E4 User Manual

1. Product Introduction
This document serves as a user manual for the operation of E4. With this document we aim

to provide detailed instructions on the E4 hardware configuration and the system functions,

to aid in the understanding of each function module and setting item of the system for the

users.

1.1 Hardware Configuration

E4 LCD Monitor (E4) is a 4.3-inch display & control screen developed by TBB POWER. Based

on GD32 microcontroller, E4 is a fully intelligent central LCD touch monitor, providing intuitive,

real-time and local control and monitoring for TBB systems. It supports monitoring and

configurations for the following TBB products: Apollo Matrix, Kinergier Pro, LS50, LS75, ES100,

Solar Mate, Raython Model1 & Model2, and Tyrann.

E4 is designed with multiple interfaces: 1 x CAN communication, 3 x RS485 communication,

supporting USB host or USB device, supporting GPRS communication. Featuring high

performance at moderate cost, E4 adopts ARM Cortex M4 core integrated circuit with the bus

frequency up to 200MHz and integrated with rich interfaces, perfectly satisfying the demands

for data display. Its hardware configuration parameters are as follows:

Component Specification Note

Microcontroller GD32F450 Series

Max Operating
200MHz
Frequency

Flash 2048KB

SRAM 512KB

Core ARM Cortex M4

1.2 Appearance and Dimensions

Structure dimensions

Product rendering

1.3 E4 Interface Explanation

① An interface for connecting the Wi-Fi signal antenna

② USB interface for real-time data storage and firmware upgrade.

③ Integrated interface for power supply and communication with the inverter.

④ For communication with the battery, grid meter and PV inverter.

1.4 Application Scenarios

As the core component of the system, E4 plays an important role in human-machine

interaction and system energy dispatching control. Through RS485 or CAN communication,
E4 can establish communication with the solar hybrid inverter, battery, meter and other
components in the system. Thanks to its software management mechanism, E4 ensures high
stability and robustness of the entire electrical system.
 2. Levels of User Interface
The whole system is designed based on the general principle of “system + subsystem”, and

each subsystem is in modular design and is independent from each other to ensure a quick

respond to the users’ needs as well as smooth evolution of the system.

➢ The brand-new interface design provides various setting items. During the system

installation, the system can be easily and individually configured to further improve

the installation efficiency of the system.

➢ With fault detection and recording function, it can quickly locate where a fault is,

providing sufficient technical guidance for after-sales service.

➢ Integrated with Wi-Fi functionality, it supports uploading real-time data to NOVA

App & Web and remote control via NOVA App & Web.

The first, second and third level interfaces are shown as below:
 3. Function

3.1 Main Interface

The main interface displays basic information of the four major subsystems: AC in, battery,

solar and load. It also visually and vividly displays the energy flow in the form of animation.

AC in Module Explanation:

a) The “Normal” indicates that its running status is normal. When the module is faulty

or disconnected, the running status will be indicated as ”Abnormal” in red font.

b) The “Grid” indicates the current AC input source is grid. The AC input source can be

set to the grid or generator.

c) Power indicates the current power.

d) From Grid/To Grid indicates that the energy imported from the grid or exported to

the grid. The switch can be made within 2 seconds.

Solar Module Explanation:

a) The "Normal” indicates that the running status is normal, indicated in green font
 under normal operation .

The “Normal” is indicated in gray font in standby status .

When the module is faulty or disconnected, the status will be indicated as “Abnormal”

in red font.

b) Power indicates the current power.

c) Harvest indicates today's power generation.

Battery Module Explanation:

a) The “Normal” indicates that its running status is normal.. When the module is faulty

or disconnected, the running status will be indicated as ”Abnormal” in red font.

b) Voltage indicates the current voltage of the battery bank.

c) SOC indicates the remaining amount of energy available in the battery bank.

Load Module Explanation:

a) The “Normal” indicates that its running status is normal.. When the module is faulty

or disconnected, the running status will be indicated as ”Abnormal” in red font.

b) Consumption indicates today’s power consumption.

c) Power indicates the current power.

Showing the date, time and the current Wi-Fi connection status.

Access to detail page of the solar hybrid inverter.

Access to system settings.

Current system alarm. When a new alarm occurs to the system, the exclamation

mark will turn red , and the user will also be reminded by the buzzer. The alarms that will

not cause fatal damage to the system are classified as general alarms, and the buzzer will

beep slowly and disappear automatically after one minute. When a serious fault such as short

circuit or communication interruption occurs, the buzzer will beep rapidly so as to attract the
attention of the user and remind the user to attend to the fault.
3.2 AC in Subsystem

Items on the left include Total From Grid (total consumption of the grid), Total To Grid (total

energy exported to the grid), Running Time (single running time), Total Running Time.

Items on the right include the voltage, current, frequency, active power and apparent power

of each phase.
3.3 Battery Subsystem

Items on the left include voltage, current, SOC, and the current working status (which could

be either charging, discharging or idle) of the battery.

Items on the right include the number of battery modules, average cell temperature, total

battery capacity, firmware version, voltage and address of high-voltage cell, voltage and

address of low-voltage cell, temperature and address of high-temperature cell, temperature

and address of low-temperature cell.

Letter C stands for cell and P for pack, indicating the highest

temperature value and the address of the cell with the highest temperature.
3.4 Solar Subsystem

The solar subsystem includes two parts: PV inverter and MPPT.

Items on the left include today's power generation, yesterday's power generation and total

power generation; Items on the right include access to the detail page of PV inverter and

MPPT.

Click the button of the MPPT module to enter its detail page, where the user will find

all details on this module.

a) The quantity, serial number, hardware version and software

version of the MPPT module.

b) Chart.
3.5 Load Subsystem

The user can select the Critical Load, Normal Load or Total by clicking the drop-down button.

Items on the right include the real-time data of voltage, frequency, current power and total

power of each phase.

3.6 Solar Hybrid Inverter

After entering the detail page of the solar hybrid inverter, the user can find the current status

of the AC in, the load, the solar (MPPT) and the battery, with their real-time voltage, current

and power displayed. When there are multiple units in parallel, the user can view the detailed

data of each unit by clicking the page up and down buttons .

With the button, the user can easily switch on/off of the inverting function. This

action applies to all inverters.

The user can view the model number, serial number, hardware version and software version

of each inverter by clicking the button.

 4. Menu

This menu covers 6 major modules: General Settings, Advanced Settings, Information, User

Log, Historical Records and Firmware Upgrade. The Information module records the serial

number and firmware version of the E4. The User Log module records all operation logs, and

each page displays 5 pieces of records. The Historical Records module records the alarms and

faults arising out of the system, and each page displays 5 pieces of records.

All setting items are classified into two categories: General Settings and Advanced Settings.

The content and quantity of the setting items are the same for both categories. Their

difference is: the General Settings do not allow the user to change all settings and the items

that cannot be set are shown in gray and marked with an asterisk, while on the Advanced

Settings page, the user is able to make changes to all setting items. To enter the Advanced

Settings page, the user needs to enter a password, which is a four-digit number "1000".

The setting items are divided into 9 parts as shown below. Full explanations to these setting

items are provided in the following chapter.

4.1 Setting Item Explanation

1. System Setting

The system settings are divided into three parts: general settings, function settings and

electricity price settings. The contents of each sub-item, when expanded, are as follows:

1） General Setting Page

The user can make basic settings on this page. The screen-on time of the E4 cannot

be set to be permanently on, and the maximum screen-on time is up to 999 seconds.
2）Function Setting Page

a) Buzzer switch.

b) Remote Update. Enabling it will allow the user to remotely update the firmware version

of E4 and other components of the system.

c) Remote Dispatch. Enabling it will allow the user to set parameters via Nova Web or APP.

d) BMS Error Shutdown. Enabling it will shut down the system in the event of a BMS error.

e) AC in Low Voltage Alarm switch.

f) MPPT Offline Alarm switch.

g) PV Inverter Offline Alarm switch.

h) Solar Mode, selections including AC Coupling, DC Coupling and AC+DC Coupling.

i) Lock Out All Changes setting: When it is enabled, all setting items cannot be changed to

prevent accidental touch by mistake.

j) Restore Default setting: Clicking this item will delete all running data of the system and

restore all setting items. Please proceed with caution.

k) Fault Unlock: Some inverter faults, such as overload, short circuit or over temperature will
 lead to lock of the inverter. Its normal operation can be restored only after the user clicks

the fault unlock button.

l) Delete All Record Data: Clicking this item will delete all running data.

3）System - Electricity Price Setting

Set the electricity purchase tariff and feed-in tariff for each time range. 6 time ranges are

available for setting.

2. System Working Mode

a) Selection of working mode

① Zero Export To CT: In this mode, the PV and battery will be preferentially used to
supply power to the loads, and the grid will be used to supply power to the loads
only when the battery SOC (voltage) reaches its reserved capacity threshold. The
battery energy is used to power the loads, including the Critical Load and Smart
Load on the AC outputs and Normal Load on the AC input. The battery energy is
not allowed to be fed back into the grid. The excess PV energy can be fed back into
the grid, and the selling (export) power is available for selection.
② Zero Export To Load: In this mode, the PV and battery will be prioritized to power
the Critical Load until the battery SOC (voltage) reaches its reserved capacity
threshold, at which point the grid will assist the PV in supplying power to the Critical
Load on the AC output. Normal loads on the AC input will be powered by the grid
first. The battery energy is used to power the Critical Load and Smart Load on the
AC outputs, and it is not allowed to be fed back to the AC input port, including the
grid and generator. The excess PV energy can be fed back to the grid, and the
selling (export) power is available for selection.

③ Selling First: In this mode, the PV will power the loads first before exported to the
grid, and the battery will assist PV in powering the loads and its energy will be
exported to the grid until the battery SOC (voltage) reaches its reserved capacity
threshold, at which point only the PV will supply power to the loads and export
energy to the grid. When the PV is insufficient, the selling (export) power will be
decreased even to a degree that the grid will provide power to the loads together
with the PV. In this mode, the battery energy is allowed to be fed back to the grid.
b) AC in Charge, can be set as enabled or disabled.
c) Feedback to Grid, can be set as enabled or disabled.
d) Maximum Selling Power.
e) Battery Reserved SOC value
f) Energy Management Matrix(Time of Use). The user can customize 8 time ranges to
manage battery charge and discharge. For each time range, the following setting items
can be separately configured: using grid to charge battery or not, battery maximum
discharge power and battery reserved SOC (or voltage if lead-acid batteries are used).

3. AC in Setting

Select the grid or generator through the drop-down box, and the corresponding detail
page will display in accordance with the AC source selected.
When the Allowed Low Quality AC Source item is set to Weak Grid, the AC in harmonic
adaptation mode will be activated. In case of high AC in harmonic, selecting the Weak Grid
will ensure the inverter to perform charging in a more stable way.
With regard to grid code, the grid connection standards can be selected through the Grid
Code submenu. Currently, only the NRS2017 protocol is available for selection.
 4. Solar Setting

Two communication protocols are supported with the PV inverter: Solis and Meter. In this
page, the user can set the installation location and function of each PV inverter. When the
communication protocol is selected as meter, these settings will apply to meter accordingly.
Furthermore, user-defined start value, stop value and disconnect value with regard to the
frequency shifting are supported to adapt to the frequency shifting of different PV inverter
models.
 5. Load Setting

The AC OUT 2 on/off can be programmed based on the following setting items. The setting

items include:

1. AC OUT2 configuration logic: it can be configured as Smart Load or PV Inverter, which

means it can be connected to smart load or PV inverter;

2. Switch on Grid Only: if enable this setting, it means the AC OUT 2 will be automatically

switched on when the grid power is available

3. SOC Control: if enable this setting, it means the AC OUT 2 can be switched on/off based

on battery SOC

4. Switch on SOC>(%) and Switch off SOC <(%): Set the SOC value to trigger the on/off of AC

OUT2

5. PV power control: if enable this setting, it means the AC OUT2 can be switched on/off

based on the PV power

6. Switch on PV power>(W) and Switch off PV power <(W): Set the PV power value to trigger

the on/off of AC OUT2 .

7. Besides, Time Control option is also available, which allows the user to customize the time

range during which the AC OUT 2 will be switched on.

 6. Battery Setting

Battery setting page, where the battery type can be selected.

When the battery type is set as the Lithium Battery, its battery capacity is measured and

reported by the battery BMS and it is unavailable for setting.

Here we need to explain two important technical items: the Negative Offset of Charge Voltage

as for the lithium battery and the Temperature Compensation Coefficient as for the lead-acid

battery:

1） Negative Offset of Charge Voltage: if the battery communication protocol

supports TBB SUPER-L, this functionality will allow the user to reduce the

charging voltage.

2） Temperature compensation coefficient: When the lead-acid battery is being

charged, the intensity of the battery's chemical reaction is affected by ambient

temperature. Generally, higher battery temperature will lead to more active

chemical reaction, while lower battery temperature will lead to less active

chemical reaction in the battery. Therefore, when the battery is in high

temperature, the float voltage needs to be decreased to slow down the chemical

reaction due to the intensified chemical reaction of the battery; when the battery

is in low temperature, as the chemical reaction slows down, the float voltage

needs to be increased to speed up the chemical reaction, so as to ensure normal

energy conversion.
 7. Inverter Setting

There are three types of parallel connection methods available for selection: Stand-alone,

Parallel and Three-Phase. The system can automatically detect which parallel connection

method is adopted based on the current way of system installation.

Number of units in parallel: set the quantity based on the actual number of inverters deployed

in the system.

Inverter personalization settings

a) Common N Line: to enable or disable the input and output to share the same neutral

wire.

b) Ground Relay: neutral grounding setting on the output of the inverter. This setting will

take effect only when the input and output do not share the same neutral wire.

c) Bypass Supply: when it is enabled, the system will switch to pure bypass operation in case

the inverter fails during a grid-connected operation. When it is disabled, the protection
 will be otherwise triggered.

d) Ground Fault Detection: voltage detection between the neutral wire and the ground wire.

e) EPO: Emergency power off.

f) Battery Charging Optimizer: to optimize the battery charging current on the DC side by

optimizing the inverter charging waveform.

g) Restart under Protect: to enable or disable the restart after the fault is removed.

8. Relay Setting

With multiple relays built in the inverter, the AGS function can be realized through the
switch on/off of the relays based on the set conditions. This chapter addresses the AGS
function, including its setting conditions and result.

L1-1 Relay 1: L1-1 stands for the No. 1 inverter on the L1 phase, and Relay 1 stands for the
No. 1 relay.
1) Basic Setting
The minimum running time of the generator, the minimum interval for starting the
generator, the switch on delay and the switch off delay are available for setting, to prevent
the generator being started frequently due to the fluctuation of the battery SOC (voltage) or
load power, and thus to achieve the more economical and efficient use of the generator.
2）Time Control

Reserved SOC: SOC threshold within the time range.；

AC in Charge: whether to charge the battery within the time range.
Off if SOC Reached: whether to turn off the generator after the battery reaches its high
threshold. If not selected, the generator will not be turned off until the end of the time
range.
Day of Week: Number 1 to 7 stands for Monday to Sunday respectively. The number
highlighted indicates it is selected while the number in gray indicates it is not selected.

9. Wireless Setting

Through the Wi-Fi configuration, the user can connect to a Wi-Fi network for data exchange

between local data and Nova Web & APP.

Wi-Fi configuration can be easily made on E4. Currently, the SSID does not support automatic

search for nearby Wi-Fi network signals, so it has to be entered manually with the keyboard.

Please note that it is case-sensitive.

 4.2. Firmware Upgrade

With E4, the user can easily upgrade most of the devices in the system with a USB flash drive.

Upgrade instructions are provided as follows:

1） Create the [IDM] folder in the root directory of the USB flash drive, and then put

the firmware file in the [IDM] folder.

2） Insert the USB flash drive into the USB interface of E4. Hot swapping is supported.

3） After clicking the “Firmware Upgrade” button on the E4 screen, the screen will pop

up everything that can be recognized by E4 under the [IDM] folder of the USB flash

drive. Select the firmware to be upgraded.

4） Here we use the example of upgrading the inverter LCD firmware: during the

upgrade, the screen will display the upgrade progress of each inverter and the overall

progress. The inverter that fails to be upgraded will be marked in red with a “Retry”

button displayed next to the inverter.

5） A popup window will show up once the upgrade is successfully completed.