The right inverter for battery storage and some other Qs

[Oldgreybeard]

Aren’t the wagos for the generation meter.

There's no PV, though, so why would there need to be a generation meter?

Even if this is why they are there, they still need to be in an enclosure, not left dangling for anyone to touch. Our generation meter isn't a great installation, but the installer did at least fit a double gang plastic box tight up against the bottom of the meter so that the single insulated wires weren't able to be touched. Fitting wagos to the ends multiplies the risk, as anyone could very easily flip the latches up and release live wires - just the sort of thing small children might do out of curiosity, perhaps.

Bit scary, really, that a supposedly competent person could leave an installation in this sort of state. Not that unusual, though, it seems there are a lot of people around pretending to be competent yet leaving potentially dangerous stuff in their wake. Long time since I've done a periodic inspection, but if I were inspecting that installation I'd condemn it with a C1 and isolate the supply, locking it off so it could not be energised until the faults had been rectified. Not just because of those wagos being exposed, but also because the over current protection looks to be inadequate and there is easy access to the live busbar through the gaping hole in the front of the CU.

[Oldgreybeard]

Aren’t the wagos for the generation meter.

They are but i have no PVs.

So, in terms of CT. I connected it before henley blocks. Why isn't it working? Is there a way to check if it's connected properly and working? I've already tried both sides.

If this works in the same way as our Sofar ME3000SP, then to detect the CT and set the direction the AC needs to be turned off and the batteries also need to be turned off, then the batteries need to be turned on, and the AC turned on with there being a load in the house. The inverter will then sense the CT direction and set itself up. Once that is done, the menu setting needs to be changed to "freeze" the CT setting. This is a bit confusing, as "freeze" and "unfreeze" in the menu doesn't seem to me to be that intuitive. The inverter will only autodetect the CT direction when it is in the "unfreeze" state, yet this is displayed in the menu as "freeze". The rationale seems to be that the screen gives the change needed, not the current state, so when it states "freeze" it really means the CT setting is currently in the "unfreeze" state and selecting the displayed "freeze" option will lock it.

[AGT]

I’m sure it will be sorted and appropriate certification issued.
Didn’t realise there was no PV!

[ducabi]

If this works in the same way as our Sofar ME3000SP, then to detect the CT and set the direction the AC needs to be turned off and the batteries also need to be turned off, then the batteries need to be turned on, and the AC turned on with there being a load in the house. The inverter will then sense the CT direction and set itself up. Once that is done, the menu setting needs to be changed to "freeze" the CT setting. This is a bit confusing, as "freeze" and "unfreeze" in the menu doesn't seem to me to be that intuitive. The inverter will only autodetect the CT direction when it is in the "unfreeze" state, yet this is displayed in the menu as "freeze". The rationale seems to be that the screen gives the change needed, not the current state, so when it states "freeze" it really means the CT setting is currently in the "unfreeze" state and selecting the displayed "freeze" option will lock it.

What's the process of switching it off? Inverter switch, then batteries?

[ducabi]

It's not working and I have no idea why. THat's what I'm doing:
- inverter is set to charging batteries
- ct direction status unfrozen
- switch off bat

I'm switching off everything and switching on everything according to manual. Then I change CT direction status to freeze and when i start discharging batteries it's feeding to greed. I've also enabled anti reflux and set to 0W but it doesn't seem making much diff.

[Oldgreybeard]

It's not working and I have no idea why. THat's what I'm doing:
- inverter is set to charging batteries
- ct direction status unfrozen
- switch off bat

I'm switching off everything and switching on everything according to manual. Then I change CT direction status to freeze and when i start discharging batteries it's feeding to greed. I've also enabled anti reflux and set to 0W but it doesn't seem making much diff.

If the screen is reporting "unfreeze" then in reality it has been frozen - this was the thing that confused me. This site is about the ME3000SP, but has a good explanation of the freeze/unfreeze behaviour: https://www.setfirelabs.com/building-au ... -inverters

[Oldgreybeard]

What's the process of switching it off? Inverter switch, then batteries?

The sequences are:

To turn off, switch off the AC first, then turn off the DC from the batteries.

To turn on, switch on the DC from the batteries first, then turn on the AC

[ducabi]

Batteries are in charging mode now, CT direction status is frozen and it correctly shows importing. So, if all arrows are correct and CT reports importing does this not mean CT is already set correctly? I feel like i've done all options, e.g. setting up ct direction from scratch, switching CT around.
I've also tested that if I open CT the import drops to 0.

So, maybe the issue with batteries exporting to grid isn't related to CT? If so, what could it be? Is anti reflux here relevant?

[ducabi]

I think it's working fine now. The issue was the mode I was using Timing mode instead of Time-of-use with effective date being the whole year. It's a bit tricky because it doesn't explicitly say that it will feed the grid.

[Sim_C]

Is it the grid CT shown in the photo with the 2 Henley Blocks?
The CT should be clamped around the live cable coming from the utility meter, before any branching off to feed multiple consumer units.
I would have thought that the 2 grey cables are from the utility meter, but you will know your specific wiring layout.