Prioritizing Energy Consumption
Hello, can Tigo prioritize energy consumption?
During TOU peak hours priority:
1. Consume from Solar + Charging Battery
2. Consume from Battery
3. Consume from Grid as a last resort.
Alternatively, to #3, can you program going off-grid during these same hours so it guarantees no draw from the grid? It is assumed I will have enough batteries storage to cover TOU peak even when solar is partially or not generating.
Thank you,
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Hi Joshua, your three scenarios are exactly how our Time Of Use mode works. Your alternative option is not possible since our energy storage solution only switches to backup mode once it has detected a grid outage. There is no program to switch to backup mode using a timer.
Here is a Help Center article that discusses our operating modes.
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Thank you Greg Smith. The article you provided was very helpful.
I tried to search for an article on how the generator interacts with the operating modes. Ideally, I would like to have the generator as a backup to charge the batteries in the following scenarios:
1. Charge batteries when grid is offline and solar is not producing during peak TOU hours.
2. Charge batteries during TOU peak hours when grid is online when solar is not producing enough to meet peak demand.
The demand charge my utility charges is what I'm trying to avoid. See the demand charge chart below. With current summer usage during peak hours, my utility says I'm about 6-8kw peak max so it would cost me $80-$120 just for a demand charge running my a/c (78-80 degrees) along with minimal utilities in arizona.
Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated.
Thank you,
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I have a few questions:
Is this a commercial or residential application? I assume resi but have to ask.
Who is your utility provider? Again, I assume APS but there may be muni's.
However, I can add this operating note about the generator. You cannot run a generator while the grid is up since the generator power could backfeed into the grid. This is forbidden by all utilities and the ATS is the gatekeeper.
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Residential and SRP (Salt River Project) The Solar Pricing Plan I'm trying to design around is the E27 customer-generated plan.
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Hi Greg, checking in to see if you read my last reply to your question.
Also, Generac has a granular feature to cap the grid while discharging/recharging a battery.
Here's a Generac installer info on that topic. Does Tigo have similar functionality?
What Generac allows is for us to program a "max from grid" draw amount. When that amount is drawn from the grid the battery will stop it there and discharge itself into the house to meet the remaining demand.
Let's say you're drawing 8kW and we set the limit at 3kW from SRP. You'll get 3kW from SRP and 5kW from the battery.
If the ACs cycle off and house demand drops to 1kW, the battery can draw 2 more from SRP (total 3kW from SRP) to charge itself with the other 2kW.
This is of course subject to limitations. The 18 holds 18kWh. If you set the limit at 3 from SRP but the house pulls 8kW for 6 hours, the battery will discharge 5kW for about 3.5 hours before it's drained, then the last 2.5 hours you're pulling 8kW from SRP.
No other battery I'm aware of has the ability to program in-demand limits like that. This makes it the best choice for E27 rate plan.
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Sorry, Joshua, I just got back from vacation. Our EI solution does not provide that granularity. The battery will discharge to cover what load it can and the rest will come from the utility.
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