Axpert invertors

prinslja said:
IMHO it's not ideal to have the inverter restart or even shut down.
More expensive inverters (and not by a country mile), will allow for grid pass thru of up to 56A in some cases, meaning that you will never be "disconnected" if the demand increases beyond the inverter's output.
One never knows what unexpected load condition may occur.
Click to expand...

The Axpert can tolerate 8kVA. There is an option about strictness on bypass mode.

But honestly, if you are overloading you are doing it wrong.
 
Hi all.

Happy new year. I have a Axpert cluster running. I found the Watchpower software very week in monitoring, stats and control. So I build my own.

I now have made it availabe to other as well. For best result add a Victron BMV 702 as the Axpert is not accurate with battery values.

Http://aicc.org.za
 
Thank you, jacof
I will download and test from tomorrow.
Will first upgrade the firmware as per Australian site.
 
Upgraded the firmware on my PIP 4048MS inverter without any problems.
Installed AICC software and it works with the modified firmware.
Now need to find a Victron BMV 702 in Somerset West for the battery monitoring.
 
For all you Axpert/PIP owners out there. You have to give Jaco's software a try at http://aicc.org.za
This is what the software should be and it is stable and gives you all the info that is needed!
 
Hi All,
I just finished yesterday the last phase of my DIY install, namely the 12 X 300W photovoltaic panels.
I have an Axpert 48V 5Kva inverter, 4 x AGM 260A batteries in series and 12 x 300W Yingli PV grouped in 4 strings.
I badly need advice for setting the Inverter.
Thanks
 
Virge said:
Hi All,
I just finished yesterday the last phase of my DIY install, namely the 12 X 300W photovoltaic panels.
I have an Axpert 48V 5Kva inverter, 4 x AGM 260A batteries in series and 12 x 300W Yingli PV grouped in 4 strings.
I badly need advice for setting the Inverter.
Thanks
Click to expand...

Very similar to my setup. The only difference is that I have 12 x 250W Yingli panels.

Program 1 probably SOL or SBU you decide what suits you best.
Program 2 20A (so that you stay below C10 charging rate.
Program 3 UPS and if you grid power is of not good enough quality Appliance
Program 4 Disabled. You can enable if you worried about overnight draw. I have never tried but most folk cannot get it to work.
Program 5 user defined
Program 6 & 7 default
Program 8 Not applicable
Program 9 Default 50Hz
Program 11 A maximum of 20A. You can set this lower if you want Eskom not to charge batteries but under normal circumstances 20A would be desirable.
Program 12 & 13 You decide
Program 14 CSO or SNU you decide
Program 18 - 23 defaults
Program 25 enable
Program 26 & 27 set according to battery specification sheet
Program 29 42V (default). This setting can only go up to 48V which is too low for any practical purposes. Any setting other than default makes the SOC charge reporting (which is not very good anyway) go all haywire.
Program 31 Enabled.

These are what I would start with as you become familiar with the Axpert so you can fiddle.

Hope that helps

Chris
 
Hi Chris,

Thanks for help. I have been busy analyzing the settings sheet and could not decide what to choose. This thing is running and I have no idea what is really going on. Today I switched over to the sub DB the pool pump as well, right now at 5 in the afternoon the PV is strong enough to supply 1Kwh to the pump.
I have in mind to buy asap a battery monitor. Do you know where to get from a Victron BMV 702 at a decent price? At night I change over to Eskom because I am worried not to damage the batteries.

Thanks
Virgil
 
Hi Virgil

Look at Victon's website they have a map with all the Victron agents. If you are in the Western Cape the Exsolar seem a good supplier but shop around. I got my BMV 702 from Telecom Techniques in PE.

Chris
 
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Hi Chris,

Thanks, I will check the website. This all thing looks scary to me. I loaded the inverter with nearly 3Kw at around 12 o'clock, a hell of a noise from the fans, the PC was showing PV voltage drop to 86V, 56 Amps from the PV, nothing blown yet. It means the 12x300W panels can handle alone 3kw. And it also proves the 63A DC circuit breaker in the combiner box on the PV supply line to the inverter was a good choice. I do not know how accurate the software that came with the inverter is. I would like to use Jaco's app but it does not run on my like new 5 years old mini laptop (BenQ Joybook) which being too small I never used and it has windows XP on it.

Virgil
 
Morning Virgil

Nothing to worry about the fans are there to protect the unit. Counter-intuitively they blow down whilst hot air rises so that is a design flaw. I would not run the inverter at more than 75-80% of capacity for any length of time. 3kW is fine but heat kills components and the heat management in the inverter is not the best. The software is a bit quirky. PV voltage is reported before the MPPT and PV Amps after (i.e. once the MPPT had modified it). So your true PV Amps is closer to 35A. A DC circuit breaker closer to 40-45A would be a better choice. 63A circuit breaker is not giving you any protection. The Yingli 300W short circuit Amps (Isc) is 8.77A so with 4 strings the max Amps you should see is 8.77 x 4 = 35A.

With regard to Jaco's app I find I also cannot use it. Edmund Pohl is busy with something similar. You can find him at the powerforum forum. He is also a member here at mybroadband but I have not seen him post anything here for ages.
 
Question to all the "Axpert" experts.... ;)

Can you use this Inverter as a pure "grid-tie" unit, i.e. no battery bank?

Else, what other value for money grid-tie inverters are out there?

Thanks,
 
Hi Chris,

Your calculations are correct regarding the DC circuit breaker but in my case, I just wanted to protect the cable from the combiner box to the inverter from being melted in case something goes wrong and I used an oversized 16 mm square cable. I have proper DC fuses on each string in the combiner box.
I registered on the power forum and I am watching the posts there. I have the same problem with the inverter not recognising the 7.5 Kva generator. The link for the firmware update is not working there, do you perhaps have the file? I have bought the BMV702 battery monitor and I am busy finding a box to fit the shunt in. Does the shunt get hot while in use? I might need to drill ventilation holes in the box. I hate the idea of having the shunt exposed with my crazy cats roaming around.

Thanks
Virgil
 
Virge said:
Hi Chris,

Your calculations are correct regarding the DC circuit breaker but in my case, I just wanted to protect the cable from the combiner box to the inverter from being melted in case something goes wrong and I used an oversized 16 mm square cable. I have proper DC fuses on each string in the combiner box.
I registered on the power forum and I am watching the posts there. I have the same problem with the inverter not recognising the 7.5 Kva generator. The link for the firmware update is not working there, do you perhaps have the file? I have bought the BMV702 battery monitor and I am busy finding a box to fit the shunt in. Does the shunt get hot while in use? I might need to drill ventilation holes in the box. I hate the idea of having the shunt exposed with my crazy cats roaming around.

Thanks
Virgil
Click to expand...

HI Virgil
Mine is exposed but in the corner. The lady I employ to do domestic chores is ironing at the moment and the shunt is not even warm to the touch. The shunt is safe unless you cats start chewing cables etc. The reason why it made from plates like that is not for cooling but for accuracy.

I'll look for the upgraded firmware. Coulomb the Aussie who has written his own version of the firmware also posts the original in case something goes wrong. It is definitely a firmware problem. Contact Silver and see whether he has ungraded his firmware. I have 72.40 so sticking with what I have.
 
Hi Chris,

Thanks for feedback. My firmware is 72.40, I thought it is a newer version available. I have to check the problem with the generator, maybe the frequency is 60Hz or maybe the inverter does not like the earth connection of the generator. My Axpert is a Rectron version.

Cheers
Virgil
 
I ran a test with an Ellies efergy unit and e-link SW. The results indicated peaks/max power of up to 7kW at times.
So a single 5kVA Axpert is not going to be sufficient in this case, i.e. I would need two in parallel?

Cheers,
JP
 
This is probably the most stupidest question on this thread, but is an "AC Transfer Switch" still necessary when wiring an Inverter between Grid and AC Loads?
:o :erm:
 
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