New Morningstar PS-30M gen3 solar controller
Update: much of the grief described was due to a bad firmware file which Morningstar posted on their website. They apparently posted a very old v1 firmware, marked as v5. They themselves has issues wi...
Forum Discussion
But wait, there's more. Someone asked me specifics on how the HVD was supposed to work. I thought I knew, but checked the documentation just to be sure.
Well, the user manual calls it "Battery / Load High Voltage disconnect (HVD)". In MSView, once you can get into their help system (you can't get to it by clicking the help button in the screen where you set these values, and they don't have any section specific to this controller), you find "High Voltage Disconnect - The battery voltage threshold at which the solar array is disconnected and charging is halted. If the battery voltage increases beyond this value, charging is stopped until battery voltage falls to a safe level." Their Modbus doc says "Disconnect the loads if the battery voltage rises too high." The user manual shows voltage levels for:
HVD - load (@ 25ºC) 15.3V
HVD - solar (@ 25ºC) 15.2V
So, Morningstar is saying it's a battery, or solar, or load disconnect, depending on what you read. And they're saying it's based on battery, solar, or load voltage, depending on where you read. So they've covered all the bases. Just another example of the quality of their documentation. :R
My best guess is that it's based on the battery voltage, and experience shows that it disconnects the load, not the array.
But that makes little sense - the controller is powered by the battery, so that has to always be connected. It can switch the solar or the load, since it must do PWM by switching the solar, and also has the ability to switch the load since it can support lighting control. The solar voltage (PWM averaged) is basically the same as the battery voltage when connected, so if that gets too high, it should just disconnect the array, not the load. If the solar voltage goes above the max while the array is disconnected, that's an implementation problem (Voc too high), there's little that can be done, and it makes no sense to disconnect the load from the battery.
Well, the user manual calls it "Battery / Load High Voltage disconnect (HVD)". In MSView, once you can get into their help system (you can't get to it by clicking the help button in the screen where you set these values, and they don't have any section specific to this controller), you find "High Voltage Disconnect - The battery voltage threshold at which the solar array is disconnected and charging is halted. If the battery voltage increases beyond this value, charging is stopped until battery voltage falls to a safe level." Their Modbus doc says "Disconnect the loads if the battery voltage rises too high." The user manual shows voltage levels for:
HVD - load (@ 25ºC) 15.3V
HVD - solar (@ 25ºC) 15.2V
So, Morningstar is saying it's a battery, or solar, or load disconnect, depending on what you read. And they're saying it's based on battery, solar, or load voltage, depending on where you read. So they've covered all the bases. Just another example of the quality of their documentation. :R
My best guess is that it's based on the battery voltage, and experience shows that it disconnects the load, not the array.
But that makes little sense - the controller is powered by the battery, so that has to always be connected. It can switch the solar or the load, since it must do PWM by switching the solar, and also has the ability to switch the load since it can support lighting control. The solar voltage (PWM averaged) is basically the same as the battery voltage when connected, so if that gets too high, it should just disconnect the array, not the load. If the solar voltage goes above the max while the array is disconnected, that's an implementation problem (Voc too high), there's little that can be done, and it makes no sense to disconnect the load from the battery.
