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Navigating to the
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Solar & Battery designer page
From the Design page, click on the
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Grid Configuration
The Grid Configuration will inform the type of Single Line Diagram used, as well as the template for the hand-over manual.
Hybrid: PV and battery storage that will shut down if there is a grid outage
Off Grid: PV with battery storage that is not connected to the grid at all
PV: PV only, no batteries.
Switched Backup: PV with battery storage that uses an external contactor (aka back-up box) to provide backup power during grid outages. (Shows battery backup hours chart on the reports page)
UPS: Uninterrupted Power Supply. PV with grid-connected battery storage that switches instantaneously so that no noticeable power outage is experienced. No external contactor used, the loads connect directly to a load terminal on the inverter. (Shows battery backup hours chart on the reports page)
Battery Discharge Mode
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sub-menu icon in the Design tab.
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Battery Discharge Mode
You can model when the battery will discharge to reflect the programming of the battery inverter.
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Self-Consumption
This is the default, and most common scenario
The battery will discharge whenever there is a load and not enough solar to run it. Discharge will occur at any time, regardless of peak/off-peak periods, to maximise self-consumption and minimise use of grid energy.
This will result in the maximum charge-discharge cycling of the battery
Only in Peak
The battery will discharge during Peak times only, to maximise return on investment for customers on a time of use tariff.
Peak times are defined by the tariff periods on the Energy page.
All except off-peak
The battery will discharge during Peak and Shoulder times only.
Peak and Shoulder times are defined by the tariff periods on the Energy page.
Backup Only
The battery will be kept fully charged, and only discharge when there is a grid outage.
Modelling is based on the 'Grid availability' factor in the De-rating section, where you can specify the percentage of time the grid is available
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Minimise Tariff
The battery will only discharge during Peak and Shoulder tariff periods.
Self-Consume
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The battery will discharge at any time to maximise self-consumption and minimise use of grid energy.
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Battery Settings
Battery Nominal Capacity. This is the battery module nominal capacity x battery quantity. It doesn’t take into account the
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Depth of Discharge that you set.
Quantity - the number of battery units connected in total. This value is pre-set to match the battery inverter’s maximum voltage, but can be reduced.
Depth of Discharge - This is the % of battery capacity that will be used. This defaults to the maximum DoD defined in the battery data sheet, but can be adjusted according to how you intend to program the inverter.
Warranty Lifetime – you can specify the number of years that the battery system will be covered under warranty from the manufacturer. This value must be
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based on the warranty information provided in the data specification sheet from the supplier/manufacturer.
Warranty Cycle life - Warrantied cycle life can be provided for batteries where the warranty is provided for a particular cycle life limit eg. 4000 cycles
Peak Shaving Threshold. Use this only if the battery inverter will be programmed for Peak Shaving / Reduction to reduce peak demand tariff charges. This is the peak load (consumption) power level at which battery discharge will begin. That is, the battery will not discharge until that power level is reached.
Prioritise Charge Over Loads - prioritises using solar energy to charge the battery over supplying the load, up until the State of Charge level specified. If left at 0/unset, loads are always prioritised before any remainder is directed to battery charging.
To view the effects of these control set points on the system
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modelling:
go to the Reports
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> Design Review
scroll down to the Average Daily Performance chart
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select the
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Energy Control Functions
This feature enables you to model a range of battery inverter/charger programming set points for charging/discharging the battery from/to the grid.
Grid Charge
Example 1: If you want to make sure the customer always has a bit of back-up power in the battery in case of black-out, you might have the inverter set to do the following: if at 9pm the battery is below 40%, start charging it from the grid, and stop the grid charge when it reaches 40%. Do this only at a rate of 2 kW in the off-peak time of 9pm to midnight.
This is what the corresponding Energy Management Profile looks like:
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Example 2: If you want to take full advantage of very cheap off-peak rates to charge the battery for use in the early morning before the sun comes out, you could set the Energy Management Function to top up from the grid during the off-peak times, regardless of how full the battery is, as follows:
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SoC Range - lower value: The battery will discharge until it reaches this SoC.
SoC Range - upper value: The battery will stop charging from the grid if it reaches this SoC.
Storage Export
Similarly, you can model the effect of discharging the battery to the grid when feed-in tariffs are high, for example between 7 pm and 9 pm, at a rate of 10c/kWh, but not letting the battery drop below 40%.
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Battery System Upgrade on Existing Solar
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‘Week’ view, choose a month and click Generate Chart
click on State of charge in the legend
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Charge battery from grid and export battery to grid.
See Battery Grid Charge & Export