Learning the basic functions and settings of your solar power system is essential. This troubleshooting guide will help you.
This guide contains easy-to-understand instructions and video tutorials to teach you how to:
- Reserve your battery for load shedding and charge your battery bank using grid-supplied electricity.
- Learn about the system monitoring apps available and how they can help you use your solar power system more efficiently.
- Restart your system in the event that the system trips, your battery is completely depleted or you get an error code.
How To:
Solar System Troubleshooting: Reserve & Grid Charge Your Battery
To ensure you have battery backup for load shedding
Overview
Knowing how to set the charge and discharge of your battery to suit your needs is a must, especially during long bouts of load shedding.
In the video below, you’ll learn how to reserve your battery for load shedding, and how to charge your battery with grid power when you are not producing solar energy.
Reserving Your Battery for Load Shedding
- Click the cog on the top right corner of the screen.
- Select “System Work Mode”.
- Click the down arrow on the right of the screen.
- Select a time slot that you want to save your battery for.
- Click into the “Batt” field that corresponds with your chosen time slot.
- Click the up or down button underneath the screen to increase or decrease the reserved battery percentage.
- Click the tick on the bottom right of the screen to save your settings.
Grid Charging Your Battery
- Click the cog on the top right corner of the screen.
- Select “Battery Setting”.
- Click the down arrow on the right of the screen.
- Click the “Grid Charge” box.
- Click the tick on the bottom right of the screen to save your settings.
How To:
Solar System Troubleshooting: Monitor Your Solar System
To use your solar power kit more efficiently
Overview
Monitoring your solar power system will help you better understand your usage and solar power production, which will, in turn, help you use your solar system more efficiently.
Solar system efficiency will help reduce your reliance on the grid by reducing your grid-power consumption.
In this video, we go through two solar system monitoring apps and how to use them.
TIP: SolarAssistant is not a downloadable app. However, using your Safari browser, you can save a shortcut to your SolarAssistant account on your phone’s home screen.
SolarAssistant
- Real-time data
- Only basic historical data
- Remotely reserve battery & grid charging
- R2899.00 once off cost for device
- No monthly subscription cost
Solar Man
- Detailed Historic Data
- No real-time data
- Requires a wifi dongle (usually included with inverter)
- Remote battery reserve setting is difficult
- No monthly subscription cost
How To:
Solar System Troubleshooting: Reset Your Solar System
In the event of error codes, complete battery depletion or system tripping
Overview
If you’re solar system has unexpectedly stopped working, you can reset your system so that it is back up and running in no time.
In the event that your system has tripped, your inverter is displaying an error code or your battery has been depleted, this video will show you how to restart your solar system safely.
Resetting your solar system due to an error warning will usually restore your system to 100% functionality.
Step 1: Shutdown System
- AC Box: Flick the changeover switch down from PV to grid
- AC Box: Flick the inverter output switch down
- AC Box: Flick the inverter input switch down
- DC Box: Flick all switches down in any order
- Switch off the inverter
- Disconnect the battery isolator switch
- Wait 20 seconds for complete shutdown
Step 2: Start System
- Reconnect the battery isolator switch
- Switch the inverter(s) on – Master first then slave(s) if you have more than 1 inverter
- Wait until the inverter registers the grid/battery
- DC Box: Flick all switches up from left to right
- AC Box: Flick the inverter input switch up
- AC Box: Flick the inverter output switch up
- Wait +/- 1 minute for the array to register
- AC Box: Flick the changeover switch up from grid to PV