Multiple givenergy inverters

[chibbert]

I have 2 x Givenergy gen3 hybrid inverters.

I've been using @gcoan 's "predbat_set_freeze_export_during_demand" mode when solar is low and cross charging is pretty low with this.

As recommended I've automated this, so during the day it is off.

Today was a poor solar day, so I was thinking about automating the setting control to be "on" based on house load being higher than solar generation, however it led me to watch what was going on with the balance inverter mode.

I'm currently running with:

I noticed today that the suggested the code was noticing the cross charging that occurred this afternoon:

2026-10-26 15:00:46.754236: BALANCE: socs [89, 82]% reserves [0.86, 0.38]% battery_powers [-141.0, 143.0]W total 2.0W charge_rates [3600.0, 3600.0]W discharge_rates [3780.0, 0.0]W out_of_balance True soc_low [False, True] soc_high [True, False]
2026-10-26 15:00:46.754298: BALANCE: Inverter 0 is working against the fleet, holding it
2026-10-26 15:00:46.754377: Inverter 0 current charge rate is 3600W and new target is 0W
2026-10-26 15:00:47.147784: GivTCP: Inverter 0 REST GET http://localhost:6345/runAll successful
2026-10-26 15:00:47.147997: GivTCP: Inverter 0 set charge rate 0 via REST successful on retry 0
2026-10-26 15:00:47.608265: Inverter 0 write_and_poll_value: Wrote 0 to charge_rate, successfully now 0.0
2026-10-26 15:00:47.608569: Inverter 1 current discharge rate is 0W and new target is 3600W
2026-10-26 15:00:47.850924: GivTCP: Inverter 1 REST GET http://localhost:6346/runAll successful
2026-10-26 15:00:49.966668: GivTCP: Inverter 1 REST GET http://localhost:6346/runAll successful
2026-10-26 15:00:49.966875: GivTCP: Inverter 1 set discharge rate 3600 via REST successful on retry 1
2026-10-26 15:00:50.432038: Inverter 1 write_and_poll_value: Wrote 3600 to discharge_rate, successfully now 3600.0

So it noticed that Inverter 1 SOC was lower, noticed that inverter 1 was charging while inverter 2 was discharging, and did what sounds like a sensible thing and set inverter 1 charge rate to 0. All sounds good so far - however. With a Givenergy gen3 hybrid, that isn't enough to stop inverter 1 from cross charging. Things had got to the point where there was a slight export to the grid, so inverter 1 saw that and decided to grab it (Eco Mode behaviour). Setting the charge rate to 0 doesn't in any way stop it doing that.

At 15:43 my automation kicked in and set predbat_set_freeze_export_during_demand to "on" as solar had got so low, and cross charging stopped.

My question is should the standard inverter balancing use the same control as

2026-10-26 15:43:13.865959: switch_event: switch.predbat_set_freeze_export_during_demand = True
2026-10-26 15:43:13.866521: Set reset inverter true due to reset_inverter on item set_freeze_export_during_demand
2026-10-26 15:43:23,582 - GivTCP - write       -  [INFO    ] - Setting Battery Pause Mode to PauseCharge was a success
2026-10-26 15:43:24,645 - GivTCP2 - write       -  [INFO    ] - Setting Battery Pause Mode to PauseCharge was a success

I understand that Pause Mode during decent PV during the day would mean exporting the PV to grid, but perhaps this would be enough to stop the cross charging, as it seems like setting battery charge rate to 0 doesn't help stop the cross charging.

[gcoan]

thanks for the shout out!

the set_export_freeze_during_demand is useful, I too have it in an automation to turn on usually an hour or so before sunset and then turn off when the sun is a certain elevation In the sky (ie. a period after sunrise)

and this stops the overnight cross charging because it puts the inverters into true battery pause mode

during the day as long as there is enough solar they tend not to cross charge, but like you I have seen that they will cross charge if its a poor solar day. I hadn't thought of turning the switch back on if solar generation is lower than house load, so that's worth exploring, thanks for the idea

what I do at the moment is I manually set the inverter discharge rate to zero, I have a set of buttons on my dashboard that enable me to do that easily, and as well as trying to stop the inverters from cross charging by dropping the charging or discharging rates, it also enables me to semi-balance the inverters as well

but as you note, setting the inverter charge rate to zero doesn't fully stop the inverters from cross charging, it slows it down, but the inverters will still discharge at ~300W

I've had a feature request in for ages #2155 to automatically set battery pause mode based on charge/discharge rate for just this kind of reason. Its not got to the top of anyone else's pile so I was actually starting work on it myself today

I personally don't use the balance inverters script because I don't like the way that it rapidly shuts charge and discharge rates up and down, it's a very blunt instrument. Improving this is also part of the broader multi-inverter rework #4856

But if I make the proposed change on setting battery pause mode I can look at making sure it works for balance inverters

[gcoan]

Hi @chibbert any feedback on the pause mode for balance inverters ?

I've been testing it on my own inverters and it works perfectly, setting pause mode when normal Predbat plan activity like freeze export, and setting the correct pause mode when I force the charge or discharge rate to 0, and taking it off when I increase the rates.

if you're happy then I'll raise the PR

[chibbert]

Solar was too good today to say. Tomorrow looks cloudier so should be a better test. It's not caused any obvious problems yet either though

[gcoan]

no worries, no untoward problems is a good sign !

[chibbert]

It's been running well today. Because I'm running with balance charge, balance discharge, there IS intentional power sent from PV coming into one inverter into the battery of the other while PV charging in order to keep the SOC % aligned. But I've not seen any unintentional cross charging.

What I haven't tested is leaving balance inverters on overnight, I'm still using predbat_set_freeze_export_during_demand once PV generation drops below a threshold.

[gcoan]

Sounds good. What you should see is the batteries properly entering pause charge or pause discharge mode (or pause both) depending on what the Predbat plan has in it when the balance code stops one from charging or discharging.

Personally I like the set freeze export during demand as it is much less "aggressive" than balance inverters, it just stops the inverters from charging overnight when they would otherwise be in demand mode. It does mean the two inverters will discharge at different rates, that's a consequence of one inverter responding quicker to load than the other, so you will end up with unbalanced SoC's which may or may not be a problem for you.

I'll press on with getting the change pushed into Predbat core

Thanks