Simple Battery Setup Pylontech US5000
Hi All. Brand new user of a Sunsynk 3.6kWEcco Hybrid in the UK, with 4.3kWp Solar panels and a Pylontech 4.8kWh battery. No generator, no UPS functions (we rarely have power cuts).
I would like to keep things simple, so this is what I'd like to achieve, or at least get close to:
Goals:
· Never charge the battery from the grid
· Maximise the lifespan of the battery
· Priorities for Solar output in order – Home Consumption; Charge Battery; Export to grid (I do plan to export any surplus following MCS and other approvals but will be on a flat export rate)
To help maximise the lifespan of the battery, I’m happy to compromise its useable capacity and charge/discharge rates. As a starting point, I would like to set the following:
· Maximum State of Charge: 80%
· Minimum State of Charge 20%
· Maximum Charge Current 20A
· Maximum Discharge Current 20A
So, it should discharge to 20% during the evening/night, after which I import normally from the grid.
When the sun comes up, the solar should be used to power the house until there's a surplus, at which time it should charge the battery, up to 80%. After that, any surplus can be exported.
When the sun goes down, the battery discharges to power the house until it reaches 20% and then stops and I import from the grid again.
Repeat...
Is this possible with the Sunsynk, because I can't work out how to set it up? I have 80% in my battery and can't persuade it to even power the house.
Any help gratefully accepted!
Cheers
Andrew
Hi Jacekowski
Many thanks for this detailed explanation. It's becoming MUCH clearer.
Armed with this new info I think I have a good enough setup now. Enough for me to monitor and log and see how it goes.
I did have a bit of a stress this morning when my app and the web connect service both showed my Inverter offline (oddly, the Gateway was showing online). After some faultfinding and restarting and reconnecting to WiFi, Facebook User Group reported that the Global Sunsynk service was having problems. Phew! Not me then.
So i set things up from the front panel and I'll wait before doing anything else until the service is stable again.
My next step will be the software upgrade.
You mentioned Node-Red, which I expect means you're running Home Assistant or some other home automation along with Node-Red to configure your Inverter dynamically, possibly integrating with Solcast or some other weather API? Very interesting.
I run OpenHAB home automation and also use Node-Red, along with influxDB and Grafana (and the Octopus API integration). I have many sensors, some which cover power use and others for central heating control.
I also intended to look at a predictive control system, possibly using the Modbus protocol.
However, its a major task that I'm putting off until I decide whether or not to stick with OpenHAB and go through a major revision of everything or jump ship and start a new Home Assistant instance. Or use both.
Those are both major tasks too. I'll decide later when I have more time, then go for it next time I have enough spare time. No rush.
Have a great weekend and thanks again for this - my difficulties have been resolved :)
Cheers
Andrew