16 of 20 - Backup Power Operation

Created by Victor Herrera, Modified on Thu, Jun 9, 2022 at 1:51 PM by Victor Herrera

This guide proceeds under the assumption that the Inverter, Battery, Autotransformer (ATR), and Backup Loads Panel (BLP) have all been installed already with wires already ran and connected. If these steps have not been performed yet, please see one of the previous articles.

The critical loads circuit breakers identified in Step 15 have now been relocated into the Backup Loads panel

Wiring the Backup Loads Panel:

L1 and L2 wires from the ATR should be landed in a 30A double-pull breaker in the BLP.
The two neutral wires should be landed in the neutral bus bar of the BLP
- One from the MSP/sub panel landed in neutral bar
- One from the ATR neutral port
The ground wire should be landed in the ground bar of the BLP
Keep the 30A breaker in the off position until the system has been energized and tested

How to Turn on the Backup Power System:

From the main screen, press Enter and then scroll down to Advanced Settings and press Enter
The password is (0010) press Down, Down, Up, and Enter
Scroll down to Backup Control and then press Enter
Backup ON/OFF should be highlighted, press Enter
Select ON and then press Enter - "Done!" will be displayed on the screen
The ATR and Backup Loads panel will now be energized
1. The ATR will make a soft humming sound - that is normal
2. On the screen in the bottom right corner there is a light bulb icon and an arrow going to it from the inverter
  1. The arrow indicates how much power (kW) is being consumed by the BLP
  2. Note: this is an instantaneous value and will change based on how much energy is being consumed
Test the AC voltage at the 30A breaker in the BLP
1. L1 to L2 should be 240V
2. L1 to Neutral should be 120V
3. L2 to Neutral should be 120V
If the voltages are correct, turn the breaker on as well as the other loads in the Backup Loads Panel
Note: the BLP will remain energized as long as the Backup Mode is ON and the inverter has not failed
Should the inverter fail, use the AC Bypass switch on the ATR to energize the BLP using grid power

If the grid goes down (power goes out)...

...the backup loads panel will remain energized by using the PV and battery power!

Important! Keep BLP consumption to around 1 kW to last more than one day on PV and battery power - with a 10 kWh battery, the system has a bit over 9 hours of charge. If there is sun, the PV will add charge back to the battery. Monitor your system closely in the event of an outage!