Battery discharging to grid

[marshman]

Can you confirm how you have it set up?

If you go to Advanced Settings (Pass code is 0010) -> Storage Energy Set -> Storage Mode Select

Then set Mode to "Self Use" (I think it is set to this already looking at you display)

Then set to ON

Then select "Time of Use"

Set Optimal Income to "Run" Set anytimes you want the batteries to charge FROM THE GRID i.e. overnight cheap TOU slot or Economy 7

IMPORTANT: Make sure ALL discharge times are set to 00:00, if you set them to any thing else then the battery will discharge. Not sure this is you issue as I would expect it to discharge at a constant rate, but worth checking. When finished press "esc" and make sure you select "save and send"

You can also try setting "Back Feed" power to 0, it should then export 0.

[MrPablo]

Marshman mentions the most key bit, make sure discharge period(s) are set as 00:00 only.
That's the mistake I made at first when I set my inverter up early last year.

There will always be import and export fluctuation as the inverter attempts to balance battery discharge and house consumption, but it should be relatively minimal.
The exception to this is if there's a 'spiky' electrical load running - induction hobs, electric ovens, etc, which don't smoothly modulate between power levels.

[marshman]

The exception to this is if there's a 'spiky' electrical load running - induction hobs, electric ovens, etc, which don't smoothly modulate between power levels.

Yes, the inverter does not respond instantly to a load coming on or off. You will often see it "oscillate" for a few moments - I guess around 30 seconds or so - when a large load comes on until it settle. It should settle down relatively quickly though and "gently" oscillate between a max of 50 to 80W import or export. This is of no consequence and will not greatly affect anything.

How much battery capacity do you have? Is it just one US5000C? In which case you only have around 4kWh of useable storage to 20% S.O.C. depending on your house load that won't last that long - especially if you have electric cooker, fridge, freezer, heating pumps, lights, TV etc.

If setting all the T.O.U discharge settings to 0 doesn't cure the problem. Try turning off as many house loads as you can and just leave a couple of lights on and then observe the display to see if it settles down to a nominal 0 export/import. If not then there is another issue.

[JohnW]

The exception to this is if there's a 'spiky' electrical load running - induction hobs, electric ovens, etc, which don't smoothly modulate between power levels.

Yes, the inverter does not respond instantly to a load coming on or off. You will often see it "oscillate" for a few moments - I guess around 30 seconds or so - when a large load comes on until it settle. Mine does it everytime the heat pump kicks in or switches off. It should settle down relatively quickly though and "gently" oscillate between a max of 50 to 80W import or export. This is of no consequence and will not greatly affect anything. In May and June I imported just 1 kWh of electric each month and a massive 2 kWh in July, even though the inverter display showed a constant tooing and froing.

How much battery capacity do you have? Is it just one US5000C? In which case you only have around 4kWh of useable storage to 20% S.O.C. depending on your house load that won't last that long - especially if you have electric cooker, fridge, freezer, heating pumps, lights, TV etc.

If setting all the T.O.U discharge settings to 0 doesn't cure the problem. Try turning off as many house loads as you can and just leave a couple of lights on and then observe the display to see if it settles down to a nominal 0 export/import. If not then there is another issue.

Guys
This is really helpful stuff, thank you so much. The inverter is set to prioritise the battery at the moment 08:00 - 17:00 to test the battery charging. I think a discharge time is set from 17:00 - 22:30, maybe that's the problem. We use an induction hob and have a range cooker that also acts as a radiator, that's often causing spikes in demand.

So even though the discharges of the battery to the grid are large, they may be a normal function of the system?

I only have one battery at the moment, I wanted to be sure it worked properly before buying more, so yes the battery doesn't last long. We use a lot of electricity, and wood, in the winter!

Thanks again guys, I'll have a play with the settings tomorrow and let you know how I get on.

[marshman]

The exception to this is if there's a 'spiky' electrical load running - induction hobs, electric ovens, etc, which don't smoothly modulate between power levels.

Yes, the inverter does not respond instantly to a load coming on or off. You will often see it "oscillate" for a few moments - I guess around 30 seconds or so - when a large load comes on until it settle. Mine does it everytime the heat pump kicks in or switches off. It should settle down relatively quickly though and "gently" oscillate between a max of 50 to 80W import or export. This is of no consequence and will not greatly affect anything. In May and June I imported just 1 kWh of electric each month and a massive 2 kWh in July, even though the inverter display showed a constant tooing and froing.

How much battery capacity do you have? Is it just one US5000C? In which case you only have around 4kWh of useable storage to 20% S.O.C. depending on your house load that won't last that long - especially if you have electric cooker, fridge, freezer, heating pumps, lights, TV etc.

If setting all the T.O.U discharge settings to 0 doesn't cure the problem. Try turning off as many house loads as you can and just leave a couple of lights on and then observe the display to see if it settles down to a nominal 0 export/import. If not then there is another issue.

Guys
This is really helpful stuff, thank you so much. The inverter is set to prioritise the battery at the moment 08:00 - 17:00 to test the battery charging. I think a discharge time is set from 17:00 - 22:30, maybe that's the problem. We use an induction hob and have a range cooker that also acts as a radiator, that's often causing spikes in demand.

So even though the discharges of the battery to the grid are large, they may be a normal function of the system?

I only have one battery at the moment, I wanted to be sure it worked properly before buying more, so yes the battery doesn't last long. We use a lot of electricity, and wood, in the winter!

Thanks again guys, I'll have a play with the settings tomorrow and let you know how I get on.

As I said in an earlier post ALL discharge times MUST BE 00:00 otherwise the battery will discharge no matter what. So set ALL discharge times to 00:00. But as you say with your electric usage it won't last long at all.

[nowty]

I was wondering why it was oscillating as the discharge is likely to be a forced discharge function but as you only have one battery the battery might be periodically complaining of an internal overload state and temporarily shutting down or current limiting.

Once you've got it working properly I guarantee you will soon want more battery capacity.

[marshman]

I was wondering why it was oscillating as the discharge is likely to be a forced discharge function but as you only have one battery the battery might be periodically complaining of an internal overload state and temporarily shutting down or current limiting.

Once you've got it working properly I guarantee you will soon want more battery capacity.

I did have the same thought, in that when yet set a "forced" discharge you also set the current so the power should be fairly constant.

[Moxi]

Morning JohnW

What news? Did you get the same issue last night and have you managed to get through the menu to set the charge / discharge parameters all to 00:00

One of the things we have found on the forum with Solis is that some pages update automatically while other pages seem to need a manual input to accept changes so its very easy to think you have changed something only to find later that its still the same - patience and perseverance to get this right I'm afraid.

Also some changes take a few hours to get properly updated so again it is often a good idea to do a set of changes, go off have a brew, do something else and then come back to check.

Moxi

[JohnW]

I have a Solis Hybrid inverter, its an RHI so I think an earlier model but I think the user interface etc. are very similar.

Can you confirm how you have it set up?

If you go to Advanced Settings (Pass code is 0010) -> Storage Energy Set -> Storage Mode Select

Then set Mode to "Self Use" (I think it is set to this already looking at you display)

Then set to ON

Then select "Time of Use"

Set Optimal Income to "Run" Set anytimes you want the batteries to charge FROM THE GRID i.e. overnight cheap TOU slot or Economy 7

IMPORTANT: Make sure ALL discharge times are set to 00:00, if you set them to any thing else then the battery will discharge. Not sure this is you issue as I would expect it to discharge at a constant rate, but worth checking. When finished press "esc" and make sure you select "save and send"

You can also try setting "Back Feed" power to 0, it should then export 0.

Hi Marshman, I've set the inverter to self use and ON, the inverter but can't find a way then to change the times. I seem to go around in a loop of pressing ENT on Self use, ENT on ON the inverter flashes up 'Done! then it goes back to Mode: Self use. The manual does explain how to move on to the 'Time of Use' screen. Any suggestions please?
The backflow power is set to +0000W

[Moxi]

John,

You dont want optimal income on you need that set that to stop - that changes the algorithm to allow export to Grid

see pages 87 and 88 of your manual:

Mode 1: Self-Use Mode Logic(Maximize the usage of PV)
PV Power Using Priority: Load>Battery>Grid
Load Support Priority: PV>Battery>Grid
Battery Charging Power comes from PV. (If “Charging From Grid” is allowed, it can also
come from Grid)
If “Time of Use” is “Run”, the logic will follow the charging/discharging settings and time
settings as defined in “Time of Use”. For those undefined period of time, it will still follow
the Self-Use logic.
Time of use for Self use
Path: Advanced Settings->Storage Energy Set->Storage Mode Select->
Self-Use Mode->ON->Time of use for Self use

To get to the times you need to use the up and down navigation keys and Next to enter and esc to exit its not very intuitive but you have to take your time and work slowly through the sub menus to ensure you press the right keys at the right tome as its not forgiving of errors and normally throws you all the way out always look at the bottom of the screen for extra command prompts that turn up as you progress through - these will help you to determine if there are further sub routines or menus to access.

Moxi