Updated App and charging my EV at night

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headian
Posts: 2
Joined: Tue Nov 28, 2023 10:57 am

Apologies if this has already been covered. My first post.
When researching how to charge my EV over night and not let my battery discharge., I found out that I had to enable force charge and enable charge from grid, with set times,
Since the app has been updated, the enable force charge has disappeared.
When I charged by EV last night, the battery discharged, so the day started with small amount in the battery instead of it being nearly fully charged.
So my question is, How do I get to charge the Batteries over night, while also using the cheap electricity time period with Octopus to charge my car and run other household appliances to take advantage of the cheap electricity period?

Thanks
Dave Foster
Posts: 1328
Joined: Thu Oct 13, 2022 7:21 pm

The App used to have 2 switches, one was for 'Force Charge', the other was 'Charge From Grid'

The Force Charge switch never really existed on the inverter, if you set a time period it was set to Force Charge - What the app switch was useful for was clearing the times when you didn't want to charge.

On the latest App, all you need to do is set a charge period to cover the period your EV charger will be on, the act of setting a time period is a Force Charge. You don't need to turn the Grid Charge switch on (unless you also want to charge them from grid at the same time).

When you don't want a Force Charge period set, you must change both start and end times for that period to 00:00
Sloanyd
Posts: 21
Joined: Sun Nov 12, 2023 1:38 pm

Hi,

My inverter used to charge my EV from the batteries when i first had my panels and batteries installed (June 2023).

I contacted my installer, who came out and fixed it. I believe they moved the CT clamp so it didnt pick up the car charger and my car now only charges off the grid and doesnt drain my batteries. I use the car charger app (pod point) to set charge times independently of the foxess app, I am also on Octopus agile, so set the battery and car to charge when rates are low.

Sorry i am not technical and cannot help any further, but your installer maybe able to help.

Darren
Dave Foster
Posts: 1328
Joined: Thu Oct 13, 2022 7:21 pm

Darren, yes that’s a good way to sort the problem but the way it is wired has to allow the CT clamp to be moved - the best way to install the EV charger is in front of the Inverter and is usually done by fitting a splitter (Henley block) just after the feed from the smart meter, then you can install the CT clamp for the inverter on it’s own circuit and it won’t see the power taken by the charger.

Unfortunately if you can’t re-wire the solution, the only way to avoid battery charger is to set a charge period at the same time as the EV is charging.

I’ve attached a block schematic that shows the ‘ideal’ wiring approach, it was drawn for a Growatt inverter with a Zappi charger, just change the labels to read Foxess Hybrid and your EV charger type.
IMG_1434.jpeg
headian
Posts: 2
Joined: Tue Nov 28, 2023 10:57 am

Thank you for the replies,
I'm in touch with the installer so will ask about the suggested changes when he comes.
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