Our Picks

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

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.

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. 

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

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.

 

 

 

 

 

https://mybroadband.co.za/news/energy/384442-eskom-wants-south-africans-with-solar-panels-to-pay-more-for-electricity.html?utm_source=newsletter

Hello Guys and Girls,

I am new to the forum…this is my second post. I gave a brief intro in my first post (Power Forum - Axpert King 5kW - Warning 32 )

 

In this writeup, I would like to share my experiences with trying to revive (desulphate) my otherwise kaput 200Ah AGMs!

 

 

Part 1: Background Info

 

My current system (V2.0) consists of a 5kW Axpert King & 4x 200Ah Allgrand AGMs. It’s purpose is to provide clean power and UPS to the essential stuff in my home. I installed it in Dec 2018 as an upgrade/replacement of my 1kW 24v Microcare & 2x 200Ah Deltec AGMs, which have served me since Dec 2014. The upgrade was triggered because after 4 years service, the Deltec’s had lost capacity and the backup runtime had become unaceptable!

My definition of “essential stuff” is all home lighting, alarm system, electric fence, gate motors, CCTV, computers, network, internet, TV and last but not least the fridge. My average load is approx. 400W-500W. It drops to minimum of 280W and climbs to a max of around 600W (ignoring the startup load of the fridge).

My required max runtime is between 9-12hours, ie to make it through the night. We have occasional power disruptions (once or twice a year) that last 24 hours and every other year we loose power for 2-4 consecutive days! This lovely reality is courtesy of City of Jhb and the aging infrastructure combined with cable theft and substation vandalisms!

I have a 9KVA generator that enables me to bulk charge my batteries for 4h in the morning and 4h hours at night and make it through the couple of days of ESKOM power disruption.

My upgraded system migrated to:

48v, in order to double up on the previous battery capacity (and hopefully improve the disappointing 4y service life of the Deltecs).


The Axpert KING inverter, because of the 0ms transfer time as well as the healthy AC charging amps (for a good dose of 30A bulk charging during those 4hours of generator run-time). The built in MPPT is a nice to have for future upgrade/expansion.



Back to Reality

 

The 200Ah Allgrand AGMs barely lasted 2 years (disappointment is an understatement). They did not work hard during these two years. From my recollection and perception, they were not cycled many times either, unfortunately I do not have exact data to refer back to. They most definitely were not deep cycled “hundreds of times” as per the performance promises indicated on their datasheet!

I will discuss my speculations of the root cause of their failure in a later part of this writeup.

After experiencing a premature shutdown during load shedding, I started investigating and ran the following capacity load tests with a >2kW load (courtesy of a two element air heater):

 In summary, with a draw of 50A from the batteries I was getting less than 15min runtime!

These batteries are truly kaput! Specifically battery no 1 was collapsing prematurely and it's voltage was rapidly falling off below 10v!




 

Hi all. This is my first and very big install. I am putting 20x 455W panels per Sunsynk. Splitting to 2 strings (5 in series and those 2 in parallel). 
In total 60 panels, 3x Sunsynk 8Kw inverters and 3x 30 Kva Freedom won batteries. I can’t find any info how to program Sunsynk to run master and slaves. 

I recently installed an 8kW sunsynk inverter with 2x 2.4kWh pylons and 5kW Solar. I split the db so that my dedicated loads run through the load output of the inverter and all the rest through the gen port which I set as a smart load. Smart load activates @ 70% SOC and Off @ 40% SOC. Problem is the smart load keeps dropping away every couple of minutes for about 2 seconds. I have no idea why. No errors or anything. Also, does anyone know of realtime monitoring software for pc? The web interface is very slow and the phone app just as slow. 

Thanks

Hi all, new to solar! My husband and I have been looking at installing a True Hybrid system to utilize both grid (for non essential such as geyser and pool pump) and PV with Batteries as the main, essential source. We have been reading up on a lot of websites, obtaining many quotes and fact sheets etc. and have come to needing to decide between the Sunsynk 5Kw Hybrid Inverter or the Goodwe 4.6Kw Hybrid Inverter. We may be able to get the Goodwe at a much reduced price therefore the cost is not a determining factor. We are concerned that we may not be able to add another inverter to the Goodwe in future (if ever needed?). Also concerned that the Sunsynk is fan cooled which we have read is a weak spot. Please can I have any input from those who have used either to give us some direction on how to choose?! After sales service? Life span? User friendly? p.s I have found a lot of info on the Sunsynk on this platform but very little on the Goodwe?

Good day guys.

Just a quick post with some pictures on what the popular Pylontech batteries look like on the inside vs the latest Hubble battery. Big difference on the quality. Some corrosion already occuring on the Pylontech. Hubble has BYD NMC prismatic cells and its 1C.

Hello Community,

The RIOT Cloudlink is causing a stir in the market currently and we were hoping to announce in the next month more about it, however we have been inundated with questions and we have been asked to release a sneak preview for discussion.

 

WHAT IS RIOT

RIOT Systems with Hubble Lithium have developed a A.I. comms device that enables the Hubble range of Lithium batteries to have full CAN Bus and Cloud monitoring capability.



 








The RIOT device is an optional addon to the Hubble X and AM range of products and will allow your Hubble to integrate with almost any CAN bus Inverter including SMA, Victron, Growatt, GoodWE, Sunsynk, Deye inverters on the market. This is made possible by the RIOT CAN bus protocol, which encapsulates 5 CAN bus protocols.



 



Current Development



The RIOT is in Beta testing to add Axpert and Phocos inverters for full communication and cloud monitoring for the Huble range of Lithium batteries. What this means is that there will be 2 way communication and full integration released in the next few weeks with a firmware update OTA for your RIOT device that will enable full Axpert integration with the AM Range, and X-200 batteries. (The X-100 is not supported for 2-way Axpert integration. Only monitoring).



 



Whats next?



We will release the Phocos Any-Grid firmware update OTA in the next 7 days for full 2-way integration between the AM-2 and the Phocos inverters. Our partnership with Phocos to integrate the Hubble range of batteries have been a priority since 2020.



14 days after that we should be ready to release Axpert MKSII, VMIII, KING & MAX Protocol firmware updates to enable full 2-way communication.



 



Where can I get a RIOT?



The Powerforum store will be a distributor of the product.
We are looking forward to their review of the product.



 



More information will be made available in due course. You can read more here or see a demo of the Cloudlink Dashboard in Action on the following link: https://www.hubblelithium.co.za/riot.html



 



 

Hi Community,

We've had numerous requests from clients to send some photos of the new Wallmount to see what it looks like installed.

Herewith some Eye Candy for you all.


 


 


 

Good evening all,

I'm new to the crazy world that is solar. I'm looking at getting my first system installed and my word, there is a [email protected] load to learn.

- I stay on the south coast in the EC

- I have an asbestos roof that faces approximately NW and SE. It is a very low pitch, I would guess below 20. The old building plans I found don't indicate what it is.

- I have a large rear garden where I could build a NE facing structure (that could double as an entertainment area). The wall is 8.8m across and there is about 18m of grass to the shed. I can't go too close to the shed because the neighbors have a huge tree there that would block the low winter sun. 

- we use about 26 units a day

- 0.75kw pool pump running 10 hours a day

- 150L kwikot geyser is outside and on a Geyserwise. Running 6am - 9am and 6pm - 8pm and set to 60 C.

- 0.75kw DAB water pump pushing water form tanks into the house.

- home office running about 200W 14 hours a day.

- lots of LED lights. a gate motor, security alarm, etc.

After checking what some friends have installed (all have Goodwe), and how they using their systems, I'm leaning towards:

- 12 x JA Solar 455W Mono MBB Percium Half-Cell Silver Frame MC4

- 2 or 3 x Pylontech US3000C 3.5kWh 

- Sunsynk 5kW Hybrid Inverter

I'll split the house on essential and non essential circuits. Essential would be home office, all lights, fridge, alarm, gate motor, water pump that get used day and night. Non essential would be all plugs, geyser, pool, oven, stove, dishwasher, washing machine, etc. I hoping that there is excess solar, then it can be used on the non essential circuit when the sun is shining.

1. Do you think that the system above would work nicely?

2. I assume the non essential circuit must still go through the inverter if I want excess solar to go into it? This would mean that I need the 8kw Sunsync?

3. If Eskom goes down, would the solar still be producing power or does it kick over to batteries? 

4. I can get one of those Geyserwise Titanium PTC elements if it would make a difference? It is just 2 and a half people showering every day, and washing dishes once a day.

Your opinions would be greatly appreciated. If I'm way off, please let me know. 

 

P.S. I still don't understand the neutral / live bonding thing on the Sunsync/inverters. That is a story for another day... I need excess brain power for that.

 

Hey all,

Happy Christmas Eve!

Wish it was happier for us....

We were tricked into purchasing a 5kVa Growatt and selling it to a Pastor Wesley Solomon at Founders Memorial Congregational Church in Coronationville.

 

He claimed to have been scammed too many times that now only did COD and would not pay a deposit.

 

Hubby delivered the Inverter, ther grounds keeper signed for it and produced a cheque. 

Cheque was completely legit, problem was it was donkey years old and the account didnt exist anymore.

Conned out of 10k the day before Christmas.

Be safe and careful guys, these people really dont give 2 hoots what position you in and what your family is facing.

December has us R22250 down so far and a R21500 loss on a vehicle due to age....

 

Down and out but we managed to get the kids at least a lil something.

 

Merry Christmas all, take care.

Got the sign-off from CoCT about a month ago, so my DIY solar project is finally done and dusted. Thanks to everyone on the forum that provided advice - I probably would have stuffed it up if it wasn't for you.

The whole project took about three months of evenings and weekends to finish, and was a welcome distraction from the current state of the world.

 


4 strings of 4 Canadian Solar 400Wp poly panels in series, facing NNE.

 


Another string of 4 Canadian Solar 400Wp panels in series, facing WNW.

All five strings are paralleled together for a combined 8kWp.

 


This is my main DB. CoCT installed a new split prepaid meter. According to the technician that installed it it has built-in reverse power blocking. I have tested it to see what it does when I try to feed in power in to the grid, and it charges me in both directions. That is perfectly fine in my opinion - much preferable to it tripping when there is momentary feed-in.

Grid power is measured by an ET112. There is a breaker that connects the main DB to the solar installation in the scullery:


Top-left is the AC DB. Top-right is the DC combiner box. Bottom left is the Multiplus II 5kVA inverter, and bottom middle the SmartSolar 250/100 MPPT. The SmartSolar was initially running a bit hot for my liking, so I mounted it on a 6mm thick aluminium plate which brought down peak temperatures from 82C to 65C. Bottom-right is the Victron Cerbo. The battery cabinet on the floor contains 5 PylonTech US2000 batteries for a total nominal capacity of 12kWh. I've set it to 80% DoD:

 

 


Close-up of the DC buses.

 


Close-up of the AC DB, with and without cover.

 



Close-up of the DC combiner box, with and without cover.

The geyser and oven, as well as the swimming pool DB are connected to the main DB, so those are unpowered when there is loadshedding. The AC DB in the scullery is connected to the output of the Multiplus, so all the essential loads stay powered when grid power goes down.

 

Hi Guys. My new installation. 24 x 390w JA Mono solar panels with an 8kw Sunsynk inverter and 2 x 5kwh Bull Lithium batteries.  More pics to follow soon...

This poll is designed to generate useful and engaged information from both consumer and installer. With the developing hype of super capacitors, we want to investigate and determine the right conclusion as to where its role is in South Africa presently and potentially in the next 4 years.

Please take the poll and share so we can all benefit from the results.

Hello guys, I am a Swiss highschool student and I would like to buy a solar panel 100W, 12v.



I am very curious about this field and I really would like to use in the future 100% renewable energy.😊<br style="background-color:#fefefe;color:#000000;font-size:15px;"><br style="background-color:#fefefe;color:#000000;font-size:15px;">So I need to go step by step and my first step is to buy a 100W/ 12v solar panel to can charge my laptop and my phone.So this solar panel is enough to charge a laptop right?




Here are my other questions:
For a 100W, 12V solar panel, do we need a charge regulator, a 12V battery, as well as a 300W voltage converter, from 12V to 230V (for example), to be able to charge a laptop ?

If the solar panel produces less than 12V due to little sunlight, does the battery not store anything anymore because it is a 12V battery or can it still store? If it does not store, that would mean in this case, that I should take a battery with a lower voltage such as 6V for example? Can it then store enough energy or is it “full” very quickly?
In this case, would that mean that the charge regulator and the voltage converter must also be able to accept 6V? How can I mesure the voltage of a battery?

How long does it take ~ for a 12v battery to be fully full without using it at all?



<br style="background-color:#fefefe;color:#000000;font-size:15px;">Also, I am not sure I understood everything about the inverter, which kind of inverter should I use for a 100W/ 12v solar panel? (I prefer the inverter than the DC power supply because it seems easier). Can it be like that if I want to charge my laptop? (Sorry it is written in french...)<br style="background-color:#fefefe;color:#000000;font-size:15px;"><br style="background-color:#fefefe;color:#000000;font-size:15px;"><br style="background-color:#fefefe;color:#000000;font-size:15px;">Also, so for the battery I have better to choose a 6v battery for my solar panel like this one?<br style="background-color:#fefefe;color:#000000;font-size:15px;"><br style="background-color:#fefefe;color:#000000;font-size:15px;">Or it isn't a good idea?<br style="background-color:#fefefe;color:#000000;font-size:15px;">( I would like an inverter and a battery cheap but which work quite well even if they are not expensive, if it is possible)
Last question: How do you link several batteries together?
These are my main questions and I apologize for bothering you with them.



 



Have a nice day!🙂

I'm new to lithiums after recently replacing my lead acids. I have 2 x 3.5kW Pylontechs.

I'm looking for the sweet spot where I will get good battery life as well as maximum utilisation of the bank at night. I do understand the technology is new so there's no real data out there.

Currently I'm drawing down to 25% before switching to grid, but the Axpert powers itself from the batteries so this causes a further slow drop of a few %. Never goes below 20% which is my personal comfort zone limit. I'll likely modify this strategy for load shedding to leave a little more in should I need to go back to battery at 4am.

What's the feeling on this? Am I cycling too deep, or not maximising ROI?

I am new here, been building up my system for some time now.

Started with the following a bit more than a year ago purely for loadshedding backup. System started as follows:

1. Axpert 5KVA (Mecer)
2. 4 x Vision 200ah AGM's

After a year I started having problems with the batteries and decided to upgrade to Pylontech and also at the same time bit the bullet and ordered the panels to start producing own power. Connecting the Pylontech's to the Axpert I realized that communication between batteries and inverter was not going to work, so also ordered the Raspberry PI with ICC software

System currently as follows:

1. Axpert 5KVA (Mecer)
2. 2 x Pylontech US3000
3. 6 x Canadian Solar 365W Poly KuMax
4. Raspberry PI with ICC software

Will be adding two more Pylontech US3000's (for total battery backup of 14 Kwh) as well as 6 more 365W panels in the next month or two

I will probably be asking a lot of questions as I have been lurking these forums as a guest for a long time looking for answers to all of life's power questions

Attached a few photos of my setup

In this video we asked Keith several questions about Sunsynk and its role in South Africa. Keith is based in China and sent us an excellent and informative video to our request. This video interview offers you a strong insight into Keith’s thinking, design philosophy and the journey he took to create Sunsynk and its development.

Key Takeaways

Kieth is a certified Electrical Engineer


Sunsynk started in marine outfitting mainstream shipping and yachts.


South Africa is marked as a major market


Sunsynk is over 10 years old


Sunsynk is developing large scale inverters up to 100kw with imbalance modes


Parallel up to 15 Sunsynks together

This is my install done by Suidsee Electrical & Solar.
The attached pictures was taken over the 5 days of the install, so this is not the final picture. Those pictures I will take after I did some rounding off work (paint, cover for battery, etc)
Take note, the installation is mostly done by the owner of Suidsee himself, which you can hand your house keys to and go on holiday.

Here we go:

 

Good day Good people, I recently installed an Inverter with lithium ion Battery. I have also already mounted the Mounting brackets and rails for the 4x 365W Canadian PV Panels to be mounted, However I have not yet mounted the Panels, as I still need to submit the application forms and gain the permission from City of Cape Town to do the installation. This is the first time I have done this and I am having a difficult time with the completion of the application forms. Is there please anyone that can assist me with this? I would really appreciate it and I am also willing to pay for the assistance, maybe a regular solar installer that is familiar with this procedure.  

Just installed a Sunsynk 8kw inverter DIY and want to share some info.

We use about 1000kwh (units) per month in our house so about 33 per day with about half in the day and half after PV hours. This is about average for a family home I recon in SA.

Already have 2 Solar geysers, gas plates and all lights LED.

I wanted to be independent from the grid as much as possible which weighed heavier than economics although my return is still acceptable and higher after tax than any risk free investment. The whole house runs through the inverter including oven, the solar geyser AC elements, all plugs etc. Only the 4 Aircons is supplied before the inverter but with the Sunsynk CT which fit over the supply line the inverter will push electricity to them too if sufficient PV and battery power are available. I have one normal plug before inverter for if I have to weld or use heavy machinery.

I Installed:

Sunsynk 8kw  Brilliant inverter easy to do DIY and with help from Powerforum posts.

Jinko Mono Cheetah 400w panels * 18 - Connected in 2 series - 9 each. 9 panels in series match perfectly, max voltage around 410V real life in October (Sunsynk specs max 450V) and producing 97% of rated panel watts (3500w per string) max.  Fitted on aluminium rails on tile roof. Fitting the brackets under tiles is quite a job got my son to do that. 6mm PV cable running in PVC conduit from panels to inverter.

One set is facing West and the other facing North. I think if you can get East and west facing panels that is ideal, as you need PV power early in the morning to charge low batteries and then you want to produce as late as possible in the afternoon to have full batteries going into evening. Although not the ideal orientation PV panels are cheaper than additional batteries.

Pylontech US3000 * 5 These batteries when 100% charged at 5pm run the whole house through the night (have about 20 outside lights 3 pc's etc) and start to charge at 6am from west panels on around 30% SOC in October.

By 11:30 am the batteries are normally 100% charged, then I boost the geysers through Geyserwise on free electricity to increase their temperature so that they are still warm in the morning.

PV protection DB with fuses, surge arrestors and DC isolators.

Fuse and isolator between Batteries and Inverter

Grounding ROD and all earth wiring.

AC CB and change over switch etc in AC DB with relay for earth neutral bond

 

Total cost about R 210 000 (ex own labour) except for heavy overcast days I am not using any power from Tshwane, bill was about R1800-R2000 per month.

The feeling when the kettle and iron etc are on during the day and you know that it is not costing you anything (yes i know it is kinda) is priceless.