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Topic starter
December 6, 2025 3:11 pm
Ok, so I was always under the impression that the 18kpv would always under any circumstance provide load power to the house if power was available.
Well, not so. I was able to make the house shutdown completely even though there was enough pv getting generated.
It seems when your battery is low and the bms is in “forced charge” mode it overrides everything including powering loads 😳
Ok for EG4, so they can easily reproduce the scenario
1. I am on firmware 2122.
2. Have battery low below 5% so bms is in “forced charge” mode.
3. Have offgrid mode enabled. I am still physically connected to the grid.
in this scenario, the 18kpv will
a. Send all pv up to your charge limit to the battery, BUT 0w to load. It will curtail the incoming pv to the charge amp limit set and NOT send any extra to the load even if more pv is getting generated to satisfy both battery charge and load. So if I have it set at 30a charge it will send 30a to charge the battery and nothing else. If I set it to 10amps then it curtails the pv to only satisfy said 10amps.
b. While (a) is happening, it switches me from “offgrid enabled” to “offgrid” disabled (without changing the actual setting) and uses the grid to satisfy the loads. It will also use around 700w from the grid to help charge the battery is say I have it set to charge the battery at 40amps and only 20amps is coming from pv. I might also add here that my charge from grid is disabled.
i went so far as to switch the grid breaker off to see if it would use the pv to satisfy the loads. Guess what, the house lost all power. The house was using 1000w, pv was generation 2000w and all going to battery.
yes an interesting scenario, but loads MUST always no matter what take priority. NO MATTER WHAT.
Topic starter
December 6, 2025 3:24 pm
And look now. Tons of pv, battery is no longer in force charge, still no pv to loads….
Topic starter
December 6, 2025 9:09 pm
I do not use or have pv priority enabled. I also don’t use or have enabled ac charge. Just pure self consumption. No TOU or anything else. I never want to charge my battery from the grid. I would rather sit in the dark 🙂
December 6, 2025 9:52 pm
@ezpz my system and inclination is much like yours but I've been able to keep my batteries above 10% SOC since we can select when to discharge into our EVs. I also have been running with battery comms since that time because 2 of my 3 batteries has very poor SOC tracking.
One time I had the system kick into AC charging when it was thought our batteries were too low and I too would like to make sure it doesn't happen. And especially when there is PV power to cover the house load along with sending any extra to the batteries.
So there really should be a "PV to Load Priority" option instead of the "PV Charge" option.
There are settings we homeowners don't get to see and EG4 can see. Maybe someone like @eg4eric can shed some light on this.
This post was modified 3 weeks ago by DougL
Topic starter
December 6, 2025 11:51 pm
No batteries - disabled
Power backup - enabled
December 10, 2025 4:47 pm
I am new to EG4 (and solar)- with an 18 kPV inverter and 2 - 280 Ah wallmount (interior) batteries. I have a similar problem in that I have been unable to stop charging my batteries from the grid. I want the load as first priority with the batteries secondary; I also want to be able to charge from the grid at my discretion. I have been unable to stop charging from the grid at seemingly random times. I have watched it charge from the grid and then turn around and power the load from the partially charged (maybe 30%) batteries.
I have the mode set to Self Consumption and Charge Priority, AC Charge, and Forced Discharge disabled - I think. I am not sure because I cannot tell from the interface whether you have to somehow "write" or "upload" to have the settings take effect. Grid Sellback is also disabled because our power company (Ameren) has not approved the system.
Do I have to do something from this menu to enable my settings?
Any suggestions/thoughts are welcome.
December 17, 2025 3:21 pm
@gtsquires
If you share your inverter's serial number, I can guide you through which settings you would need to change.
December 20, 2025 6:26 pm
@eg4eric I am reluctant to share my serial number on a public platform. If you have a private channel, no problem.
That said, I have been able to stop charging the battery from the grid but now have an equally annoying issue. The load is not taking top priority, rather the system seems to think that charging the battery is top priority as shown in the screenshot below. My settings are summarized below - at least what seem to me to be the germane settings. I would have expected that with the "PV Charge Priority = DISABLED" that all the PV power would be going to the load.
Battery Backup mode: DISABLED
Battery Charge control: SOC Limit: 100%
Battery Discharge control: SOC On Grid Cutoff: 90%
AC Charge Enable: DISABLED
PV Charge Priority: DISABLED (All times set to 00)
Forced Discharge Enable: DISABLED (All times set to 00)
December 22, 2025 10:03 pm
@gtsquires
You can send me a private message.
Those settings look correct. As mentioned, I can look further into this and take a look at the data to see what could be causing this.
