Hey all,
Trying to understand the behaviour of forced charge. As soon as I enabled this I noticed my 6.6kw of panels seem to hit a ceiling of just under 5kw, never producing any more than that. Literally the day before I enabled forced charge, I saw higher than this in terms of generation, and the days leading up to that day were also consistently producing above 5kw at their peak
Is there something about forced charge that caps solar generation during that time? I understand once the battery is full the solar is disabled entirely during the forced charge window, but I'm seeing this behaviour before the battery fills up.
For reference, I've attached two photos - one before forced charge was enabled, and one after
Any advice here would be greatly appreciated!
Attachments:
- Before forced charge
- After forced charge
Solar output will vary from one day to another.
One graph has a nice smooth solar curve, the other is spikier.
Between clouds, the panels will cool, and when the Sun comes back, you will see higher spikes. On a cloudless day, the spikes will not be there as the panel temperature is more consistant.
Spring Sun, no clouds, with wind is the best combo as you get the best from your panels (air cooled!)
One graph has a nice smooth solar curve, the other is spikier.
Between clouds, the panels will cool, and when the Sun comes back, you will see higher spikes. On a cloudless day, the spikes will not be there as the panel temperature is more consistant.
Spring Sun, no clouds, with wind is the best combo as you get the best from your panels (air cooled!)
Ah got it! I guess should I be worried I'm only getting around 5kw from 6.6kw of panels? It was a clear day and not much wind (also in autumn), but still thought will full sun I'd be pulling more than that?MaterialBarracuda48 wrote: ↑Sun Apr 26, 2026 2:18 pm Solar output will vary from one day to another.
One graph has a nice smooth solar curve, the other is spikier.
Between clouds, the panels will cool, and when the Sun comes back, you will see higher spikes. On a cloudless day, the spikes will not be there as the panel temperature is more consistant.
Spring Sun, no clouds, with wind is the best combo as you get the best from your panels (air cooled!)
I have 6.16kWp and in Summer it will be just around 4.5kW due to heat (guesstimate off top of head)
Whereas you can see small spikes to almost 7kW for very brief periods until the temperature increases in Spring/Autumn.
I can rustle up some logs if you like.
Whereas you can see small spikes to almost 7kW for very brief periods until the temperature increases in Spring/Autumn.
I can rustle up some logs if you like.
Yeah I did see similar spikes, although like you said usually on cloudy days where the sun would come out for a bitMaterialBarracuda48 wrote: ↑Sun Apr 26, 2026 2:28 pm I have 6.16kWp and in Summer it will be just around 4.5kW due to heat (guesstimate off top of head)
Whereas you can see small spikes to almost 7kW for very brief periods until the temperature increases in Spring/Autumn.
I can rustle up some logs if you like.
Locally, on the 16th April, I see a spike for 6.02kW, with a prior period 30mins before sustained of up to 4.96kW.
Then a few days later we had nice temperatures and Sun, the spikes are gone, as is the higher sustained output.
Once you have a year of data to look at, you will see these patterns.
Then a few days later we had nice temperatures and Sun, the spikes are gone, as is the higher sustained output.
Once you have a year of data to look at, you will see these patterns.