Help with Luxpowertek 5k Inverter

[Satedah]

Hi there,

Hoping someone can assist me here. Recently purchased and had installed a luxpowertek 5k offgrid inverter with x2 CFE 5.1kwh batteries.


Everything is actually working. Accept for one thing, setting related I assume.

The inverter, successfully charges the battery up to 100% while supplying mains to my house. In the event of loadshedding, the home swaps over to batteries seamlessly as well.

However, when the batteries have been charged to 100%, the inverter immediately changes to UPS mode and I'm unable to bring it back to using AC only.
This effectively means my batteries are currently being used, while I don't have loadshedding. They drained as far as 60% before I manually cut off the batteries to prevent them being drained further.

Could someone, please assist with this. I unfortunately, cannot access the mobile app, because Solar Advice has yet to create my account for luxpower. So I have to use manual input on the inverter.

 

[TheChamp]

You can start by posting the link to the manual or the settings list, it won't be easy to help without access to that.

 

[Satedah]

Hi,
Thanks for the reply.

https://luxpowertek.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/SNA5000WPV-UM-210604.pdf

So I made small headroom but not ideal. Obviously i've used batteries for a bit now, to 94%.

On the manual you'll see "setting 15" there. The default time was 00:00 I updated that to the current time (starts) and left the end times at 00:00. It then moved the inverter into bypass mode.

Meaning, Grid > home

Battery still going to inverter though, but inverter is not charging the battery to 100%. Battery sits at 94%

 

[TheChamp]

It looks complicated, but I am hampered by the phone screen, as soon as I can view that on a bigger screen I will possibly be able to make sense of the settings, but you are right, it's just a setting that's throwing you off.

What is the working mode set to, 3.2 in the manual?

 

[Satedah]

So here's a breakdown of the settings I've setup for LCD settings page.

3 - Lithion Ion and Battery code = 6. (CFE)
10 - SOC
11 - 30% (max discharge) - was 15%.
12 - 90% - Because I cannot set it any higher than this. (this might be the issue but seeing as I cannot make it 100% like it shows in the manual, I don't know what to do)
12 - 12 appears twice in the book, but there's only one option to change, above.
14 - Charge to batter = 90% (can't change it any higher due to 12 being set to 90%)
AC P1 Charge start = 00:00 AC P1 Charge End = 23:59
P2 and P3 = the same.
15 - P1 start = 00:00 P1 End = 23:59 - Same for P2 and P3.

 

[TheChamp]

Yoh, look like someone went out of his way to make the operation as complicated as possible but what I am getting is that you problem is around the working modes, there is probably a way to get it not to discharge the battery so you will need to play with it until you get it right.

While you are looking for that I think there could also be a way to trick the inverter into doing what you want, you can raise your discharge end voltage to a higher value so that it is mostly in AC mode, it is able to use the battery as far as the point where the discharge end is set to, if you lift it it will move over to AC instead of draining your battery.

 

[Satedah]

Hi,

Yeah this is pretty much what I did. Tricking the inverter in a sense.
The only issue is that the max discharge SOC is 90%, however, I've managed to also move the inverter into bypass mode.

Effectively, what's happening is, the batteries periodically send power to the inverter to keep it on.
This slowly drains the batteries over the course of a day, to 90%. @ 90% the inverter charges the battery back up to 100%.

The grid is supplying the house with power throughout this process.
So almost there.

It's not ideal however. I'm aiming to have the battery constantly at 100%, without supplying any power to the inverter, I only want the grid to do that.

I'm still waiting for my luxpower account to be created by Solar Advice. After which I can access further settings not otherwise available on the inverter itself, such as "AC FIRST".
Hopefully then it'll be100% sorted.

Thank you

 

[B1G_WH1T3]

My dude any update on this?
sitting with almost the same setup and just got one of those Volta stage 1 5.12kwh battery packs.
the battery is currently at 100% then over a few minutes it draws it down to 99% then I can hear the fan kick in, it charges and then stops.
it's so annoying how they limit the end user with settings...

These are my settings BTW

 

[Puhfy]

I hope you managed to register online, the guys can do the settings for you online. Mine was that it was not charging on Lithium but works fine on Lead Acid.

 

[Satedah]

@B1G_WH1T3
So the reason the battery charges to 100%, the battery will then start supplying power to the inverter at about 30W on average. The reason for this is to have a seamless cutover.
With my batteries for example maximum On Grid EOD setting value I can set is 95%, which means my batteries supply the inverter power until it hits 95% then charges back to 100%.
This is "normal". The batteries will not enter a sleep state when they're at 100% but instead remain active and the inverter is powered by them in the event of power loss.
I'm assuming your On Grid EOD setting value is 100%. SO when it drops below that the fans kick in because the inverter chargest the battery for that 1%.

 

[Satedah]

@B1G_WH1T3 sorry I see here your EOD is set to 45%. Set that as high as it can go.
Mine is max 95% for CFE batteries. Some batteries may allow higher values.
In simple English it means "When there's grid power, how far can the batteries discharge".
Fortunately you've setup the AC First setting, which means the inverter will prioritize AC (Grid) when there is grid.

 

[dempstere]

We have recently installed the same inverter and 5kW lithium ion battery. We are also unable to register on the app, so we can only change the settings on the LCD. At present our 6 PV panels supply the load for the house and charge the battery to 100%. When the load requires more than the panels are supplying, the grid kicks in to supply the extra. We would like to set up the system so that it uses panels first. If that’s not sufficient, the battery should supplement the load down to 30%, then the grid should kick in to supply the load and charge the battery if no power is coming from the panels. Can you advise?

 

[Secondary Mafirakureva]

As for the registration email these guys to deregister Solar Advice and register you instead. You are the owner of the equipment no one must hold you to ransom email [email protected] with your dongle information.

For it to charge use 23:59 as end. i am using 100Ah 48V battery its on Lead Acid instead of Lithium ion i dont have the communication cable.

 

[shirwins]

We have recently installed the same inverter and 5kW lithium ion battery. We are also unable to register on the app, so we can only change the settings on the LCD. At present our 6 PV panels supply the load for the house and charge the battery to 100%. When the load requires more than the panels are supplying, the grid kicks in to supply the extra. We would like to set up the system so that it uses panels first. If that’s not sufficient, the battery should supplement the load down to 30%, then the grid should kick in to supply the load and charge the battery if no power is coming from the panels. Can you advise?

Hi,

Have you been able to get the settings done?

Not sure about setting on the Lcd but it's a fairly easy setup on the app.

1) set up the times you will like AC to power the house under application setting. Set to 00:00 if you don't want it to come in at all. So in your case you must ensure that the AC is set to be off during the day when you want to use the panels and battery

2) set your "On grid EOD SOC%" under discharge settings to 30%

3) I assume you have the box "take load together " ticked. Remove the tick.

I attached a picture of my setup. From what I understand this is what you want it to do

 

[dempstere]

Hi
We registered on the app and have been trying different settings, gradually reducing the times at which the system uses Eskom. Our monthly consumption is about 30% lower than the same month without solar, which is disappointing. in May, I tried using Eskom to boost the battery for just one hour a day and never using AC first. Consumption was only 25% lower than May 2022. This month (June) I am not boosting the battery unless it is a poor solar day (misty, rainy, heavy cloud). Will see what happens. It seems better to use “AC first’ setting than to charge the battery from Eskom.

 

[shirwins]

Hi
We registered on the app and have been trying different settings, gradually reducing the times at which the system uses Eskom. Our monthly consumption is about 30% lower than the same month without solar, which is disappointing. in May, I tried using Eskom to boost the battery for just one hour a day and never using AC first. Consumption was only 25% lower than May 2022. This month (June) I am not boosting the battery unless it is a poor solar day (misty, rainy, heavy cloud). Will see what happens. It seems better to use “AC first’ setting than to charge the battery from Eskom.

Hi,

I'm assuming you have things like geyser and stove running on non essential load (not connected to inverter). If this is the case something like the geyser is a 40% consumer of power and this alone may explain your 30% reduction.

Also,in order to maximize from your panels you need to try and use all the power generated or you just lose it. Only way is to actually cycle the battery overnight and let it charge via the panels during the day. Also helps to have things on timers (pool pump etc) to take the power at different times.

I have everything in my house on the inverter apart from the electric stove/oven. I have converted my geyser to a geyser wise system with DC element (its own panels) and a 1800W AC element. The 1800W element is really great for the 5kw system.

I currently have 2750W of panels. My Eskom power is only set to come on 5am-6am and 4pm-8pm. We usually try to get all the heavy power consuming items out the way during the day.

My power consumption is roughly 70% lower compared to just running Eskom only. I am working from home so it is very advantageous that I can get most things done during the day when there's sunlight. I usually find by around 1:30pm I can no longer use all the power from the panel due to me having nowhere to utilise it, keep the pool pump on but still throwing away around 800W.

On a cloudy day I generally leave the Eskom power on until my battery reaches 90% from the panels. If it doesn't only then do I charge from Eskom.

Pic of my power used today, consumed 11.2kw and used 1.5kw of Eskom. Rest of the power from solar and battery.

 

[dempstere]

Hi
Thanks for your reply. Our setup is much smaller than yours, since we have a two-bedroomed house with two occupants. The geyser, stove and aircon are not attached; we have no swimming pool. For the month of June, I have not used Eskom to charge the battery or supply the house (AC first is switched off) unless it is a poor solar day. We live in the KZN mist belt which is not optimal solar country. on a good day, we are able to run the house off the battery for about 14 hours (i.e. all night) without help from the PV panels or Eskom. We use energy-hungry appliances during the morning once the panels are cranking out power. Today's solar yield was 6.7kWh, consumption was 3.3kWh and battery charge was 4 kWh. The afternoon was cloudy, but battery level is 86% at 18:30, a bit lower than a full sunny day. Our solar provider says we will shorten the lifespan of the battery by charging and discharging it so frequently.

 

[impracticaldogg]

Our solar provider says we will shorten the lifespan of the battery by charging and discharging it so frequently.

I think this is a matter of philosophy - I keep our batteries full as much of the time as I can. In case Eskom takes a sudden nosedive and we have to get by for several days with no power at all. On the Highveld we can use the batteries all night, then supply our base load and charge the batteries with our four panels on the next day.

But the more you use your battery the more you can save on your current electricity bill.

Swings and roundabouts..

 

[leon.davibe]

Hi
Thanks for your reply. Our setup is much smaller than yours, since we have a two-bedroomed house with two occupants. The geyser, stove and aircon are not attached; we have no swimming pool. For the month of June, I have not used Eskom to charge the battery or supply the house (AC first is switched off) unless it is a poor solar day. We live in the KZN mist belt which is not optimal solar country. on a good day, we are able to run the house off the battery for about 14 hours (i.e. all night) without help from the PV panels or Eskom. We use energy-hungry appliances during the morning once the panels are cranking out power. Today's solar yield was 6.7kWh, consumption was 3.3kWh and battery charge was 4 kWh. The afternoon was cloudy, but battery level is 86% at 18:30, a bit lower than a full sunny day. Our solar provider says we will shorten the lifespan of the battery by charging and discharging it so frequently.

If the battery does 6000 cycles if you cycle the battery every day

It will take you 16years to drop to 80% capacity

I don 't think you would find many/any solar installers with actuall data/experience in SA when it comes to 10-15 year old batteries

So much is myths perpetuated by recent "specialists" with how much experience?

 

[Rouxenator]

Noob here - I have the same inverter with a Volta Lithium battery. The only thing I changed was to enable the "PV&AC Take Load Jointly" setting. Can anyone provide good values in terms of the AC charge settings? Effectively I want this to use solar as much as possible, then battery until the battery drops to such a state where it only has about 6 hours left in it. Only then should it start using AC to charge the battery and serve the load.