DATA MONITORING PowerView Settings Guide (PV PRO) Apple App Store Google Play Store
Table of Contents Introduction ..................................................................................................................................... 4 Reaching the Settings ................................................................................................................ 4 Settings in PowerView (PV Pro & www.mysol-ark.com) ............................................................. 6 Battery Settings ............................................................................
Application Case 2................................................................................................................. 16 Application Case 3................................................................................................................. 16 Grid Setting.............................................................................................................................. 18 Grid Mode...........................................................................................
Introduction Each Sol-Ark includes a DB9 Port dongle to connect the inverter to the internet via Wi-Fi or Ethernet. The dongle uses the PowerView (PV Pro) platform to remotely monitor the inverter's data from anywhere on Earth that has a stable internet connection. PowerView is FREE for homeowners and installers. Installers need to contact us at www.solark.com/support to configure an installer account. You can download the app using the QR codes found on the title page.
It is essentially the same process if you wish to use a smartphone, as shown below: Page | 5 October 8, 2021
Settings in PowerView (PV Pro & www.mysol-ark.com) Battery Settings Battery Mode A. Lithium Batt: For batteries with a BMS that allows intercommunication B. Batt V: Displays information in voltages on the home screen. Changes set points such as TOU, shut down, restart, and low batt to work off voltage values. C. Batt %: Displays information in percentages on the home screen. Changes all set points such as TOU, shut down, restart, and low batt to work off percentage values. D.
Battery Capacity This value is the Amp-hour rating for your attached battery bank. Calculate this value using the spec sheet of the battery, depending on how many strings of batts you have in parallel. You could also work backward from the KWh they have on the specs. Max A Charge Value places global limits on battery charging. TOU, grid sell, grid, or gen Charge settings (and other charge settings) will not supersede this amount. This value also sets PV → Battery charge rate.
Lithium technology tends to have a lower resistance than lead-acid batteries, and more batts in parallel lower the resistance value. This value includes the total resistance of the battery network + cables + any switches or additional elements. Usually, cable resistance is typically negligible unless you use small wires. Batt Charging Efficiency It is a value used for the algorithm to calculate SOC.
Float V This value comes from the customer's battery spec sheet. This value signifies whenever the battery charging has reached its absorption value, and it drops down to float and hangs out at this voltage. Grid Charge Ensure your selection by pressing the "Ok" button. Grid Start V or %: The value which batts must reach to start whole-home generators connected through an automatic transfer switch.
Grid Signal / Gen Signal Enables the start signal to the generator if you have one connected. This value will turn GEN start on and off. Everyone should keep this ON. There is no downside to having it ON. Equalization Days Value (Days) in between the equalization cycles to balance all the cells. Equalization Hours Value duration (in hours) for the equalization cycle. If set to 0, equalization will not happen.
System Work Mode Work Mode Choose the power priorities of the Sol-Ark with the equivalent of the "Limiter" tab of the "Grid Setup" menu on the Sol-Ark screen. A. Grid Selling: If you are in this mode only, you will cover the Load's breaker and sell all the extra PV production to the grid while keeping your batteries full. B. Limited Power to Load: You will only produce as much power as the Load breaker consumes while keeping your batteries full.
Max Sell Power A value that places a global limit on the sell-back through the Grid breaker. Since it is a global limit, it affects the TOU sell back, the DC sell back from the solar panels, etc. You will also need to adjust this value to comply with what the utility initially agreed to with a previously established net metering agreement. EX . You would adjust this value if a customer were using a smaller breaker (i.e.
• • • A. TOU always allows DC PV production. Time of Use changes the power priority to PV → Batts → Grid → Gen. Without TOU, power priority is PV → Grid → Gen (manual) → Batts, or PV → Grid → Batts → Gen (two-wire start). Sell: If you check a "Sell" box, you will sell the specified power from the batteries towards the grid breaker. The MSP will likely use up the battery power, but it will sell any extra to the grid. B.
C. Time Slots: Each chronological time slot consists of a starting time. Read from T1-T2, T2-T3, etc. You may change these values to suit your desired usage. D. Power#: The maximum power the Sol-Ark draws from the batteries to power loads after PV cannot meet these loads. (Before Grid). E. Battery V/%# (Only valid when the grid is up): Battery end-goal for the time slot. The maximum allowable discharge level (lowest SOC allowed at a particular time slot). i.
Application Case 1 Limited to Home + Solar Sell + Batt First + Time of Use + no Charge or Sell boxes checked: Sol-Ark will discharge batts during the night + early morning down to 50%. It will produce as much PV as possible to charge the battery first, then cover the loads on the load breaker in the morning. If you need more power than the PV can produce to cover the loads, the Sol-Ark pulls power from the grid.
Application Case 2 Limited to Load + NO Solar Sell + Batt First + Time Of Use + No “Charge” boxes selected. The system will produce as much PV as the load breaker requires. If the grid is available, TOU will ensure to discharge the batteries to the Battery V% setpoint. The batteries will charge from PV ONLY. Batteries will not charge from either Grid or Gen because none of the "Charge" time slots are enabled.
Limited to Home + Solar Sell + Batt First + Time of Use + ALL Charge boxes checked (usually with a generator) During each selected time slot, the system will use the selected AC source from "Battery Setting" to charge the batteries up to the setpoint "Battery V#" but not above it. Enabling the "Charge" box in a time slot only prevents the batteries from being discharged below the setpoint if using the grid.
Grid Setting Grid Mode A. UL1741 & IEEE1547: Standard connection to the grid and enables the sell- compliant functionality. We have proven that we do not stay connected to the grid when the grid goes out. B. UL1741SA: Supplemental Addendum to the original UL1741. One of the supplemental addendums is Frequency-Watt control/frequency curtailment. i. Any UL1741SA inverter can be AC coupled to another and controlled via its frequency. ii.
B. 220 Single Phase: Only some parts of South America, England, etc. If setting it to 220V, the neutral goes into the other leg of our inverter to produce 220V because we have two inverters inside, and each one can only make 120V at most. C. 120/208V 3-Phase: 1 system for 208 will do only two of the 3 phases. 2 systems will do all 3 phases, but it is unbalanced (4.8kW, 6.2kW, 4.8KW). Need 3, 6, or 9 systems in parallel for balanced 3-phase.
Smart Load The Smart Load tab will control the GEN breaker's actions. Mode A. Generator Input: Default mode. GEN breaker will be a generator input. B. Smart Load Output: Use the Gen input as a Smart Load output. This setting turns the GEN breaker into a programable output for automatic load shutting for one or two circuits. You can always press and hold the light bulb icon on the unit's home screen to force the Smart Load on, and it will stay on for 4 hours.
iv. AC_Coupled_Frz_High: Upper limit for the frequency curtailment (FrequencyWatt). We can only adjust 0.5 Hz per second as far as our output to control the AC-coupled panels. If baseline is 60 Hz and the inverter needs to reach 62Hz, that is 2 seconds that the AC-coupled panels will potentially be producing power which needs to go somewhere. This is why we recommended that the OFF V/% is not 100% when you are off-grid with AC coupled panels.
Basic Setting Time Please ensure this is correct, as the TOU bases its settings on this value (ensure time zome is correct). Sometimes, if the data that the customer reports from the unit does not match what we see on PowerView, the time set up could be incorrect. Factory Reset We do not recommend a remote factory reset. Preferably, have someone do this locally as this will reset all the unit settings. The password for this is 9999. ARC Setup To enable or disable ARC fault capabilities.
Advanced Setting Gen Peak-Shaving This feature is on the GEN port for a generator. If enabled, the sol-ark syncs up to the generator to keep the inverter active and uses the CT sensors to see how much power the generator is putting out. This setting maintains the generator power from going above a threshold value to protect it from overloading. The system will reduce the charge rate down to 0.
• • Gen or Grid Peak-Shaving will force Time of Use to be ON and will require user interaction with TOU settings to activate their desired setpoints. If you do NOT wish to use the battery, but want to use peak-shaving, program all the TOU setpoints to 100% or equivalent voltage if set to voltage mode. Parallel If you have parallel units, you will need to enable "Parallel" on each unit for correct programming.
iii. Systems = 3 @ 208V a. Master / Phase A /Modbus SN=1: Inv_L2 = Grid_L2 + Inv_L1 = Grid_L1 b. Master / Phase B /Modbus SN =2: Inv_L2 = Grid_L3 + Inv_L1 = Grid_L2 c. Master / Phase C/Modbus SN =3: Inv_L2 = Grid_L1 + Inv_L1 = Grid_L3 d. 9 kW x 3 Power to Grid: 4.5kW + 4.5kW & 4.5kW + 4.5kW & 4.5kW + 4.5kW iv. Systems = 6 @ 208V a. Master / Phase A /Modbus SN =1 b. Slave / Phase A /Modbus SN =2 c. Master / Phase B /Modbus SN =3 d. Slave / Phase B /Modbus SN =4 e. Master / Phase C /Modbus SN =5 f.
This function will only work if the system is connected to the Grid and has batteries. Otherwise, it will not work. Enabling this feature WITHOUT batteries will require a factory reset to regain control of the Sol-Ark settings. Any AC coupled panels or other AC power source on the property that sells to the Grid needs to be OFF before using this function because the additional AC power source might cause confusion.
