Best / Proper Solar Generation Configuration

[Paluszak]

Hi there!  I am fairly new to the Emporia Vue2 product, but I have used energy monitoring systems for years now.  We recently added solar generation to our home and am trying to setup the Vue2 to monitor it properly.

Basically, I have a bank of solar panels on the roof of my pole barn and a second bank of solar panels on the roof my garage, with an inverter on each terminating into to a double-pole circuit in that locations respective breaker box.  For the sake of keeping this simple, lets say they both locations produce the same amount of energy.

Both of these locations have their own sub-panel, and these are daisy chain from the MAIN to the GARAGE and then from the GARAGE to the POLE BARN.

This all said now, within the MAIN panel I have connected the Vue2 box, the 2 200A CT’s (on the 2 main legs of service), as well as a single 50A CT sensor on just one leg of my double-pole breaker going to the GARAGE / Solar Inverter #1 (which is daisy-chained to the POL BARN and Solar Inverter #2).  From there I then just set the multiplier accordingly to account for that second inverter and all is good.  Is this the proper way to do it?  If not, please tell me the best way?  If this is the best way, great but here is the the problem, there are other items in the garage (as well as in the Pole Barn) that are connected to that sub-panel, not just the breaker for the inverter, so I end up getting readings from all sorts of craziness, particularly throughout the night, when solar generation should be at ZERO (that depending on what all you have in that sub-panel), this seems to really mess with the Solar Generation readings.

Any advice?  Thank you!

Jason

[scrambler]

Do the subpanels that hold the Solar breaker only hold the solar breaker, or do they also hold regular load breakers?

Because if they do then you cannot monitor these subpanel through their feeding breaker, because the power will eventually go in both direction there, and right now, the 50A CTs do not report bidirectional power. In the future they will, but right now they don’t.

So if a 50ACT is on a breaker designated as load and installed in the load direction, they will always record the power as + regardless of direction, and 50ACTs on a breaker designated as Solar (installed in reverse) will always report load as minus regardless of direction

[Paluszak]

Okay, I see now…   Yes, these breakers that feed the sub-panels DO indeed support load within these “uplink” breakers (i.e. not just solar).

So for clarification (and to help me fully understand), what would be the outcome if these breakers WERE dedicated solely to solar inverters?  I assume from your description, that this would be the way in which it would indeed work?  Is this right?  If so, is there ANY way to make this happen in the meantime (while waiting for bi-directional 50A CT’s).

Thank you VERY much!

Jason

[scrambler]

If you put a 50ACT on a solar only line, then you just mount it in opposite direction, and declare it as such during the setup.

Then its power will be recorded as production and not consumption.

You do need to make sure the Solar breaker the CT is mounted on is OFF when you do the setup, and that you only turn it on when instructed.

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