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Battery fault · All brands

Solar battery not discharging

Battery has charge but the home is still drawing from the grid. Not discharging at night. Stopping too early. In the majority of cases this is a system mode setting, a minimum SoC reserve, or a CT clamp issue — not a battery hardware failure.
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  • Usually a settings or CT clamp issue
  • All brands affected
  • Hardware failure is less common
Battery still not discharging after the checks?

A remote diagnostic session reviews your portal data live — system mode, discharge history, CT clamp readings, and event log — and confirms the exact cause.

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Contacted Solar Tech about my Givenergy battery storage system that wasn't working. Battery status was "idle". Given the company Givenergy had gone bust, I need independent quality technical help. Very patient and clearly very knowledgeable about battery systems Ron diagnosed possible issues and suggested several possible remedies. Worked our way through them and fortunately it began to work. The fault was very specific and only an experienced engineer would have thought to check. Suffice to say I'll be back if I need independent support again. Lastly you only pay if there is a solution. Outstanding.

Mr P · Jun 2026

Having had a recent solar instal and being concerned about various aspects of the work, I reached out to Solar Tech for advice. I received immediate engagement and first class advice. This was late evening and the company went above and beyond in providing assistance to me - high recommended.

John Szram · Jul 2026 Google

Excellent service from Solar Tech Support. Extremely quick to respond, easy to deal with and clearly very talented engineers. They were persistent throughout a complex GivEnergy battery issue and resolved everything completely. Highly knowledgeable, professional and reassuring support from start to finish. Highly recommended.

David Harris · May 2026

After 7 months of not being able to access/control my system following a change of wi-fi provider, followed by the news that GivEnergy had ceased trading i was left high and dry. I was unable to get any help whatsoever from my installer, tried various electrical tradespeople etc but no-one knew how to help me. Changed the Dongle but then couldnt get this change recognised in the inverter. Found Solar Tech Support while researching yet again online. Ronald has been amazing. Responding very quickly to my emails and very knowledgeable on the system. Managed to give us the information we needed to get the Dongle up and running and created me another account which now works as it should. His help has been invaluable. Thank you so much. Reviews I saw from other people said Solar Tech Support are very good, but i would say they are Outstanding!! Thanks again for all your help- Mick & Sandra

Michael Fox · Jul 2026 Google

Ron is incredibly knowledgeable about solar installs in general but knows givenergy products inside out and the key personnel that worked there from the start to the end. My problem was spurious in its nature but Ron spotted it straight away when he understood the installation details. In essence the installers didn’t fit the correct trip switch. He also gave me hope that in the future hardware repairs could be possible but it’s still early days. This guy really is in the know and keen to sucas a business If you need help don’t hesitate

Geoffrey Heathcote · Jun 2026 Google

Solar Tech Support is an absolute lifesaver. My solar and battery system stopped working completely, but after one quick phone call, they fixed the problem straight away. The original provider, GivEnergy, has gone into administration, leaving me entirely without support from the original installers. It was a terrible situation on GivEnergy’s part, but thankfully, Solar Tech Support came to the rescue!

sohaib maroof · Jul 2026 Google

What actually stops a battery discharging

In order of how commonly we see each cause.

Wrong system mode

Eco Mode only discharges reactively when house demand exceeds solar. It does not proactively power the home at night. For scheduled discharge you need Timed Discharge or Time of Use mode.

Minimum SoC reserve too high

The battery stops discharging when it hits its minimum SoC floor. If this is set to 30% or higher, a large share of stored energy appears locked away. Find and lower the operating range minimum in your portal settings.

CT clamp installed backwards

A reversed CT clamp means the inverter cannot correctly read house demand. The battery may appear to discharge but all energy flows to the grid rather than covering home loads. See CT clamp installed wrong.

Discharge window wrong or not set

In Timed Discharge mode, the battery only discharges during the configured window. If the window is not set, is set to the wrong times, or is running on the wrong clock timezone, the battery will sit idle during the intended discharge period.

Grid overvoltage protection

When grid voltage exceeds the inverter's safety threshold, the inverter suspends discharge as a protection measure. Most common on summer afternoons. Check the event log for overvoltage entries.

BMS or hardware fault

Less common. A BMS protection event — due to cell imbalance, over-temperature, or voltage deviation — can lock the battery out of discharge. Usually shows as a fault code in the event log. Requires engineer involvement.

Step-by-step diagnostic

Work through these in order — most cases are resolved before step 4.

1
Check system mode and discharge configuration

Open your portal or app and find the system mode setting. Eco Mode and Self-Consumption mode are reactive — they discharge only when house demand exceeds solar output. They will not proactively discharge the battery overnight to cover home loads.

If you want the battery to discharge on a schedule — for example during 4pm–8pm peak-rate electricity — you need Timed Discharge or Time of Use mode. Set the mode, configure the discharge window and target SoC, save, and verify the setting has stuck.

2
Check the minimum SoC reserve

Find the operating range or minimum SoC setting in your portal. Check what the floor is — if it is set to 20% and the battery is currently at 21%, it will not discharge any further. Note the current battery SoC and compare it to the minimum. If they are close, the battery is working correctly — it has just reached its configured floor. Lower the minimum SoC if you want to access more of the stored energy.

3
Check the discharge window times

If you are using Timed Discharge or Time of Use mode, confirm the discharge window matches your intended period. Also check the inverter clock — if it is running on UTC when the UK is on BST (UTC+1), the window runs one hour out of phase.

Example: if you want the battery to discharge 16:00–20:00 and the inverter is on UTC during BST, you need to set the window to 15:00–19:00 — or switch the inverter clock to local time.

4
Run the CT clamp live load test

Turn on a kettle and watch the grid import or house load reading in your portal. It should rise by approximately 2,000–3,000W. If the reading falls, stays flat, or moves in the wrong direction, the CT clamp is reversed — the inverter cannot correctly read house demand, so it cannot direct the battery to cover it. See the CT clamp installed wrong guide for the full diagnostic.

5
Check the event log for overvoltage and fault codes

Open the event log in your portal and look for grid overvoltage events, battery protection trips, BMS warnings, or cell voltage alarms. Grid overvoltage (typically above 253V) causes the inverter to suspend discharge automatically. BMS protection events indicate a battery-side hardware issue. Either way, note the exact fault codes — they are the most useful information for a remote diagnostic session.

Battery discharging but not powering the home

If your portal shows the battery discharging but the home is still drawing from the grid — or your export figure rises when the battery discharges — the discharge energy is going the wrong way. This is almost always a CT clamp or metering issue.

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CT clamp reversed — discharge appears as grid export. A backwards CT clamp inverts the grid measurement. When the battery discharges, the inverter reads it as energy flowing to the grid rather than to the home — so it appears to export rather than consume. The home continues drawing from the grid as normal. The CT clamp test above will confirm this.

▸

Export limit set to 0W blocking discharge. On some systems, a 0W export limit can cause the inverter to restrict or curtail discharge if the CT clamp reading suggests export is occurring. Check the export limit setting in your configuration — if it is 0W and the CT is misreading, discharge may be suppressed. See CT clamp installed wrong for the fix.

▸

Grid overvoltage causing intermittent discharge suspension. If the battery discharges inconsistently — powering the home sometimes but not others — check the event log for intermittent overvoltage events. Grid voltage spikes cause temporary discharge lockouts that can look like the battery is failing to discharge when it is actually responding to a grid protection trigger.

Brand-specific discharge guides

GivEnergy battery not discharging Sunsynk Growatt SolarEdge
FAQ

Frequently asked questions

The most common causes are: system mode is set to Eco Mode which only discharges reactively to cover demand, not proactively at a set time; the minimum SoC reserve is set too high so the battery stops discharging too early; the discharge window is not configured correctly; or the CT clamp is reversed so the inverter cannot read house demand. Check in this order.
If the battery shows charge but the home is drawing from the grid, the most likely causes are: the system mode is not configured to discharge at that time of day; the CT clamp is reversed so the inverter cannot direct the discharge correctly; or the minimum SoC has been reached. A reversed CT clamp is particularly common and causes discharge energy to appear to flow to the grid rather than the home.
The minimum SoC reserve is the lowest level to which the battery will discharge — typically set to 10–20% to protect cell longevity. You can find and adjust it in the operating range or system mode settings in your inverter app or portal. Reduce it carefully — discharging below 5–10% consistently will accelerate battery degradation over time.
The battery has a minimum SoC reserve set to 20% — either configured by your installer to protect battery longevity, or set as a manufacturer default. The battery is functioning correctly. If you want to use more of the stored capacity, lower the minimum SoC setting in your system mode or operating range configuration. Be aware this increases cycle depth and may affect long-term battery health.
Yes. When grid voltage rises above the inverter's safety limit — typically 253V — the inverter suspends discharge as a protection measure. This is most common during sunny afternoons in summer when local grid voltage is elevated by other solar exports nearby. Check the event log for overvoltage or grid fault entries. Persistent events should be reported to your DNO.
If the portal shows the battery discharging but the home is still importing from the grid, the most likely cause is a reversed CT clamp. The discharge energy is being measured incorrectly — appearing to flow to the grid rather than the house. Run the live load test: turn on a kettle and watch the grid import figure. If it moves in the wrong direction, the CT clamp is the cause.
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Still not discharging after working through this?

A remote diagnostic session includes a live review of your portal data — system mode, discharge history, CT clamp readings, and event log. We confirm the exact cause and tell you whether it is a settings fix or whether an engineer needs to attend.

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