eForce Battery-Inverter Integration Guide

IMPORTANT NOTICE

This Quick Guide does not exempt the installer or User from reading each product manual. Failure to do so may risk damaging both Fortress Power equipment and other manufacturers and void warranty.

ABBREVIATIONS

A = Amperes

AC = Alternating Current

Ah = Amperes hour(s)

AWG = American Wire Gauge

BAT = Battery

BMS = Battery Management System

CAN = Controller Area Network

CC = Constant Current (Bulk)

CCV = Closed Circuit Voltage

°C = Degrees Celsius

CT = Current Transformer

CV = Constant Voltage (Absorption)

DC = Direct Current

ESS = Energy Storage System

EOL = End of Life

°F = Degrees Fahrenheit

HV = High Voltage

HVCO = High Voltage Cut-Off

I/O = Input or Output

ISC = Short Circuit Current

IP-Ingress Protection

in = Inches

lb. = Pounds

LED = Light Emitting Diode

LFCO = Low Voltage Cut-Off

LFP = Lithium Ferro Phosphate

LN1 = AC Line 1

LN2 = AC Line 2

LV = Low Voltage

m = Meters

mA = milliamperes

mV = millivolts

N = Neutral

NEC = National Electric Code

NEMA = The National Electrical Manufacturers Association

NFPA = National Fire Protection Association

NO = Normally Open

NC = Normally Closed

OCV = Open Loop Voltage

OSHA = Occupational Safety and Health Administration

OT = Over Temperature

OV = Over Voltage

PE = Protective Earth (Ground)

PV = Photovoltaic

R = Electrical Resistance (Ohms)

RS485 = Recommended Standard 485

SOC = State of Charge

SOC = State of Health

UT = Under Temperature

UV = Under Voltage

V = Voltage

VAC = Volts Alternating Current

VDC = Volts Direct Current

VPP = Virtual Power Plant

W = Watts (Power)

CONNECTION DIAGRAMS

CONNECTION OVERVIEW

48V Hybrid Inverter

Battery Port BAT COM PORT

RJ45 Battery to Inverter Cable

Guardian (Optional)

Terminator Coupler

RJ45 Terminator

Note: All RJ45 ports of the eWay are common

Discard the Terminating Coupler if your adding a Guardian

Built-In Connections

Required Installation

Unused Port

PARALLEL CONNECTION OVERVIEW

48V Hybrid Inverter

Battery Port BAT COM PORT

Included Unmodified Cable with RJ45 Connector

Guardian (Optional)

Rack A

Rack B

Relay Power Parallel Cable

Included Unmodified Cable with RJ45 Connector

Included Unmodified Cable with RJ45 Connector

Discard the Terminating Coupler if your adding a Guardian

RJ45 Terminator

Unused Guardian Cable

Fixed Connections

Required Installation

Unused Ports

Note: All RJ45 ports of the eWay are common

CLOSED LOOP AND PINOUT DEFINITIONS

To ensure Closed Loop communication, please follow the process below. If making a communication cable, refer to the pin out diagram for an RJ45 cable below. Type B format ethernet cable may also be used.

eForce Communication Pinout Configuration

Firmware 6016 or above

Protocol and cable

Dip Switch :1110

Using the DIP switch on the eWay Select the following protocol for Closed Loop Communication. You must do this process only the primary eWay when in parallel. The primary eWay shall be the one that connects battery to inverter communication.

ON

ENVY INVERTER-BATTERY COMMUNICATION PORT PINOUT

Lithium Profile: 18 (Fortress)

Inverter firmware shall be 1E1E or above

LCD Firmware shall be V20

Included Unmodified Normal Format B RJ45 Cable. Any of the included cables will work.

eForce Communication Pinout Configuration

Firmware 6016 or above

Protocol and Cable

Dip Switch:1000

Using the DIP switch on the eWay Select the following protocol for Closed Loop Communication. You must do this process only the primary eWay when in parallel. The primary eWay shall be the one that connects battery to inverter communication.

ON

SOL-ARK INVERTER-BATTERY COMMUNICATION PORT PINOUT

BMS Lithium BAT 00

Modified Cable (not included). Installer may use extra cable included with the eForce or Inverter to crimp RJ45 cable to the following configuration

eForce Communication Pinout Configuration

Firmware 6016 or above

Protocol and Cable

Dip Switch :1110

Using the DIP switch on the eWay Select the following protocol for Closed Loop Communication. You must do this process only the primary eWay when in parallel. The primary eWay shall be the one that connects battery to inverter communication.

ON

ECOVAULT INVERTER-BATTERY COMMUNICATION PORT PINOUT

BMS Communication: FOR

Included Unmodified Normal Format B RJ45 Cable. Any of the included cables will work.

eForce Communication Pinout Configuration

Firmware 6016 or above

Protocol and Cable

Dip Switch :1100

Using the DIP switch on the eWay Select the following protocol for Closed Loop Communication. You must repeat this process for all eWay onsite.

ON

SCHNEIDER-BATTERY COMMUNICATION PORT PINOUT

Schneider 6848 XW PRO

Baud Rate 19200

Modified stripped cable

Schneider Gateway: 12 ISO1CAN L, 14 ISO1CAN H

eForce Communication Pinout Configuration

Firmware 6016 or above

Protocol and Cable

Dip Switch :1010

Using the DIP switch on the eWay Select the following protocol for Closed Loop Communication. You must do this process only the primary eWay when in parallel. The primary eWay shall be the one that connects battery to inverter communication.

ON

VICTRON-BATTERY COMMUNICATION PORT PINOUT

Victron Inverter

BMS-Can

charger

Quattro

4815000/2001

VE.Can

VE Direct 1 VE Direct 2 VE.Direct 3

WiFi Access Point

Bluetooth

Green: Active

Orange: Disabled

Connected

No connected

Disabled

Cerbo GX

VE.BUS

Press short: toggle WiFi Access Point & Bluetooth on/off

Press long: reset network settings

Micro SD

Tank

Temp

Digital inputs

Relay 1

NO COM NC

Relay 2

NO COM NC

Power In

8-70VDC

Connect Modified Cable to the Victron CERBO GX

COMMISSIONING

1. Turn on the Inverter Battery Breaker on the Inverter

BRIDGED INSIDE

L1

L2

LOAD Breaker

GEN LOAD GRID

BAT + BAT+ BAT-BAT-

L1 L2 L1 L2 L1 L2

OFF

ON

Primary Battery

2. Turn ON the Disconnect on the eWay. For paralleled battery systems, only turn on the Primary Battery

OFF

ON

Primary Battery

OFF

ON

Secondary Battery

OFF

ON

Secondary Battery-n

PROGRAMMING THE INVERTER

FORTRESS POWER ENVY

Before setting the parameters, make sure the system is in Standby. Make sure to press SET for each setup. Confirm the battery is doing Closed Loop Communications with the inverter under the Battery of the Data Section.

BATTERY SET UP

SELF-CONSUMPTION MODE

Generator

BACK UP

SOL-ARK

SHARE SOL-ARK MONITORING W/FORTRESS

Set up Wi-Fi with Sol-Ark Inverter using Sol-Ark's My Sol-Ark App and have your site name and Wi-Fi dongle serial number handy to register the system online with Sol-Ark. After registering, use a laptop to log into MySolArk via a web browser at http://mysolark.com

Note: For certain circumstances, temporarily use the batteries in open-loop communication mode, please follow the following link for open-loop settings:

1. To program the inverter using the Sol-Ark inverter screen, go to battery setup menu:

Solar Today= 53KWH Total=599.8 KWH

55.2V

8.03 KW 0 8

-3.2 KW 0 12

4.26 KW 0 12

00.0 KW 0 12

Basic Setup

System Alarms

Battery Setup

Li-Batt info

Grid Setup

-ID: 1807264001 SD

-COMM: 1295

-MCU: Ver0748

2. Program the 'Batt' tab first. Enter the settings as shown below and tap on 'OK' in the bottom of the menu afterwards:

Closed Loop Settings

Confirm closed loop communication was established by going to the Home screen and selecting Li-BATT INFO

Open Loop Settings

Note:

a) If closed loop communication is set up correctly, enabling 'BMS Lithium Batt 00' will adjust some values automatically. In this tab, those would be 'Batt Capacity' and 'Tempco'.

b) If the total charge/discharge current capacity of the batteries exceeds the inverter's capabilities, use the maximum current settings of the inverter.

For example, if you have four eForce batteries and one Sol-Ark 12K inverter, based on the size of the battery bank, 'Max A Charge' and 'Max A discharge' should be 240A each. But Sol-Ark 12K can only carry 185A DC going to or coming from the battery. So, in this case, both 'Max A Charge' and 'Max A Discharge' would be set to 185A.

c) If recovering a deeply discharged battery, adjust the above charge amps to 10A.

3. Next, program the 'Charge' tab in the 'Battery Setup' menu:

Note:

a) The settings shown in the latter screenshot are the most conventional ones, hence, adjustments may be required (please see the table below).

The approach described in the note "2b" applies while programing this tab as well. Additionally, current set point (A) must not exceed the generators' capability.

b) Larger generators are commonly tied into the grid side of the inverter rather than the dedicated generator input. Make check-marks and current adjustments accordingly. This fact was kept in mind while creating the last two rows of the table above.

c) Fortress batteries may be discharged to its full rated capacity without voiding the warranty, but for best overall experience and battery life, limit the discharge to 80% except for very rare occasions. Here is a list of our suggested triggers:

d) It is acceptable to raise the grid or generator start triggers to increase the reserve capacity of the system.

4. Program the Discharge tab:

Note:

a) At 'Shutdown' state of charge (battery bank charge percentage), inverter prevents battery from powering the loads. The battery(s) will renew/continue providing power to the loads when the battery bank is recharged to 'Restart' state of charge. 'Shutdown' and 'Restart' state of charge set-points can be increased to increase the "reserve capacity" of the system, but that will cause less battery charge usage. The correct shutdown level is specific to the project site.

b) Low battery is an alarm also specific to the project site, integrated with the Sol-Ark monitoring app. We suggest a 20% state of charge as a low battery alarm level. But it is a good idea to increase it if the 'Shutdown' and 'Restart' set-points are increased.

c) The battery empty voltage should not be lower than 44.8V. The last statement from the previous note applies to the 'Batt Empty V'. Usually this set-point does not exceed 45.5V.

Grid Setup / Time-of-Use

Time-of-use settings are specific to each end user but also important to having system behavior meeting customer expectations. system to behave as the end user wants it to behave. There are a few important things to know when programming Sol-Ark's time-of-use settings:

1) Checking the "charge" column boxes will force a grid charge to that battery.

2) Leaving the "charge" column boxes unchecked will act as a low battery cut-off.

3) Enabling "grid-sell" will allow the battery to sell back to the grid when it is otherwise 100% full.

4) Solar will charge the battery to 100% if there is enough sunlight available and all the loads are otherwise met.

5) Additional settings worth exploring in the Grid Setup Menu are the frequency ranges and grid profile settings useful for generator compatibility.

Back-up Only Customers:

Batteries work better and last longer if they are used, rather than staying 100% full. Our recommendation is to allow the battery to drop to 70% during the early morning hours and then have it go to 100% during the day. You do not need to enable a grid-charge for this functionality. You may want to increase the grid start % or voltage in the battery setup menu.

Time-of-use Customers:

1) To maintain solar tax credit compliance, you will want to prioritize battery charging in the hours before the time-of-use period so that the battery is 100% going into the time frame.

2) You may also want to enable a grid charge the hour before the time-of-use period to ensure the battery reaches 100%

3) You may not want to discharge the battery too aggressively. Sticking to no more than 9kW per eVault or 3.3kW per eFlex Max is optimal for maximizing battery life under time-of-use grid sell-back. Likewise, selling back at less than the full rated value of the inverter is healthy for inverter life. So for example, if you can identify that the battery and inverter will be fully utilized over the time of use rate period by discharging at 5kW rate instead of the full rated capacity of the inverter, it will extend battery life.

4) That said, the mantra is "use it or lose it" - it is more economically advantageous for the end user to use the battery when it is financially advantageous to do so, rather than to keep the battery at 100% always.

Bad Utility Buyback Rates aka "no net-metering" aka "bad net-metering":

Allow the battery to discharge to a 20% state-of-charge over night, so that it can absorb as much solar power as possible during the day rather than having that energy sold back to the grid. Staggering the step down percentages throughout the night so that the battery so that the battery hits 20% right in the early morning will mitigate the risk of power outage between sun up and sun down. Maintain the final 20% time-of-use step with a grid charge to make sure the battery does not go below 20% (which would trigger a full grid recharge at 15% per prior steps). During the day, it does not matter if you prioritize the grid or the battery first when recharging with solar power.

Grid Param

Suggested Grid-Tie Parameters

Note: Change the programming from Percentage to Voltage in the Battery setup menu. (Use Batt % Charge / Use Batt V charge)

Here are more aggressive settings for minimizing sell-back to the grid (but allowing grid-sellback when the batteries are full).

Grid Param

For minimizing grid sell-back, no TOU

ECOVAULT

OPERATION AND DISPLAY PANEL

The operation and display panel of the inverter includes one LCD screen, three indicators, and four physical buttons.

Inverter

Display

AC input power is charging the battery

The output mode of the inverter is Grid first

The output mode of the inverter is Grid bypass

The output mode of the inverter is PV first

The output mode of the inverter is battery first

REAL-TIME PARAMETERS VIEW

On the screen, press the UP/DOWN button to view real-time data of the inverter in operation

NOTICE

Main Screen

View Real-Time Data

Real-Time Data

SETUP FAULT SETUP DATE START BMS P MAINS CHARGE VOLT RECOVER PARAM ID CODE VALUE TIME END VER BAT LOAD DISCHG CURR GENERAT

PAGE PV

BATTERY

AC INPUT

LOAD

GENERAL

SETTINGS

NOTICE

If you use lithium battery which has communication with Inverter, please skip all Battery Voltage setting (04~07)

INVERTER MODE OF OPERATION DESCRIPTION

SOL

Grid as Last Resort – The system switches to grid power only when the battery voltage drops below the set threshold (Parameter 4).

Return to PV/Battery - Once the battery voltage recovers above the set threshold (Parameter ⑤), the system switches back to PV or battery power for load supply.

Self-Consumption Mode (Load Source Priority: PV → Battery → Grid)

The PV mode is to be applied first and when the PV power is unavailable or the battery voltage is lower than the set value in the item 4, it will switch to the Grid mode

SUB

PV and Grid prioritize Charging the Battery

Battery Charging Priority Mode

PV Priority for Charging - The system prioritizes PV power to charge the battery.

Grid-Assisted Charging - If PV power is insufficient, the system uses both PV and grid power for charging (except when Parameter 06 is set to PV- only charging, in which case the grid will not charge the battery).

Grid Powers the Load - While the battery is charging, the grid supplies power to the load when PV alone is not sufficient.

Hybrid Load Supply - If PV power is enough for charging but insufficient for the load, the system will use both PV and grid power to support the load.

Battery Discharges Only in Off-Grid Mode - The battery does not discharge when the system is connected to the grid; it is reserved for off-grid operation only.

ENA: AFTER THE TIMED BATTERY DISCHARGE FUNCTION IS ENABLED, THE POWER SUPPLY MODE WILL BE CHANGED INTO UTI, WHERE THE SYSTEM ONLY SWITCHES TO THE POWER SUPPLY OF BATTERY INVERTER DURING THE SET DISCHARGE PERIOD OR GRID FAILURE

SCHNEIDER

1. Connect to Schneider's Insight Local

2. Go to SETUP>CONFIGURATION>MODBUS SETTINGS and select 19200 Baud Rate. Click Apply

3. Go to SETUP>Device Detection> input range 1-10. Click Detect.

4. Make sure that Insight Home is reading the battery internal parameters

InsightLocal Version: v1.17 | Build number: 79 |

5. Associate Battery as House Battery Bank 1

InsightLocal Version: v1.17 | Build number: 79 |

Parameter Settings

Charger Settings

VICTRON

Setup Steps