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System Management - Generac Solar, but question in general.
So question to the folks who have been long-term Solar adopters - How much time do you spend having to manage your system?
I feel like I am spending an inordinate amount of time managing our system with daily configuration inspections and revisions.
We are 4 months into our full, Generac installation. 32 Panels (6 arrays / 13.2kW), inverter, 18kW battery backup. Either I discover that something has gone offline and I have to place a service call, or Generac decides to change the inverter configuration parameters that just don't work for our region. For the most part, our system is working well and we are learning a lot about what our home is doing (it's a frickin' power hog!) and when, and how to improve our overall energy usage. Banked some decent energy credits for use this coming winter. I am running our system in what they call "Self Supply" mode - charge the batteries and use the grid to power the house during the day, use the grid for when the batteries have depleted. When the grid starts producing more than 1kW of power, currently around 7AM, the arrays are able to sustain the house while starting the trickle of power to recharge the batteries. Full charge is somewhere late in the 10AM hour. When the batteries reach around 90% charged, power starts to trickle back to the grid and into our power "bank". Huzzah.
On the first issue - We have one PVLink (of 6) that has been problematic since installation. We are at the 4th incident where it went offline and we lose power from that array. Our regional rep opens a problem ticket and it's usually resolved with an OTA system fix. Finally, on this last outage Generac is sending a roofing crew to hopefully swap it out this week. That should repair it once and for all. But that said, when I am observing (obsessing?) over the PWRView app (what our system is producing at the moment), and the number just don't add up for where the sun is over the arrays, I head to our utility basement and go through the configuration panels to see if something got knocked off line (that PVLink keeps popping a Ground Fault error). OR Generac pushed a software update and the panels did not all come back online (this has happened a few times).
The second issue - I am constantly having to review and change is the low battery threshold. The inverter setting that determines how low the inverter will allow the batteries to deplete before switching over to Grid power. We live along the coastline in Rhode Island. We get a LOT of morning fog and related overcast that does not burn off until late morning. If that low-battery threshold is set to 20% remaining, then it takes a better part of the day for the batteries to fully recharge. Depending on the weather forecast for the coming week, I have been keeping that low battery threshold set between 30 and 50%. I discover that a couple times a week, that setting is changed back to a "Generac Summer Season" setting of 20%. Thankfully, I am learning to catch these changes before turning in for the night while the batteries are still relatively charged. My understanding from the Generac information is that their "Summer Season" lasts from May 1 to September 30, so I expect these annoying configuration changes will cease after this month.
Background into the ASK: I am retired after 36 years in Information Technology. I know code, I know networks, I know cyber security. I know problem determination. I am a geek. I had thought this was simplifying life by reducing our homes obligations to fossil fuels and installing "state of the art" technology. I feel that if I were not so in-tune to these things, our solar installation just does not seem to as robust as expected. I also got a really good education on our system configuration from the crew that installed the system. They were kind to my shoulder surfing and questions - I don't suspect that happens a lot.
So my ask to this board is: Is this degree of system management normal?
I feel like I am spending an inordinate amount of time managing our system with daily configuration inspections and revisions.
We are 4 months into our full, Generac installation. 32 Panels (6 arrays / 13.2kW), inverter, 18kW battery backup. Either I discover that something has gone offline and I have to place a service call, or Generac decides to change the inverter configuration parameters that just don't work for our region. For the most part, our system is working well and we are learning a lot about what our home is doing (it's a frickin' power hog!) and when, and how to improve our overall energy usage. Banked some decent energy credits for use this coming winter. I am running our system in what they call "Self Supply" mode - charge the batteries and use the grid to power the house during the day, use the grid for when the batteries have depleted. When the grid starts producing more than 1kW of power, currently around 7AM, the arrays are able to sustain the house while starting the trickle of power to recharge the batteries. Full charge is somewhere late in the 10AM hour. When the batteries reach around 90% charged, power starts to trickle back to the grid and into our power "bank". Huzzah.
On the first issue - We have one PVLink (of 6) that has been problematic since installation. We are at the 4th incident where it went offline and we lose power from that array. Our regional rep opens a problem ticket and it's usually resolved with an OTA system fix. Finally, on this last outage Generac is sending a roofing crew to hopefully swap it out this week. That should repair it once and for all. But that said, when I am observing (obsessing?) over the PWRView app (what our system is producing at the moment), and the number just don't add up for where the sun is over the arrays, I head to our utility basement and go through the configuration panels to see if something got knocked off line (that PVLink keeps popping a Ground Fault error). OR Generac pushed a software update and the panels did not all come back online (this has happened a few times).
The second issue - I am constantly having to review and change is the low battery threshold. The inverter setting that determines how low the inverter will allow the batteries to deplete before switching over to Grid power. We live along the coastline in Rhode Island. We get a LOT of morning fog and related overcast that does not burn off until late morning. If that low-battery threshold is set to 20% remaining, then it takes a better part of the day for the batteries to fully recharge. Depending on the weather forecast for the coming week, I have been keeping that low battery threshold set between 30 and 50%. I discover that a couple times a week, that setting is changed back to a "Generac Summer Season" setting of 20%. Thankfully, I am learning to catch these changes before turning in for the night while the batteries are still relatively charged. My understanding from the Generac information is that their "Summer Season" lasts from May 1 to September 30, so I expect these annoying configuration changes will cease after this month.
Background into the ASK: I am retired after 36 years in Information Technology. I know code, I know networks, I know cyber security. I know problem determination. I am a geek. I had thought this was simplifying life by reducing our homes obligations to fossil fuels and installing "state of the art" technology. I feel that if I were not so in-tune to these things, our solar installation just does not seem to as robust as expected. I also got a really good education on our system configuration from the crew that installed the system. They were kind to my shoulder surfing and questions - I don't suspect that happens a lot.
So my ask to this board is: Is this degree of system management normal?
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