Phase Shift: Homeowners Shouldn’t Be Debugging Their New Battery

Back in my engineering days, I designed control systems for everything from nuclear power plants to optical semiconductor fabs. High-stakes stuff, where things not working properly was frowned upon. One thing that became clear early on: the hardware install was just the beginning. The real work started when you powered things up and tried to make them behave.

Which brings me to today’s Phase Shift.

Battery installs have gone ballistic since the rebate landed, and most of the systems we’re seeing look great. Neat cabling. Solid labelling. Even cable tray! But more and more, I’m hearing stories of new battery owners being left with a system that works, but hasn’t been configured properly.

That’s a problem.

Case in point: tech journo Adam Turner.

Adam recently wrote about his Sigenergy battery install in GadgetGuy. It was a solid install except nobody configured the Dynamic Load Management (DLM).

So when Adam fired up the EV charger (7kW) and then the battery started charging full tilt (10kW), he tripped the grid supply. Adam had to call the installer, and seemingly tinker with the Sigenergy app himself to find a safe grid import limit in the battery’s DLM feature that wouldn’t trip his 63A main fuse again.

Let me be clear: this shouldn’t have been Adam’s job.

Adam’s setup: 32A car charger + 43A battery charger on a single-phase connection – needs load management. Otherwise, it’s just a question of when you trip out, not if.

Every battery and EV charger installer must understand this. Commissioning a battery system is not just connecting wires and checking that the monitoring app shows nice numbers. It is configuring a control system for the home.

Right now, it’s common to hear from battery owners left on their own to figure this out, or worse, ask strangers in a Facebook group how to set the backend parameters for their home battery system. That’s nuts.

Homeowners Aren’t Control Engineers

We’re in a honeymoon period where most people buying batteries are earlyish adopters. Some are uber-nerds like Adam, who don’t mind spending a week fine-tuning their setup.

But that won’t last. And honestly, it shouldn’t be expected of anyone – nerd or not. A regular homeowner shouldn’t have to ask a Facebook group why their house keeps losing its grid connection.

Installers Need to Build in Configuration Time

Homeowners: if your installer hasn’t walked you through the system or appeared to do any of the steps listed below, then ask that they do so to save you some huge headaches later.

Retailers/Installers: if you’re not already adding at least a couple of hours for system setup, testing, and education in your quotes, start now.

That time should be used to:

• Walk through the system and the app with the owner
• Check tariffs, backup priorities, charge/discharge schedules
• Test edge cases (like car + battery + ducted AC all on at once)
• Set dynamic limits based on the site’s electrical constraints
• Configure EV charger/battery interaction
• Check 3-phase self-consumption is configured correctly (a biggie with Sigenergy)
• Set a follow-up appointment in a couple of weeks, where you review the operation so far and make any tweaks as required.

And yes, it should be added as a line item on the quote. It’s valuable work. Installers are not selling a battery. They’re delivering a finely tuned control system that manages energy flow across the whole home. And if an installer leaves without commissioning it properly, they’re not done.

Phase Shift is a weekly opinion column by SolarQuotes founder Finn Peacock. Subscribe to SolarQuotes’ free newsletter to get it emailed to your inbox each week along with our other home electrification coverage.