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Are you a renewable energy installer looking to expand your business and provide the best possible service to your clients? Look no further than Powerforum , a leading platform for renewable energy solutions. By partnering with Powerforum and Powerforum Store, you can access a range of benefits that will help you grow your business and better serve your customers.

Here are some of the benefits of partnering with Powerforum and Powerforum Store:

Access to Exclusive Pricing: Powerforum Store has established agreements with Importers that allow us to offer the best possible pricing on equipment. This means you can provide your clients with high-quality products at competitive prices.


Direct Manufacturer Support: Powerforum Store has direct lines of communication with manufacturers, allowing us to provide you with the latest information on new products and technology. This ensures that you are always up-to-date and can offer your clients the best solutions.


Increased Visibility: By partnering with Powerforum, you gain access to a vast network of potential clients. We receive many inquiries from consumers looking for renewable energy solutions, and we can refer them to installers we trust. This increases your visibility and helps you attract new business.


Reduced After-Sales Service Burden: Powerforum Store provides consumers with accurate information on products and installation best practices, helping them understand warranty conditions. This reduces the burden on installers to handle warranty issues and protects you from abuse of your services.


Extensive Product Range: Powerforum Store offers a wide range of products, including wind turbines and solar panels, as well as expert technical support for any size installation or project. This allows you to provide your clients with tailored solutions that meet their specific needs.


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  • 3 replies

Hey All

We have another Awesome Powerforum Store Review and Lucky Draw Giveaway of a very nice Lithium Battery and some other soon to be disclosed goodies on its way....

Thank you to the Team at Magneto Energy for providing us with equipment to test and review and the best part to let us give it away to one of the lucky members on our forum.

Terms for you to be eligible 

Must be a Power Forum Member. Yes even NEWB's Can win the product in the lucky draw.


Must be willing to give feedback on a thread you create on your experience with the product.


Allow the Manufacturer to communicate with you to get realworld information on how their product performs and some technical feedback for future improvements.


If you win the product it must be installed by a qualified technician NO DIY Installs Please we need to support the professionals in the market.


Provide us with nice photos of your Installation on the thread you created. 


Cost of delivery or collection of the prize is for the winner.




We will Post more details on the giveaway in the next couple of days. 

Thanks for your Continued Support. 

Powerforum Store
  • 66 replies

Vital to being able to keep within the inverter output limits (and avoid importing expensive grid power unnecessarily) is having the means to display the relevant information in an immediate and accessible way.

That's what I told my wife, anyway.  Really, I'd just scored a bunch of old RC servos on ebay for £5 and I wanted to play with them. 😉


 

In context:


 

It uses 6 servos, a Wemos d1 mini clone and a tri-colour LED.  Dial faces are 3D printed, with a filament change from white to black (which turned out much better than I imagined, TBH).

The servos only had around 90° of sweep angle, so I 3D printed some little holder/gearbox things to get over 180° and provide a shaft for the needle to go on, plus some 'steampunk' needles.



 

All run buy the obligatory D1 mini and held together using the very latest in 'twist and tape' technology.


 

Yee-haw! 🤠

It gets fed the data from 'node-red' running on a Victron CerboGX via UDP packets over WiFi, updating as often as the data changes (approx 3 second intervals).  The LED changes colour according to state, so 'All OK' is green, 'You're getting very close to/exceeding the inverter output limit, so if you don't want to pay for grid, don't turn anything else on' is red, then blue for 'dumping power into the hot water tank'.

It's by no means silent in operation.  I originally made a single-servo version for just PV generation and coded it so that the meter movements were gradual (a kind of PID to get from one value to the next), but apparently it 'sounded like we have cockroaches' when it made it's ticky-scratchy transitions between values, so the big version just jumps between values with a 'zzziiiiiup!' sound.

It's actually quite reassuring to have an audible indication when the sun comes out for 5 seconds, or it starts charging at night.

I'd also put a little radar sensor in there, with the aim of having it detect when there was nobody around, so it could stop displaying to save power/noise.  Unfortunately, that meant that every time you entered the room, all 6 needles would suddenly move at the same time, making you jump out of your skin and spill your horlicks, so we just leave it 'on' all the time now.

There's also a basic web UI, so you can see the same data on your phone or whatever, plus it's useful for troubleshooting:


 

I had fun and learned loads making it - and now it's become a family game to try to cook dinner without making the red light come on. 🙂

 

Libraries used are 'ESPUI' and 'servo', plus 'arduinoOTA'.  Code, FreeCad file for the gearbox & stl file for the arrow-head needle are all in the attached zip.

Power_meters_v2..zip
  • 62 replies

Hi,

I'd like to introduce myself, and my small setup. 

I'm Bianco, a Dutch male, and my wife and I moved to Spain 2 years ago, where we live on a small piece of rural land, in Aragon. We are completely off-grid. 
Therefore I Hired a friend two years ago to install a solar system. he and a friend installed a Voltronic Expert 24V 3Kw, with 6 320 Wp Solarpanels, and 2 Ultracell 316 Ah Gel Batteries, and I paid good money for it.  After 1 year and a bit, every thing shut down at 2 in the morning, whilst the day before was a clear and sunny day. In the months after that, it started happening more and more. Well long story short, The Batteries were fried. After contacting the "friend" He basically told me he could do nothing: A bit like: Shit happens. 

After studying I chose to do it myself. The panels were fine, so they are still there. I bought a new Inverter, another Voltronic Axpert, 5Kw, on 48 Volts And two Pylontechs US3000C

All connected, everything works fine. in the (hopefully near) future we'd like to add another Pylontech to the bank. Its enough for us. We have a TV, and we mostly watch during the day (if we do), and no dishwasher, washing machine or other heavy stuff, besides a Nespresso, but that is also only used during the day. The only thing that is a big consumer is the waterpump, but on a timer, controlled by Domoticz. During non-solar hours, it is off. 

So I have a raspberry in the bedroom, wich is equipped with Domoticz, wich controls most of the lights, and a few other stuff. In the Batteryroom, there is another raspberry, wing contains Solarassistant, and monitors the Pylontechs via the Inverter.

I'm still looking for a way to connect the Pylontechs Directly to the raspberry, I read something about the console port, but can seem to find if you can connect it at the same time as the port to the Inverter.

So, Newbie in Solar, but I like learning about it, and helping. 

If anybody knows something about connecting it to a raspberry, (or maybe my way of thinking is wrong) much obliged.

Greetings from a cold (+2), but Sunny Spain.

 
  • 58 replies

When I google this or ask installers, I'm getting mixed answers.

Some suggest that a hybrid inverter will get any extra load it needs, from the grid, if its overloaded.
Some suggest that even a hybrid inverter will fault/cut off if overloaded.
When I say overloaded, meaning if its a 5kw inverter and my load exceeds that.

Or is the truth somewhere in-between, certain makes/,models of inverters can and some can't?

Thanks for your time.
  • 28 replies

Nissan Leaf for sale - R165 000  -SOLD
2013 Nissan Leaf for sale.

Excellent condition. 

New tires.

Odometer: 55 171 KM

Range: 60 KM

Charger: 3 Kwatt

Location: Cape Town

Efficiency: 7.5 KM / Kwh

 
  • 12 replies

How much Weight is needed to hold your Panels in Place on a concrete Roof
Hi,

I have good friend who has a solid concrete roof on which he wants to install 4 x rows of 6 x 550w solar panels using A-Frames.

The main point here is that he does not want to drill into the roof and would prefer to use Concrete ballasts to hold the A-frames down.

Can anybody advise how much ballast (weight) he would need to use per A-Frame to hold the panels in place (not to blow away in the wind).

He stays in Cape Town where the wind is gusty and can be relatively stong, especially when the South Easter blows.

Below is a picture of the A-Frames he wants to use (note: this is not a picture of his installation....just a picture of the A-Frames)

The A-Frames will be placed 1.2m apart - can anyone advise how much weight is recommended per A-Frame?
  • 16 replies

EVE Lf304 build
So I will be picking up my cells on Wednesday, I also purchased their Apex BMS, which is just a rebranded seplos. 

I was initially going to buy a steel case and modify it from there, but has since decided to get a 3D printer, draw up some modular designs, and this will now be my project. From the mockups it is going to look good. 

Will post my build log here.
  • 21 replies

Saving on electricity after solar installation
Hi All

Hope you are well. I had a question. How do you know if we are saving once solar is installed. I am not seeing changes on my electricity bill. My geyser is still on eskon but I have installed a timer to control when my geyser is switched on and switched off.
I have a 5kva inverter and 4.8kva battery. I run the house on solar during the day (switching back to eskom when using high wattage appliances like an iron or running multiple appliances at once when need to).

 

Kind regards

Deepa
  • 68 replies

Hey Guys so its that time of the year again and we have a whole Host of Giveaways lined up some to watch out for would be the New Solis S6 6KW Advanced Hybrid (Beast) we are busy with a long term review in real world conditions with the Solis S6 the Unit we are giving away has already gone through a preliminary review but we may give more of this brand away in the future. 

Magneto has given us some wonderful product to review and give away MAGNETO Lithium-LiFePo4 Rack Mount 48V 5.1 KWh also note the great prices on those units  and a  Magneto Thermo Tank also promise of more nice items to give away in the future. 

Then we Have the Revo Inverter and battery Combo (not listed on our online store yet but soon) there will be some terms and conditions on this giveaway however an exciting product squarely aimed at Sunsynk and Deye.

We are also receiving a very nice Battery from Halo Energy to give away the 113AH HALO Eclipse WM-5 48V 1C however this will only be in about 5 Weeks time but still a very nice compact battery.  

VTC is giving us one of their VTC Vxl5100W 5.1kWh LifePo4 battery 51V/100Ah Wall Mount (not listed on our online store yet but soon) to review and test this is also a very nice wall mount battery with Bluetooth and WIFI features decent cycle count compatibility and scalability and we will give this away to a lucky forum member. 

Inverter Neutral Earth bonding
Some say yes some say no ????  My setup are  the following as per drawing.

Now if I bond the neutral and the earth from the inverter and work hat to be done on the electrical box outside (eskom) then the earth back to the box will have a earth that can carry current due to the bonding---My inverter do not do the bonding as I tested the system---On eskom power the e/n there is no voltage but on inverter there is 84volt between e/n.

Anyone please explain if I can bond earth/neutral at the inverter out and also the feedback from the bond to the electrical box outside
  • 191 replies

Hello everyone! <br style="color:#141414;font-size:15px;">
<br style="color:#141414;font-size:15px;">
I am looking for participants for my Masters dissertation survey and ALL of you who are in this forum are exactly the right people! It's about people who are interested in renewable energies. I am interested in anyone who uses the available technologies - or maybe has even had an idea how to improve the set-up or played around a bit with it. As long as you care just a tiny bit about renewable energies, you are perfect for my survey! <br style="color:#141414;font-size:15px;">
If you have already read this far, please take part  

https://forms.office.com/e/9Q0z7r21W8

<br style="color:#141414;font-size:15px;">
The survey is of course anonymous and the results will only be used in the context of my master thesis. You only need 5-10 minutes of your time. You get loads of good karma for taking part and the additional good feeling of knowing that you helped out a student.  <br style="color:#141414;font-size:15px;">
<br style="color:#141414;font-size:15px;">
Sunny greetings<br style="color:#141414;font-size:15px;">
Freya <br style="color:#141414;font-size:15px;">
<br style="color:#141414;font-size:15px;">
PS: this post is authorised and I am extremely grateful for being allowed to post my survey here and I hope lots of you will take the chance and take part!
  • 61 replies

I made a video for you 🙂

 

 

Hi to all like minded individuals
Hello Everyone!

Goodoldgaz here.

Im not exactly new to inverters and solar and renewables

I am electrician by trade and just dig the idea of sustainability and more specfically

"self sustainability" .

i am however new to forums and finding it kinda challanging navigating around 

not even sure that this is where introductions are made but Hello

 

 

 
  • 6 replies

String arrangement for 8kw Sunsynk
Hi Guys, newbie question for my string arrangement that will feed my Sunsynk 8kw

Due to my roof configuration and space,  I need to get crafty with my string arrangement. Can I install 2 strings of 6 x 550w panels each on one mppt and 2 strings of 3 x 550w panels on the other mppt?

Note that string 1 will face east and string 2 will face west, the same with string 3 and 4. Excuse my drawing below


Thank you in advance

 
  • 21 replies

Sunsynk Inverter configuration questions
Hi All,

I have taken the plunge and installed solar:

1 x 8kw Sunsynk inverter

2x 5kwh Sunsynk batteries

12 x 545w JAS PV panels

The work mode I would like to configure is for the system to provide solar power to the essentials first then if there is spare capacity charge the batteries, then send left over power to the non-essentials.

I have ticked "Zero Export" and "Prioritise load"  on the inverter and in the sunsynk app the " Limit to Home" option is selected. See attached pictures.

But according to the Power Flow diagram some power is from solar (3Watt) , (43Watt) is produced from the batteries , 790Watt is send to the Grid and nothing is supplied to the Load.

This does not make sense? The installer confirmed that the CT coil is installed in the correct place and the correct way around.

Any Advice would be appreciated.

Thanks
  • 49 replies

Finally bit the bullet
So for the last 9 years or so I've had a simple 12v lighting system in the house with a 120ah battery running off a 12v 120watt panel in turn running 34 led lights. I've had zero failures of any of the equipment and the battery that I had lasted me a good 7 years. Success. The new install had to actually work around the small panel as I refused to move it or change anything attached to that system.

I decided to up it a bit, but knew that I was in over my head. So Alumo did the install yesterday. 

12 x 470w panels, 8KW Sunsynk and 2x 5.5KV greenrich batteries. I'd added Cbi wifi timers on my geysers and have 1 geyser on the system (smaller one) and one on the grid. 


I've been in a mad rush to finish painting the area where the panels were going to go as the roof hadn't seen any paint in the last 9 years. The final plan is to add more panels towards the back of the property as we have space for a good 10-12 more. 


The set up has been installed in our laundry and I couldn't wish for a better layout. It sits right next to my existing system and that system got a few smiles from the installer who said....meh, it works and it works well. 🙂
  • 15 replies

Hi all

 

Can anyone guide me on what I would require besides the battery, inverter and panels. How many of each item and specs/watts. Also if you can recommend a place in Jhb that is priced well?

Below are the hardware

1x5kw luxpower SNA

2X5kw Greenrich WM batteries 

8x 545w panels

 

Thank you
  • 6 replies

Hi folks,

I have a single panel that I need to move, but it requires disconnection of one of the wires. What is the correct procedure to follow to disconnect, move and then re connect this panel?

I assume DC switch off, and PV breakers dropped?

Thanks very much!
  • 9 replies

My Sunsynk 8kw silence hack
Hi Everyone,

Thought I'd share this because I have noticed a few people concerned or frustrated with the fan noise from the 8kw Sunsynk inverter. I couldn't install my inverter in the garage because I do a lot of woodwork in there and I know the dust would cause issues in the fans and heatsinks. So its mounted at the end of our passage where it meets with the garage through the door. The noise at night was really an issue for me. During load shedding the fans would usually kick in. Specially when the aircons where running. This is obviously when the inverter was doing a lot of work and required cooling. Then also after load shedding when the batteries were charging the fans would come on intermittently. Bloody irritating when trying to sleep.

The following pics is what I came up with. 5 decent quality 92mm PC fans on the vent side to constantly pull air through. Now these fans don't have the CFM or static pressure rating of the built in fans. But they are dead quite and they keep a constant steady flow of air over the heatsinks. On average, they keep the inverter 10-15 degrees cooler according to solar assistant. I have only had them in for 5 days now and the temperature has never gone over 55 degrees which is the trigger point for the built in fans. I ran all 4 aircons plus the air fryer for 30 mins and the inverter got up to 49 degrees. But when idle, it sits at 35-40 degrees. I am still waiting for a full sun day with load shedding where the MPPT's and the inverter are under a decent constant load to see what happens. Today the MPPT's where hitting around 8kw peaks while charging, and about 4kw on the inverter and it never went over 41 degrees.

I have mounted the fans about 10mm of the exit vent so none of the holes get blocked. The idea is that when the internal fans kick in, that air can just blow through my external fans. For now, I have just hot glued the fans to the wall and hot glued a piece of trunking cover to side(proper life hack style =D). I am busy designing a decent 3D printed bracket to hold all 5 fans and clips onto the vent hole at 4 points. No alterations have been done to the inverter at all so no future warranty issues. The fans run off an external 12v supply. I have wired it through a sonoff switch with the idea to control them through home assistant based on inverter load and temps.

 
  • 97 replies

with installation on my panels the company only ground my panels with the power utility ground in the box and not through a spike outside in the ground. is that correct or not
  • 11 replies

Hi Guys we will be giving away a couple of goodies Sponsored to us by SEGEN SOLAR over the next 2 weeks.

Please note we will give the products away on a random lucky draw to Active Power Forum Members.

Some of the items will include some Victron Inverters battery cables cabinets and a few other odds and ends. 

Watch this space we will make more posts relating to the giveaway.

Regards Power Forum Team ! 
  • 37 replies

Sizing a string for SunSynk 5KW Inverter
I need some help sizing a correct string for a SunSynk 5KW inverter. The inverter specs are as following:

PV String Input Data
Max. DC Input Power 6500W
PV Input Voltage 370V (100V~500V)
MPPT Range 125~425V
Full Load DC Voltage Range 240~425V
Start-up Voltage 150V
PV Input Current 11A+11A
No. of MPPT Trackers 2
No. of Strings Per MPPT Tracker 1+1
 

I would like to size a string for one MPPT Tracker and possibly half of the input power for now. Later I'll add more panels for another sting on the second MPPT.

The panels I have in mind have the following specs:

Electrical Characteristics STC            
Maximum Power (Pmax)                    250 W
Maximum Power Current (lmp)          8.31 A
Maximum Power Voltage (Vmp)        30.1 V
Short Circuit Current (lsc)                  8.83 A
Open Circuit Voltage (Voc)                37.4 V

Electrical Characteristics NOCT
Maximum Power (Pmax)                    185 W
Maximum Power Current (lmp)          6.57 A
Maximum Power Voltage (Vmp)        28.2 V
Short Circuit Current (lsc)                  7.12 A
Open Circuit Voltage (Voc)                35.0 V

 

First question would be - Do I look at the specs at STC or NOCT?

Another question - What does it mean when they say "Full Load DC Voltage Range 240~425V"? Is the MPPT going to stop working above 425V?

And thirdly - What do they mean by "No. of Strings Per MPPT Tracker 1+1"? Can I put 2 strings per MPPT and use a combiner box or only 1 string per MPPT, as there is only 2 PV inputs on the inverter?

If I want to be as close as possible to half the inverter DC power 6500W/2 = 3250W

Let's say the panels are old already lost 10% of the max power, so they should be 225W now. 

3250W/225W = 14.4 panels. Let's say 14 panels in one string per this calculation.

Or, as per NOCT - 185W - 10% = 166.5W

3250W/166.5 = 19.5 panels. Let's say 19 panels in one string per this calculation.

The inverter say - Full Load DC Voltage Range 240~425V

425V/37.4V = 11.4 panels. Let's say 11 panels in one string per this calculation.

Or if I look at the NOCT Voc 35V:

425V/35V = 12.1 panels. Let's say 12 panels in one string per this calculation.

 

Which of the above calculation and string size would be best given the above specification?
  • 63 replies

https://www.news24.com/fin24/budget/budget-2023s-big-news-eskom-debt-solar-tax-bonanza-and-tough-choices-20230222

 

Households will get a tax rebate of 25% of the cost of new solar PV panels for the next year. The rebate can offset your income tax liability up to a maximum of R15 000. For example, if you buy 10 solar panels at a cost of R40 000, this means your personal income tax liability for the 2023/24 tax year will be reduced by R10 000.

 

 
  • 57 replies

Hi all

First post here and hoping someone can help. I've got a Deye 5kw with a single AM2 Hubble and 6 x 465w panels. Installed for 75 days now without issues. 

With Stage 6 yesterday, we were running on Battery and Solar from 12h00-16h30. I noticed after restoration that my battery was not charging - 18h30. We were at 89% and grid was not charging up to 100% like normal. Spoke to my installer and guided me on a system reboot. Checked fuses, no issues either. By 19h30 everything worked fine and batteries charged up to 100% ahead of round 2 of loadshedding from 20h00-00h30 

Paid little attention today as load was fed by solar for the day and my battery discharged and charged when load shedding kicked in from 12h00 to 16h30 again. This evening, checked on the battery and it's been at 90% and not charging. Did a reboot of just the inverter but that did not resolve. Only had a few mins before loadshedding was due to kick in so said 90% should carry us fine.

My installer is suggesting a software update. Does anyone know what the latest update available is and how to go about getting and installing it? 

My biggest concern is grid is not charging the battery. I have not made any changes to the settings since it was installed all those days ago. I do not use the Grid charge during specific hours. So ... I'm at a loss. According to the Solarman app, we charged on solar but seems the issue is with grid feeding the battery.

I've mailed Hubble and Deye for answers. Hoping someone here might be able to assist and guide me.
  • 3 replies

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