I suspect this statement here may be at the heart of the solar issue I’ve run into. Somewhere in that calibration step it’s still assuming it’s calibrating to an incorrect standard. That may not make much sense now, but let’s wait to hear what the engineers say.
Imagine my confusion when I got my unit and it came with just one set of CTs. Being knowledgeable about electronics and physics I knew something was wrong. When I contacted them they finally got back to me and said the second pair was coming in a few days as a separate package. Just imagine how the average consumer would have made out wondering why they were not getting readings correctly having no idea that parts were missing.
We have new solar packaging going forward that does include the stickers for the solar CTs. @NJHaley - the updated clamps you got were probably one of the last to ship without the stickers!
[quote=“HilarioAtSense, post:63, topic:380, full:true”]
We have new solar packaging going forward that does include the stickers for the solar CTs. @NJHaley - the updated clamps you got were probably one of the last to ship without the stickers![/quote]
One of my CT pairs has a barcode sticker on one of it’s clamps, and the other CT pair has no barcode on either of it’s clamps.
Because of electricians that pulled off and placed the clamps back on without my supervision (and I didn’t notice the barcode sticker initially), I have no idea what pair belonged on the Mains. However, I assume that the pair with the barcode on it was for the Mains, which is the way it is currently hooked up.
@HilarioAtSense Is this correct?
Yes @miracj, that is correct. The pair with the barcode is the one that goes around the mains and the one without is the solar.
This information is so important for solar users that it should be sent to all customers of the solar product!
I got here via a whole different path. While Hilario has indicated the team has taken steps to correct the instructions, I received my unit on 1March and sent numerous reports of problems, never once was I told of these issues. Now I will have to spend another $100 to open the two panels, again. Maybe Sense will compensate for this added expense!
These are not difficult problems to deal with and would appear to be the result of poor quality control,inadequate review of installation instructions and too few support people.
Sigh!
Big thank you to this thread. I had similar issues and the support site was useless. (And responses from support take a day…)
Making sure my solar leads were facing the same way was the ticket for me. Thank you to those that take the time to help and post such detailed information.
A quick troubleshooting checklist would save these guys a ton of grief.
Thanks for the feedback @dski. Did you take a look at the solar install guide (via https://help.sense.com/hc/en-us/articles/115006133908-Installing-Sense-Solar)? Definitely want to make sure installation instructions/troubleshooting are clear, and while it does mention making sure they’re facing the same direction there, it is admittedly easy to miss.
Can I ask how you looked? (So I can make sure this info is easier to find for the next person!)
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I actually opened the box and verified it myself.
I was thinking in your troubleshooting faq’s to have a quick bullet check list that shows the top quick items to check. Being in software myself, nothing sinks a project faster than not being able to get a quick answer to a quick fix.
- Verify …
- Verify both clips same direction …
- Etc…
Thank you for reaching out!
Th
Thanks for the suggestion! I’ll work on getting something up in our help docs for troubleshooting a solar installation.
Here’s what worked for me to get the solar initialization to work after three days of trying.
- Ensure your solar is pumping at least 300W. This guidance was given to me during a back and forth with Sense tech support (really good and quick responses by the way).
- Shut off the solar from the breaker in the electric panel (not from the inverter throw switch).
Solar calibration step took about 2 mins then after the inverter came back up (prob 5 min or so).
System has been well behaved since then except for the 6-8W phantom solar generation at night. Obviously a calibration error.
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This is a good suggestion…maybe use one of those yellow/orange rectangles to specifically call out the orientation of the CTs. I had this exact problem, and just fixed it be ensuring both the consumption and solar CTs were oriented correctly. Now I am seeing correct data in the app.