Measuring power produced

WaterWheel · January 2016

When I designed my system I had just enough knowledge to make a less than perfect system. I went with a Conext XW6848 inverter with SCP and Conext battery monitor which while it has a shunt doesn't measure cumulative power in (how many watts/amps I harvested that day ect). I used a Magnum PT-100 charge controller which I have since learned can't measure total power harvested without hooking it to a Magnum inverter since the ME-ARC50 controller can't talk directly to the PT-100... lesson learned the expensive way.

I'm trying to find a meter I can hook between the panel combiner box and the Conext PDP (power distribution panel) so I can measure how much energy I harvested during a day ect.

Suggestions?

mike95490 · January 2016

The Schneider ComBox. All the measuring gear is in the XW. You just need to display it. The ComBox does that for you on a computer. You can get daily .CSV logs too. But it's pricey.

new2PV · March 2016

mike95490 said:

The Schneider ComBox. All the measuring gear is in the XW. You just need to display it. The ComBox does that for you on a computer. You can get daily .CSV logs too. But it's pricey.

I am not sure he is going to get the AH data from the charge controller , as I think its communicated on the xanbus as watt hours. Sell the pt-100 and go with the mppt 60 150 is the only solution.

t00ls · March 2016

you would need 2 60-150s, as you have 16 280 watt panels,total of 4480 watts ....the maximum output power is 3500 watts for 1 60-150....better to just buy the 80-600 from Schneider, which has a 4800 watt max output....not much price difference between buying 2 and the 1 .....and since he does have the SCP, that will give him the daily , monthly and yearly harvested without having to get a combox..........unless you wanted to get the info onto the computer......then he can also put it onto a website that way

t00ls · March 2016

by the by....you should really add another battery bank.....not getting the full advantage of 16 panels with that small battery bank

new2PV · March 2016

t00ls said:

you would need 2 60-150s, as you have 16 280 watt panels,total of 4480 watts ....the maximum output power is 3500 watts for 1 60-150....better to just buy the 80-600 from Schneider, which has a 4800 watt max output....not much price difference between buying 2 and the 1 .....and since he does have the SCP, that will give him the daily , monthly and yearly harvested without having to get a combox..........unless you wanted to get the info onto the computer......then he can also put it onto a website that way

I wonder if he is actually seeing anything over 3500 watts in his setup? The mppt can input up to 6750 watts, but you need to limit input current to under 60 amps. That 80-600 is real expensive now. Also he might have a PV voltage input issue with the mppt 60 150 , as it does not like low input pv volts with 2 panels and 3 maybe too high.....I did not know the SCP displays that data, as I always get my info from the combox.

WaterWheel · March 2016

new2PV said:

t00ls said:

you would need 2 60-150s, as you have 16 280 watt panels,total of 4480 watts ....the maximum output power is 3500 watts for 1 60-150....better to just buy the 80-600 from Schneider, which has a 4800 watt max output....not much price difference between buying 2 and the 1 .....and since he does have the SCP, that will give him the daily , monthly and yearly harvested without having to get a combox..........unless you wanted to get the info onto the computer......then he can also put it onto a website that way

I wonder if he is actually seeing anything over 3500 watts in his setup? The mppt can input up to 6750 watts, but you need to limit input current to under 60 amps. That 80-600 is real expensive now. Also he might have a PV voltage input issue with the mppt 60 150 , as it does not like low input pv volts with 2 panels and 3 maybe too high.....I did not know the SCP displays that data, as I always get my info from the combox.

With 16 panels if I used two 60-150s I'd need to run a second combiner box and wires underground to the 2nd controller. And since the 4500 watts in panels can push over 90 amps in perfect conditions the 80-600 isn't a viable choice either. The system didn't start up until last October so no summer output results yet. The small battery bank is usually out of bulk by 10:30 am but I've seen 62 amps out of the charge controller by 10:30 during November so I'm pretty sure I'd bump 75-90 amps fairly regularly this summer after I complete the grid tie and start selling to the grid in the middle of the day which also makes the 80-600 not a good choice.

Like I said in the OP I knew just enough to design a less than perfect system.

new2PV · March 2016

By using 2 mppt 60s you could use the aux outputs 1 per each unit and turn on diversion loads. I dont think its a good thing to put so much current into the batteries. When summer hits the power will skyrocket out of the panels. What is the mppt voltage of the 2 panels in a string? You want to keep the current down to prolong the life of the controller and its internal losses due to heating. Yes two combiners and wiring will add up quick, but long term it may pay off. Your going to have to get the combox to make things easier to monitor.

mike95490 · March 2016

another consideration, is as the sun rises, production slowly ramps up. As the batteries get a charge in them, they accept less charge rate. But if it's foggy all morning, then the sun comes out full, at noon......

WaterWheel · March 2016

new2PV said:

By using 2 mppt 60s you could use the aux outputs 1 per each unit and turn on diversion loads. I dont think its a good thing to put so much current into the batteries. When summer hits the power will skyrocket out of the panels. What is the mppt voltage of the 2 panels in a string? You want to keep the current down to prolong the life of the controller and its internal losses due to heating. Yes two combiners and wiring will add up quick, but long term it may pay off. Your going to have to get the combox to make things easier to monitor.

I've got a combox which does make things easier to monitor and I am concerned about possibly pushing a C/4.5 charge rate at the batteries.

I'm currently in process of doing the paperwork to grid tie. I'm hoping I can program the Inverter to feed excess power to the grid since the 6848 and battery bank both pull power from the same buss in the PDP.
This doesn't allow me to track actual power produced by the panels but hopefully will help protect the batteries.

new2PV · March 2016

You can get a log of what power went into the XW though. I am going to investigate the pt-100 and see what its all about see, what it lacks compared to the mppt 60's.

new2PV · March 2016

new2PV said:

You can get a log of what power went into the XW though. I am going to investigate the pt-100 and see what its all about see, what it lacks compared to the mppt 60's.

The pt-100 looks like a good controller, but when not networked you won;t be able to communicate aux functions via the XW, only the aux contact can be used for a fault signal. Sadly, this is what happens when you mix and match components.

Measuring power produced

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