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Tagged: Pylontech Batteries, solar uk
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Solar being sent to grid rather than charging batteries
Posted by John Alston on April 9, 2026 at 6:07 pmSolar being sent to grid rather than charging batteries
Really don’t understand why my solar generated electricity goes to the grid (get paid very little but it by Octopus) instead of first charging my batteries.
I have overnight charging set up to benefit for cheap overnight rates, 11.30pm to 5.30am (Octopus GO) but would also like to keep all my solar generated power.
I have a Solis 3.6kw inverter, 7kw of Pylontech batteries 4kwp of panels.
With power rates likely to increase substantially I really want to know I’m getting the best possible from my array.
Nicholas Carey replied 2 days, 13 hours ago 24 Members · 23 Replies -
23 Replies
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I’ve got same setup, and have same issue.. Interested what ideas people have
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Will likely be your settings. under grid connection type what do you have it set to ?
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Doesn’t make much difference at the moment, however, that can change if imports increase and/or exports decrease in value
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Greg from Octopus has said if imports have to have a substantial rise then he will try to get an export rise to suit. I’d personally say they need a dual rate export tariff. Agile is too much of a faff if you are not automated but 10p & much higher 4-7pm I would go for.
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With my fox I can decide if excess solar goes to grid or battery. Currently all going to grid battery low
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You can set it up using EMS – I’m waiting for my G99 to come through (10 weeks now) so have told it to prioritise battery
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Solis also seem to have an AI mode – not sure if it is any good but worth looking at as you can combine cheap night import and exporting your solar
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I’ve got Anker system and mine always charges batteries before exporting.
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You’re getting 12p/kWh when outputting to the grid with IOG, overnight cheap rate charging you at 3.49p/kWh. I don’t see any point to use your solar output to charge your home batteries.
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What battery are you running?
Also the icon at the top is red which means there is an error with your system. I would say the battery is off or below minimum SOC
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Itll be a setting… unless your battery is already full.
mine charges battery and then export.
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it looks like you have an alarm fault showing on the app. Go to the Alarms tab and see what it says
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When your charging your EV make sure you stop discharging your battery so you can keep it for use later in the day
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Solis inverter needs changing to Self Use mode, you will have it currently set to Feed In. Go to inverter settings on the app to change.
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Which mode is the inverter in? If its an S5 just look on the front screen at the top. Its mostly likely that its in feedin priority, multiple modes are configured at the same time or a meter issue.
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With 7kwh battery you can’t really utilise Agile or Flwx as it’s not financially viable, Octopus Go your best bet and if you can charge for under 12p then that’s your answer, if not then some chargers like Zappi allow charging from solar but definitely not all.
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I think mine goes to the grid when my battery is full.
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Mine was doing this- I changed the settings in Inverter Control>GRID FEED IN POWER LIMIT and put it to 0. Seems to have worked
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Priority should be solar battery utility under storage/advanced setting, observe for any changes. If still an issue, then limit the export to between 300-600W (not zero!). It should work.
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Id get someone out to set it up properly. Ours does show exports to the grid. It has to to makes sure the frequencys are aligned.
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