connecting the generator to AC-in 1 and the mains to AC-in 2. The reason for this is that the Quattro will then give the generator priority over the mains. This arrangement offers the greatest possible flexibility (it allows the generator to be forced to run even when the mains are available) and maximises control.

However, that shouldn’t matter in your case (unless you have a generator).

15

Chapter 4.3 “Connecting AC cables” from the Quattro Manual
Your microinverter is connected to ACout 1, am I seeing that correctly??

16

I’ve managed to configure my Quattro, but overvoltage continues to occur.

For example: it’s 25/08, 12:51, my batteries are fully charged and the MPTTs switch to float, but the voltage continues to rise because the microinverter keeps sending charge to the batteries even though they’re full. I should point out that shore power is being ignored; if I don’t manually switch off my microinverter, the voltage stays around 30/31 V … I’m losing patience—my batteries are simply going to end up fried. What can I do?

17

Have you taken a look at the frequency right at the time of the voltage surge?

Are you working with Virtual Switch or the Assistant?

18

The frequency during the overvoltage fluctuates between 49.9 Hz and 50.1 Hz.

I have PV INVERTER SUPPORT configured in the Quattro assistants.

Configured as follows: 1,000 Wp of solar panels and a 960 W maximum output power for the microinverter.

19

How many assistants do you have?
The PV inverter assistant needs to go at the end.
If the frequency doesn’t increase (see my picture above), then something’s wrong.

You could also connect the AC PV to AC2 and disconnect this output at a certain SOC.

20

I only have one Assistant: PV INVERTER SUPPORT

When I added the Assistant, it initially seemed to be working, as the frequency had risen and exceeded 50.1Hz, but for the past few days I’ve noticed that the frequency remains the same whatever happens … I really feel like my Quattro is doing whatever it wants! And no, I’m not going to connect my plug-and-play system to AC2. My Quattro is far too far away from the PV P&Play, and I have a standard (230V) socket on the system, not wires to connect to an AC input on the Quattro, so it’s technically impossible.

21

How do you make sure that the AC input is ignored?