Jump to content

Dave

Members
  • Posts

    32
  • Joined

  • Last visited

  • Days Won

    2

Dave last won the day on May 21 2017

Dave had the most liked content!

Profile Information

  • Gender
    Male
  • Location
    Hilton, KZN

Recent Profile Visitors

2,234 profile views

Dave's Achievements

  1. http://files.sma.de/dl/4148/SENSORBOX-DEN103131W.pdf This may be the answer...
  2. The electrician has used potentiometer and a relay. It obviously still needs tweaking.
  3. I don't think that it is available on the web logger. The web logger and powermonitor.co.za show what power is been used, not what is available.
  4. I have a microcare 10kw with a battery monitor and web logger. The web logger updates a website www.powermonitor.co.za. I want to know how much power is available, not how much is been generated. The 10w panel would be powering a load that would act as a trigger to turn on the pump. On a cloudy day the pump should not turn on. It would be like running the pump off its own solar panels.
  5. I'm looking for advice on how to use a 10w solar panel to mimic my solar panel array to determine if there is potentially enough power to run my pool pump. My idea is to put the 10w panel adjacent to the pool pump, but at the same aspect as my panels on the roof. A resister / relay / sonoff could then trigger the pool pump if there is sufficient power. Please advise.
  6. Try the cloud hub from qwickswitch. http://www.qwikswitch.co.za/shop.php I use the cloud hub and their wifi switches to control my borehole, pool pump and pressure pump. My friend Paul wrote a script to activate the switches using data from the Microcare power monitor. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
  7. It "helps" to have never had eskom in a rural setting. The money saved on eskom installation and line charges subsidises the off grid solar. @pilotfish is right about KZN. We often have 3 to 4 days rainy days in summer. This means that we need that many days of autonomy. I have run my generator at least 4 times last summer. I am not technical and i have found that there is a steep learning curve and it takes a lot of management. On the plus side having power when everyone else is bleating on the whatsapp group is priceless.
  8. I lived in Hilton, KZN for 18 months while building a house on a small holding. In Hilton you normally only have 2 of the following: Lights, water or telephone. To mitigate this I installed LED lights throughout the house and a 1kva inverter on a relay on the light circuit. 2 102 Ah batteries powered the system and those were trickle charged with an electric fence charger while eskom was on. One plug was connected to the light circuit for the ADSL modum. This system helped with the numerous outages and is obvious to most members on this forum. Its cheap to install. The inverter was an old camping modified sinewave that cost about R1500. With a couple of solar panels and an MPPT it could be an off the grid project. It won't save money, but is a useful entrance to solar. I am now completely off the grid. Just had eskom lines through the farm removed.
  9. Dave

    Power spout

    Also a constant charging day and night, cloudy or sunny would keep the battery at higher charge and possibly mean longer life. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
  10. Dave

    Power spout

    Sunny day now so battery at 100% Pool pump and borehole pump on. 6kw coming in 3.6kw going out. Yesterday not so good. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
  11. Dave

    Power spout

    Perhaps the true purpose of my life is serve as a warning to others. Lap pools and off grid do not mix. We live in Hilton KZN, a particularly misty and wet area of SA. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
  12. Dave

    Power spout

    It quickly gets filthy. I'm also looking at a thing called a pool dolphin which uses 200w and filters inside the pool. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
  13. Dave

    Power spout

    I have made provision for an extra 3kw pv. The problem is that when it's sunny I have plenty of power. When it's cloudy I have not enough. Typically I produce from nothing to 600 w on a cloudy day. Adding 3kw pv would not help. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
  14. Dave

    Power spout

    Back to the power spout..... I am considering putting one or two of these in my stream. I have two 2,5 ha dams. 150m from the spillway of the top dam I would have a head of about 7m. This is below the house which is convenient for cables to my inverter room. My setup is as follows: 9kw pv 3x60 amp Mppt 24x2v mte 25 FNB cells 10kw Microcare inverter. My problem is a 20m lap pool with a 1,5 kw pool pump. Without the pool I have 3 days autonomy. My question about the power spouts is that at R32 000 are they a good deal. I am going to probably need two to deal with summer and winter flows. I been given 34 x 6m x 250mm plastic pipes for the penstock. I would need to do the civils on the spillway for the penstock inlet. I think this will cost about 100 to 120k for the whole lot. The power spouts should produce between 500 w to 1300 w. What say ye? Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
  15. The biggest problem is that i'm impatient and everyone was closed over the long weekend. Microcare are always very helpful on the phone. Their sales manager has told me that they are re writing the manuals. I have learnt a hell of a lot in the last few days. I have also decided to increase my system by 50%
×
×
  • Create New...