Monitor PV string Power

[JC_UK]

Hi all,

Anyone have any suggestions for a off the shelf power meter for a solar panel string.

The hybrid inverter I have (Solax X1) doesn't record the solar power going through the inverter, only the total yield......

The solar panel string I want to monitor is approx. 1400Watts @ 120v/140v (7 panels).

String terminates into mc4 connectors (+ and - connectors) and then into the Solax inverter.

Many thanks

JC

[Joeboy]

Hi all,

Anyone have any suggestions for a off the shelf power meter for a solar panel string.

The hybrid inverter I have (Solax X1) doesn't record the solar power going through the inverter, only the total yield......

The solar panel string I want to monitor is approx. 1400Watts @ 120v/140v (7 panels).

String terminates into mc4 connectors (+ and - connectors) and then into the Solax inverter.

Many thanks

JC

This is at the very cheap end of the pool?

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005005 ... 71383086_1

Display is V & A but a wee conversion sheet from Amps to Kw's would let you know where you are at any moment. I didn't see a wiring diagram but for under a tenner its maybe worth a go?

You'd have to break into you DC lines. There are others where you can use a Hall sensor but they are aimed at battery banks. Unlikely to operate at the voltage you require but maybe worth a read on to inspire in the hunt?

https://uk.eco-worthy.com/products/200a ... d4QAvD_BwE

Although I think this is the one for you. Although you'd have to check that it displays momentary as well as cumulative.

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005004 ... ry_from%3A

[smegal]

Is there any shading on the string? Optimisers such as Tigo with a hub would do what you want, but is wasteful unless there are other advantages.

[Gareth J]

I have a solax X1 hybrid here..... It's a different size but I was sure it can output string information. I'm probably getting confused but will check later either way.

[Gareth J]

You can certainly monitor realtime string data on my X1 7.5 hybrid;

[JC_UK]

Hi again,

I am looking for something like the display I get from my SMA inverter:



Many thanks

JC

[Gareth J]

Oh I see, not realtime but historic.

May be worth reading the solax literature to see if it'll output data to a program via cable somehow, where it can be logged. Not something I have any knowledge though.

[JC_UK]

Hi again,

There is a lot of data presented in the Solax portal for the inverter:

Power: shows the power flowing through the attached solar (1400W) and the Batteries and total property power balance (house power - yield from the SMA inverter)



Green line above the zero line is the solar generation
Red line above the zero line is the inverter discharging from the attached batteries
Red line below the zero line is the inverter charging to the attached batteries
Blue line above the zero line is the inverter exporting to the Grid
Blue line below the zero line is the inverter importing to the Grid (purchasing power)

Not clear how the inverter calculates the yield.........

Real Time Display:


So I can see the power coming from the solar panel string in the Power display and the RT display, but they don't aggregate like the SMA portal does for the power generated.

I was hoping I could source a simple mc4 connected meter that would measure and report on the power ...........

Many thanks
JC

[Sim_C]

I have a Solax non-hybrid inverter, and the web portal shows a power graph for each day.
Is this what you are looking for?

I use https://solaxcloud.com/#/login for the login and it gets re-directed to the latest Solax login page automatically.

[JC_UK]

Hi,

Yes, but on the hybrid inverter they combine the yield across the solar and batteries and Grid.....

Many thanks

John