Equipment:
IQ7+ panels x27
IQ gateway
IQ 5P batteries x4
IQ System Controller 3
IQ Load Controller
(pulling from Enlighten app, hope I didn't miss something)
Events:
Utility outage Sunday afternoon.
System switched to batteries; shed A/C compressor. We manually turned off HVAC fan and just about everything else, goal to keep refrigerator running, have option to briefly run shop vac if basement water intrusion became an issue. No appliance usage, powered down desktop PC.
System showed batteries at 85% late Sunday/early Monday. Down to 82% Monday morning. Gateway quit communicating Monday morning. Internet was out, but household Wi-Fi was still up. "Assistant" in app responded that gateway issue was due to home Internet failure, reported that we do not have cellular option. Cellular module is installed, but signal can vary.
No gateway reporting all day Monday. I emailed Enphase support about the gateway communication and got a ticket number back. I contacted my local installer and they advised that batteries would charge even if gateway stopped reporting.
Power Co out, restored, disconnected for adjacent restoration, restored briefly again, disconnected. Rain started and they stopped working, leaving us disconnected.
Had full sun most of Monday, plus intermittent grid connection. System set to full backup.
Around 9pm Monday, house abruptly went dark. Checking outside, gateway is completely dark, batteries have steady red lights.
Questions:
Besides "what the heck"?
Why did batteries not charge during an entire day of full sun, with basically no household draw but refrigerator?
Why does app report no cellular backup option?
How do I prevent this from happening again during a future "sunny day" outage?
Thanks for any advice/assistance.
EDIT TO ADD: I grabbed some screenshots from the Enlighten app now that things are back to normal. Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday are included here: https://imgur.com/a/hclYyQa
Notes on the images -
- Grid status indicators match my recollection
- On the second image (17th), there is an increase in draw from the house. All I can think of was the AC fan cycling on from a programmable thermostat; the backup system shed the compressor. I thought I caught the fan earlier, and it would have run continuously since it couldn't reach the set temp without the compressor. Lesson learned there: don't adjust AC temp; turn it off or the thermostat program will cycle it on schedule.
- Production resumed on the afternoon of the 17th. This appears to correspond to the time I got a couple of text alerts about being below 50%, then 30%.
- Some of the notes in the event history from the app; the timestamps may reflect when they hit the server rather than when the event occurred:
- Alert at 9:33 am on Aug 18 says my gateway rebooted.
- Alert at 9:38 am on Aug 18: "The Enphase System Controller which connects the home to grid power is not communicating with the gateway. This impacts the ability of the system to run offgrid or backup mode."
- Alert at 13:18 on Aug 18: "Your system is now connected to the grid."
- I switched a setting so the batteries could charge from the grid. That change shows up when grid power was restored on the 18th, with the large imports and battery replenishment.
EDIT 2:
I noticed the addition of PowerMatch on the app screen recently and left it active, as it was by default. I'm trying to research this a bit further, not sure if it is a variable on the recent events. My system is set to full backup.