Night time “sleeping” load / consumption of my grid connected inverter(s)
I’ve seen several threads and posts on various forums where people have mentioned their concerns about the apparent power their grid connect inverters use of a night when the inverter is shut down or sleeping.
I highlighted the term “apparent power” as that is all it is when using a basic clamp on device such as a Current Cost EnviR and the likes to measure the solar PV system generation.
On my EnviR my EverSolar inverters show a power consumption of 37W each when they are shut down, but in reality it is only 0.4W
The apparent power consumed by the inverter when it is dark and the PV panels are not producing power is not the full story and is not what the consumer is being charged for.
Monitoring my Washing machine power consumption
I monitored the power consumption of my washing machine and was surprised by the results.
Some quirks when using the EverSolar PMU and AS Control software
This post is about using the EverSolar PMU and AS Control plus some quirks I’ve come across when using them.
The post is mainly to do with having all the data stored in the PMU available for AS Control to display. Especially when a PC isn’t connected to the PMU 24/7 or when accessing the data remotely (off site). If you want to do a file import / export or look at graphs of past history AS Control uses the databases on the computer AS_Control is running on. If it hasn’t been logging live data for a while then there is not much data to look at, the only data stored on the PC is data collected while connected to the PMU when the PV System is running and the inverter is on.
Doubling My PV System Capacity
I doubled my system capacity / size by fitting a 2nd row of 9 PV panels and a 2nd Eversolar TL1500AS inverter.
This time I fitted 9 X NESL DJ-190 D/A 190 Watt mono panels. I can now monitor the performance differences between the original Trunsun Solar TSM190 /MONO using the EverSolar PMU and AS Control software.
It is definitely not an economical way to do it. Consumers should always install the absolute maximum system size they can fit and afford in the first place. 2 X 1.5kW inverters cost more than 1 X 3kW inverter. The resubmission of paperwork, the re-inspection fees etc all add up. But it does have at least one advantage, it gives me redundancy, if something goes wrong with one of the systems instead of losing all of my generating capacity, I only lose half of it.
Supercharging my UPS
I hope the charging circuit doesn’t melt when it has to recharge the higher capacity battery.
I’ve had a 600VA UPS forever. Surge protection for my modem / router (I’ve had to replace one after a lightning storm even though the whole estate is on underground phone and power). Surge protection for whatever I plug into it.
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