Energy Management with SOLPLUS inverters

SOLPLUS inverters offer a costeffective solution to metering and controlling in-house consumption. There‘s no need for extra, elaborate, external equipment if you‘ve installed SOLPLUS inverters: all that‘s needed for
installations comprising SOLPLUS 100/120 inverters is a SOLCOMBOX.

Energy management withSOLPLUS inverters, based on equally important 3 components:

1. Metering in-house consumption

Before a household can control its own consumption in a responsible way, i.e. manage its energy usage, the individual consumption behaviour of the household in which the energy management system is to be employed has to be determined first. The energy consumption of a household depends on the electrical equipment and appliances in use, how many of them there are and the habits of the people who belong to the household. In-house consumption is metered by installing an inexpensive S0 meter in the meter box and connecting it up to one of the inverters of the photovoltaic system. In the case of SOLPLUS 25 – 55 inverters, the meter is connected directly to the inverters, whereas a SOLCOMBOX needs to be interconnected when connecting to SOLPLUS 100/120 inverters. Electricity consumption is evaluated using Solutronic‘s analysis tool, SOLPLUS+. SOLPLUS+ helps you identify power saving potentials (power wasters).

2. Comparison – in-house consumption vs.
PV output

The share of self-generated electricity consumed in-house and that not used by yourself can only be calculated by comparing your consumption figure with the amount of power your PV installation has generated. SOLPLUS+ helps you change your consumption behaviour, for instance, by installing timers for your electronic equipment.

3. Controlling the electrical consumers via the inverter

Each SOLPLUS 25 – 55 inverter or SOLCOMBOX (for SOLPLUS 100/120 inverters) can have 2 relays and 2 digital outputs connected to it. If relays are used, the inverter is connected to the consumers by interconnecting either a 3-phase contactor or a plug-in power socket switch, depending on the type of the consumer. If digital outputs are used to make the connection, the consumers are controlled by an interconnected electronic load cut-off relay. In either case, a cable connection (current- or signal-carrying) is required between the inverter
and the consumers.

Configuration options

Electrical consumers can be controlled in accordance with various principles and by means of simple ON/OFF control:

• Activation of a consumer at a preset time and for a fixed duration.

• Activation of a consumer as of a preset PV output and with a specified output-dependent deactivation threshold.

• Activation of a consumer as of a preset PV output level, but at the latest at a preset time and for a fixed minimum duration.

• Activation of a consumer as of a preset temperature threshold and/or as a factor of the installation‘s power output level, for a preset duration or with a temperature-dependent deactivation threshold.

Configuring the electrical consumers via the inverter using SOLPLUS+
Our SOLPLUS+ software enables you not only to display your own power consumption in the form of charts, but also to configure the relays and digital outputs of the inverters or the SOLCOMBOX, respectively.