Beta KIDs

[vtmaps]

What I would suggest is the addition of Kw/Hr figure as well. Although thinking about this I suspect that without a clock in the KID then resetting Kw/hr on a daily basis would be not trivial to achieve

I don't think you really mean Kw/Hr.  I think you mean kilowatts or kilowattHours. 

Kw/Hr is the rate at which your production of kilowatts is changing per hour.  For solar production, it usually starts out positive in the morning (as production ramps up) and then goes negative during the afternoon.

--vtMaps

[dgd]

ok, Daily energy produced kWh...
Did I also read somewhere that there may be a possibility of connecting an MNGP to the KID?
dgd

[dgd]

..sorry, more questions.
I power cycled my KID and the settings had to be reentered. No flash or battery backed memory in it?
The Absorb setting was at 0.0v so I reset it to 29V, then Float was at 28.9 so I reset it to 27.4 then EQ was at 29.5v  I could only move this down as it would not allow setting over 29.5V. I wanted 31v.

Also could not get SOLAR mode to restart. Powered on KID, waited a minute then closed breaker to PVs.
Input voltage on second screen showed 94v but KID stayed in RESTING and never moved to BULKMPPT.
Is there some sort of delay built in before leaving RESTING?
It stayed in RESTING until sun went down 2 hours later 

dgd

[Halfcrazy]

DGD
I will ask Mario to jump in here when he gets up. But he can also be reached at mario@midnitesolar.com

That is an odd one as the kid does remember all settings so I wonder what happened?

Ryan

[TomW]

DGD
That is an odd one as the kid does remember all settings so I wonder what happened?

Ryan

Mine retains the setting thru a power cycle. In fact it kept them after being powered down for a couple hours while I did some conduit / cable upgrades.

Tom

[Halfcrazy]

DGD
The Kid is slightly different than the classic in that you do not push Enter to save the data there is a "Save" button (Top right button) is it possible the settings where never committed to memory by pressing Save?

Ryan

[Mario]

..sorry, more questions.
I power cycled my KID and the settings had to be reentered. No flash or battery backed memory in it?
The Absorb setting was at 0.0v so I reset it to 29V, then Float was at 28.9 so I reset it to 27.4 then EQ was at 29.5v  I could only move this down as it would not allow setting over 29.5V. I wanted 31v.

dgd, did you go thought the start up set up, where it guesses the Battery voltage and asks you for the Absorb, Float and EQ voltages?
if you did you have to go all the way to the end of the set up and the kid will save those settings automatically.
The start up set up is a must because there are some other internal variables that get set and affect the MPPT and wake up of the unit.
here is what you need to do: Do a factory reset on the kid and see if your changes get saved after a power cycle.

Also could not get SOLAR mode to restart. Powered on KID, waited a minute then closed breaker to PVs.
Input voltage on second screen showed 94v but KID stayed in RESTING and never moved to BULKMPPT.
Is there some sort of delay built in before leaving RESTING?
It stayed in RESTING until sun went down 2 hours later 

dgd

So on the old code I believe after a power cycle the kid used to wait like 30 sec before trying to produce power. now on the latest code it should be like 15 sec.
One thing That I have seen on why the kid sometimes refuses to wake up is Calibration, can you go to the Tech Menu and check the Battery and the Input voltages vs a fluke (or reliable) meter if they are off please calibrate them and see if that's the problem with your kid.

Mario

[dgd]

Thanks for your replies guys...

This morning sun is out bright from about 8am. Its now just gone 10am and the KID is still in RESTING mode with 106v pv input from 700W array. My C150 with 2.1 Kw array is producing near 2Kw power.
The KID is also continuously clicking a relay, not as loud as a Classic relay but very audible.
So I opened the breaker to PVs and clicking stopped and input voltage dropped to about 13v.
Closing breaker, waited and clicking restarted.
So shut power off KID and left off about 10 minutes while I checked all wiring to it and array. All ok.
Powered KID on but this time did a factory reset and re-entered all the voltage setups plus save.
Closed PV breaker and up went input voltage to 103v. No relay clicking but after 18 seconds the KID moved into BULKMPPT mode with 416W input.

So I'm not sure what I did to the KID to get it into the clicking mode and stuck RESTING. I was relocating one of the PVs on the frame yesterday and I'm not sure if I shorted the PV input on that panel which may then have caused a spike on the KID PV input.

Anyways, thanks again and I will keep monitoring it.

dgd

[Mario]

Thanks for your replies guys...

This morning sun is out bright from about 8am. Its now just gone 10am and the KID is still in RESTING mode with 106v pv input from 700W array. My C150 with 2.1 Kw array is producing near 2Kw power.
The KID is also continuously clicking a relay, not as loud as a Classic relay but very audible.
So I opened the breaker to PVs and clicking stopped and input voltage dropped to about 13v.
Closing breaker, waited and clicking restarted.
So shut power off KID and left off about 10 minutes while I checked all wiring to it and array. All ok.
Powered KID on but this time did a factory reset and re-entered all the voltage setups plus save.
Closed PV breaker and up went input voltage to 103v. No relay clicking but after 18 seconds the KID moved into BULKMPPT mode with 416W input.

So I'm not sure what I did to the KID to get it into the clicking mode and stuck RESTING. I was relocating one of the PVs on the frame yesterday and I'm not sure if I shorted the PV input on that panel which may then have caused a spike on the KID PV input.

Anyways, thanks again and I will keep monitoring it.

dgd

dgd,
Can you make sure that the Input and battery voltage match to an external DMM. let me know how close are they?
go to the Tech menu and calibrate the kid if needed.
I would like to know if the unit cot calibrated here at the shop before leaving.

Mario

[Vic]

In plain Solar Input mode,  I hear the relay pick up,  and then there are additional ticking sounds,  if it is the relay ticking perhaps the relay is not given enough time to fully change state before it is again activated ...

I had wondered if that ticking could be the Inductor in the Converter (?).

Have my Kid now just connected to an old 100 W PV -- 17.7 Vmp @ 5.6 A Imp.

The sun has been full,  to medium density clouds.

My battery V is set to 12 (correct),  and the batteries would take some charge -- had set Vabs to an EQ V 15.5),  as that is what the batts really want.

I COULD connect the main PV array to the Kid,  but its Vmp @ 106 V,  am a bit reluctant ..
FW= 1704.1 from memory.

Just my observations ...   FWIW,  Vic

[dgd]

Mario,

Checked input and battery voltages with Fluke and input voltage is 2.2 volts low on KID at 89.6v whereas PV volts is 91.8, and and battery voltage is 0.2 volt at 27.4 on battery and 27.2 on KID
I disconnected two of my 5 panels to the kid so there is a string of three and PV volts is 51.6 and KID is showing 49.4 or 2.2v low.

I tweaked the battery voltage correct but after 30 minutes it was reading .1v high so had to adjust tweak to 0.1v I also noticed that although the PV voltage on Fluke remains steady the voltage on the KID display seems to slowly drift upwards. Now 90.2 on KID and 91.8 on Fluke.
It slowly drifted upwards until KID went into ABSORB

The PV voltage difference is more interesting. I will be changing some cables later today but I doubt there is any issues as I use #4 from PVs to just before KID where 6mm cable goes into KID. Its at this join I fluke the input voltage.

KID is working good now, I think the factory reset sorted it. It just followed C150 into ABSORB at exactly 29v.

dgd

[ClassicCrazy]

One thing I noticed on the KID temperature compensation menu is that it only changes by increments of 5 . My battery manufacturer called for -3 mv . Not sure how much difference that would really make though.

The temperature compensation does seem to be working . I have to watch it remotely via telemetry . It is minus 15 F inside with the batteries now. Yesterday was clear sunlight and the batteries went up to 14.7 before going to float at 13.8 . Right now I don't remember what exact setpoint I put for the absorb voltage.  I know the Classic will bring the lead acid batteries up to around equivalent 15 V on a cold day like that. 

Here is the graph
http://aprs.fi/telemetry/a/WT9M-8

[Halfcrazy]

I COULD connect the main PV array to the Kid,  but its Vmp @ 106 V,  am a bit reluctant ..
FW= 1704.1 from memory.

Just my observations ...   FWIW,  Vic

Vic
Unless the VOC is over 150 I would not worry about it. Of course I would want to make sure the wattage was not to over sized for the Kid but it limits pretty darn well on amperage

Ryan

[Vic]

Vic
Unless the VOC is over 150 I would not worry about it. Of course I would want to make sure the wattage was not to over sized for the Kid but it limits pretty darn well on amperage.   Ryan
[/quote]

Hi Ryan,

Thanks,   Well the startup issue with this Kid COULD possibly be that these L-16 batteries are nine years old,  and if there is much peak current required to start the Kid,  possibly these old batts do not have it in them.  They really do need an EQ,  and a couple of cycles.   Have stolen the charger used on this bank for another use elsewhere,  and the Auto style charger cannot do an EQ.

If time permits,  will try the Kid on the 3.15 KW STC array and the 48 V bank ...  will try to choose a day with some overcast.   Or could go onto the roof and switch off half of the PVs.

More later,   rain is forecast here.    Thanks,   will advise.    Vic

[Vic]

The FW on my Kid is 1704.1

Leagcy P&O  works pretty well.   The Power out and Current reported is off by a factor of about 8 right now.  Reports about 20 - 30 W,  and really it is producing 8 - 12 times that amount,  when measured with a Clamp DC ammeter which is fairly accurate.

Solar mode just ticks,  and the CC needs to be rested after this ticking for about 10 or more minutes,  else,  when repowered after the ticking behavior,  the CC will do nothing when it has been switched to another Input mode.

Expect that some or all of this may well have been corrected in FW already.

Have needed more solar power today,  so have not tried using the main array   and 48 V bank on the Kid,  to see if that is more to the Kid's liking.   In order to try this configuration,   will need to change out a BabyBox to the BigBaby,  for more room,  that necessitates other changes ...   it is never nothin',  is it?

Some of the curious behavior that had been seeing was due to not letting the Kid rest after a Ticking event.

Am getting more used to the Menu structure of the Kid.   Some great work has been done engineering this product!    Thanks,    Vic