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Savings
moolmanj posted a topic in Beat Load Shedding ,
Good day
I would like some advice from people who managed to install a system greater than what you are using with sufficient battery storage as well. Basically if you switch of eskom for a day you are still running.
Have you saved or reduced your Account and by how much taking into consideration clouds,rains etc.
thanks-
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- 44 replies
Picked By
Energy-Jason, -
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New to the forum
Toxxyc posted a topic in Starting In Solar? Feel free to introduce yourself,
Good morning, everyone. I'm new here, and I'm hoping to mine a bit of the knowledge on here.
My story is simple. I currently stay in a small town in a house with a small backup solar setup. I bought the house with 2 x 450W panels, a Mecer 2.4kW inverter and 2 x 12V100AH gel batteries installed. I hated the setup from the start as it's installed in the living room and the inverter isn't particularly quiet, but alas, I needed the backup in case of loadshedding (I work from home).
Eventually the gel batteries couldn't keep up with Stage 6 and so on load shedding, not getting enough time to charge to float between uses, and they gave up the ghost. I DIY-replaced the two gel batteries with a Sunmagic 25.6V 150AH LiFePO4 battery. The new lithium battery allowed the inverter to actually use it for what it was made for, and I set it to use the absolute minimum power from the battery, and charge via solar. It's been working well-ish.
Anyway, time passed and we viewed a smallholding outside of town, put in a bit of a lowball offer (based on the work the place needs) and it got accepted. So now we're moving. However, the transformer costs on the smallholding is simply outrageous, so I'm going to take the place off grid. It's not a big place and we don't use a lot of electricity (we work smart, using around 20kW a day, max 30kW a day when it's really cold and we run some heaters around the place. Stovetop is gas, everything is LED and energy efficient, but the geyser is still electric. We're not going to change that right now, it's a future thing.
So, what I want to do is simply not register the Eskom pole to my name when I buy the place, and they'll then cut the house off. I then want to install a solar system that'll run the house. The house has plenty of roof space (around 450 square meters), the DB is in the garage (so I can put everything in there, under roof, outside the house), and we're good to go.
However, the finances are a worry. I need to finance the whole shebang as all cash we have is going into security on the smallholding. So I searched around and found Solar.co.za and I'm wondering if they're legit, how it works, etc. They have a rent-to-own system that's essentially financing the whole thing on their side, but I can't find much about them online, except for mixed reviews on HelloPeter.
So, here I am. Can anyone recommend me a rent-to-own solar company that'll do what I need at around R3k per month? From the solar.co.za guys I can get 16 x 455W panels, 2 x 5kW LuxPower inverters, and 3 x HinaESS 5.14kW batteries for ~R2,900 per month. That's perfectly in my budget, and if I install a generator I have alongside that, I should be fine even on rainy days, right?
I hope to learn a lot, and expect a TON of questions from me!-
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- 41 replies
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Energy-Jason, -
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Feeding back to grid- challenges
Alex Stewart posted a topic in Inverters,
Hi all, I have an 8kw Sunsynk inverter and started feeding back to the grid a week ago. Exciting times! However, the grid at times is being fed from my batteries which I don't want. Does anyone know how to adjust the inverter settings to prevent this? I would like the first priority of the pv generation to cover our load requirements, then charge batteries, then feed the grid but not from batteries even if they are fully charged. Any ideas?-
- 16 replies
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Energy-Jason, -
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Going To Begin My DIY Solar Build :)
SunDayFunDay posted a topic in Beat Load Shedding ,
Lets Start Here
Due to unreliability of Eskom and faults in my area I have decided to go the solar route.
This is not a solo effort I'm a noob this thread will serve its purpose and place as a tutorial for whoever would like to know how and what needs to be done under the careful watch of forum members into building a solar system from scratch as a noob please note your input is valuable and will be much appreciated, I will include cost and sizing and all small detail where I can provide it.
Hopefully you can learn and make your own small system
These are the main components below however there minute details such as capacity of Dc Breakers, SPDs, the correct AC Breakers from the main board to the AC Disconnect, Roof Mount and Accessories, wiring, placement of panels and testing and balancing of system, there is 10 critical components which depends on your budget
(Sizing and Full Specs will be done once I get an idea)
Equipment
Solar Inverter
Battery
Solar Panels
Materials:
DC Combiner Box (Breaker and SPDs/Fuses)
AC Disconnect Box (Breakers)
Battery Fuse
Earth Spike
Earth-Neutral Bond
Wiring
Roof Mount
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- 8 replies
Picked By
Energy-Jason, -
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A much better way of connecting Home Assistant to your DEYE/Sunsynk inverter
Sc00bs posted a topic in Home Automation,
Hi Guys
Just wanted to share my latest video on installation and connecting your inverter to Home Assistant using the new RS485 shield and ESP32C board.
Makes life much easier to set the thing up, no soldering and you only need to connect the power up inside the inverter to a 12V power supply and the RS485 cables so dead easy.
You can get the board and an ESP32 from https://smarthomeintegrations.co.za/ for R400 and get delivery in a day or so.
Slipx06 (Paul) has also included some cool new YAML code to calculate Daily energy production and consumption in the ESP32 and send that info to HA as well.
Let me know what you guys think of the video please
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- 167 replies
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To be sure that the battery is able to supply power in the expected operating range. For pylontech US that is 100-20%. If you go even lower, to 9% if I remember correctly, the pylontech will auto-shutdown. For other LFP batteries the range might be 90-10% with autoshutdown at 5%, for example. That is a bad sign. There are 3 common causes for this: 1) The FW of the battery is bad. It thinks that the capacity of the battery is higher, that what is the reality. For example, the FW and it's parameters are for 200Ah version, but the actual cells are just 150Ah. Manafacturing mistake. 2) One or more cells are damaged, having a much less capacity. Normally, BMS calculate SOC by counting in/out AmpHours. But when 200Ah cell has just 150Ah, then the voltage of that cell drops very quicky at the end of discharge. So the AmpHours counter shows 20%, but since this cell is empty, and voltage is under low limit, the BMS jumps to 5% or any other value hard-coded as "battery near being flat". 3) Cells are severely unbalanced, therefore one or two of them are unable to be fully charged. Effect is similar to #2. Cell voltage drop at the end of discharging and unexpected SOC fall. Makes sense? -
By Dirkie Crous · Posted
Afternoon, Got five (5)Pylontech US2000 plus batteries of which two are C models. Problem with one of them is that all the SOC lights and the red alarm light stays on. Manual say the battery is under protection. No charge or discharge. Switch off for 15 minutes as recommended with no success. No cell swelling visible. Inverter settings: Charging current. 80A. Charging Voltage. 52.5V. Floating Voltage. 51.8V. What can be the problem? Please advise. Dirkie Crous 0836473592 [email protected] -
By Sidewinder · Posted
@BigotedUncle, Drop in replacement it may be, but hopefully the Salesman advised you to change the inverter setting for this new battery. It is completely different to SLA, so please tell us you did change the Charging Voltage and Current as per battery manufacturer. Else you inadvertently may Over/Undercharge the batteries, and not gain the advantages that you thought you had, especially long term. -
By Sidewinder · Posted
@BigotedUncle, Yes, I think that's about right, at least that is my understanding. - from my BLS Batteries point of view...They have Pace BMS. But a lot of white labelled Batteries use this/other BMS brands, and the firmware may differ in how it calculates Cycles. Some sees a small +- 10% SOC drop as a cycle, and clock up cycles very fast (>1 per day), specially if your system charges and discharges frequently during the day. After 4 years, my cycle count is 622, which equates to more or less 50% discharge daily - which is what I'm doing. I expect that to increase slightly, as I am now driving my batteries a bit lower SOC daily. -
By esmail-kassir · Posted
could you explain why please ? my battery began to stop discharging at 20% and suddenly become 5% after a firmware upgrade (it is Felicity 48 200 not pylontech ) -
Yes. You would be using about 50% of the yield strength of the rod (assuming grade 3.6 steel), so in theory it would be (just) OK. However, depending on the length of the rod, it will twist significantly as you tighten it. I would recommend an 8mm rod. Another useful calculator: Torque and Preload Calculator | Bossard South Africa -
By esmail-kassir · Posted
I Tried changing the settings from the PC web portal again , and voila it works now . but the strange thing that the settings button disappeared from the mobile app also now the is a paid option to increase the data fetching speed to 1 per minute so it is becomes more real time monitoring -
By esmail-kassir · Posted
it seems there is no newer versions from Voltronic since a while -
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By Skipbidipop · Posted
yes, thank you.. I think we talked about this in the beginning of this thread My BMS can't be connected to my inverter as it doesn't have rs485.. only UART(TTL 5V I guess) and bluetooth.. That's why I said I plan to make a converter for this.. because those BMSs are really cheap and good.. InverterBMS from the same manufacturer is about 150% more expensive I hope I can set the BMS over bluetooth to not charge under or around 0°C.. it does have 2 external temp sensors after all _____ Thanks.. good idea.. almost any problem has an online calculator solution 😅 ..one just has to remember to search for it So, I put in 4mm as bolt major diameter and 750N of force because it's 1/4 of 3000N = 300Kg and I will have 4 threaded bars... and I get 600Nmm = 0.6Nm for torque Does this make sense ? 1/4 for each threaded bar ? Is my bar too thin? 4mm for 75Kg ? -
sorry ... did anyone try using smart ESS app on android phones and what's your opinion ??? ... thx -
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By JonanGrobler · Posted
Thanks TaliaB, it sounds like you understand exactly. The table saw on its own trips warning 71. It's rated to take only 3kw on startup, runs at about 1kw. Which is why I was wondering if there was some setting I have that is limiting the batteries discharge rate? IS there something I can look at and adjust? We have a 5kw generator that can run the table saw without a problem. -
Hi Everyone I have a small solar system driving some essential loads (TV, internet fridges) and my pool pump and heat pump. My inverter is plugged into a normal 20amp 3 pin plug point. Inverter is set to SUB priority, and my heat pump and pool pump are on timers to optimize running off solar. Batteries are only for backup during loadshedding, and not being used at night. System details: 1. Inverter - Sun (Conderenergy) S-2542 2. Panels - 6 x Jinko 555W in series 3. Batteries - 2 x Hubble S100 in Series Recently, my inverter has been tripping the main earth leakage. I have 2 x output DBs on the main and essential outs of the inverter, both of which have earth leakage and 10 amp CB's. I would like to run a separate input to my inverter in parallel to the house DB, effectively splitting before that board. My current plan is to install a small DB fed from the Eskom input, with a Main switch (two pole), earth leakage and 30 amp breaker, feeding a 4mm line to the inverter input - effectively allowing the inverter to trip independently from the house. My question is whether it is normal for the inverter to trip the earth leakage? It was running quite happily for around 6 months, and is now consistently tripping after being on grid for about 5 mins. I have tested with the inverter only powered from the db, and it still trips is this normal, or is the inverter faulty? -
The Staubli connectors that come with the panels are about as premium as they get, they stuff that is usually mated to it is usually far from it. The connectors have a completely different structure than what you get in a typical wall plug - look inside the female and you will see they have a number of spiral or straight contacts made from plated spring material. This arrangement ensures much better contact than the (usually 2) contacts in an AC socket. I'm pretty sure that's not true, and also the source of many of the problems.
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