Off-Grid SkyBox Instllation Manual – Sky Energy

OFF-GRID SKYBOX INSTALLATION GUIDE

SWITCHBOARD WIRING TERMINAL GUIDE

AC Coupled Inverter connection

1 - Active

2 - Earth

3 - Neutral

SkyBox supply to Sub Board connection

4 - Active

5 - Earth

6 - Neutral

Generator input connection

7 - Active

8 - Earth

9 - Neutral

Generator two-wire Autostart

10 (No polarity necessary for a two-wire auto start)

Battery Installation - BSL Batteries

It's recommended that batteries be installed from the bottom up. If the client only has two batteries, we want them in the bottom racks, as the Master communications cable will not reach the top in most Skyboxes. This also makes adding more batteries more accessible for the installer in the future.
Remove the two screws provided per battery rack, slide the battery into place then use the screws to fix the battery to the rack.

BATTERY COMMUNICATION

The bottom battery will be our master battery. Plug the communication cable into the CAN port.
Using the link cables provided with each battery, a daisy chain between each battery from the RS485 ports on the right-hand side (there are two ports. You can use either one as you daisy chain between batteries).
Now, set the DIP switches for each battery. (some batteries have 6 DIP switches - ignore 5 and 6)

	DIP #1	DIP #2	DIP #3	DIP #4
BATTERY - 1	ON	OFF	OFF	OFF
BATTERY - 2	OFF	ON	OFF	OFF
BATTERY - 3	ON	ON	OFF	OFF
BATTERY - 4	OFF	OFF	ON	OFF
BATTERY - 5	ON	OFF	ON	OFF
BATTERY - 6	OFF	ON	ON	OFF

BATTERY WIRING

ALL battery cables must be connected! If you have two pairs of cables coming from the inverter and one battery, connect all cables to that single battery.
It's essential that all cables are linked together in parallel and that our battery leads are connected evenly across the batteries to provide even voltage and resistance. This ensures that all batteries charge and discharge evenly and that no single battery works harder than the others.

Please follow the pictures on the next page to understand better how to achieve this.

Battery Wiring -BSL

This example shows the battery connection for a Skybox with a 250A DC breaker, which has two pairs of battery leads. The 125A model for 5kW/5kVA Skybox will only have one pair of battery leads so follow the connection guide for 5 - 2 batteries with positive connected at the top and negative to the bottom.

PYLONTECH BATTERIES

Follow the connection guide as 5 - 2 batteries.

GENERATOR SETUP

The Skybox has been designed to accept a 50HZ two-wire auto-start generator. The instructions below are based on this style of generator.

The M.E.N must be removed from the generator, and any outlets on the generator must be disconnected/made safe and clearly labeled as such.
The generator's two-wire auto start connects to terminals 10 - 11 in the Skybox switchboard.
Settings for generator power need to be set on the GX touch screen controller.

(Example) - 7kVA Generator
7000 x .8 = 5600 (5.6kWs maximum generator power)
We Recommend kVA x .6 for generators as you don't want to run them at maximum load continuously.
We may need to set it closer to kVA x .5 depending on the generator (listen to the audible load of the generator during testing)

Setting generator on GX Touch -

Press the touch screen, then select Menu - bottom right of the screen
Select Multiplus-II on the device list
Select Input current limit to set the current the Skybox will draw from the generator.

NOTE: The Skybox will not draw exactly this current; the Inverter has to work to keep synchronized with the generator. It is normal to see the power drawn from the generator move up and down continuously, especially with AC loads on the inverter. When solar power is present, the Skybox will prioritize this over the generator, so isolate solar input for a more accurate generator power reading.

TESTING

Press ESC to return to the Home screen (Animated overview)
Swipe the screen to your right and then select Manual Start and Accept
This will test the auto-start function, and when returning to the home screen, we can see the generator input. Make sure the generator is set to auto-start mode.

The battery BMS controls how much power the batteries take, so although you may have settings at 32A from Gen if only one battery is connected, that battery will limit the charge.

(100A @ 54.8V = 5480kWs) - 54.8V being battery charge voltage. The remaining power can be used to power loads while batteries charge.

AC Coupled Solar

Fronius

1. Ensure the Fronius PV inverter is updated to the latest firmware.

2. After making the inverter operational according to the manual, select the language and then the country-specific setup.

3. Here, choose MG50.

4. Ready to start up.

Fronius GEN24

1. In Fronius GEN24 devices with software version 1.14 or higher, the Solar API interface is not activated by default and must be activated to integrate the GX device. The setting for this can be found on the user interface of the Fronius inverter under “Communication” - “Solar API”.

2. Install as per Fronius guidelines. Connect locally:

3. Set to MicroGrid 50Hz

4. Enable Solar API under the “Communication” tab

SMA Sunny Boy

1. Change country code to Sunny Island 50Hz

2. Select the Sunny Boy in the left panel and click on Settings

3. Open the “External Communication” tab

4. Enable the TCP and UDP server; keep the default port (502). Once the steps above have been completed for your AC-coupled inverter, the GX device will automatically detect the PV Inverter

SYSTEM CHECK

With the system installation completed, we can commission the system.

START-UP PROCEDURE

Turn on all breakers except the Sub-board supply at the Skybox switchboard.
Turn on the PV isolators next to the Skybox sub-board.
Press the toggle switch on the Skybox inverter (bottom right underside of inverter - switch towards you into position 1.
Turn on the Battery isolator under the Skybox inverter.
Turn on all Battery breakers.
HOLD the reset button on the MASTER battery for 2-3 seconds until the battery lights up. Repeat this process on all batteries if the MASTER battery does not trigger wake-up.
Press the toggle switch on the solar charger (on the bottom left underside of the charger). Switch towards you into position 1.

Wait for the GX Touch screen to boot to check the system.

Once the system overview has loaded, we can see solar production, battery state of charge, AC loads, and generator power when active.
Tap the screen to bring up the menu tab (bottom right)
This will show our device list - you should see:
- MPPT (Solar Charger)
- MultiPlus-II
- BSLBATT or PYLONTECH Battery
- AC Coupled Inverter (Once Commissioned)

If batteries do not appear on the device list, please check the comms connections and DIP switch settings in this guide.
Select MPPT to see string voltage and current.
Select Batteries - Details, and check Modules online to ensure all battery modules are connected and communicating.

Connecting Skybox to Wifi

Press GX Touch screen and select Menu (bottom right)

Scroll down and select Settings.

Scroll down to Wifi

Select Wifi networks

Select the Wi-Fi network and input the password.

Activating and inserting a 4G SIM card

1. Open the SIM card document and head to aldimobile.com.au/activate

2. Follow the activation process, which will require setting up an account a. Ensure both the activation code and the plan voucher code are entered

3. Once you receive the activation email, insert SIM into a phone to complete the activation

4. Remove from the phone and insert into the Victron GX LTE 4G device (pictured below) a. To insert, use a pen or pointy object to eject the SIM card tray, insert the SIM, and insert the tray with SIM back into the GX LTE device, ensuring the tray is pushed all the way in

5. The device will blink quickly once connected to the 4G network to give your SkyBox internet

Related articles