Possibility of reading "Inverter Status" in the data stream

[jdpug]

Hi all, my first post, so please forgive any errors in etiquette.

I was wondering if the “Inverter Status” as shown on the SolarEdge Monitoring Portal is available in the PVOutput data stream somehow.
I was hoping it might be in the extended data, but I can’t seem to find any mention of it anywhere.

Reason being I have continual issues with Voltage Rise here, and being able to tell where dips have occurred due to Voltage and not cloud cover etc. would be a great help.
I think there are only 3 possible values: Production, Power Limitation and Fault.

If any SolarEdge guru’s know another way to access the historical data via charts or something, please let us know.

Cheers

[lwsmiser]

jdpug,
You can access data down to per panel basis using the graphing tool. This requires that you system have individual optimizers per panel. If you only have one MPPT per string you cannot access per panel data as far as I know.
In the former case you can select a single panel, say one which is underperforming, by opening the inverter and strings to reveal the individual panels. Select the one you want and the date or range of dates you wish to access and make the plot. In the upper right corner there is a download icon which when clicked will download the data seen on the screen. You may also select groups of panels to compare and download the data for the group of panels.
The download is in the .csv format which can be opened by most any spreadsheet app. The rest of the analysis is up to you. For example this is the display for 11/9/19 for panel 1.1.6 on my system. The data is at 5 minute intervals:

You may select multiple panels or strings or the whole system. Next graph shows 5 panels on String 1.1

Not all panels are polled at the same time. Rather they report to the inverter at random intervals so the data from multiple panels will be only samples of readings for each panel. Click on the “download to Excel” button to receive a .csv file of the data for the graph in question whether it contains one or several panels to see how the data is represented.

Good luck learning how to extract the historic data from SolarEdge web monitoring site.

[jdpug]

Cheers lwsmiser,

Much appreciated that you took the time explaining this.
I’ve also been able to extract the data I require as an xml by using a browser url to make an API call:

https://monitoringapi.solaredge.com/equipment/{INSERT YOU SITE ID}/{INSERT YOUR INVERTER SERIAL NO}/data?startTime=2019-11-6%205:00:00&endTime=2019-11-06%2021:00:00&api_key={INSERT YOUR API KEY}

Running the XML through a CSV converter gives me great info, including the inverter status state such as MPPT, FAULT, THROTTLED and SLEEPING.
I also noted that DC voltage rises without fault from circa 380V to well over 400V whenever throttling occurs, so the DC voltage line in PVO tells me exactly when throttling is taking place as well.

Hope the info helps anyone else with similar issues.

[tallara]

Hi, I suggest you also configure PVOutput to poll acVoltage (rather than DC) off SolarEdge API as this should tell you when your inverter goes into throttling/cutoff mode. Depending on:

1. Whether your inverter is 1- or 3-phase you can just poll acVoltage or might need to get separate line voltages. In fact I have 3 phase at my place but a 1 phase inverter and I can also monitor each phase (needs WattMeter connected to the inverter). In your case you could see that one phase voltage rises and move your inverter to another phase (assuming you’re on a 1 phase inverter too)
2. Your grid electricity rules, your inverter will be configured with specific thresholds your throttling and shut-off. From memory there can be instant voltage thresholds as well as 10 or 15 minute average value threshold. 3 phase might even has some further complex rules about balance and shift but that’s beyond my knowledge.
   If you play with just the SolarEdge API check format output, some endpoints provide JSON and CSV if it’s easier that XML.
   Good luck

[jdpug]

Hi tallara,

Thanks for the info, I actually have both AC and DC voltage setup, but DC is much clearer when judging throttling as AC voltage can be at 253V due to throttling, or because it’s just below the limit, so no real way to tell the difference.
So far my DC voltage always, and only, increases during throttling.
I grabbed a few screens to show the difference:

DC Only:

DC and AC Showing:

I checked out my inverters voltage settings as well (cheers for that), and grid protection settings are as follows:

265V for 170ms
260V for 1.9s
255V for 580s

I assume these are pretty standard for most Aussie regions?

[jplkm]

Hi,

I’m noticing this constant throttling on the inverter status via Modbus TCP monitoring. DC voltage constantly changing from baseline of 388V to around 440V.

What does the throttled status mean and when is it likely to occur.

AC voltage can climb up to a maximum of 252V at times.

[lampra]

This happens if you have set a Power Limit on the inverter, eg a power limit of 85% on the AC side. I expect that this may also happen with oversized systems when the inverter reaches its max AC power, though I have not seen this on my systems.

Does this happen all the time or during the morning?