Fronius PV inverter on output vs bigger size Multiplus

No. Anecdotal evidence. Know one site who replaced their MPPTs with Solis PV-inverters on the output of a Quattro. Got it signed off.

Crazyā€¦
A single MPPT removes the headache of black starting, which would be a rare enough requirement.
However, it can be done with a generator.

I have heard of people putting all their load on one AC out and dedicating the other to a PV inverter.
Then just before the battery is absolutely dead, they ditch all the load but have enough to ensure that there is a voltage for the PV inverter to synch to the next morning.

So it is a bit more tricky, but you donā€™t have to have a DC MPPT, if it means the sign-off depends on it.

However, my electrician, an ex-colleague (retired but now does COCs as a sideline), wouldnā€™t have signed that off. (Unless I could show him a written chapter and verse).
Heā€™d insist the device that was performing the safety task was approved. (And probably that the PV inverter was also approved, worse luck).

It is very strange though, because at night, the Quattro would be inverting the batteries. Functionally certainly no different than the PV inverter inverting the solar during the day? Iā€™d assume both need to be compliant.

Feeding battery power into the grid is a much more recent concept, compared to feeding PV into the grid. The regulations are, of course, somewhat focused on the PV and how that gets onto the grid. Battery inverters are seen as nothing more than backup, and as long as it has the paperwork that says itā€™s good for that (IEC/SANS 62040 I think?) youā€™re good to go.

Of course the regulators are slowly waking up to the fact that batteries are being added, so we should not expect this situation to continue forever.

Pics or it didnā€™t happen!

Screenshot 2023-02-06 at 11.40.20

2mins later:

Screenshot 2023-02-06 at 11.43.57

First time seeing this. Is this one screen on the panel? How you configured those bar graphs overlays please, and the temps at the bottom?

NuskurigeGroetnis

Heā€™s running ā€œGUI modsā€, itā€™s a bunch of patches to the default QML maintained by a group of enthusiasts.

Personally I hate the lime green and peach colour scheme.

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If Iā€™m not mistaken that is GUI Mods

Did it once, but reverted back to stockā€¦ :slight_smile:

Yeah, itā€™s GuiMods. Fugly as hell, but thatā€™s a lot of info on one screen. The relay control options are also much nicer.

Yup, and the bars arenā€™t all aligned. If I look at it too long my left eye starts twitching.

But itā€™s easy to show the wife / parents where to look for what.

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You can tell from my earlier comment that Iā€™ve been married a long time. I mean, Iā€™ve learned that peach is both a fruit AND a colour, and that there are different kinds of green!

:slight_smile:

I am considering the Victron Quattro + Froniusā€¦this also allows a generator in the future if needed.

However, my Victron Approved installer added the following caveat (excuse my non-technical paraphrasing):

ā€œIn some situations the frequency emitted from the Fronius might cause problems with digital clocks or security camerasā€¦equipment that ā€œdependsā€ on a certain AC frequency might become confusedā€¦ā€

Is this a real world problem? Has anybody experienced negative effects of this?

Nope, been running mine for quit while, with clocks and cameras, no issues what so ever.

Groetnis

Besides, most watches, cellphones etc is not dependent on mains Frequency. Eskom is not that stable anyhooā€¦

Groetnis

Interesting, Iā€™m wondering if they mean some devices use the AC as a clock? You wouldnā€™t immediately realise if your footage is 26 instead of 25 fps or if your clock runs 1 second fast every 15 minutes.

Other than having to reset some of the dumber clocks every few daysā€¦ nothing more.

On a technical level: Some clocks have their own ā€œtime keepingā€ internals, typically a crystal oscillator running at 32768Hz, while others simply use the 50Hz grid frequency as reference.

Now, if you run an offgrid/minigrid setup with AC-coupled PV, then every time the batteries fill up the Multi will push the frequency up to somewhere between 51Hz and 53Hz. All clocks that use the grid frequency as reference will run 5% fast (or thereabouts, 52.5/50 = 1.05), which will see them gain around 1 hour and 12 minutes per day. Of course this increase in frequency will likely happen only for a part of the day (letā€™s say 6 hours, 0.25% of the time), so likely more like 20 minutes a day.

If the Hz plays a part in clock being slightly out, will this then maby also play a roll in electronics? Ie, a dishwasher not want to run the cycles? but changing it to another inverter, solve the issue?

How would a guy on the street pick up a Hz fluctuation? Or is it one of those thigs that you can only pick up with sophisticated hardware?

image

This is the most simple device I know of. It is a reed-type frequency meter.
These are thin metal reeds of slightly different lengths, which in turn bestows them with a slightly different mechanical resonant frequency.
The meter consists of an electromagnet and current limiting resistor fed from the supply.
The reed that resonates at the supply frequency will vibrate up and down, making it appear as if it is 3x more prominent than the reeds on either side.

I donā€™t think these are that expensive, and these days, multimeters will measure frequency.
It could be an excellent DIY project for those that way inclined.

Further reading:

Highly unlikely. Most things are designed to run on anything between 50Hz and 60Hz, because it makes for less redesign when moving between regions.

internal times are not real time clocks mostly. So no, in short. Internal timers and many clocks even when mains powered, do not rely on 50Hz. They have oscillators or crystal oscillators for internal timers.

Groetnis

At worst, the Dishwasher will run 5% shorter cycles, which is not going to hurt anyone.

Honestly, it really just depends if the designers of said clock decided to save a buck and not use their own oscillator. I came upon this strange anomaly way back in the late 80s, when my parents purchased a VCR (ooooh happy days!), a nice fancy JVC (the original makers of the VHS machines), and I observed that the clock quickly gains time when running from the generator, but holds time perfectly when running from the inverter. The generator was running a little fast you seeā€¦

It will affect some clocks (the cheap ones) and not others. In my house, it appears my microwave clock is affected for example, but the alarm clock in my bedroom isnā€™t.

Nothing bad happens, your clocks just lose time fasterā€¦