I want to avoid exporting but still follow the consumption. Using clamps would of course be preferrable but that is not possible. Then I saw the Sunbeam and thought I'd change power limit via MQTT instead, but I now realize that it isn't as smooth as with the clamp to change power limit; it's a 'restart' every time.
Will this kill my GTILs over time?
Hi Johan,
Definately not, but it might extend its life. Here's why. The inverter is a high frequency inverter meaning it relies on transistors that switch on and off at high frequency (thousands of times per sec) in order to generate the AC power. It is during the switching of on and off that can generate the most amount of heat which is what makes them fail if there is too much heat generated. By having it 'restart' when a change is made, gives the transistors a chance to cool down. The 'restart' behavior is something that is built into the inverter's firmware (not by SunBeam) whenever it receives a new command which is exactly what happens when you change a setting on the LCD screen. Since this behavior is a designed in behavior, we are sure it's okay for the inverter. You are correct that to getting the smoothest transition (and most accurate tracking), the CT is better because it is connected directly to the control board which communicates to the inverter's motherboard at a much faster rate and doesen't have the 'reset' feature as it is not treated as a command from the LCD Screen. SunBeam taps into the communication between the LCD Screen and Control Board and not the Control Board to the inverter's motherboard. The communication between the LCD Screen and Control Board is only updated once every 1.1 seconds (0.91 Hz) which is probably much slower than what is needed between the control board and inverter's motherboard. My guess is it needs to be as fast or faster than 60 Hz (16.7 milliseconds or 0.0167 sec).