Top Articles

• Huawei/Dongle - How to connect the Dongle to a new router.
  1.  Connect to the inverter WiFi.
     Disable the data mobile from your phone and enable the WiFi. Choose form your WiFi list the SUN2000L-……SN
     and connect with the default password Changeme
  2.  Login to the inverter via the FusionSolar app.
     Login with your account from Fusion Solar, choose Me -> Commissioning and login with the default password 00000a. SolarShare customers should contact SolarShare for their specific password.
  3.  Check the router connection settings.
     Choose form the main page Settings->Communication configuration->Router connection settings->Select your WiFi again and the password->Connect
  4. Check the management system configuration.
     From the Communication configuration select Management System Configurationcheck the domain name: intl.fusionsolar.huawei.com->Connect
  5. Check the status:
• MyEnergi/Eddi - What does the Eddi device do?

  What is it?

  The Eddi is an energy management system for use with grid-tied PV or wind turbine systems. Excess energy from the microgenertation system is used to heat water or rooms rather than exporting it to the grid.

   

  How does it work?

  Let's imagine for a moment, a solar pv system did not have an Eddi device. So there's just solar panels and an inverter. If your solar pv system was producing more energy than your house consumption required, it would then export the excess energy back to the grid. However, with the Eddi device installed, the Eddi can basically detect the excess energy that's being fed back to grid (through the use of CT's) and redirect it towards the Eddi. So your water is heated with the excess energy instead of being fed back to the grid.
   
  This does not mean you will have no energy exported back to the grid anymore. There will still be some energy exported back to the grid. But the Eddi aims to use as much of it as possible to heat your water.
   
  That's why you commonly see a status on the Eddi device stating 'Waiting for Surplus'. The Eddi's primary job is to sit there and fed off excess energy when it's available. In other words, wait for surplus.

• Enphase/Envoy - Connect Envoy to Wi-Fi

  If you have changed your Internet Service Provider, network password, or even updated your network name, this can disconnect you from the Gateway. Let's walk through the steps to re-establish the network connection using the Enphase App, which will require you to use a device such as a tablet, or a smartphone that is already connected to your home's Wi-Fi. You will also need the password for your home's Wi-Fi connection.

  Follow these steps to get your Gateway back online:

  1. Open the Enphase App on your iOS or Android mobile device and tap on the ‘Menu’ tab at the bottom of the screen.

  

  2. and tap on the bell icon at the top right of the screen.

  

  
  3. Click the link on the 'Gateway Not Reporting' notice.

  

  4. Bring your phone into the WiFi range of Gateway and follow the steps mentioned on the ‘Reconnect to Gateway’ page in the Enphase App. For your reference, the steps to follow have also been elaborated below:
  
  Step 4a: Press the AP mode button:
  Do not hold, but just briefly press and release the Gateway menu button. This will enable AP mode (access point mode) on your Gateway which creates a wireless network you can join with your smartphone.

  

  Note that if you see a solid green LED next to the Cell phone icon, it means, AP mode is successfully enabled, you may proceed to the next step.
  
  If the AP mode LED next to the cell phone icon flashes green, it means WPS pairing has been initiated, which we do not want at this time. Please wait for the WPS pairing to timeout in two minutes and then repeat step 1
  
  Step 4b: Turn off mobile data:
  Navigate to your phone settings without closing the Enphase App. Turn off the mobile data (cellular data) from your mobile device settings. Go to Settings > Mobile Data and switch it off.

  

  Step 4c: Join Gateway‘s network:
  Join the Gateway’s network using your phone's Wi-Fi settings. Navigate to the Wi-Fi settings and look for the Gateway’s wireless network. The network name will include the last six digits of your Gateway’s serial number. In this case: Envoy_029655 is the name of the network.

  

  Step 4d: Connect Gateway to home Wi-Fi:
  After you have joined the Gateway’s network, return to the Enphase App’s “Reconnect to Gateway” screen. Scroll down to see the "Configure home Wi-Fi" option and tap on it.
  
  Note that the “Configure Home Wi-Fi" box may appear grey initially, wait for few seconds and when it turns blue, tap on it.

  

  5. On the pop-up that appears, select your home network from the list of available networks.

  

  6. Enter your Wi-Fi password and tap on Connect

  

  7. It may take a few minutes to establish the connection between the Gateway and the Home Wi-Fi.

  

  8. Once the connection is established you will see a message “Gateway is connected to Wi-Fi successfully”. You may now connect your mobile device to your Wi-Fi or enable your mobile data.

  

  9. Tap on “OK, got it”. Your Gateway has been successfully connected to your Wi-Fi network. You may still see “Gateway is Not Reporting” status under Notices, please note it may take up to 30 mins for the status to get updated.

  

  Check if the connection was successful

  Once the connection is established, check the LED indicator next to the cloud icon on your Gateway. If the LED lights up solid green, you're back online. Congratulations!

  Envoy S/IQ Gateway	IQ Combiner

  Your system now needs to re-sync, which can take anywhere from an hour to a few days depending on how long your system was offline.

• GeneralQuery - How can I improve the internet connectivity of my solar pv system?

  Improving the internet connection on a solar PV system typically involves optimizing the connectivity of devices that rely on the internet, such as inverters and Dongles. Here are some steps you can take to enhance your internet connection:
   

  1. Position your Wi-Fi router: If your solar PV system has devices that connect to the internet via Wi-Fi, the placement of your Wi-Fi router can significantly impact the signal strength. Position it in a central location and away from obstructions like walls or large metal objects. Elevating the router can also improve coverage. This is the easiest and least cost effective approach.
  2. Use a Wi-Fi range extender or mesh network: If your solar devices are located far from the router and experiencing weak signals, consider using Wi-Fi range extenders or a mesh network. These devices can help extend the range of your Wi-Fi network and ensure a more stable connection throughout your property. An example of a such a device is a TP-Link.
  3. Upgrade your router: If your current router is outdated, upgrading to a newer model with improved capabilities can lead to better performance and more reliable connections.
  4. Check for interference: Other electronic devices, appliances, or neighboring Wi-Fi networks may cause interference with your Wi-Fi signal. Make sure your router is using a less crowded Wi-Fi channel and consider using the 5 GHz band for faster and less congested connections.
  5. Use wired connections: If possible, connect critical devices like solar inverters or monitoring systems directly to the router using Ethernet cables. Wired connections are generally more stable and less susceptible to interference than wireless connections. A CAT5 cable may be required. SolarShare can perform such an installation.
  6. Update firmware and software: Ensure that both your router and the devices connected to it have the latest firmware and software updates. Manufacturers often release updates that can improve performance and security. If you're ensure how to check this or how to upgrade your firmware, reach out to your installer. Depending on your inverter manufacturer, they might be able to upgrade the firmware remotely.
• GeneralQuery - How do I start getting paid for exported electricity?

  The exported electricity is going back to the national grid via ESB Networks. You do not need to put an agreement in place with your supplier. In theory there is nothing you need to do. In practice, we would recommend contacting your supplier with your MPRN and just confirming that they have updated their systems to record that you have installed solar power. Once this is done they will have their own processes for making payment per your existing contract with them. Each supplier has a slightly different process but essentially it will appear as a line item on your bill.

   

  In summary, there is nothing you need to do your end to avail of the scheme but just to make sure nothing is delayed we would suggest you call your supplier to make sure they have updated their systems to show you have gone solar.
• The Smart Meter rollout has begun! and the new Clean Export Guarantee (CEG) scheme is on its way

  Back in May 2021 we published a blog post on the much anticipated changes to the current pilot support scheme for domestic solar. The grant currently available from SEAI (up to €3000) towards the cost of installing a solar PV system continues to prove very popular.

  Further support is being provided by ESB Networks who have made the commitment to getting a smart meter installed in every home with solar PV within 4 months of notification. You will learn the significance of having a smart meter in your home throughout this article.

  On the other hand, a payment scheme for exported electricity is set to replace the SEAI grant. This new payment scheme is required to be introduced before the end of 2021 under EU rules.

  To meet this obligation, the government published a report at the start of the year recommending the upfront grant payment be replaced with a combination of a payment for electricity exported (Clean Export Guarantee or CEG) and a top-up to bridge the gap between the cost of electricity produced by solar panels versus fossil fuels (Clean Export Premium or CEP). The recently started smart meter rollout by ESB Networks enables the implementation of these payment schemes for electricity exported from homes to the grid.

  

  How much will be paid for exported electricity?

  The Commission for Regulation of Utilities (CRU) is Ireland’s independent energy and water regulator. In this case, they will write the regulations that govern how homeowners are paid for their exported electricity.

  In the consultation the CRU just published, they are proposing that your energy supplier sets the price they will pay, as long as it’s greater than zero. This is disappointing as it means we’ll have to wait and see what prices the energy suppliers will offer. It also means there isn’t a case to offer finance against exported power, giving the commercial developers an unfair advantage over their domestic counterparts.

  For comparison, if you own a large commercial solar farm in a field, you will get a state-guaranteed 7.3c€/unit which is paid by all electricity consumers through the PSO (Public Service Obligation) levy on their bill. There would appear to be an obvious conflict of interest asking the people who supply electricity to set the price they are willing to pay for it.

  That said, if they offer to pay the price in the wholesale market, it wouldn’t be costing them any more than they would pay in any case. The challenge with that of course is that the wholesale price of electricity moves around a lot (as the chart below shows), where do you set the price?

  The chart below shows the recent volatility in electricity prices. €100/MWh is 10c€/kWh or ‘unit’ of electricity as it normally appears on a domestic bill. A domestic customer would be paying around 21c€/kWh for their electricity today, for comparison.

   

  

  What is a Smart Meter?

  A smart meter is the next generation of electricity meter. With your current electricity meter, it requires someone to physically inspect it to get an ‘actual’ reading. Therefore, you only get a reading approximately once or twice a year.

  A smart meter is connected to the mobile phone network and sends a meter reading every 15 minutes to ESB Networks, who manages the system. This data then allows your energy supplier to issue a bill with actual meter reading – resulting in no more ‘estimated’ bills.

  In the future, it will allow your energy supplier to charge different rates for electricity at different times of the day to reduce demand at peak times, called ‘Time of Use’ tariffs. This transition will start after most smart meters are rolled out, after 2025.

  Do I have a Smart Meter, if not, how do I get one and what will it cost?

  You’d likely know if you had a smart meter, ESB Networks would have written in advance to schedule the installation date and you’d have met the installers when they called to your house. ESB Networks currently has an installation rollout scheduled for the 2 million homes in Ireland, that covers the whole country over the next 4 years.

  As stated previously, ESB Networks has made a commitment to get one smart meter installed in a home with solar PV within 4 months of notification. Therefore, if you have a solar PV system, you will get prioritised in the queue. You can also call ESB Networks, they’ll tell you when your smart meter is due to be installed. Fortunately, there are no up-front costs for the installation. However, the cost is recovered from the fixed charges on your bill.

  How do I get paid for my exported electricity?

  The fee you receive for exporting the excess electricity you generate will not be an actual payment. It will be a credit on your electricity bill from your supplier.

  

  What if I don’t have a Smart Meter?

  The CRU states clearly that they want people to have a smart meter in order to qualify for the CEG. However, they also have to recognise that the Smart Meter rollout is still in it’s early days and isn’t forecast to be concluded until 2025.

  They do say in the consultation document that ESB Networks (ESBN) has committed to getting everyone who installs a solar PV system a smart meter within 4 months.

  The introduction of the CEG requires new legislation from government to be implemented. It’s not clear when that will happen, but the EU directive mandates it must be introduced before the end of 2021 or fines will be imposed. For the period from which the CEG goes ‘live’ until a homeowner gets their smart meter, the CRU is proposing to use a ‘Deemed Export’ formula.

  The CRU will calculate deemed export based on a number of parameters. The main one being the size of your solar PV system and 35% of the energy it is forecast to produce being ‘deemed’ to be exported. You will get paid for what is ‘deemed’ to be exported.

  

  When will the grant go?

  Ideally not any time soon. It would be reasonable to expect an announcement in the budget later this month.

  There’s a national obligation to get to zero-carbon, and one of the fastest ways to do it is to decarbonise electricity generation. It will be after 2030 before we see appreciable generation from offshore wind, where the government expects 70% of our renewable generation to come from. We can install hundreds of thousands of domestic PV systems in that time.

  Given all the concern about stabilising the electricity system, domestic PV systems with batteries aggregated together into a Virtual Power Plant (VPP) offers a valuable resource to help stabilise the grid, while reducing demand from the residential sector.

  Deemed Export Calculation

  
  Deemed Export Quantity is an estimation, based on the below formula, of exported
  electricity: it is to be used as a proxy for metered export data, where metered export data is
  not available.

  
  Deemed Export Quantity = MEC x Capacity Factor x Export Factor x Provision Interval

  Where:

  • Deemed Export Quantity is the quantity of electricity, in kWh, which is determined to be

  exported, as calculated using this formula.

  • MEC is a capacity value in units of kW, It is representative of the generation capacity of the

  installed generation equipment, as declared via ESBN’s NC6 form.

  • Capacity Factor is the ratio of average electricity produced to the theoretical maximum

  possible if the installed capacity was generating at a maximum for a full year.

  • Export Factor is the amount of electricity (expressed as a percentage of electricity

  produced) deemed to be exported, where the metered data is not available.

  • Provision Interval is the number of hours in the period for which cumulative export

  quantities are to be calculated and to be made available to suppliers by ESBN.

   

   

  Example 1: where the “Provision Interval” is 12 months (= 8760 hours)
  Input parameter to formula Entry for Customer X
  MEC (kW) 1.8 As notified to ESBN using the NC6 form
  Capacity Factor 0.097 i.e. 9.7%, or as decided by the CRU.
  Export Factor 0.35 i.e. 35%, or as decided by the CRU.
  Provision Interval (hours) 8760 To be decided by the CRU: 12-month interval is selected for explanatory purpose
  in this example.
  Deemed Export Quantity = MEC x Capacity Factor x Export Factor x Provision Interval
  Deemed Export Quantity = 535.3 kWh ( = 1.8 X 0.097 x 0.35 x 8760).

  
  Example 2: where the “Provision Interval” is 6 months (= 4380 hours)
  Input parameter to formula Entry for Customer Y Comment
  MEC (kW) 3.0 As notified to ESBN using the NC6 form
  Capacity Factor 0.097 i.e. 9.7%, or as decided by the CRU.
  Export Factor 0.35 i.e. 35%, or as decided by the CRU.
  Provision Interval (hours) 4380 To be decided by the CRU: 6-month interval is selected for explanatory purpose in
  this example.
  Deemed Export Quantity = MEC x Capacity Factor x Export Factor x Provision Interval
  Deemed Export Quantity = 446.1 kWh ( = 3.0 X 0.097 x 0.35 x 4380).

• Solis/Inverter - How can I configure specific charging and discharging periods?

  Where can I make this configuration?

  You will need to configure the Self-Use operation mode with time charging. This must be done directly on your Solis inverter. It's currently not possible to configure battery charging and discharging via the SolisCloud app.

   

  How can I make this configuration?

  On your Solis inverter, follow the below path:

  Advanced Settings (password = 0010) -> Storage Energy Set -> Storage Mode Select -> Mode = Self-Use -> ON -> Time of use

  (You can enter the password 0010 by pressing down, down, up, enter)

   

  Here, you can make the following configurations:

  • Optimal Income = Run
  • Enter desired charging period.
  • Enter desired discharging period (it's strongly advised to leave the discharging period as 0).
  • Press the ESC button.
  • Save & Send.

  When you return back to the menu with the options:

  • Time of Use
  • Charging from grid

  Click into charging from grid and ensure you've selected to allow your battery to charge from the grid.

   

  You have no successfully configured your battery for charging.

   

• MyEnergi/Zappi - What does my Zappi status mean?

  
  The EV is not connected to zappi.
  In this example the last charging session delivered 20.8kWh of energy
  to the EV and 80% of that energy came from the solar panels.
   
  
  The Zappi is waiting for sufficient surplus power from the PV
  system. This screen will be shown in ECO+ mode as it is only in this
  mode that charging will stop if there is not enough surplus power.
  The house in the centre is straight-faced as grid electricity is being
  used by the house (0.9kW in the example shown).
   
  
  Enough surplus is available and zappi is about to charge the EV. A
  timer is decremented and can be set in the charge settings (ECO+ mode only).
   
  
  The zappi is waiting for the EV to respond; the EV is not ready to accept charge.
   
  
  The charging session has been delayed by the EV because a scheduled charge has been set in the vehicle.
   
  
  The zappi is paused for a few seconds in order to limit the start/stop frequency during ECO+ mode charging.
   
  
  In this example the car is charging in ECO+ mode at 1.6kW, there is no import or export from the grid (0.0kW) and the EV battery has charged by 8.9kWh since the car started.
   
  
  The EV is fully charged. The charge energy used during the last charge is displayed at the bottom right (20.0kWh in this case) and the 'green contribution' is also shown (40% in this example).
   
  
  The zappi is performing a restart sequence. This may happen with some EVs that need to be 'woken-up' to start charging after a pause in the charge. Charge should start immediately afterwards, otherwise the “Charge Delayed” message will appear.
   
  
  The zappi is about to stop the EV charging
   
  
  The zappi is carrying out a check to make sure that the built in RCD and “PEN Fault” protection is working before starting to charge the car. zappi carries out this before every charge so there is no need to manually test the RCD protection.

• Huawei/Battery - How can I configure specific battery charging and discharging periods?

  To configure your Huawei inverter for specific charging and discharging periods, you need to change the operation mode to 'TOU'.

   

  TOU (time-of-use)
  - In this mode, TOU (time-of-use) is selected. You can manually set the charge and discharge time segments. For example, you can allow the grid to charge batteries in low electricity price periods at night and discharge batteries during high electricity price periods, saving electricity fee. The charge from grid function must be enabled.
  - At least 1 charging and discharging timeslot needs to be configured.
  - A maximum of 14 time segments can be set.
  - In some countries, the grid is not allowed to charge batteries. Therefore, this mode cannot be used.
   
  Below is a guide to charge your battery via the FusionSolar app. Please note, it can typically either be done by going into the Dongle or Battery in the device tab.
   
  To update TOU configuration the latest version of the FusionSolar app, you want to enter Devices:
  
  Then enter into your Dongle device:
  
  Click on the three dots in the top right hand corner:
  
  Enter into Parameter Settings:
  
  Then you can select the TOU operation mode and enter your charge and discharge periods:
  
   
  If you cannot update it via entering the Dongle device, please click on the link 'Connected Devices' in your inverter device.
  The follow the same path mentioned above, clicking the three dots in the top right corner and into parameter settings.

• What type of grants are available for the installation of a SolarShare system?

  You may qualify for a grant from SEAI of up to €2,400 depending on the size of the SolarShare system you purchase, and as long as you meet the following criteria:

  • Your home was built and occupied before 2021.
  • You haven’t previously received a solar PV grant for your home from the SEAI in the past.
• What is the appropriate system size for my home?

  SolarShare‘s comprehensive SolarSurvey is designed to take you through the process of sizing the optimum solar PV system to maximise solar electricity generation for the size of your roof, its orientation to the sun, and your average annual electricity consumption.