Modified on Wed, 07 Apr 2021 at 11:27 PM

How do i configure my battery?

As a customer, you can configure how you want your energy storage to act, in Ferroamp's energyCloud portal. This applies if you have version 2.0 or later of the software on your EnergyHub. Note, in order for it to work to configure your energy storage yourself, the system must be correctly installed and connected to the internet. The relevant settings can only be configured by the system administrator of the system. 


To configure your battery (and your EnergyHub system), log in to EnergyCloud and click on “System Settings” and then “System Configuration”.


 

 

 

What is seen in the system configuration are operating settings that refer to an overall configuration of the Ferroamp DC nanogrid system. Where parameters such as PV production, phase balancing (ACE), mains power and energy storage can be configured.


System modes


By selecting system mode at the top of operating settings, you can set how you want your battery and photovoltaic system to be used.


So far, there are three system modes to choose from:


  1. Default

  2. Maximize PV Self-Consumption

  3. Peak Shaving


The different system modes will automatically determine the purpose for which your battery and system should work. Below we go through how to set parameters for battery and other settings for the system based on the selected system mode.


The first two settings in the operating settings when you have selected a system mode are PV (solar) and ACE (phase balancing) and work in the same way for all operating modes.


With the PV control you can manually start or stop solar in your system (if it is connected). With the ACE button and associated threshold value, you can start or stop the phase balancing function in the system and set which threshold value you want ACE to start at. As an example, with a main fuse of 20A and an ACE threshold of 16A, we will start phase balancing at 16A and even out the property's consumtion from the electricity grid.



The remaining settings concerning batteries and mains power thus differ between each system mode, so below we will go through each system mode and associated parameters separately.


Default systemläge


Default system mode is for:


  • EnergyHub that runs Phase Balancing (ACE) only, if no solar panels and/or batteries are connected
  • EnergyHub as an inverter for solar panels, if only solar is connected
  • EnergyHub as charger, if one (or more) batteries are connected. To be able to manually start charging or discharging a battery



Grid power


The first parameter is mains power, which here controls the import and export of electricity to the electricity grid. So at what thresholds do you want your EnergyHub system to stop importing power from the electricity grid and stop exporting electricity to the electricity grid.


This can e.g. be if you have installed more solar than your main fuse allows. You have installed 17 kW solar but you only have a main fuse of 16A. Then the system can limit so that it only outputs 16A / 11kW on the electricity grid but at the same time gets full access to all produced power for self consumption.


Battery power


With battery power, you can manually set here whether the battery should:


Wait in idle mode, so do nothing and neither charge or discharge.


Charged with "CHARGE" and what power you want the battery to be charged with.


Or discharge with "DISCHARGE" and what power you want the battery to discharge with.





NOTE! Be sure to read up before setting the battery power on your own as constant charging or discharging can mean a change in the lifespan of your battery. It is always the facility owner's responsibility to ensure that the battery is used in accordance with manufacturer recommendations.


State of Charge (SOC)


The last parameter is the battery charge levels and controls at which State of Charge span your battery should work within. The lower limit to which your battery should be discharged to and the higher limit to which your battery should be charged to.


NOTE! Just as above with battery power, it is important to read up before how a changed State of Charge affects your battery, this as changed values can affect the lifespan of your battery.


Peak Shaving system mode


In Peak Shaving system mode, batteries are used to compensate for and cut power peaks in the system.


  • Batteries can be used to reduce consumption, when it is high
  • When consumption is low, the batteries can be charged from the mains, as well as from PV.



Grid power


The first parameter is grid power which controls at what power the connected batteries are to be charged and discharged. If one or both of "limit import" and "limit export" flags are set, the system will also restrict the imported and / or exported power to the electricity grid.




For the field to the left "Discharge threshold" with the included flag "limit import" the following applies:


1) Discharge threshold value says at which minimum power drawn from the mains that your battery should start to discharge and start to peak shave

2) If the "Limit Import" flag is set, the system will limit imported power from the mains to the DC nanogrid as soon as the battery is fully discharged.



For the field to the right "Charge threshold value" with the included flag "Limit export" the following applies:


1) Charging threshold value says at which minimum power drawn from the mains that your battery should start charging


2) If the "Limit Export" flag is set, the system will limit the exported power to the electricity grid from solar panels and / or other production sources in the DC grid as soon as the battery is fully charged.


As an example, if we have set the value 0 W in the field and the flag "Limit Export" is set, only the solar panels will charge the battery and supply the household with power. No power will ever be exported to the electricity grid.


Battery power


With battery power, you can set what maximum your battery will charge in and out with for power.




In the example above, the battery will discharge a maximum of 3.5 kW and charge 4 kW.



NOTE! Be sure to read up before setting the battery power on your own as constant charging or discharging can mean a change in the lifespan of your battery. It is always the facilitiy owner's responsibility to ensure that the battery is used correctly.


Charge level (SOC)


The last parameter is the charge level and controls in which State of Charge span your battery should work in. The lower limit to which your battery should be discharged and the higher limit to which your battery should be charged.


NOTE! Just as above with battery power, it is important to read before how a changed State of Charge affects your battery, because changed values can affect the lifespan of your battery.



Self Consumtion system mode


Self Consumtion system mode is to use batteries to maximize self consumption of produced PV power.


  • Batteries can be used to store excess solar energy to reduce consumption during evening time.
  • Batteries will only be charged from panels




Grid Power


The first parameter is mains power which controls at what power the connected batteries are to be charged and discharged. If one or both "Limit import" and "Limit export" flags are set, the system will also restrict the imported and / or exported power to the electricity grid.




For the field to the left "Import threshold" with the included flag "Restrict import" the following applies:


1) Import threshold value states at which minimum power drawn from the electricity grid that self-consumption of solar should begin to be prioritized and your battery should begin to discharge

2) If the "Limit Import" flag is set, the system will limit imported power from the mains to the DC network above the threshold value


For the field to the right "Export threshold value" with the included flag "Restrict export" the following applies:


1) Export threshold value states at which lowest power drawn from the electricity grid that self-consumption of solar should start to be prioritized and your battery should start charging from the solar


2) If the flag "Restrict Export" is set, the system will restrict exported power to the electricity grid below the threshold value


As an example, if we have set the value 0 W in the field and the flag "Restrict Export" is set, we will only solar charge the battery and supply the household with power. No power will ever be exported to the electricity grid.



Battery power


With battery power, you can set what maximum power your battery will charge and discharge with.




So in the example above, the battery will discharge with a maximum of 3.5 kW and charge with a maximum of 4 kW.


NOTE! Be sure to read before setting the battery power on your own because a changed charge or discharge level can affect your batteries life span.


Charge level (SOC)


The last parameter is battery level and controls in which State of Charge span your battery should work within. The lower limit to which your battery should be discharged and the higher limit to which your battery should be charged.


NOTE! Just like above with battery power, it is important to read up how a changed State of Charge affects your battery.




Batteri Wizard


To simplify the configuration of your installed energy storage, there is a Battery Wizard at the bottom of the page that helps and suggests working settings for "Battery Power" and "State of Charge" for your particular battery type for the selected system mode.



In it you can choose which battery you have (manufacturer and model) and get suggested settings from us at Ferroamp that will work well.



After selecting your battery from the list, settings that match are automatically suggested.



Click save to copy the suggested settings to operating settings.


When you are satisfied with the configuration of your battery (and EnergyHub system), click "UPDATE" to send down settings to your EnergyHub system.



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