Re: [RE-wrenches] Sol-Ark phantom loads

[Roland Shackelford via RE-wrenches]

Don,

We have had this happen when you auto calibrate the CT's and the CTs aren't
properly positioned to see exported energy from the Sol-Ark inverter.
Couple other times it took several calibrations and messing with opening
and closing the cts and double checking splices on extensions of CTS.

Good luck!


Roland Shackelford

President / Owner

NABCEP PVIP #091209-162

O 808.775.7410 | M 808.938.9239 |

45-487 Lehua St Honokaa, HI 96727

Power Solutions for Generations Renewable Energy Services, Inc.



" Where there is integrity, there will be trust. Where there is trust,
there will be an atmosphere for success." - Sadhguru


On Wed, Oct 25, 2023 at 11:18 AM don energysolarnow.com via RE-wrenches <
re-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org> wrote:

> Just spent yesterday debugging a Sol-Ark 15 kW inverter phantom load
> weirdness.
> With Work Mode set at Limited Power To Home it seemed to get a bit schizo,
> pulling around 6kW in from the grid on leg L1 and around 13 kW on the other
> L2 leg, with 7kW of PV added. No house loads were involved. The monitoring
> called this a 13 kW load.
> I measured something like 50 amps on L2 and neutral; 120 Volts on L1 and
> 125 Volts on L2 at the house. My Fluke clamp-on amp meter does not say
> which way AC current is flowing. The utility meter showed it as  power
> coming in.
> At the main meter panel about 150 ft away from the house the voltages were
> better balanced; probably due to proximity to the utility transformer.
> Those leg voltages were balanced when the inverter was shut down.
> Oddly, this phantom loading decreased with decreasing PV production later
> in the day.
> Working with Sol-Ark tech support we (of course) downloaded new firmware,
> then changed Work Mode to Limited Power To Load. After a couple of resets
> this had the effect of allowing the inverter to cover just the loads in the
> battery-backed subpanel; not those at the house main panel where the CT
> sensors are located. The phantom 13kW load has not recurred.
> Has anyone seen an inverter try to mix import and export on different legs
> by creating phantom loads?
>
> Don Barch
> Energy Solar
>
>
>
> ___
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Re: [RE-wrenches] Sol-Ark phantom loads

[Mac Lewis via RE-wrenches]

I had a similar issue once with a Sol-Ark 12k, triple stack.  The issue
ended up being that the phase relationship got reversed during the
installation. AC out and AC in need to be carefully phased out. I don't
really understand why, but it's an easy thing to check.

Let us know what you find.

Good luck

On Thu, Oct 26, 2023, 9:03 AM White, Will via RE-wrenches <
re-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org> wrote:

> Don,
>
>
>
> Your Fluke clamp meter should indicate the current flow by showing a
> negative or positive current reading unless you’ve got an old meter. On the
> top of the meter inside the jaw is an arrow that points in the direction of
> current flow if the reading is positive. If it’s negative, the current is
> flowing in the opposite direction of the arrow.
>
>
>
> Thanks,
>
> Will
>
>
>
> *From:* RE-wrenches  *On
> Behalf Of *don energysolarnow.com via RE-wrenches
> *Sent:* Wednesday, October 25, 2023 5:17 PM
> *To:* re-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org
> *Cc:* don energysolarnow.com 
> *Subject:* [EXTERNAL] [RE-wrenches] Sol-Ark phantom loads
>
>
>
> *CAUTION:* This email originated from outside of the organization. Do not
> click links or open attachments unless you recognize the sender and know
> the content is safe.
>
>
>
> Just spent yesterday debugging a Sol-Ark 15 kW inverter phantom load
> weirdness.
>
> With Work Mode set at Limited Power To Home it seemed to get a bit schizo,
> pulling around 6kW in from the grid on leg L1 and around 13 kW on the other
> L2 leg, with 7kW of PV added. No house loads were involved. The monitoring
> called this a 13 kW load.
>
> I measured something like 50 amps on L2 and neutral; 120 Volts on L1 and
> 125 Volts on L2 at the house. My Fluke clamp-on amp meter does not say
> which way AC current is flowing. The utility meter showed it as  power
> coming in.
>
> At the main meter panel about 150 ft away from the house the voltages were
> better balanced; probably due to proximity to the utility transformer.
> Those leg voltages were balanced when the inverter was shut down.
>
> Oddly, this phantom loading decreased with decreasing PV production later
> in the day.
>
> Working with Sol-Ark tech support we (of course) downloaded new firmware,
> then changed Work Mode to Limited Power To Load. After a couple of resets
> this had the effect of allowing the inverter to cover just the loads in the
> battery-backed subpanel; not those at the house main panel where the CT
> sensors are located. The phantom 13kW load has not recurred.
>
> Has anyone seen an inverter try to mix import and export on different legs
> by creating phantom loads?
>
>
>
> Don Barch
>
> Energy Solar
>
>
>
>
>
>
> --
>
> Please be advised that this email may contain confidential information. If
> you are not the intended recipient, please notify us by email by replying
> to the sender and delete this message.
> ___
> List sponsored by Redwood Alliance
>
> Pay optional member dues here: http://re-wrenches.org
>
> List Address: RE-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org
>
> Change listserver email address & settings:
> http://lists.re-wrenches.org/options.cgi/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org
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> other:
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>
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[RE-wrenches] Sol-Ark phantom loads

[White, Will via RE-wrenches]

Don,

Your Fluke clamp meter should indicate the current flow by showing a negative 
or positive current reading unless you've got an old meter. On the top of the 
meter inside the jaw is an arrow that points in the direction of current flow 
if the reading is positive. If it's negative, the current is flowing in the 
opposite direction of the arrow.

Thanks,
Will

From: RE-wrenches  On Behalf Of don 
energysolarnow.com via RE-wrenches
Sent: Wednesday, October 25, 2023 5:17 PM
To: re-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org
Cc: don energysolarnow.com 
Subject: [EXTERNAL] [RE-wrenches] Sol-Ark phantom loads


CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Do not click 
links or open attachments unless you recognize the sender and know the content 
is safe.


Just spent yesterday debugging a Sol-Ark 15 kW inverter phantom load weirdness.
With Work Mode set at Limited Power To Home it seemed to get a bit schizo, 
pulling around 6kW in from the grid on leg L1 and around 13 kW on the other L2 
leg, with 7kW of PV added. No house loads were involved. The monitoring called 
this a 13 kW load.
I measured something like 50 amps on L2 and neutral; 120 Volts on L1 and 125 
Volts on L2 at the house. My Fluke clamp-on amp meter does not say which way AC 
current is flowing. The utility meter showed it as  power coming in.
At the main meter panel about 150 ft away from the house the voltages were 
better balanced; probably due to proximity to the utility transformer. Those 
leg voltages were balanced when the inverter was shut down.
Oddly, this phantom loading decreased with decreasing PV production later in 
the day.
Working with Sol-Ark tech support we (of course) downloaded new firmware, then 
changed Work Mode to Limited Power To Load. After a couple of resets this had 
the effect of allowing the inverter to cover just the loads in the 
battery-backed subpanel; not those at the house main panel where the CT sensors 
are located. The phantom 13kW load has not recurred.
Has anyone seen an inverter try to mix import and export on different legs by 
creating phantom loads?

Don Barch
Energy Solar





Please be advised that this email may contain confidential information. If you 
are not the intended recipient, please notify us by email by replying to the 
sender and delete this message.
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Re: [RE-wrenches] Sol-Ark phantom loads

[Peter Giroux via RE-wrenches]

Don

 

  We recently went through a few issues with a 15. Call me to discuss.

 

Thx

Peter Giroux

American Solar

678 525 0468

 

From: RE-wrenches  On Behalf Of
don energysolarnow.com via RE-wrenches
Sent: Wednesday, October 25, 2023 5:17 PM
To: re-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org
Cc: don energysolarnow.com 
Subject: [RE-wrenches] Sol-Ark phantom loads

 

Just spent yesterday debugging a Sol-Ark 15 kW inverter phantom load
weirdness.

With Work Mode set at Limited Power To Home it seemed to get a bit schizo,
pulling around 6kW in from the grid on leg L1 and around 13 kW on the other
L2 leg, with 7kW of PV added. No house loads were involved. The monitoring
called this a 13 kW load. 

I measured something like 50 amps on L2 and neutral; 120 Volts on L1 and 125
Volts on L2 at the house. My Fluke clamp-on amp meter does not say which way
AC current is flowing. The utility meter showed it as  power coming in.

At the main meter panel about 150 ft away from the house the voltages were
better balanced; probably due to proximity to the utility transformer. Those
leg voltages were balanced when the inverter was shut down.

Oddly, this phantom loading decreased with decreasing PV production later in
the day.

Working with Sol-Ark tech support we (of course) downloaded new firmware,
then changed Work Mode to Limited Power To Load. After a couple of resets
this had the effect of allowing the inverter to cover just the loads in the
battery-backed subpanel; not those at the house main panel where the CT
sensors are located. The phantom 13kW load has not recurred. 

Has anyone seen an inverter try to mix import and export on different legs
by creating phantom loads?

 

Don Barch

Energy Solar

 

 

 

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[RE-wrenches] Sol-Ark phantom loads

[don energysolarnow.com via RE-wrenches]

Just spent yesterday debugging a Sol-Ark 15 kW inverter phantom load weirdness.
With Work Mode set at Limited Power To Home it seemed to get a bit schizo, 
pulling around 6kW in from the grid on leg L1 and around 13 kW on the other L2 
leg, with 7kW of PV added. No house loads were involved. The monitoring called 
this a 13 kW load.
I measured something like 50 amps on L2 and neutral; 120 Volts on L1 and 125 
Volts on L2 at the house. My Fluke clamp-on amp meter does not say which way AC 
current is flowing. The utility meter showed it as  power coming in.
At the main meter panel about 150 ft away from the house the voltages were 
better balanced; probably due to proximity to the utility transformer. Those 
leg voltages were balanced when the inverter was shut down.
Oddly, this phantom loading decreased with decreasing PV production later in 
the day.
Working with Sol-Ark tech support we (of course) downloaded new firmware, then 
changed Work Mode to Limited Power To Load. After a couple of resets this had 
the effect of allowing the inverter to cover just the loads in the 
battery-backed subpanel; not those at the house main panel where the CT sensors 
are located. The phantom 13kW load has not recurred.
Has anyone seen an inverter try to mix import and export on different legs by 
creating phantom loads?

Don Barch
Energy Solar



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