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Our picks
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Reducing power consumption and energy wastage
Paul Greeff posted a topic in Energy Use & Conservation,
Our solar installation at home went live on Friday afternoon, so we've only been on solar for a few days.
I am blown away by how useful the logger on the Sunsynk is. We need some assistance in reducing the consumption.
To give some context, we're four people in the main house where we have the solar solution (soon to be five), and then two in the cottage where my folks live. We've identified some wasteful loads that we can address, but others are a bit tricky to address.
The main house consumption only deviates a little bit as we have a gas stove and geyser. During the day we try to introduce the heavy loads only when there is sufficient sun and battery capacity to handle the peaks. The cottage has an electric stove and geyser.
1. Stove / Oven - we're looking into a modern gas stove / oven (not the gas stove electric oven combo). We should have that installed in a few weeks once we've decided on a model so this isn't a major concern.
2. Then there is the geyser. I have a number of ideas I want to try, but for the most part, I don't know how to get rid of the thing. So far the best I've come up with is a thermal blanket as it's insulation is very poor. And then of course a timer to shift as much of the load to the day. I would have liked to install a gas water heater such as the one we have in the main house, but the old folks don't like 'personality' of the gas heaters and I don't want my solar hobby to become a point of contention.
I would appreciate some ideas to solve this problem without diminishing their enjoyment and convenience of hot water. I also looked at solar geyser, but I know too little about this at the moment, and I am concerned it will just shift the power problem to the winter when sun is not sufficient to heat the geyser.
3. Small loads that add up to a lot of power. We still have to identify these little buggers. They're all over the place. For example, I have three fridges and a freezer, and then the fridge and freezer in the cottage, plus the fridge in the caravan. Just switching off the fridge in the caravan noticably dropped our usage over night but we're still hunting for other items to disable. We're between 450W and 850W the whole night (excepting the geyser of course) which still depletes the batteries way before morning. But we'll carry on hunting for these culprits.
So my main concern at the moment is how to reduce and shift the geyser consumption as much as possible. Thermal blanket and timer are a start, but do we consider a solar geyer or heat pump? Or even a modern electric gas water heater with electric control etc.? I would very much appreciate your perspective on this.
Regards
Paul-
- 39 replies
Picked By
Energy-Jason, -
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Solar power system to run a fridge and few lights
Eastboy posted a topic in Solar Power,
Good Day
I have put together a few solar systems for a few lights and charging cellphones.
However I need to put a system together to run a fridge and a few lights for a few hours.
No idea where to start.
What solar panels to get, inverter needed, solar controller etc.
Any advice appreciated.-
- 5 replies
Picked By
Energy-Jason, -
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Panels in parallel - can I add a slightly different wattage panel (410W vs 405W JA Solar)
Gremlin posted a topic in Starting In Solar? Feel free to introduce yourself,
I'm hoping that the site guru's can assist with a question around panels in parallel. I bought and installed a small simple system: EasySolar 16oo 24V Victron and 2 X JA Solar 405W panels to run a fridge and LED lighting in an off grid cottage. The system has worked extremely well from onset. But I find I need to add an additional panel to deal with a bit more load during daylight and when overcast. So the EasySolar has a PV Voltage limitation so the panels needed to be in Parallel. Now I need a third panel, I cant find a 405W JA Solar panel for love or money. It has been suggested that while not ideal I could add a JA Solar 410W panel which operates at a slightly higher voltage. So my question is, is this advisable in a parallel array? The spec sheets attached say there is a 5W variance but this could equate to 10W between the panels. I'm desperate as I dont want to buy 3 new panels of the same. I would really appreciate some expert advise here.-
- 12 replies
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Energy-Jason, -
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Another Newbie :-)
Trev501 posted a topic in Starting In Solar? Feel free to introduce yourself,
Hi Guys,
A few questions I hope one or more of you may be able to help me with. I’m a newbie on a steep learning curve. First my system comprises x10 second hand 355 Watt Canadian Solar panels feeding an Axpert VMii 5KW inverter. The battery is a single Pylontech US2000 which I hope to add another three units to when I can afford it. My questions are:
1. Does anyone have the correct inverter battery settings (in USR mode) for this battery when used with this inverter? I actually have some settings from Pylontech but I think they may be referring to the VMiii rather than VMii inverter. Currently these settings keep telling me that the battery is at a low state of charge and setting off an alarm [04] whilst the battery LEDs indicate it is fully charged. I assume that the VMii is unable to use the Ethernet port to ‘talk’ to the battery unlike the VMiii.
2. When drawing power from the grid, there appears to be a lower limit on current being taken. In other words, if the inverter is supplying power to the load and the load is removed, the current drawn from the grid doesn’t drop below about 1.5 Amps despite the fact that the load is virtually zero. I am aware that the inverter also takes power for its own purposes but surely not that much? (A friend with the same inverter sees the same thing) Is it possible that this is a measurement error due to the type of load? I measure the grid current by an AC ammeter in series with the live supply line and I also have a digital readout of voltage and current that uses a Current Transformer to sample the current drawn. Both methods produce the same result.
3. I have downloaded the very useful Axpert Settings 1.1 file by Chris Hobson. This has helped a lot with deciding which settings to use but I am a little confused by the need to start the inverter on batteries as mentioned in the Addendum. The inverter is designed to run without batteries when necessary so why is this a requirement?
4 Are there any other useful guides to understanding the VMii settings out there? Either textual or YouTube.
Many thanks for your time,
Trev-
- 6 replies
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Energy-Jason, -
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Another Noob need help on new purchase
JohanM posted a topic in Starting In Solar? Feel free to introduce yourself,
Hi All and thanks for all the contributions
I did allot of research and are now planning on buying a DIY kit end of the month. Even with all the research I am still lost.
My current consumption is about 15KW a day. Based in Boksburg.
Biggest users:
0.75kw pool pump, running a hour a day
No geyser, running heat pump 1.1kwh avg, runs about 4 hours on/off
Oven, not everyday
Tumble dryer, get used maybe once a week hour or two
Dishwasher, once a day
Fridge and box freezer
What I would like to do is run as little as possible on grid
Interested in the following from Solar shop but not sure if its the correct inverter for me.
https://www.solar-shop.co.za/diy-kits/375-kodak-vmiii-lithium-ion-solar-kit-5kw-48kwh-storage-246kwp-solar.html?sfdr_ptcid=13151_617_576754735&sfdr_hash=9181f1f178988ec081926eb734344591&gclid=Cj0KCQiA962BBhCzARIsAIpWEL0TGc7Mk-8I3gvmcqnB3pHY5nbOg5WHWSahG5R4ca8YSGLao_GxflUaApGAEALw_wcB
1 x 5kv Axpert Voltronics VMIII Solar Inverter (Kodak branded)
1 x Battery Pylon Cable Pack
6 x 340Wp Canadian Solar PV modules Thinking of adding 2 more or upgrade to a higher Watt
1 x Complete mounting kit (select roof type on checkout)
2 x Pylon battery brackets
2 x Pylontech Pylon US3000C
1 x MC4 Connector & Splitter Twin Pack ( Kit 1 )
1 x K&N Dual String DC Switch Disconnector 25A 220V – 11A 460V (per string)
1 x 4mm2 single-core 50m cable- Black
1 x 4mm2 single-core 50m cable - Red
Questions:
1. Can I connect my complete DB board to the inverter, and for eg, when I switch the stove ON it will starting pulling current from grid for the high load
And IF YES
2. Will it run the stove from the grid and continue run say lights from PV/Battery ( solar shop claims it does blend current)
3. What other option is out there without spending to much extra cash
Also have prepaid and don't want something that is going to cause problems.
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- 30 replies
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Latest Entry
Eskom Tariffs 2021
It is finally 2021 and everyone is eager to put 2020 behind them. New Year’s messages were full of hope and good wishes for the coming year. Yet, the year started on a negative note. January began with worse Covid figures than ever before and there were rumours of stricter lockdowns.
Then came the news that Koeberg Unit 1 had to be shut down earlier than planned for maintenance and that Stage 2 loadshedding was being sheduled. In all, an underwhelming start to 2021.
Of course, a new year also means tariff changes for many service providers, including Eskom. So will Eskom’s new tariffs, which are proposed to be implemented from 1 April 2021, follow the negative theme? Are there some positives in the proposed tariffs?
South Africa’s power company has detailed their tariff restructuring plan on their website and some interesting details emerge.
A CHANGE IN MINDSET?
According to Eskom’s retail tariff plan, this year’s proposed changes are being based on a cost-to-supply (or cost-to-serve) study for the first time since 2012. Apparently, the driving factors behind the study are the changes in technology, customer needs, the planned unbundling of Eskom into separate divisions, and the fact that the National Energy Regulator of South Africa (NERSA) has requested that tariffs be based on the cost to supply (CTS).
Eskom claims that the proposed tariffs and changes to pricing structure are based on this study. The tariff plan also states that the aim is to simplify and modernise the system.
WHAT ARE THE MAJOR CHANGES? Read more at: https://insideenergy.africa/2021/02/01/eskom-tariffs-2021/
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I got this BMS and it has a CAN/RS485 port... LBSA DALY 100a 15S/16S 48V LiFePO4 Smart BMS with Optional Display or Bluetooth | Lithium Batteries South Africa (lithiumbatteriessa.co.za) This is pinout of the CAN/RS485 connector - DL-R16A-F16S100ATJ-MM00_Product_Specification_Confirmation_1.pdf (shopify.com) -
Hi, I am interested in the inverter if it's still available -
That bracket was meant to screw into wooden structural beam. Tiles should be able to lift. -
Thanks Brani, my actual problem is the tile bracket. I have a double roof Corrugated Iron sheets under the Harvey Tiles so the tile bracket I need to bent to get the screw hole section in such a way that I can put screws in. -
Looking for the same info. Found that seplos is claiming that (seplos.com)
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