Questions & Answers?

Hi, I am just another working-from-home computer professional trying to not lose too much productivity. I have decided to try and fund a whole-home UPS by adding solar, thus I am out of lurk-mode. I am requesting quotes from a number of installers in Cape Town, based on my own assessment of my needs (~4kWh usable battery capacity, 5kVA inverter with PowerAssist or equivalent ability to supply max of 5kW during load-shedding or up to 10kW when Eskom is up, 4-5 kWp solar to pay this UPS off ASAP). However, having read a lot, I was confused by the Table 1 in https://resource.capetown.gov.za/documentcentre/Documents/Procedures, guidelines and regulations/Requir…

Hi all Is there a way to pull detailed battery info through the comms sent to the inverter? Battery is a Cyclone F5 connected via the CAN port, however the only info seen is total combined capacity: I'd like to see individual battery info such as the below: The 2nd set of metrics is with a comms cable connected directly to the Pi and master battery. Inverters are then controlled via Solar Assistant. However, in my instance with the Luxpower and Cyclone batteries, I need to have the batteries talking directly to the inverter to achieve the best efficiency.

I have a Luxpower5000 Inverter connected to Freedom Won Battery which has just been repaid and firmware updated. Now, it won`t allow the grid to charge the battery when the battery requires it. When the battery has rundown, the grid just supplies power to the house instead of supplying the house and battery at the same time. The communication cable is correct and the dip switches are also correct. Is it just a setting on the inverter I need to change? Can Anybody help?

Hello all, I'm hoping someone in the Cape Town are can perhaps point me in the right direction. I'm over the corporate world and would like to explore pivoting careers from IT to becoming a certified electrician - single phase for now. It would have to be part time for course as I can't stop the current income stream to do something full time. Any recommendations on the path to follow? Schools/Courses/Colleges etc. Thanks

Good day to all, I have this stupid question........ Pylontech UP5000 SOH shows 93%. Is it wise to tell the Inverter (Sunsynk 5kw) that the capacity is 93ah or leave it at 100ah?

I have a Nemtek Druid Energiser. Since last week the energiser is displaying fence voltage bad on the display. I have performed the following troubleshooting steps but I am still unable to determine where the issue is: I have tested the energiser with the nemtek tester/fault finder with all cables unplugged I get a reading of 10kv. I have a nemtek double pole lightening diverter, I have bypassed the diverter but issue persists. I have performed a continuity test on the 3 HT cables from the energiser to the fence and all three have continuity. When I check the fence at the point where the HT cable connects to the fence reading is 0.8kv I ha…

Hi im looking to install a Sunsynk solar system but i have a few questions, the system im looking to install will consists off 3x 8KW Sunsynk Inverter 4x 10kw Sunsynk Batteries 48x 590w solar panels (8x panels per input of inverter, 16x panels per inverter) There is no Eskom at the place of this installation so this system will be fully offgrid My first question is with the DC Cabling of the batteries according to the manual they want me to install a fused isolator on each battery between the inverter and the DC busbar then again install another 3 fused isolators between the DC busbars and Each inverter, thats 7x fused isolators on my system it seems excessive, and…

Good day forum members, I have a question regarding high voltage mppt's. I have a Multi RS solar with a single mppt tracker 450v max and iirc 18 amps. Documents state that 4000W is max for the mppt. my question is, how will production be affected if I add 2 different panels? the specs of my current panels is ja 500W VOC 45.59 VMP 38.35 ISC 13.93 IMP 13.04 i have 4 of them currently on the mppt, I would like to add 2 JA595w panels to the string with the following specs: VOC 52.58 VMP 44.64 ISC 13.99 IMP 13.33 How much potential production am I going to lose with this setup?

Looking for some advice.. I recently had an old Sunsynk inverter 5kW model sg01 and sg03 connected. Firmware update was done so the 2 can communicate. The Sg01 was set as the master. ( The other way around does not work according to installer) Both inverters are connected to the same 4 x 5.5kW Hubble batteries. The installer informed me that the master (SG01) inverter were throwing away the grid settings everytime it was set. Have anyone had this type of issue before?

My electric fence has been installed and running flawlessly for at least 4 years. Recently the alarm went off and I checked the fence perimeter, all good. A strange thing is that the alarm clears when I remove mains and run the energizer on battery only. Today I took the energizer to Nemtek for testing and they found no fault with it. This is giving sleepless nights as it is a security risk. What could be causing this problem?

Hi all I'm wanting to add a generator connection to my SNA5000 after going 48 hours with no grid and running out of battery. What would be a suitable connector for the generator? Needs to mount on an exterior wall and have a lead plugged into it

Hi all. Hoping somebody here can give me some advice on an ongoing issue im experiencing. A while ago almost every device in the house with some form of ac-dc conversion in it started making a noticeable high pitched whine/buzzing noise. There had been no load-shedding for a while at the time. Things i have checked: voltage appears normal 230-237v checked for any bad connections inside the db voltage between live-earth and live neutral is the same disconnected everything in the house and then tried just one of the affected devices - noise is still there ceiling fan's seems to spin at a normal speed(maybe a slight hum but not sure if this was always there) If i disconne…

Hi All I am trying to achieve something I hear is impossible, but I won't give up that easily. 😁 I am trying to establish communication between a Felicity IVEM5048 inverter and a Dyness A48100 battery. The general consensus is that the Felicity inverters ONLY communicate with Felicity batteries, however I read somewhere within the last year that someone managed to establish communication between a Felicity inverter and some other brand battery. I cannot recall where I read it, or which protocol was used, but I'm trying to crack the code. Can anyone recall reading this, or perhaps have the pinout for the Felicity inverter? From what I understand, the pins needed on the i…

Hello all, Really hoping I can get some help. I am living overseas but my mom has a solar setup with a 5kW Axpert Inverter and 2x Pylontech US3000 batteries. We used ICC Software's ICC on a Pi to manage and control it and that failed and I managed to pull out an older Pi with Centurion Solar's really old ICC software and then bought a new Pi with ICM on it. I couldn't get it working properly when I visited SA at the end of last year and then found out that Manie had unfortunately passed away. The old Pi has now also died so I need to get the new ICM working. The connections at the moment are; there is a USB cable from the Inverter to the Pi, and there is the Pylontech cab…

Hi all. Is someone maybe able to assist here? I have a luxpower inverter connected to a sun battery. For the most part the coms seems to be working. The only issue I see is that the display of total AH of the battery is wrong. Does anyone have any info to remidy this and what is the ramifications of this being wrong. I am attaching a screenshot and battery manual SUN-CNY51280RN-51.2V-280Ah-14.34kWh-wheel-grouned-20241112.pdf

Foremost, I am not an ECU specialist. This ECU: Siemens S11868502 D SIM24 (Ford KA 1.3 Petrol) ended on my bench. It was previously worked on by an unknown technician. The only information I have at hand, is that the vehicle owner replaced the ignition coil as the latter caused one of the IGBT's in the ECU to short. The IGBT I can source and replace, but it seems that the previous technician removed 2 or more components (most probably resistors in a mini-melf package): see attached photo. It seems that schematics and/or board view files does not exist. If there are any ECU specialists that can assist in identifying the removed components, I will really appreciate it. …

Hi, City Powers new prepaid tariff now includes a monthly service and capacity charge. I assume this only applies to grid tide prepaid uses. I have a prepaid meter but don’t use it as we are off grid so assume we won’t have to pay the capacity and service monthly fee. Does anyone know?

Good day to all, Symptoms were as follows, 1. Front lights flashing erratically. 2. Compressor not cycling. (stays on 24/7) 3. Evaporator freezing up. 4. Interior fan not working. 5. No response from any front control panel. What I did was, 1. Disconnected the entire pc board. (Actually broke it out due to hot glue everywhere) 2. Connected the compressor directly to an aftermarket thermostat. 3. Reconnected the fan and interior light to the door switch. Now, as per the attached wiring diagram, How the bugger does the auto defrost work? It seems that it is connected directly…

So I’ve been having this same problem for about 2 years now and it’s about my bore pump for some reason out of nowhere it’ll trip the power out and the power will not come back on until we off our bore pump.we’ve called the pump people so many times and paid well 10000 and it’s like they never really fix it because keeps on happening just wondering if you guys have any clues or advice to this problems pls

Good day everyone, I hope everyone is doing well. I would just like to enquire regarding the correct settings for my inverters. Inverters went in for a service and now the system’s settings is not as it was and the mains is not charging the batteries and the “back to charge and discharge values” are not correct. System Details: •2x Axpert 5kva connected in parallel. • 4x 48v 100ah Averge (Leoch) batteries - (These batteries were purchased from Averge and I have the serial numbers to confirm). •18x 270w Panels + 2x 300w Panels System is connected to Solar PV, Batteries and Mains. I also hav…

Hello experts My house is a steel frame which is connected to a few earth spikes. I take earth from various parts of the frame. I'm running a fully off grid PV/Inverter solar system for my power which uses the earth spikes and steel frame of the house as its earth connection. I now need to weld a patio railing which is connected to the house steel frame. I am hesitant to do this without asking advice as I am afraid that I might blow some of the sensitive equipment if I do this? Can anyone tell me if I am worrying about nothing and if it will be safe to weld under these conditions? If not what would i have to do to protect my equipment? Many thanks…

I'd like to know is if it's legal to take power off the back of an internal wall socket to an external power point. With the current heat wave in Gauteng, I'm starting to seriously think about adding some aircon units and running them off my solar sysyem during the day. I'm aware of the requirement to have an external isolator within 1m or arms length of the external compressor/condensor unit but I don't know what to expect from the aircon installers (who may take short cuts) and would prefer to prep the power point myself. I'm also aware of the requirement to have a dedicated circuit if 16A or more is required but most of the modern 12000 to 18000 BTU inverter …

Hi I've been reading that in cold climates, people recommend using Isoboard in the concrete flooring to keep the heat IN the house. I've also read that for cold rooms, people recommend using it to keep the cold in. We're building a thatch house and we live in a hot area (near Kruger, where it's often 35 to 42 deg C). I want to know if putting isoboard in the floor concrete a good idea? https://isoboard.com/insulation/cavity-wall/ Will it keep the heat out? OR....will it trap the heat in the house!!! Does anyone have any experience with heat transfer in the flooring to keep the outside heat out and the inside cool?

tree of us share same borehole . Problem is how to share the el. power legally ? can each of us use own cable to power the bore hole pump? thanks for any answer regards

Good day all, I have a newly installed Deye Hybrid Inverter. (Which I am led to believe is the same as Sunsynk and Fusion) The system is connected to the grid with a CT, the CT is currently pointing towards the inverter. When I point it towards the Grid, the inverter gets negative values towards the grid (Which I believe means it is "selling" to the grid). The inverter however is set on "zero export to CT" Currently I have 2 issues: 1. The prepaid meter trips momentarily every now and again, it happens mostly around 1 pm and 4 pm. It will trip for about 20 seconds then come back up, it will do this 3 to 4 times in a row. I cannot point to a specific sc…