Congrats on getting up and running. I've never had my batteries connected to the Cerbo, I just use the shunt. Go into settings, System Setup and make sure the battery monitor is set to the shunt, you will also need to setup the battery capacity in the shunt, and make sure you have VE Can connected between the shunt and the Cerbo. There is a ton of stuff you need to setup, including the ESS Assistant in the Quattro. PS You'll be surprised just how little power you will generate on a gloomy winters day, it'll be much less than you think.
I have my pv installation for a bit over one year now and it's my experience that I get a lot more power from a cloudy day in spring and summer than from a cloudy day in winter. In winter I got maybe 10-20% from what I'm getting these days. I'm located in Belgium.
In case anyone is wondering why things have gone a bit quiet - Dave's band 'The Homestead Queens' are out on tour at the moment until the beginning of June so Sarah and the kids are having a holiday at her sister's house in Carlow, Ireland. She'll be back next Thursday so expect uploads soon after. Not really - I have no idea what's happening - but I hope that everything is OK.
Congratulation! Great that you finally have solar power. All winter even with the clouds we can almost always provide all the power we need here. We have 9kw of solar, a 1kw wind turbine and 30kw of battery. 6kw South facing and 3kw East facing.
I'd be interested to know which wind turbine you have, we've got loads of land here and it's really windy so installing a wind turbine is definitely something we are thinking about but there seem to be very little information on RUclips about wind turbines.
@@Gridbusters-qx4om I wouldn't recommend the turbine that I have. It was made in China and the output curve is more like a steep ramp. It doesn't really put out power until the wind is about 15 mph ?m/s. Since the low speed output is quite poor I think I probably get about half the power I would with a better turbine. After 10 months I just reached 500 kwh today. My first suggestion is to do an actual assessment of the available wind at the site you plan to use. I just thought that since the wind is usually quite annoying here(central Oklahoma)that I could augment my solar reasonably well with a small turbine. My second suggestion is that taller is better. I do have structures and a tree nearby and if I was higher I'd have the threefold benefit of less obstruction(tree), less turbulence(house) and more available wind. My turbine is about 48' above the terrain. Siting the turbine away from obstructions can be problematic since most small turbines will operate at the battery voltage you are using and require much larger wire if the distance becomes very great. I'm kind of pushing using 12/3 for 1kw at 170'. I'll try to put together a short video on my channel sometime soon with a little bit more information on my exact setup.@98grand5point9
Congratulation to your system startup! One thought to your calculation for winter: In winter the elevation of the sun is lower and the days are shorter. To harvest the same amount of energy on a clowdy day you will need much more panels. I guess al least three times of what you got today. Fortunatly you have much more roof space left to mount panles. Good luck!
One of the benefits of having an old property in France with a big barn is tthe amount of roof space !! With 32 panels we can get another 16 to 18 panels on the roof quite easily and releatively cheaply having done all the hard work already. Just a note - our objective was to cut the Winter grid based elecricity usage by half and to zero in summer. Based on the 2weeks so far in April (cold,cloudy and rainy - unusually so) we appear to be on course to achieve that and maybe even do better, perhaps get the winter electricity bill down to about 25% of what it was.
@@daveingram9240 Hmmmm....i think you are also too optimistic. Solar power in april is similar to september. In Winter you will harvest much less than during these days. I think Sarah will be able to power her electrical heating in october and march, but not in between. We will see....
You should not have a terminator in your VE.Bus line. I see one installed in your Quattro. Remove this one and any that may be in the VE.Bus port of the CerboGX. The terminators are only required for the VE.Can lines, (last MPPT and VE.Can port of your CerboGX).
Depending on which version of the Seplos BMS you got, it might not be the best experience to have it connected. The 10E e.g. is the worst of the 3 versions yet according to Andy. In my system I didn't connect the BMS and I rely on the asking to get it right which works great. To me it looks as if you had the "Has DC system" enabled, which you probably don't want. And maybe you have to select the correct battery monitor. In your case the shunt. Both settings can be found in "System Setup" on your cerbo. And you probably want to enable DVCC as well if it's not yet.
I can’t quite see on the power feed in to your cerbo. On a 48v system it’s advised to fit a capacitor across the positive and negative. Also the batteries will need a cable from the communication port to the BMS socket on the Cerbo. And you need to turn off the “Has DC System” in system setup on the Cerbo. As the batteries are not supplying anything directly with 48v you are inverting the power to AC.
Hello Sarah, your installation is very interesting,. Especially with the black mdf board to hide the large cables. You should check the Victron note on connection Quattros to the grid Datasheet-ESS-application-Quattro-48V-8-10-15kVA-EN.pdf. Quattros have no internal single fault tolerant grid inputs. So they require a separate anti-islanding relays.
Can you explain what you mean? As far as I'm aware they have transfer relays built in and are compliant for anti islanding, it's how I'm using my Quattro. When the grid is turned off the Quattro stops sending power down the grid connection - I've tested it and the electrician was happy to connect it up. Oh and it states this in the manual, although some countries may require an external relay.
@@TheRonskiman In europe most energy companies require a redundant anti islanding protection. The quattros have only 1 relay between the grin an transformer. The new quattro-ii have 2 relays.
@@waschkd That makes sense, and now you mention it I think I've read that before, luckily for me the UK doesn't, but for Sarah she may well do - hope she's OK there's been no videos for two weeks.
I would have used a two-pole cable:3x L & N. I would have laid the PE with a single cable. That would have saved me having to do the PE three times and cost.
It’s kind a refreshing to see not always the old white dudes doing solar videos! As you only use 1 Quattro I assume you only get 1 phase to this (very nice) premise? What was your reason to use Quattro instead of Multiplus II? Do you have also a generator you might (need to) use some days, that would make me understand the quattro. Do you have older videos from the setup of your installation? I can’t see any older then about May timeframe.
Yes I also have loads of older videos I really should link them at the end of the videos... I went with the Quattro because I wanted 2 power inputs and two power outputs. I put all my heating and hot water on the second power output that way if the grid goes down I don't drain all my battery is running the heating
your quattro comm is VE BUS not end line res needed and smartt solar and Lynx Shunt comm is Ve cam end line res needed - BMS cam on GX to Can on your master battery Can for your batteries end line res at gx end needed , shut will need set up in gx software VRM -- remote console --- device list--- settings --- system setup---- in battery monitor you can select battery monitor unit type you can also make it visible too good luck
32 panels with a max rated output of 14 kw, we are thinking about adding another 16 to 18 panels to give another 7 or 8KW, this means that - being conservative - we would be able to cut spring and winter usage of grid based elecricity to Zero and make winter consumption from the grid about 25% of total.
Hi Sarah, I hope that you are well. I have been looking out for your videos. Thanks. From Errol.
new videos this weekend!!!
Well done Sarah good to see you're finally producing. Now the fun begins!!
So great to see the system come together. I love your spirit when things go wrong, Cable to short "Ha, Ha, Dear me".
Having you as a wife would be a dream, lol I love electrical stuff and recently assemble my first small scale victron system.😂
Tough, she's taken mate !!
@@daveingram9240 I know, lol, but I hope I brightened someone's day.
Congratulations Sarah well done
Thank you!!
Congrats on getting up and running. I've never had my batteries connected to the Cerbo, I just use the shunt. Go into settings, System Setup and make sure the battery monitor is set to the shunt, you will also need to setup the battery capacity in the shunt, and make sure you have VE Can connected between the shunt and the Cerbo. There is a ton of stuff you need to setup, including the ESS Assistant in the Quattro. PS You'll be surprised just how little power you will generate on a gloomy winters day, it'll be much less than you think.
I have my pv installation for a bit over one year now and it's my experience that I get a lot more power from a cloudy day in spring and summer than from a cloudy day in winter. In winter I got maybe 10-20% from what I'm getting these days. I'm located in Belgium.
Congrats, my favorite part is wiring everything together, great job, nice and clean and you show your mistakes as well, "as few as they are ;)"
Thank you!
In case anyone is wondering why things have gone a bit quiet - Dave's band 'The Homestead Queens' are out on tour at the moment until the beginning of June so Sarah and the kids are having a holiday at her sister's house in Carlow, Ireland. She'll be back next Thursday so expect uploads soon after.
Not really - I have no idea what's happening - but I hope that everything is OK.
new videos this weekend!!!
SARAH, CONGRATULATIONS!
NOW THE TESTING & TWEAKING!
DON’T FORGET TO SHARE THE ADDITIONAL PROJECTS!
WELL DONE 👍 👍!
Congratulation!
Great that you finally have solar power. All winter even with the clouds we can almost always provide all the power we need here. We have 9kw of solar, a 1kw wind turbine and 30kw of battery. 6kw South facing and 3kw East facing.
I'd be interested to know which wind turbine you have, we've got loads of land here and it's really windy so installing a wind turbine is definitely something we are thinking about but there seem to be very little information on RUclips about wind turbines.
@@Gridbusters-qx4om I wouldn't recommend the turbine that I have. It was made in China and the output curve is more like a steep ramp. It doesn't really put out power until the wind is about 15 mph ?m/s. Since the low speed output is quite poor I think I probably get about half the power I would with a better turbine. After 10 months I just reached 500 kwh today.
My first suggestion is to do an actual assessment of the available wind at the site you plan to use. I just thought that since the wind is usually quite annoying here(central Oklahoma)that I could augment my solar reasonably well with a small turbine.
My second suggestion is that taller is better. I do have structures and a tree nearby and if I was higher I'd have the threefold benefit of less obstruction(tree), less turbulence(house) and more available wind. My turbine is about 48' above the terrain.
Siting the turbine away from obstructions can be problematic since most small turbines will operate at the battery voltage you are using and require much larger wire if the distance becomes very great. I'm kind of pushing using 12/3 for 1kw at 170'.
I'll try to put together a short video on my channel sometime soon with a little bit more information on my exact setup.@98grand5point9
@@98grand5point9Chinese stuff is notorious for not performing as specified.
Congratulation to your system startup!
One thought to your calculation for winter:
In winter the elevation of the sun is lower and the days are shorter. To harvest the same amount of energy on a clowdy day you will need much more panels. I guess al least three times of what you got today.
Fortunatly you have much more roof space left to mount panles. Good luck!
One of the benefits of having an old property in France with a big barn is tthe amount of roof space !! With 32 panels we can get another 16 to 18 panels on the roof quite easily and releatively cheaply having done all the hard work already. Just a note - our objective was to cut the Winter grid based elecricity usage by half and to zero in summer. Based on the 2weeks so far in April (cold,cloudy and rainy - unusually so) we appear to be on course to achieve that and maybe even do better, perhaps get the winter electricity bill down to about 25% of what it was.
@@daveingram9240
Hmmmm....i think you are also too optimistic. Solar power in april is similar to september.
In Winter you will harvest much less than during these days. I think Sarah will be able to power her electrical heating in october and march, but not in between.
We will see....
You should not have a terminator in your VE.Bus line. I see one installed in your Quattro. Remove this one and any that may be in the VE.Bus port of the CerboGX.
The terminators are only required for the VE.Can lines, (last MPPT and VE.Can port of your CerboGX).
High voltage charge controllers are helping on dark-gloomy days !
Depending on which version of the Seplos BMS you got, it might not be the best experience to have it connected. The 10E e.g. is the worst of the 3 versions yet according to Andy. In my system I didn't connect the BMS and I rely on the asking to get it right which works great.
To me it looks as if you had the "Has DC system" enabled, which you probably don't want. And maybe you have to select the correct battery monitor. In your case the shunt.
Both settings can be found in "System Setup" on your cerbo. And you probably want to enable DVCC as well if it's not yet.
I can’t quite see on the power feed in to your cerbo.
On a 48v system it’s advised to fit a capacitor across the positive and negative.
Also the batteries will need a cable from the communication port to the BMS socket on the Cerbo.
And you need to turn off the “Has DC System” in system setup on the Cerbo. As the batteries are not supplying anything directly with 48v you are inverting the power to AC.
Hello Sarah, your installation is very interesting,. Especially with the black mdf board to hide the large cables. You should check the Victron note on connection Quattros to the grid Datasheet-ESS-application-Quattro-48V-8-10-15kVA-EN.pdf. Quattros have no internal single fault tolerant grid inputs. So they require a separate anti-islanding relays.
Can you explain what you mean? As far as I'm aware they have transfer relays built in and are compliant for anti islanding, it's how I'm using my Quattro. When the grid is turned off the Quattro stops sending power down the grid connection - I've tested it and the electrician was happy to connect it up. Oh and it states this in the manual, although some countries may require an external relay.
@@TheRonskiman In europe most energy companies require a redundant anti islanding protection. The quattros have only 1 relay between the grin an transformer. The new quattro-ii have 2 relays.
@@waschkd That makes sense, and now you mention it I think I've read that before, luckily for me the UK doesn't, but for Sarah she may well do - hope she's OK there's been no videos for two weeks.
I would have used a two-pole cable:3x L & N.
I would have laid the PE with a single cable.
That would have saved me having to do the PE three times and cost.
It’s kind a refreshing to see not always the old white dudes doing solar videos!
As you only use 1 Quattro I assume you only get 1 phase to this (very nice) premise?
What was your reason to use Quattro instead of Multiplus II? Do you have also a generator you might (need to) use some days, that would make me understand the quattro.
Do you have older videos from the setup of your installation? I can’t see any older then about May timeframe.
Yes I also have loads of older videos I really should link them at the end of the videos... I went with the Quattro because I wanted 2 power inputs and two power outputs. I put all my heating and hot water on the second power output that way if the grid goes down I don't drain all my battery is running the heating
more video's please
new videos this weekend!!!
Sarah where are you at you have not done any video for 4 weeks now. I hope you are doing alright.
new videos this weekend!!!
your quattro comm is VE BUS not end line res needed and smartt solar and Lynx Shunt comm is Ve cam end line res needed - BMS cam on GX to Can on your master battery Can for your batteries end line res at gx end needed , shut will need set up in gx software VRM -- remote console --- device list--- settings --- system setup---- in battery monitor you can select battery monitor unit type you can also make it visible too
good luck
How many kw of oanels so far?
32 panels with a max rated output of 14 kw, we are thinking about adding another 16 to 18 panels to give another 7 or 8KW, this means that - being conservative - we would be able to cut spring and winter usage of grid based elecricity to Zero and make winter consumption from the grid about 25% of total.
Dont you have an App for your phone ?
Yes I've got it all set up on my phone on an app now
What has happened Sarah? You have gone quiet?
new videos this weekend!!!