Hi new to all this solar
Although it was fitted March 24
Just a question about strings to my inverter.
I have 5 panels fitted east on the roof & 5 panels on west roof with crossed wires on the roof does this mean I have 2 strings or 1 that’s my question any help. Thanks
1 Like
It depends on how your installer set up the system.
If you have 2 strings, it is likely that your E panels will be on a different string from your W panels. Panels usually work best if they are on the sam reorientation.
If you have 2 strings. there will be 2 cables coming into your inverter.
What inverter do you have?
Rob
Hi Rob
Thanks for the reply
I have 2 wires going into grey switch box near inverter then 2 wires from that into the bottom of inverter.
Inverter model giv hy3.6
The reason I ask about strings is battery never gets to 100%.
On a sunny day on the panels it can be around 600w generated on the app, this morning cloudy says 86w from 10 panels don’t sound a lot or does it.
I look on GivEnergy cloud ap not sure what I’m looking at but I go on solar it says something like
Vpv1 422.2
vpv2 0
Ipv 0.1
Ipv2 0
I was just thinking if vpv 2 or ipv 2 was a string from solar panels then it’s always on
‘0’ from the day it was fitted March 24 that’s why I use more electric than panels generate
Sorry to ramble on but people say I Sell it back to elec company I can’t see how I could do that cannot seem to generate enough to run a small cottage thanks .
Andy
On the portal, check the Power Graph from the portal.
You may need to refresh the page to get the current chart.
You can then see the state of charge (SOC) of your battery over time.
For this you need the ‘Battery percentage’ option seated above the graph.
This is my power chart for today. You can see how my chart rate reduces as more charge gets into the battery.
Poor solar for today, although I did reach nearly 2 kWh just before midday.
I have a heat pump and run over Predbat but you can see all the options.
Do ‘play’ with the options below the chart to appreciate the info. You need to view this on the portal to get a real perspective.
This was my power graph yesterday where I generated over 20 kWh, with 12 kWh being exported to the grid. My max power was about 4.5 kW.
I don’t know whether this helps but it would be good if you can find out your total solar generation for the day.
Rob
1 Like
Looking at your queries, you may be better served on the main community forum:
There are far more active contributors, including me, and far more depth of history of similar problems.
Rob
1 Like
Thanks for spending time looking/helping Rob.
I think It’s all a bit technical for me
In my 70’s but still try & fix the odd thing
I have emailed the people that fitted solar
Also GivEnergy but no reply from them seems like fit & forget that’s why if I have a problem I can keep pestering them.
Andy
1 Like
Go to the main community forum and post your first query:
community.givenergy.cloud
You should the get some good advice.
It is by far a better forum and there are plenty of folk over there who are more than happy to offer advice.
Rob
1 Like
From your screenshots, it looks as if there is hardly any solar energy being used to charge your battery. Most of the time, you are running from the grid.
Please do this on the portal, rather than from your phone.
- Go to Inverter/settings.
- Make sure that you have ‘Eco’ selected.
- This may get your system working as it should be.
- If this fails, select the restart inverter button at the far right at the top:
- Review what has happened.
If you are getting no further you need to talk to Givenergy.
They can look at your system and hopefully fix it.
It may be a long phone call on hold but stick with it:
01377 252874
Best of luck.
If you are still stuck, get your self over to the main forum where there are more people, more knowledgable than me, able to help.
Rob
1 Like
it does look like you have all 10 panels on a single string.
Having more panels on one string isn’t a bad thing, you need a minimum ‘startup’ voltage from the panels for the inverter to start supplying AC power. I couldn’t find the spec sheet for the Gen 3 inverter you probably have, but for the Gen 1 its 140V and the Gen 2 its 150V.
It is generally advised to have panels that are on separate orientations to be different strings on the inverter, that way as the sun moves around each string can operate independently. However if your installer had done that, with only 5 panels, you would find more occurrences of there not being enough solar to start AC conversion.
Looking at the screenshot above, VPV1 is 403V, so if that was halved, you’d only just be above the startup voltage
1 Like
Hi Geoffrey
Thanks for the reply,
I have 2 wires into the inverter from the solar but I am convinced the one on the back of the house are not working & never have since fitted.
Today blue sky full sun on the 5 solar panels and the app says 247w no sun on the other side it’s 3.30 in the afternoon blue sky here in wales battery on 4% was on 23% earlier but the hot water came on & used all in the battery & from the grid. Tomorrow will be pretty much the same that’s how my solar works thanks Andy
1 Like
Having two arrays on opposite sides of the house will cause some degradation in output as the sun hits the two arrays differently. Possibly solar optimisers might have been worthwhile on your setup to minimise this - do you know if your installer included this?
It is probably worth you creating an account (its free) on solcast.com.au, it will give you your predicted solar generation each day and across the day based on sun position, panel size, cloud cover, etc.
Can give you an idea whether your panels are performing correctly or not
Geoffrey
2 Likes