Home Vehicle Charging with lots of solar panels and net metering question.

[Swolhak9]

Do you know what type of system the solar company installed? Is it a string inverter or micro inverters?

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[keith.springer]

No my solar inverter does not have it's own app. It's all SunRun, but I in effect have 2 systems b/c part of it was leased and part was not. I also have the Ford Charge station pro and the home integration kit to power the house if power goes out.

I certainly can adjust my FCSP, and am thinking about doing that (at the cost of slower charging) but since my net metering generally covers me anyway I don't think that's an issue. . .

I'm really just trying to figure out where the solar power goes when it is not enough to power all the load in the house. . . I thought it would be a net effect as mentioned but the math so far says otherwise, hence my confusion.

(I don't know what EVSE means. . . admitting that does make me feel a bit noob-ish ;-) )

When you're looking at those numbers, is everything in your house turned off? Remember, all that stuff is still pulling a load. So, everything in your house running at about 7KW + truck pulling 15KW adds up to 22KW.

 

[gbuydos]

Right right, I get that. . . but maybe that's more the essence of my question. . . can it feed energy in both directions at the same time. . . ?

It can feed back and forth within milliseconds, I would have to ask the metering engineers if it can do it simultaneously. You can ask your utility for detailed meter reads and the import/export schedule. Also you can have significant vampire loads in the house that use up your solar energy, not to mention the standard lights, AC, TVs, fridge, freezer, etc.

 

[K6CCC]

I also wouldn't expect that me say turning on a microwave would show the meter at an additional pull of 1KW (i.e. 16KW), but it does. . .

Of course it will. You increase your house load by about a kilowatt, your draw from the utility will go up by a KW.

Perform the tests that I explained yesterday. You should not need to post photos, just the actual numbers.

BTW, you said you're in Southern California, where are you?

 

[gbuydos]

If you are in Anaheim, contact Andrew. He can route your email to the proper people.

 

[F150-Lightning]

I'm not making it complex. . . I'm simply telling you all what's happening.

It's noon in SoCal. I know that I'm "receiving" 10-13 KW from my 41 solar panels.
I plug in my truck to charge, which according to the Ford app is pulling in 15.6 KW.
My power meter also says I'm pulling in roughly 15.6 KW from the grid. . .

Where does the 10-13 KW from my solar panels go. . . ? To the ground? To heat? Partially back to the grid?

You're trying to tell me that it goes to the main panel and thereby into the truck, but I'm saying if that was true then the meter would not be reading -15KW and the meter could not possibly equal the same value as what the truck is charging at. . .

Yes it's all one meter I should add. . .

You mentioned earlier that the panels were about enough to power the house without the truck.
Since you are already using the power from the solar to power the house, when you are charging the truck it needs to pull it from the utility.

 

[Ragman]

It all depends how your system is wired but is really a don't stress/over think it.

I dont't know what Sun run uses for pieces but if its say a Sol Ark 15 with the Gen/Ev port your solar would get co mingled with grid power and you can "feel good" that its going direct.

If the charger is wired from your panel and not off the invertor, the solar could be going back to meter then back to you via panel - can still feel good.

If you have 10kw of battery storage attached to the Sol Ark then you can set it to pull 100% through that until battery hits 20% or whatever you set as safety level and use 100% solar.

End of the day it all "nets" hence the net metering and bi directional meters so enjoy both your ev and your solar guilt free regardless of how it "nets out".

 

[MaintGrl]

Right. Clearly the OP needs to gain a better understanding of how their solar system works, which has nothing to do with the truck.

Thank you!

 

[Revenge]

Is your FCSP derated? I thought it could supply ~19kW. How big are your inverters for the panels? I have a 27 panel system but the inverter maxes out at 5kW so there are times that I am actually producing more power than the system can send back to the panel. As previous stated check your meter at the panel and see what your current usage is then start a charge and compare the numbers.

 

[TaxmanHog]

Is the solar system inverter faulting or suspending power export while you are charging?

Is your FCSP set to maximum 80 amp setting? if it is, that usually results in approx 18kw real load on the system, I have never seen 19.2 KW on my setup.

 

[SDSean]

I figured it out! It's a timing thing. . . the solar coming in is indeed either going directly to the truck when charging, or powering the house, or going back to the grid, but the meter is only showing me a snapshot number that represents the state at that current time. Sometimes when I'd see it it shows net what I would expect (as it cycles through other number), other times it is showing what is coming in from grid as it adjusts based on whatever the current is coming from solar, etc.

Yes checking what the inverters are doing would have probably given me this insight faster but I don't have an app that gives me real-time inverter data, so I'd been strictly relying on what the meter was saying.

 

[K6CCC]

Which utility? I might be able to help you in reading the meter.

 

[SDSean]

SDGE

 

[K6CCC]

Sorry, can't help you with San Diego Graft & Extortion.

 

[Rip]

Right but my question is if the solar is producing less than what I'm drawing (e.g. b/c the truck is charging), but is still producing where is that energy going? Like I said, when charging I can see that i'm drawing ~15K according to the meter and I know that's the rate the truck is charging at. . but if it's noon, i'm also making 9-10KW of power from the solar and I don't know what's happening to it. . .

I've wondered about that, too. My panels generate more than 10 KW, but the output gets "clipped" at 10. Also, if we lose power, I assume the panels continue to generate (if it's sunny), but my Generac generator kicks in, because here (Downeast Maine) if the power can't be fed back into the grid, it just goes (I guess) to ground. I am planning to put in a battery backup. That way, I can shift to it when the power goes out, and the panels will keep the battery charged...less waste. I have yet to find an answer to the clipping question, though...will the extra energy (over the 10 KW line) also charge the battery?
Tesla, by the way, does let you lower the charging level. Not sure why Ford engineers didn't include that feature in the Lightning. I charge my truck during off-peak hours, to cut the cost. In the summer, it's covered by credits, but in mid-winter the panels don't produce much or long.

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