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Zappi and Solar Panels

54K views 186 replies 24 participants last post by  championc  
#1 ·
Anyone else got a Zappi car charger, solar panels and a Kia Soul EV?

I'm having an issue when the Zappi is in Eco+ mode, and hasn't had surplus power to charge the car for at least 30 mins. The car seems to go to sleep, and the Zappi's unable to wake it up when there is power (not even switching to Fast charge mode).

Or anyone live near Bournemouth, and is willing to see if their Soul EV has the same issue with my Zappi?
 
#2 ·
Hi Pete,
I have a Zappi at home for our Kia Soul but don't have Solar PV (yet).

When plugged in with the Zappi set to "Fast" does your "time to charge" display on the dashboard show a time that is way off the mark? (say 15hrs to charge 50%?).

Our installer changed a setting on the Zappi when we first got ours which helped the car better communicate with it.
From memory it was turning off a compatibility mode for the Renault Zoe in settings. Once that was done the charge times were more accurate - it might help yours?

If not, drop MyEnergi a line, I am told they are really helpful!

Thanks :)
 
#3 ·
Tried turning compatibility mode off, didn't help. I'm in contact with MyEnergi, but would like to prove that I haven't got a faulty Zappi (the first one did develop a fault - "pilot problem").

If you are willing, I wondered if you could run a quick test for me.

Set the Zappi to 'FAST', plug in the Soul EV, and check it starts to charge. Switch to ECO+ mode, the charging should pause 'Waiting for surplus' (assuming you have a CT clamp fitted). Wait 5 minutes, then switch back to FAST (or do a manual boost if you have it configured). I'd be interested to know if the car resumes charging. Mine doesn't.
I have Zappi firmware v1.46, and the latest model Kia Soul EV. It would help to know what you have.
Many thanks @HappySOUL

BTW Feed In Tariff payments are due to end for Solar PV next year, and drop in value every quarter. I did some rough calculations and worked out I'd save/make enough money to cover repayments on the Mortgage Further Advance I took out to get the panels fitted.
 
#70 ·
Tried turning compatibility mode off, didn't help. I'm in contact with MyEnergi, but would like to prove that I haven't got a faulty Zappi (the first one did develop a fault - "pilot problem").
Pete, I know you have had the problem fixed, but what was your Pilot Problem. I'm having problems with my e-Golf and the Zappi. I had the first Zappi changd as it stopped working, that was saying power failure.
Currently the Zappi isn't settling when the Golf is in timer mode and it is flashing up Pilot Pr at some points when it scrolls through various messages every few seconds. I'm in contact with Myenergi but we aren't gettting very far at the moment.
 
#4 ·
Our soul due in March, Zappi fitted last week. We are in Salisbury so would offer a check for your Zappi but I guess you'll have everything resolved before March.
We currently have an issue with the Zappi (not yet used to charge) which I expect to be sorted before our soul is delivered.

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk
 
#7 ·
Not sure it will be resolved by March.
If you're amenable I might be tempted to pop up when your Zappi is sorted, and see if it works with my car. If it does, it means my Zappi is faulty. If it doesn't, I won't learn much, as it could possibly be the car.
I hope to get the Zappi tested by a colleague with a leaf this weekend (as long as the Zappi is fixed). I'm more than happy for you to try your soul on the Zappi, I will PM you with details when all is sorted.

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk
 
#11 · (Edited)
Nice to have a battery - do you really need a Zappi too? But if you need a charger, why not?
Your Zappi will probably already have the updated firmware, so shouldn't be a problem. I'm apparently next in line to be lent a prototype 'bridge' for connecting Zappi to the internet. They'll then be able to update the firmware. Then I'll have to send the bridge back. Pretty sure I'll be buying one when they're available.
We did manage to run the car entirely on Solar at the weekend - sun didn't go in so charger never 'went to sleep'. So it will be fabulous when it's working properly. I notice that when it's gone to sleep the display tends to freeze up too - got home the other night, pitch black, but the Zappi said we were still producing 0.6kW. A reboot sorted that out.

If you're having all that in place, have you thought of switching to Green Energy's Tide Tariff? The battery could provide all your power between 4pm and 7pm when it's expensive. We're on this tariff already, but can't justify a battery.
 
#12 ·
The 'Hub' they sent out doesn't connect to the internet, it has the firmware installed on it and updates the Zappi without needing any internet connection. I had a really early Zappi and it had several glitches, but it seems to be running smoothly now. It must be taking quite a while to get them all updated. I'd happily let you try your Soul on my updated charger, but I'm a long drive from Bournemouth. I'm on version 1.49 but I assume that if they have only just worked out what the issue is my version may still have the issue.
I'm not sure what I would use the internet connection for, but when they eventually release a hub and app I'll see what it can do and decide then.
 
#13 ·
I am in Northern Ireland. I am already on a Night rate tariff of 6.4p per kw. In the winter months, the battery will be filled every morning via the grid. the daytime will be covered by the solar and then the battery will supplement the 4pm onwards till bedtime. In the sunnier months, The solar will obviously do more work. The idea is that the battery will keep us running in the dark nights when everyone is at home using tv's pc's and xbox etc can even get a few washes done. The installer thinks we will cut our bill by 80-85% and have the whole system paid off in 5-6 years
 
#14 ·
@Woodulike Thanks for that extra information. I was told version 1.49 was the latest, so I'm trying to be patient waiting for the update. I'm hoping that the Zappi app will be able to display energy use and charging history with nice graphs. I also think I might be able to use it to pre-heat the car remotely. The Kia Soul EV can't do this - it only has a couple of heating timers, but I reckon using these and flipping the Zappi into 'boost' at the right time will enable a pre-heat 'on demand'. It would be even better if it can reconfigure the Zappi to change from 60% to 80% green at 4pm every weekday, to avoid running up bills on our expensive 4-7pm tariff with Green Energy. Putting the Zappi into 'fast' mode, or performing a 'smart boost' would be handy on those days where we forgot to do it before bed.
 
#16 ·
UPS is saying that the 'hub' will be delivered tomorrow, so assuming my wife's in to receive it, hope to have the Zappi updated in the evening.
@baldylox what version of the firmware do you have on your Zappi? if it's less than 1.49 perhaps I could ask MyEnergi if I can run it up to Salisbury to update your's before I send it back.
Has your Soul EV arrived yet?
regards.
 
#20 ·
It was initially planned to be out by the end of last year. I guess there have been more issues to fix than expected. I noticed that mine wasn't recording the charge correctly this morning. As the sun was out it had started using the surplus energy to charge the car but in the charge record this was added to the power bought from the grid not the green energy. Not a major issue but obviously still issues in the system.
 
#22 ·
You have to contact myenergi and they send out a hub which does the update. If all is working fine as a standard charger their wouldn't be any need to update it until you have the panels installed, even then yours might work as it should.
IIRC the original plan was that the hub is available to buy so we can control the Zappi remotely, view stats etc then updates can come through as they become available.
My zappi is work fine now but it would be good if it was recording the charges correctly as well. An update at some point would be nice I don't want it updated every time there's a change but once the have ironed put ask the issues or would be good to have a definitive update for all. Hopefully that is in the planning.
 
#30 ·
I don't think they should be charging anything for updates, or anything that facilitates updates to the firmware. That does not sit well with me.

This is not normal practice in any technology field for firmware updates. I had a ASHP installed, and over the course of a year got a couple of firmware updates. I wasn't even aware there was updates available, and the manufacturer contacted me directly to tell me so and sent out engineers on both occasions, there was no cost to me.
 
#24 · (Edited)
I got my Zappi fixed, it got a new screen but am still on v 1.46. I have informed myenergi of this and they say I should wait to see if I get an issue with charging. OurSoul is due for delivery mid April.
However, I would rather have the newer version of the firmware so if you are able to get to me so I can take advantage of having the update solution in the area(and check to see if your soul can take a solar charge with 1.46) I'll be very grateful to you Pete, please PM me if you can.
I have attached a picture of my install in a meter box.
Image


Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk
 
#26 ·
The only issue I've had is with having the smart boost set for overnight charge. If I unplug to go out without remembering to cancel the smart boost when I plug in again it looks like it is set on smart boost still but it doesn't actually charge. It needs to be cancelled, unplugged and then plugged in and re-set. Probably not going to affect many people but I use smart boost all the time and have had a couple of non-charges that way. I now watch it do it's test charge every time, takes 30 seconds. If no test charge then it's not set.
It does just seem to work. I have it set on eco plus all the time and if the sun shines it charges the car. If it doesn't the smart boost has the car charged by the morning. Obviously at the moment it is mostly overnight charging, hopefully it will soon start to come into it's own.

Where are you based?