Solar Power

Solar is all really maths ... and no, I am not the expert on maths. I am using a guy named Bill, from around San Francisco, brain power here. Having been on this site for a while, I see very few calculations here on i.e. size of panels required for the time devices must run taking into account inefficiencies. Calculating Load in WH Power rating (watts) * Number of hours the appliance is used (hours) = WH Battery Bank calculation Wh x 1/Battery voltage x Number of days of storage x 1/maximum discharge = Ah @ Battery Voltage Array required for Charging a certain battery bank Ah x Charging Voltage x 1/0.77 panel+controller derating x % rate of charge (in f…

Hello All It has been some time since I've been here ... but glad to say that my system (as per sig below) has been running 100% for the past +/- 3 years, and still no issues. However, with registration requirements etc, I'm looking to comply and at the same time look to "upgrade" a little. Any advice on which would be better as replacement for the Kodak inverter .... Deye, Sunsynk, Luxpower ... 8kw. I'm hoping to keep the 3 x Kodak FL 5.2 batteries and would like to add a 4th. Is it ok to now add a new 4th battery to the exiting +/- 3 year old ones ? Solar Panels setup hopefully to remain as is. Many thanks for looking.

Hi all, My roof is steeply pitched with fibre cement slate tiles and I'm really concerned about endless roof issues with a solar installation - are there any recommendations for installers that have some track record and experience with this sort of installation in the Cape Town area. Much appreciated!

I have 6 x 560w panels and been a newbie I have a question, I was getting over 3kw of mid day solar power last week, after installing a larger inverter. Suddenly I am only getting 2.6kw from them same time of day, could a slight haze in the sky or dust (I live on a busy plot rd) be the culprit or did I mess up a setting on the inverter?

Topic was moved to forum Inverters

Topic was moved to forum Inverters

Hi all, My Pi5 recently died (solid red light only). Digging online many have similar issue suggesting their PMIC (power management integrated circuit) failed. They suggest to test gpio 5v and 3.3v pins to check correct voltage output even if Pi is off. My 3.3v pins produce nothing, my 5v pin produces what looks like 3v. Apparently the pmic can be replaced, but is very hard to do if one is not a solder expert. The part to replace is a chip, called DA9091. Is there any recommendations for where I could get it repaired in Johannesburg please? Wondering if there's a cost effective repair available - hate to throw away my Pi5 (16GB RAM) model just due to the faulty pmic. Than…

Hi I am looking for some assistance please before I go mad. I have 2 victron mppt charge controllers 100/30 and 100/50 as well as a SRNE 60a charge controller. The 2 victrons each have 400w panels attached to them and the SRNE has 800W panel attached. I have 4 lithium cells 280ah with a JK BMS Early in the morning , my batteries are in a absorption state and show full charged on the controllers but the JK BMs shows a state of about 20% charge. I am not getting to a 80 % charge during the day. I have a fridge and a freezer and 2 laptops running on the power during the day. What am I doing wrong

Hello everyone, I currently own an OPTI-Solar SP4000 HANDY PLUS power inverter. I would like to get the latest driver update for my device. Here are the current driver versions: • Main processor driver version: 00057.00 • Secondary processor driver version: 00119.14 Can anyone tell me where to get the official driver update, or share the file if it's available? I tried contacting OPTI-Solar directly, but I wanted to ask here as well, hoping someone here might have experience with this model and be able to help me. Thank you so much for any help you can provide! Thank you in advance.

Hi, Please can you provide me with the settings for my inverter to start using solar from 06:00 to 18:00. All the settings have reset to the default settings of 0 after the last upgrade. What are the steps to set the timing for battery charge and solar use. Thanks in advance.

Hi everyone. I'm looking for some advice on upgrading my solar system and would really appreciate your recommendations. My current setup is: • 5kW GoodWe inverter • 19 × 330W solar panels (6.27kW total) • 10kWh Pylontech battery The 5kW inverter is my limitation. My goal is to be able to run appliances like the dishwasher, inverter air conditioners, kettle, 2kW geyser, washing machine and iron at the same time during the day without constantly having to manually manage loads or being restricted. I also want to maximise my solar usage and minimise my reliance on the grid. I'm considering: • Adding another 10 × 620W bifacial panels. • Upgrading to a 10-12kW inverter. My …

Did anyone figure out how to cascade / stack 2 or more Shoto Lithium batteries? I need more info on the connection between the batteries using the Rs485 ports; Is there a specific pin-out for the cable or would any straight RJ45 do? Which ports do you use to interconnect, RS485A or RS485B? Anyone figured out how to connect to a PC, which port and software to use? Ho do you set the dip switches for master and slave batteries?

Just stumbled on this while doing research. Might be interesting to someone. I've attached the link and the main table of the paper https://repository.up.ac.za/server/api/core/bitstreams/180113c2-501f-41ab-9625-9deef5f5b711/content

Topic was moved to forum Pylontech

I live on a smallholding and receive direct supply from Eskom - 3 phase on Landrate 3 (100kVA) tariff. Costs me R7300 per month in fixed costs plus R3.57 per unit (both incl. VAT). I have a 3-phase Deye 20kW inverter with about 20kWp of solar and 21kWh of Deye batteries (2 x 10.5). Works like a dream. Very necessary as trees keep falling on the lines around here and we often have multi-day outages as a result. I've been looking at ways to reduce my costs as Eskom is dramatically increasing fixed costs which undermines the savings from solar. I'm thinking of moving from Landrate 3 to Ruraflex gen which on paper will save a lot - fixed costs down to around R4000 per month (…

Hello Power Forum I got my solar system in 2024 when you could still get a tax break and Discovery Bank was running promotions. It was from Rubicon, with Sparki as the local installer. Little did I know that 2 years later, Rubicon would have left the Retail solar market, and Sparki must have gone belly-up, they're not answering calls anymore. Solar panels are supposed to last 25 years, but the companies that install them often don't last 2 years! So much for that. I've recently added some more panels,and used 2 electricians from Sparki whose numbers I still have. But they don't seem to know what they're doing. I'm having a problem with inconsistent readings, and the ba…

I have read enough to know this is possible and spoken to two installers who are looking into this. Setup so far: 8.8Kw Sunsynk 16 X 550W Longi 6 X R100 5.2Kw Revov Now I wish to add a 2500W Microinverter to the Aux Input and face 4 X 615W panels to the rising sun early morning to feed into the system so that the morning draw does not deplete the batteries. If you have done this and can offer advice as to where to purchase the needed Microinverter I would appreciate that.

Hi all, I recently cleaned my panels with water and a squeegee. I noticed that these marks do no go away, and is causing heavy dirt build up due to lack of centre supports on the panels. Here is a side picture showing the lack of support in the centre of the panels I cleaned the panels in the end of November, had to clean them again yesterday since the accumulation in those spots is very hectic and seems to put the panels in bypass mode for those rows of cells. here is a video https://photos.app.goo.gl/QxJgjDmDBUVqC7Dd7 Here is some data for the difference observed, both days 26°C outside as per weather station. Y-PVT = yesterday 23% difference when cleaned. My qu…

I recently installed a 5KW Goodwe ES inverter with 3KW of panels and a 5KVA battery. Shortly after installing it I lost my 2 fridges, and a chest freezer. 2 of them went and burned out their boards completely as if by a major surge (along with a garage motor charger), and my 17 year old fridge's compressor went 2 weeks later. Insurance paid out for the first two, I replaced the other fridge and the charger out of pocket. I figured it was just bad luck and a big surge but two days ago my brand new upright freezer blew with a loud pop one evening. I need to add I have in 12 years of living in the complex I stay in never lost a major appliance, but have now lost 4 in under 6…

Anyone on this forum ever purchased anything from PMB Solar? Just trying to establish if they are legit. Seem to be from the website, but with so many dubious websites, just wishing to check if someone in the Pietermaritzburg area has ever dealt with them. https://pmbsolar.co.za/

I posted today under questions/answers, but perhaps it was not the best location. I am looking for someone to service my Victron system. I do not want to go on Facebook and ask, as every person claims that they can do Vicron, and I am not sure about their experience or expertise (it is just "pick me", "pick me"). We had some unexpected lightning, hitting the lightning pole directly, and I only realized last week that the system is offline.

Am fully aware that one of the best ways to heat up a home in winter is to have a heat pump, however if one has installs a solar system with batteries, what would be the most effective way to heat up a home in winter at the most cost effective way? Ideally the method would involve or ensure that the battery systems are not too taxed or strained. Your thoughts forumites would be most appreciated, thanks.

Most solar calculators online quote you a payback that never matches reality. They assume you use every kilowatt your panels make, that prices stand still, that your battery lasts forever and that the cash you sank into it could not have earned a cent anywhere else. So I built one that does not pretend. You put in your real numbers and it shows you two figures side by side - the rosy payback a salesman quotes and the realistic one you are actually likely to get - then it breaks down exactly what eats the gap. Wasted daytime generation, panel degradation, the battery you will replace once down the line, financing interest and the higher fixed charge some municipalities sla…

Something strange happened the last few days. My pv Butler app shows battery discharge during full sun and very low load, maybe around 300w, but show battery charge at night with the same load ? The system is in Limpopo. I asked a friend to go look and inverter and batteries seemed fine. We are not home currently. Any explanations ?

How many solar panels can I safely connect to my inverter,below is the spec sheets for both, I have been given different answers? ecco specs