Noob question...Solar intermittently stops production every 5-10 minutes

[tommax]

Hi everyone, thanks in advance for reading my question. I hope my terminology is okay, I've read many of the excellent forums, but don't see one related to this issue.

I have a recently installed (2 weeks ago) 4.08kw system with two powerwalls, Solaredge HD wave inverter, pre-PTO and I tried testing the system off-grid. This was the third time I tried this, the other times there were no issues and ran great for 1-2 hours each time.

I tried it again today and this is what happens:

1. Place disconnect switch inside the TEG to off
2. Turn on inverter
3. After about 5 minutes, production starts
4. After 5-10 minutes a rapid series of clicks comes from the inverter and it stops production
5. On the inverter, the green LED and blue LED come on, the green one flashes for a while, blue goes off, then the green one goes to solid green
   
6. After about 5-10, and sometimes 20 minutes, the inverter clicks again and production starts, powers the house, charges powerwalls
7. Then it goes back to step 4 and repeats over and over

I'm concerned. Anyone have ideas what could be happening?

Thanks again for your advice.

 

[cridinger82]

if you are doing this with the breaker to your utility off, what is the soc for the powerwalls? if they are anywhere close to 100% then that is why the inverter is turning off. It can't backfeed anymore power to the powerwalls and can't feed anything into the grid so it shuts down for 5 minutes at a time. It will then turn back on and if it is not needed will be shut off again, until the soc of the batteries drops and requires charge again.

 

[miimura]

What is the battery level in the Powerwalls? If it is in the 90% range you should check the line frequency. As they get full, they will raise the frequency to force the solar offline because there is nowhere for the surplus energy to go.

 

[tommax]

Thanks for the replies! The batteries are at 79% according to the app. I logged into the TEG and it says 80%.

 

[wjgjr]

One other question - were you able to correlate the shutdowns with changing home loads? Before PTO, I noticed a couple times that it seemed like turning on higher-load devices (microwave, A/C) seemed on rare occasion to knock the solar offline for 5 minutes. It has not happened since PTO (but I've always been online since.)

 

[Solarman004]

Download the current version of m

Hi everyone, thanks in advance for reading my question. I hope my terminology is okay, I've read many of the excellent forums, but don't see one related to this issue.

I have a recently installed (2 weeks ago) 4.08kw system with two powerwalls, Solaredge HD wave inverter, pre-PTO and I tried testing the system off-grid. This was the third time I tried this, the other times there were no issues and ran great for 1-2 hours each time.

I tried it again today and this is what happens:

1. Place disconnect switch inside the TEG to off
2. Turn on inverter
3. After about 5 minutes, production starts
4. After 5-10 minutes a rapid series of clicks comes from the inverter and it stops production
5. On the inverter, the green LED and blue LED come on, the green one flashes for a while, blue goes off, then the green one goes to solid green
   
6. After about 5-10, and sometimes 20 minutes, the inverter clicks again and production starts, powers the house, charges powerwalls
7. Then it goes back to step 4 and repeats over and over

I'm concerned. Anyone have ideas what could be happening?

Thanks again for your advice.

Download current version of mySolarEdge app. From the app menu, select Inverter Status. Follow the instructions to scan the QR code on the side of the HDWave. You can then see the status of the inverter and any fault codes.

 

[tommax]

One other question - were you able to correlate the shutdowns with changing home loads? Before PTO, I noticed a couple times that it seemed like turning on higher-load devices (microwave, A/C) seemed on rare occasion to knock the solar offline for 5 minutes. It has not happened since PTO (but I've always been online since.)

Hm, yes, I did happen to notice that when the printer turned on the inverter turned off. The printer draws I think 1500 watts when it first comes on if I remember correctly.

 

[cridinger82]

i can't imagine with the inverter running and power walls that they can't kick out enough power... 1500 watts shouldn't cause the inverter to reset unless there is something wrong. i def would get the solar edge app going and check for errors. also is the inverter one with a screen or screenless? when it does come online does it make power? or does it just immediately go back offline?

 

[tommax]

Download the current version of m


Download current version of mySolarEdge app. From the app menu, select Inverter Status. Follow the instructions to scan the QR code on the side of the HDWave. You can then see the status of the inverter and any fault codes.

Thank you so much Solarman004! I got the app up and running and I see one error: "18x40: F-L1 Max1".

 

[tommax]

i can't imagine with the inverter running and power walls that they can't kick out enough power... 1500 watts shouldn't cause the inverter to reset unless there is something wrong. i def would get the solar edge app going and check for errors. also is the inverter one with a screen or screenless? when it does come online does it make power? or does it just immediately go back offline?

This one is screenless. It does produce power when it comes up. It makes power for about 5-10 minutes then shuts down. It almost seems like it thinks 80% is full and shuts off. I have it in backup only mode. Like I said in the previous post, the error message from today is: "18x40: F-L1 Max1". Google takes me to the installation manual pdf, so I'm looking in there to try to understand what that means.

Thanks again for your help.

 

[k-mal_808]

Found this when googling your error code. Looks like the AC freq is too low.
Error Code - 67-69 (v3.18xx) or 18x40-59/A-F (v3.19xx)

 

[wjgjr]

Found this when googling your error code. Looks like the AC freq is too low.
Error Code - 67-69 (v3.18xx) or 18x40-59/A-F (v3.19xx)

That is interesting, and something else I did see prior to PTO was a frequency below 60 Hz (often 59.7, but as low as 59.4). I'm not sure what the range is for this inverter. (As a note, /api/meters/aggregates is the location on the gateway where you can see the current frequencies.)

 

[Solarman004]

That is interesting, and something else I did see prior to PTO was a frequency below 60 Hz (often 59.7, but as low as 59.4). I'm not sure what the range is for this inverter. (As a note, /api/meters/aggregates is the location on the gateway where you can see the current frequencies.)

59.4 is within spec. And, your error code is showing too high of a frequency on line 1.
Unfortunately, unlike the earlier hdwave with LCD display, you cannot access any of the settings on this model. Only certified installers can access settings through the app.
What's strange in your case is that it was working fine for a while, then stopped. If you are testing while disconnected from the grid, I would suspect the issue is with one of the Powewalls outputting a dirty waveform. Does your inverter fault go away when connected to grid power?

 

[tommax]

59.4 is within spec. And, your error code is showing too high of a frequency on line 1.
Unfortunately, unlike the earlier hdwave with LCD display, you cannot access any of the settings on this model. Only certified installers can access settings through the app.
What's strange in your case is that it was working fine for a while, then stopped. If you are testing while disconnected from the grid, I would suspect the issue is with one of the Powewalls outputting a dirty waveform. Does your inverter fault go away when connected to grid power?

I only got the one error, and I did not have the inverter on while connected to the grid.

Do you have advice for me? If it could be related to the powerwalls, should I turn them off and back on? I’m starting to think I should just leave the inverter off until PTO and ask Tesla to help. But it is annoying.

Thanks again for everyone’s help! Amazing and knowledgeable group here.

 

[Solarman004]

I only got the one error, and I did not have the inverter on while connected to the grid.

Do you have advice for me? If it could be related to the powerwalls, should I turn them off and back on? I’m starting to think I should just leave the inverter off until PTO and ask Tesla to help. But it is annoying.

Thanks again for everyone’s help! Amazing and knowledgeable group here.

I agree with the frustration! But, your best bet at this point is to leave everything powered down and let Tesla correct this. It's possible to do more harm by attempting a DIY repair, and then your frustration would overflow (plus you may negate your warranty). Please post back when this is corrected. I'm curious to hear what they find.

 

[fragchild]

@tommax Did you ever get a solution to this? I am having the exact same issue. I have ran 2 full days tests at separate times with no issue. A week later I try again, and as soon as I cut power from the utility the inverter errors out with the same error in the app "18x40: F-L1 Max1". Powerwalls are at 57%

 

[tommax]

No resolution yet.

As an update, I now have PTO, everything works fine until I disconnect from the grid. I've had a ticket open with Tesla for almost a month, they first said the batteries were too cold to receive power, but I provided screen shot of the powerwalls taking power from solar directly before and directly after my off-grid test along with a screen shot of National Weather Service data showing outdoor temps were 45F. Have not heard back from them yet.

This could be unrelated, but I'm wondering if there is a "pre-conditioning" issue with my system because it is currently 28F and the PWs will not take power. Lots of solar being produced. PWs SOC 80%. Hopefully someone knows more about this than me, but aren't the PWs supposed to warm themselves up so they can accept power? The literature mentions -4F?

I'll update you when I hear back from Tesla level 2 support.

 

[Ampster]

New No resolution yet.

How old is your original GT solar system? I have seen something like this with very old GT systems that respond to frequency Watt signals by dropping off instead of modulating down. It wont happen when attached to the grid because the grid can take all the excess. It is unusual to have that happen when the Powerwall is at 50%. Is there a way you can log the frequency from the Powerwall when off grid? Tesla should be able to tell you what the freqyency is when this happens

 

[tommax]

Hi @Ampster,

This is a new install, September 2020, of both 4.08KW solar and 2 PW2.

Starting the off grid test the PW SOC was 60%.

This is the time and frequency readings:
10:00 disconnect from grid
10:00 65.2
10:31 63.4
10:35 62.1
10:40 61.1
10:45 60.0
10:50 59.6
10:55 59.6
11:00 59.6
11:05 59.6
11:20 59.6
11:30 reconnect to grid

These are the temp readings:
10:00 44F
11:00 46F
12:00 48F

In the screen shot you can see the PWs taking power, stopping, and then starting again after I reconnect to grid.

 

[fragchild]

No resolution yet.

As an update, I now have PTO, everything works fine until I disconnect from the grid. I've had a ticket open with Tesla for almost a month, they first said the batteries were too cold to receive power, but I provided screen shot of the powerwalls taking power from solar directly before and directly after my off-grid test along with a screen shot of National Weather Service data showing outdoor temps were 45F. Have not heard back from them yet.

This could be unrelated, but I'm wondering if there is a "pre-conditioning" issue with my system because it is currently 28F and the PWs will not take power. Lots of solar being produced. PWs SOC 80%. Hopefully someone knows more about this than me, but aren't the PWs supposed to warm themselves up so they can accept power? The literature mentions -4F?

I'll update you when I hear back from Tesla level 2 support.

Thanks for the response. I don't have PTO yet so I can't really do much yet. Once I do I will definitely open a ticket. Here in Florida I can quickly deny their "cold" excuse.