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pabou38 avatar image
pabou38 asked

ESS. can it charge the batterie from AC coupled PV connected on AC IN ?

The ESS manual states : « In optimize mode, ESS will only charge the battery with power coming from PV …except in two circumstances related bo batterie health .. »

I have two type of PV :

  • DC coupled, with Victron MPTT
  • AC coupled (enphase gried tied inverter), connected on the AC IN of the multi (not on AC OUT 1)

I have installed an EM112 energy meter, and a GX device

It is unclear whether the ESS is able to « see » the solar surplus generated by the enphase AC coupled PV (AC IN) and use it to charge the batterie

Early test suggest it does NOT (ie I see a lot of export from the AC coupled PV, not captured by ESS to charge the batterie, even if the ESS charge power is set a adequate value

Can anyone clarifies this ? THANKS

Multiplus-IIESSenphase
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bruce-davidson avatar image bruce-davidson commented ·

Having just added an EnPhase system to my existing MultiPlus II ESS setup (on AC-IN side) I can confirm this does work.

Below you will note that half of the batteries charge wattage is coming from the MPPT and the other half from the EnPhase.

Side note - you don’t need to use an ET112 - you can use this repository to enable API integration with your EnPhase Gateway (Envoy) and get the Production Wattage from there. Works super well!

https://github.com/mr-manuel/venus-os_dbus-enphase-envoy



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matt1309 avatar image matt1309 commented ·

Hi @pabou38


I'm unfamiliar with enphase system however if victron system is able to monitor the PV production (either by some sort of integration with enphase or if that doesnt exist a supported energy meter) then ESS should work without any issues. Only thing to watch out for is that you dont exceed the factor of 1 rule:

AC-coupling and the Factor 1.0 rule [Victron Energy]

is the EM112 meter you mention monitoring grid connection or the PV production? I think you need one on each unless enphase is integrated/communicating with Victron system (GX device) somehow. I'm unfamiliar with enphase so not sure if it has native support with victron or not. However ESS should work either way if you have a ET112 or similar meter monitoring the PV production.


Also have to setup frequency shifting in ESS assistant I believe.


Edit: just had a quick google and cant see any obvious ways of integrating Enphase natively so ET112 or similar meter might be needed to monitor that specifically.

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jetlag avatar image
jetlag answered ·

Yes, it is possible. I'm using quite a similar system.

Is the EM112 (or ET112 ?) visible in the victron system and set up as PV inverter AC coupled?

Note: As far as I know it is only calculated correct if connected to L1. If this is not possible, then you have to use a ET340 (or some similar 3 phase meter).

If yes, then in the ESS menu you should also activate the the charger and can set a charging limit there. But if DVCC is activated and a max load current is given there, this is should also work automatically (as far as I understand this). At least this is how it works in my system.

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