eFlex Max 5.4 Battery-Inverter Integration Guide

eFlex Max 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.


This guide includes integration details, communication wiring/pinout, and settings of the following inverter manufacturers: 
Fortress Power Envy
Sol-Ark
EcoVault
Schneider 
Victron

Connection Diagrams

Connection Overview


Fortress Power Envy Integration

 

 Closed Loop and Pinout Definitions

If making a communication cable, please refer to the pin out diagram for an RJ45 cable below. Type B format ethernet cable may also be
used. **THE SPLITTER MUST BE INSTALLED AND IN THE CORRECT ORIENTATION FOR PROPER COMMUNICATION**

 

 

 

 

 

 

COMMISSIONING

1.Put the inverter disconnect into “OFF” position (if there is any). Make sure the eFlex MAX battery and any charge controllers are off/disconnected as well.

 

2.Turn On the all the DC Battery Breaker and Hybrid inverter DC Battery Breaker.

 

3. Press and hold the Power Button on the Master battery (the battery communicating directly with the inverter) until you hear a beep, then release. Notice the Fortress Power Logo LED will turn on all batteries if connection is successful. Under normal operation, the eFlex MAX LEDs will show state of charge after the diagnostic is complete. The red BMS light should not be on.

 

INVERTER PROTOCOL SELECTION
To select the inverter protocol to achieve closed loop communication, you must press and hold the power button for 5 seconds, then release it. Immediately the LED 6&7 will start flashing following the current inverter protocol status. In this stage, press the button once until you select the correct protocol as shown in the images below. Once selected wait for less than 10seconds until the LED indicator returns to normal operation. You must do this with all batteries in the field.


Programming the Inverter

FORTRESS POWER ENVY INTEGRATION

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.  Successful battery - inverter communication will populate data in this section. A common check is to ensure Imaxchg and Imaxdischg show correct current limits for the amount of batteries installed (Imaxchg = 63A x battery quantity; Imaxdschg = 84A x battery quantity)

Battery Set Up



Self-Consumption Mode





















Back UP




 

 

Off-Grid

 



Time of use

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, using the batteries in open-loop communication mode is acceptable, please follow open-loop settings:

Programming

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

 

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

 

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 eFlexes 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 48V. The last statement from the previous note applies to the 'Batt Empty V'. Usually this set-point does not exceed 50V.


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.


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).

 

 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     

 

 

 


Real-time parameters view

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


PAGE

PV

BATTERY

AC INPUT

LOAD

GENERAL

 

 

 

 

 

 

1

PV input voltage

Battery voltage

Grid input voltage

Single-phase voltage

Current time

2

PV input current

Battery current

Grid input current

Single-phase

current

Current date

3

PV input power

Battery voltage

Grid total input

power

Single-phase

active power

PV gross

generation

4

PV generation for the day

Battery current

Grid charging capacity for the

day

Single-phase apparent power

Total load consumption

5

PV heat sink

temperature

Heat sink

temperature

Grid frequency

Inverter output

frequency

RS485 address

6

Rated open circuit

voltage

Rated battery

voltage

Bus voltage

Rated output

frequency

Software version

7

Maximum PV

charge current

Maximum battery

charges current

Maximum Grid

charge current

Total output active

power

/

8

/

Total output apparent

frequency

/

 

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

 

 

00

Exit

ESC

Exit the setup menu

01

ESS

Operation Mode

UTI (default) Backup Mode

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

SBU

Self-Consumption

Backup Mode (Load Source Priority: PV → Grid → Battery)

 

 

If PV power is insufficient, the system uses both PV and grid power to support the load.

When PV power exceeds the demand, the excess energy charges the battery.

Grid power is only used for charging when the battery is over-discharged (if setting 06 is PV-only charging, the grid will not charge the battery).

The battery discharges only in off-grid mode

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

Mode (Recommend)

PV Power Priority – The system first uses solar (PV) power to supply the load.

Battery Backup – If PV power is insufficient, the system draws power from

the battery to support the load.

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.

SOL

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

Battery

Charging Priority Mode

PV and Grid prioritize Charging the Battery

 

 

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.

 

FN

PARAMETER

EFORCE

EFLEX MAX/EFLEX

EVAULT MAX

04

Battery Low Cut of Voltage

48V

51.2V

51.2V

WHEN PARAMETER ITEM 01 IS SET TO SBU (SOLAR-BATTERY UTILITY) OR SOL (SOLAR ONLY) MODE, THE SYSTEM PRIORITIZES PV AND BATTERY POWER. HOWEVER, IF THE BATTERY VOLTAGE DROPS BELOW THE SET CUT-OFF POINT, THE POWER SOURCE AUTOMATICALLY SWITCHES FROM THE INVERTER TO THE GRID TO PREVENT BATTERY OVER-DISCHARGE

06

Grid Charge Setting

SNU (RECOMMENDED)

SNU (RECOMMENDED)

SNU(RECOMMENDED)

 

SNU (DEFAULT): BOTH PV AND GRID CAN CHARGE THE BATTERY, WITH PV AS THE PRIORITY CHARGING SOURCE OSO: GRID POWER WILL NOT CHARGE BATTERY

07

Battery Charge Current

120Adc per eForce

60Adc per eFlex MAX/eFlex

140Adc per eVault MAX

08

Battery Type

L14/15/16

L14/15/16

L14/15/16

09

Battery boost

charge voltage (Bulk & Absorption)

51.4V

55.2V

55.2V

10

Boost Charge duration

60min

60min

60min

11

Battery floating

charge voltage

51V

54V

54V

12

Battery over- discharge Protection voltage

(delayed shutdown)

44.8V

48V

48V

13

Battery over- discharge delay time

50s

50s

50s

WHEN THE BATTERY VOLTAGE DROPS BELOW THE THRESHOLD SET IN PARAMETER ITEM 12, THE INVERTER WILL WAIT FOR THE DELAY TIME SET IN THIS PARAMETER BEFORE SHUTTING OFF THE OUTPUT.

SETTING RANGE: 5S – 50S ADJUSTMENT STEP: 5S

PURPOSE: THIS DELAY PREVENTS UNNECESSARY SHUTDOWNS DUE TO TEMPORARY VOLTAGE DIPS, ENSURING STABLE SYSTEM OPERATION WHILE STILL PROTECTING THE BATTERY FROM OVER-DISCHARGE

14

Battery under- voltage alarm threshold

46

51.2

51.2

WHEN THE BATTERY VOLTAGE IS LOWER THAN THE THRESHOLD, IT WILL GIVE AN UNDER-VOLTAGE ALARM AND THE OUTPUT WILL NOT SHUT DOWN. SETTING RANGE: 40 V−52 V, WITH A STEP OF 0.4 V

15

Battery over discharge protection voltage

44.8

48

48

16

Battery equalization charge

DIS (Default)

DIS (Default)

DIS (Default)

DIS: DISABLE EQUALIZATION CHARGE

ENA: ENABLE EQUALIZATION CHARGE, ONLY AVAILABLE FOR FLOODED LEAD-ACID BATTERIES, SEALED LEAD-ACID BATTERIES, AND USER-DEFINED ONES

32

RS485

Communication Function

CAN

CAN

CAN

33

BMS communication

FOR

FOR

FOR

35

Battery under- voltage recovery threshold

46

51.2

51.2

37

Battery Recharge Voltage

48

51.2

51.2

39

Charge current limit

(Communicate with BMS )

LCBMS (default)

LCBMS (default)

LCBMS (default)

LCSET: THE MAXIMUM BATTERY CHARGE CURRENT IS NOT GREATER THAN THE SET VALUE OF “07”

LCBMS (DEFAULT): THE MAXIMUM BATTERY CHARGE CURRENT IS NOT GREATER THAN THE MAXIMUM BMS ALLOWED CURRENT

LCINV: THE MAXIMUM BATTERY CHARGE CURRENT IS NOT GREATER THAN INVERTER ALLOWED CURRENT

40-45

Start and End Charge

time 1,2,3,

00:00:00

00:00:00

00:00:00

46

Timed battery charge function

DIS

DIS

DIS

DIS (DEFAULT): DISABLE THE FUNCTION

ENA: WHEN THE TIMED GRID CHARGING/LOAD SUPPLY FUNCTION IS ENABLED, THE POWER SUPPLY MODE WILL OPERATE BASED ON THE CONFIGURED TIME PARAMETERS AND BATTERY STATE (RANGE 0:00:00−23:59:00)

1. OPERATING MODES SBU MODE ACTIVATION:

THE SYSTEM WILL OPERATE IN SBU MODE WHEN TIMED GRID CHARGING IS ENABLED. THE INVERTER WILL PRIORITIZE SOLAR (S) AND BATTERY (B) POWER, SUPPLYING LOADS FROM THESE SOURCES. WHEN THE SYSTEM REACHES THE CONFIGURED CHARGING PERIOD OR THE BATTERY ENTERS AN OVER-DISCHARGE STATE, IT WILL SWITCH TO GRID (U) POWER FOR BATTERY CHARGING.

UTI MODE ACTIVATION (WITH TIMED DISCHARGE ENABLED): IF THE TIMED DISCHARGE FUNCTION IS ALSO ENABLED, THE SYSTEM WILL SWITCH TO UTI MODE. IN THIS MODE, THE INVERTER: USES GRID POWER FOR BATTERY CHARGING ONLY

DURING THE SET CHARGING PERIOD. SWITCHES TO BATTERY INVERTER OPERATION DURING THE CONFIGURED DISCHARGE PERIOD OR IF THE GRID POWER IS LOST.

47-52

Start and End discharge time 1,2,3

00:00:00

00:00:00

00:00:00

53

Timed battery discharge function

DIS

DIS

DIS

DIS (DEFAULT): DISABLE THE FUNCTION

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

58

SOC setting for discharge alarming

25%

25%

25%

WHEN THE CAPACITY IS LESS THAN THE SET VALUE, THE SOC ALARMS (UNIT: %, ONLY AVAILABLE DURING NORMAL BMS COMMUNICATION)

59

SOC setting for discharge cutoff

20%

20%

20%

WHEN THE CAPACITY IS LESS THAN THE SET VALUE, THE DISCHARGE STOPS (UNIT: %, ONLY AVAILABLE DURING NORMAL BMS COMMUNICATION)

60

SOC setting for charge cutoff

100%

100%

100%

WHEN THE CAPACITY IS GREATER THAN THE SET VALUE, THE CHARGE STOPS (UNIT: %, ONLY VALID DURING NORMAL BMS COMMUNICATION)

61

SOC setting for switching to grid

25%

25%

25%

WHEN THE CAPACITY IS LESS THAN THE SET VALUE, IT SWITCHES TO GRID (UNIT: %, ONLY AVAILABLE DURING NORMAL BMS COMMUNICATION)

62

SOC setting for Switching to inverter Output

100

 

100

WHEN THE CAPACITY IS GREATER THAN THE SET VALUE, IT SWITCHES TO THE INVERTER OUTPUT MODE (UNIT: %, ONLY AVAILABLE DURING NORMAL BMS COMMUNICATION)

73

Max charging current by generator

80Adc

80Adc

80Adc

SCHNEIDER

Note: Master
battery will not have frames 6&7 ON even when successfully connected.

1.Make sure your Insight home has firmware v1.17

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

3.Associate Battery as House Battery Bank


Parameter Settings




PARAMETER

VALUE

                                                             CHARGER SETTINGS

RECHARGE VOLTAGE

51.2V

RECHARGE SOC

20%

RECHARGE DELAY

60s

                                                                        BATTERY SETTINGS

BATTERY TYPE

LI-ION

CHARGE CYCLE

EXTERNAL BMS

SOC CONTROL ENABLE

ENABLED

BATTERY BANK CAPACITY

105aH per eFlex/eFlex MAX

MAXIMUM CHARGE RATE

100%

MAXIMUM BULK CHARGE CURRENT

55A per eFlex, 63A per eFlex Max

MAXIMUM ABSORPTION CHARGE

CURRENT

55A per eFlex, 63A per eFlex Max

MAXIMUM FLOAR CHARGE

55A per eFlex, 63A per eFlex Max

DEFAULT BATTERY TEMPERATURE

WARM

ABSORPTION TIME

3600

BULK/BOOST VOLTAGE

56V

ABSORPTION VOLTAGE SET POINT

56V

MAXIMUM DISCHARGE CURRENT

60A per eFlex /84A Per eFlex Max

MAXIMUM DISCHARGE TIME INTERVAL

8s

LOW BATTERY CUT OUT

48V

LOW BATTERY CUT OUT DELAY

10s

LOW BATTERY CUT OUT HYSTERESIS

2

LOW BATTERY CUTOUT WARNING OFFSET

2

HIGH BATTERY CUT OUT

58V

CHARGE CYCLE TIMEOUT

1440s

HIGH SOC CUT OUT

99%

HIGH SOC CUT OUT DELAY

2s

LOW SOC CUT OUT

15%

LOW SOC CUT OUT DELAY

60s

VICTRON

Setup steps

 


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