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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Hi, We are installing the following system in our new build home: 20x 600w panels, 1x 16kw inverter and 2x 16kwh batteries. Our avg daily use is about 20-25 units (kwh) per day. This system will serve us well in summer, but my concern is winter. We dont have much more useable roof space for more panels either. The battery bank is basically enough to carry our house for 24hours, if going to 80% discharge, then it needs recharging whilst house runs off panels or generator for a while. I want to connect a generator that can charge the batteries whilst the house runs off the panels in the day or charge batteries and the house loads when panels are not enough - is it possible…

I have one of these magneto rechargeable led lanterns. https://www.tevo.co.za/shop/outdoor/torches/magneto-rechargeable-led-lantern/?gclid=CjwKCAjwp7eUBhBeEiwAZbHwke7yNbRFiGNaq5BUzGS9jnMSBP0bbjqjeD-zhd72zubxwMrOc9OA-xoCHQgQAvD_BwE It was really good at first but after a few months of usage with load shedding I can see it gets dim very quickly and does not last as long as it used to. Inside is a normal lead acid 6v 4ah battery. This battery is obviously not meant for repeated charging and discharging and I am looking for somethng to replace it with. I think a lithium battery may be the best option. Has anyone replaced the battery on these with a lithium battery a…

Hi all, I have changed the electrolytic caps in 5star inv. at 5,12,-12v psu about 2 years ago due to display cycling on/off. I also turned around the fans to blow up instead of sucking down. 2 years later, error 03 bat. high voltage(120 v on lcd) Busy sourcing new caps with low esr high ripple current(used for switching psu's) - any idea where to source? Rabtron sent quotation.but not much info, only that it's either Rubycon or Hitano 105deg. Hopefully new caps will solve error 03, if not I am planning to take inv. to megavolt for quotation. My question is , if changing fan direction could have pre-maturely dried out the caps - hot air from heat sinks blown upwards over …

Can I connect my Ellies Sinewave 2440va, 1440w to a wind turbine, if yes what do I need

So I finally get to test my minimalist theory in real life. Because of costs at the time I had decided to install just a 5kW inverter with 2.75kW of panels and 5kWh of battery power, basically sized to carry me through daily load-shedding stints, while remaining grid-tied and rather just trading power with the grid with time-of-use. The goal was to have something more financially justifiable than going off-grid. I reckoned that if a large-scale blackout would come, I'd be able to survive with my household in limp mode - nearly normal - while it gets re-started, and still be better off than most folks. And if Eskom well-and-truly dies, then being off-grid on my own island …

Hi everyone, I wanted to ask if anyone else has experienced slow loading or incomplete data while checking their FESCO bill online. Recently, I noticed that sometimes the page doesn’t display the full billing information or takes longer to generate. I usually try through different browsers and devices, but the issue still appears occasionally. I’m wondering if this could be related to server load or browser cache? Also, for users who often bill check FESCO online, what’s your go-to method to make the process faster and more reliable? Any quick fixes or suggestions would really help. Thanks in advance for your guidance!

Hi All, Attached is my spend over the last 2 months and then a year view, i believe i am still paying too much for electricity, i either need to upgrade my system, or tweak it....I have my domestics here Mon, Wed, Friday.... Any advice Thanks,

Have this Contog box which connects to a meter box on the pole outside. CoCT supplied it when they removed the Plessey prepaid meter which failed In April to mid-September, I purchased R500 electricity several times. The last was on 14th Sep and the Contlog's display showed 176.67kWh The main switch on the DB has been switched off since 15th September. The inverter AC input shows 0 However, the kWh display figure reduces by between 2.1kWh and 2.9kWh every day and the display shows 90.66kWh today. I had an electrician round and he measured the 3 incoming phases to neutral and all showed 0 volts Council say this is "Normal leakage" but the electrician is of the opinion …

I have a 8kw Sunsynk inverter with 5 panels of 545w each on one string and 8 panels on the second string. Panels north facing in Cape Town Due to shading problems in winter I want to change numbers per string to 4 on one string and 9 on the other during the winter Will the inverter handle the 9 panels on one string without potential problems? (do not want to take chances!!)

Can the solar panels on a string be pointing in different directions without having a negative effect on the performance of that string? Meaning that the sun does not fall at the same angle on all panels.

I have a 8Kw Sunsynk inverter with 2 strings and 545w panels (5 per string) Info attached) What is the max number of panels I can put on each string?

Hello everyone. A quick question please. Where can I find Pylontech battery CAN link communication cables? I require these to be around 100mm to 150mm. As an alternative, is there perhaps an existing computer or other comms cable that will do the same function? If you can assist with a supplier I would be eternally greatful. Thank you. Sass

What would the difference in performance/output be between North (0°) vs Northwest (310°) facing panels? I stay in Cape Town

My Sunsynk 8kw inverter has 2 strings. Can I put 5 panels of 545w each on one string and 7 panels of 545w each on the other string without having a negative effect on the production?

I am in the process of moving my panels to get less shade. How can I determine at which tilt angle (degrees) the panels are?

I have a 3kwh element geyser on a timer that is on for an hour from 11h30. I have a solar system with 8kw inverter, 5kwh battery and 6540 w panels Would it be more efficient if I change the geyser element to a 2kwh and leave it on for 1.5hour instead of 1 hour on the 3kwh element?

I stay in Cape Town and want to position the 6 panels each on my 2 strings to get optimal performance. They are on a flat roof I which direction should they be facing and at what pitch installed?

https://dailyinvestor.com/energy/87514/eskom-collapse-2/

I am looking to install a grid-tied system in a house we moved into a few months ago. It seems that now over the last few months we average about 800kWh of power consumption a month, which I anticipate will go about to +-1000kWh in winter. My thoughts on an initial installation are: 12KW Hybrid Inverter 12 Panels (roof is north facing. There are tall trees on the western side of the roof that may cause shade in the late afternoon, so I will install it on the eastern end of the north facing roof) 10KW Batteries. Other info: I have a single 3KW geyser; Stove is gas, oven is electric; No airconditioning as yet, but probably a couple inverter units to come soon. Questions: Wh…

Hi All *Please note I am not a solar expert but have a solar system of my own so I know a thing or two I am posting on behalf of my neighbour, who just had his Solar system installed today and is experiencing an issue. The system consists of the following: SUNGROW 8KW 1P HYBRID SUNGROW 12.8KWH BATTERY 8x CANADIAN SOLAR 144 CELL 590 N TYPE MONOCRYSTALINE https://imgur.com/a/Zre2TwX The problem is when the inverter tries to connect to the grid, it immediately causes the prepaid meter to trip and does not connect to the grid. The system is essentially running permanently in back up mode. The prepaid meter is a "Conlog BEC23" The potential problem I noticed is that it looks l…

My home solar system is old, is just solar to three phase SMA grid-tied inverter and then on one phase in my DB I have a battery inverter that carries those loads during loadshed. I do export and I do get credit for it, but a weakness (besides being off in loadshed) is that the way the SMA works in my understanding is that it will only export at the lowest nett kW of the three phases. So if solar is 4+4+4 and loads are 3+1+1 across phases, then it will export 1+1+1. reason for unbalanced is mainly because when we put the loadshed on one phase, we split things like aircons, stove, pool pump across the unprotected phases and all the lights and plugs are on the pro…

Hi All, my first post here and thanks for the Join! I'm not new to Inverter etc but i am new to PV and 3 Phase. I've been running my little RCT 3kva inverter with Lead/Lithiums since 2015. lead first and then Lith of course. That was on a single phase house and no issues. We moved to a 3 phase house and I've been running it on one of the phases also no issues. House is split Geyser-Stove/Plugs/Lights on the 3 phases. I'm running it on just the plugs and made do with lamps plugged in and some "extra" lightning with smart switches etc. I'm making the plunge and just want to do it the correct way from the get go balanced according to budget. 1s…

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 …