The Alternative Energy Thread - Generators, Solar, UPS, Wind

[waqar747]

Anyone heard of Sofar Inverters? I tried to search here but no results.

[mrdeejay]

Is there any benefit to using bifacial panels on standard L2 structure? I'm seeing most sellers have bifacial panels in stock these days, whereas a year ago many were against bifacial panels

[abart]

in fact it should be the duty of installer to tell the user how to use inverter.

I think mostly default values work we just need to add battery backup value and we dont need to change all other values..default/factory values are fine.

What problem you are facing? is your netmetering ON?
In case of an error it rings the alarm for a minute and restart the services by itself, check error codes? did you check?

you have the tool you just need to understand what working mode suits your need.. i suggest don't do experiments by changing unknown fields values they are not like our mobile devices.

[umans]

I'm using Nitrox and seems like Matrix is from same manufacturer. I'm not installer but I do have in depth knowledge about it (at least I believe). I'm also in process of interfacing inverter data so my home IOT can consume real time data from inverter.
In battery settings you can easily restrict grid charging. It'll be great if explain what problem you are facing along with system specs you have.

[umans]

If price difference is not much consider it. Bifacial gain will be negligible on L2 but there are other befits, as bifacial are more durable and less prone to microcracks.

[mrdeejay]

Does the bottom side of it require regular cleaning as well or there is very little to no dirt buildup there?

[noobie]

Once you are able to interface with Nitrox, please inform us how you managed to do as I am also using it and would like to do the same. Solarman is not a good option as the data it provides is delayed and not real time.

[umans]

No

[umans]

So far I'm able to fetch the real time data. Next I'll try to consume it to trigger different event and generate notifications. Building UI will be time consuming, I'm thinking to integrate telegram bot so I can send request and receive real time data in response.

[noobie]

Can you share some technical details/how-to?I'd love to be able to pull the data in real time.

[umans]

You need to fetch data from inverter using Modbus RTU, either by connecting with physical port or you can remotely connect with logger to do the same. Basically you need to read some register values and translate it according to mapping defined by manufacturer.

[noobie]

Awesome, thank you! I'll spend some time on it tomorrow. Will post here if i have any questions or need any help.

[chdemon]

problem with me is that the grid is charging my 4 batteries, if i uncheck time of use (the grid is totally blocked and everything is taken from battery once solar is not available). i just installed 2 weeks back and i did no setting on my own, my installer is shit, he does not know much. i got help from fronus support. but still they say "our technical director will come in 3-4 days from karachi then he will help you out".

[noobie]

To prevent the grid from charging the batteries, you can navigate to the battery settings page (assuming Fronus has a similar user interface to Nitrox) and disable grid charging by unchecking the 'Grid Charge' option. Time of use is a different option. That is for shifting load to batteries if solar is not available. Basically, that's a slightly more sophasticated implementation of setting SUB or SBU mode.

You can follow this video tutorial: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JxVt7zxdyug

[capsat]

ISLAMABAD: The National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (Nepra) has formally approved surcharge of Rs 3.23 per unit for all categories of consumers across the country sans protected domestic consumers using up to 200 units per month as per understanding with the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

[mrdeejay]

I'm in the market to buy some solar panels. Often sellers say they have "Documents", what does that mean? What should I look for in provided documents to verify these are genuine Grade A panels?

[umans]

If all you want is not to charge batteries from grid then dont use time of use, go to battery settings and uncheck Grid Charge as someone suggested above.

[PKTUN]

Often sellers say they have "Documents", what does that mean?

in plain simple language it is term for Legal imported verifiable from manufacturer. The smuggled one are also exported by manufacturer but for different country and there will be no warranty for that.

[mrdeejay]

Would be great if you can provide some info so buyers like me can follow the steps and verify authenticity of panels. Unfortunately, there is too much "choor bazari" in our market. Even stickers on panels are locally printed by scammers.

[abart]

original bar code tags should always lie under the panel glass.
the readings/perimeters on the back sticker should match panel model specifications.