Sol-Ark Integration Guide

Confirm Inverter-Battery Communication
Confirming Inverter-Battery Communication
Before plugging into the inverter, please confirm you have followed the previous eVault or eFlex specific instructions. The
communication cable plugs into the Battery/CANbus port on the Sol-Ark. Only if the Sol-Ark communication card does
not have a Battery/CANbus port - such as on an older Sol-Ark inverter, plug into the 'RJ45 485' or 'RS485' port.
To confirm BMS communication, enable "BMS Lithium Battery 04" in the Sol-Ark battery setup menu That will enable a
"Lithium Battery Info" screen under the main Sol-Ark setup menu.
Click on the gear icon to reveal the Lithium Battery Info menu. If the battery is communicating to the inverter, a line of
battery data will appear across line 2 of the Sol-Ark menu. The other data lines will remain 0s.
Now that closed loop communication is confirmed, move the inverter to %-based control and program any percentage-
based triggers as detailed in previous steps.
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%