question

ty-web avatar image
ty-web asked

EV Charge station - Min Charge.

Hi, I have an offgrid Victron system, (3 x 48/5000 (conf parallel), Cerbo GX, 50kw LFP batteries, 9kw DC solar and 8kw Fronius AC coupled Solar.) and today I installed the Victron EV charger. I updated the Firmware to V1.29.

Note. By the time I finished the sun was gone. So below is my understanding from reading the manual, trying to set it up ready for the new day.

In Auto it uses Solar, my understanding is it then stops charging once there is not enough solar. Which is fine. I anticipated it would be similar to the Myenergy Zappi I removed. In that it charges from solar whilst available then stops, and will finish charging according to scheduled times if charging is not complete. If this is the case how do I enable this function there does not appear to be a method.

Example, Wife gets home at 3:30pm from work, plugs in the Tesla, it charges for 1 or more hours (time of year dependent, currently winter in Ozz) then stops. But at a predetermined time id like it to resume until the Tesla stops taking charge. I want to be able to replace what the car used in the days travel.

I have home assistant, so if it can't be done automatically by the EV charger, can home assistant change the selected function "Manual / Auto / schedule". Thus I can set a timer in HA to switch modes at say 9:30pm at night when the usage is dropping off, and thus the car charges when the house load is low, providing the Soc is above 50%.

ev charging station
2 |3000
Toggle Comment visibility. Current Visibility: Viewable by all users

Up to 8 attachments (including images) can be used with a maximum of 190.8 MiB each and 286.6 MiB total.

3 Answers
ty-web avatar image
ty-web answered ·

Ok More data, now as I have two days of Sun use to go by. So Yesterday during the day as soon as the battery hit 71% (EV charger set to allow Auto charge when SOC above 70%) it worked a treat, came online and consumed all the excess solar.

This afternoon, when my wife came home, the batteries had been 100% for a couple of hours, and the Fronius Solar Inverters were being throttled by the Multiplus II using the frequency. The EV wouldn't charge the LED's indicated waiting for excess solar. This didn't change and after about 10 minutes, I intervened and kicked off a manual charge which reduced the throttling, I then flicked it back to Auto. where it currently is charging at min rates as the solar is dropping off.

This does not seem correct, the EV charger is connected via Modbus to the Cerbo GX, I can see it in VRM transmitting data through the Cerbo so coms is good. Id expect that when the EV is plugged in and the Solar is being throttled, that the EV charger would come on at min (6a) and ramp up to match available solar. Am I missing some thing? I switched from the Zappi tot he Victron so It would all integrate and play nice, but this is not working and Zappi was actually better as it would start charging causing the Multi to un-throttle the Fronius AC coupled Solar. Would appear the Cerbo / Ev charger are not communicating properly or I have a setting wrong some where.

Any guidance greatly appreciated.


System : Full offfgrid, 2 x M2's 48/5000, 8kw Fronius Solar, 4kw 450/100 MPPT solar, 50kw LFP batteries, Cerbo GX.

2 comments
2 |3000
Toggle Comment visibility. Current Visibility: Viewable by all users

Up to 8 attachments (including images) can be used with a maximum of 190.8 MiB each and 286.6 MiB total.

falkon avatar image falkon commented ·

Hi, I had the same observation, unfortunately :-(

There seems to be some "imperfection" in the EVCS firmware for the Auto mode.

I tried to formulate it clearly in this post -- hopefully, someone from Victron can have a look at it. The suggested solution can be easily implemented in the Node-Red on Cerbo, but it would be way better if it would become a standard firmware feature of the Auto mode.

0 Likes 0 ·
Lucian Popescu (Victron Energy Staff) avatar image Lucian Popescu (Victron Energy Staff) ♦♦ commented ·

Hi, take a look at my comment on the link below:

https://community.victronenergy.com/questions/311261/evcs-auto-mode-throttled-power-when-batteries-full.html


0 Likes 0 ·
ty-web avatar image
ty-web answered ·

@Lucian Popescu (Victron Energy Staff)

Thanks for the taking the time to reply and providing the link. My EV charger is V1.29, and as per the linked discussion option 1 "proffered" it doesn't work for me. The EV charger just says "Waiting for Solar" (or similar) It never goes into a "charging" state. I have confirmed my settings are correct as per method 1, Bothe Allow Battery/grid... and Allow Low excess.... are enabled, and the time out is set to 30 minutes.


@flakon

Thanks for your response, it looks like this is not the first time this issue, has been raised.


Issue No 2:

My second issue which Zappi did automatically and the Victron does not! Is the finishing of the EV charge. In Zappi you set the schedule of charge times, and if the charge was not completed in the "Solar" window it completes the charger using the scheduled times window.

The zappi does have 4 modes, and this is one of them Solar priority and then revert to schedule to complete the charge. A key feature missing from the Victron unit.

Simple enough feature but lacking in the Victron Charger, I would like to see this implemented in the next Firmware. For the moment I am using Home assistant to change the mode at 9:30pm and start a manual charge, but this should be a Victron feature as part of the over all Victron package "Experience" shouldn't need a third party to complete this. This is why all my equipment is Victron so it seamlessly integrates and works as one system. The EV charger is well behind in this I feel.


2 |3000
Toggle Comment visibility. Current Visibility: Viewable by all users

Up to 8 attachments (including images) can be used with a maximum of 190.8 MiB each and 286.6 MiB total.

ty-web avatar image
ty-web answered ·

Hi Victron, Is there anyone who can assist with getting the EV charger at least working in Auto to charge the car when the Solar is being throttled?

2 comments
2 |3000
Toggle Comment visibility. Current Visibility: Viewable by all users

Up to 8 attachments (including images) can be used with a maximum of 190.8 MiB each and 286.6 MiB total.

Lucian Popescu (Victron Energy Staff) avatar image Lucian Popescu (Victron Energy Staff) ♦♦ commented ·

Can you contact me when the car is connected to the EVCS and you see the waiting for sun message? I will email you, so you can have my contact details.

0 Likes 0 ·
Lucian Popescu (Victron Energy Staff) avatar image Lucian Popescu (Victron Energy Staff) ♦♦ Lucian Popescu (Victron Energy Staff) ♦♦ commented ·

You can also post here a short video of the main webpage of the EVCS, while this is happening

0 Likes 0 ·