TimCam

I have only had Nemtek, so can't comment on other makes, but no matter what make, get the lightning protection kit and disconnect kit if you are in the lightning belt. Nothing and no make can withstand lightning if hit. Protected by the lightning kit and disconnect kit my Nemtek has been working for many years with no hiccups. The pulse never misses a beat.

See the simple and nothing too expensive all in one unit from Takealot. It even has solar connections for charging the battery. https://www.takealot.com/navasolar-ti-1512-trolley-inverter-1-5kw-1-28kwh-lithium-battery/PLID93271343

On three phase systems you can hard link you neutral to earth or leave it open, all dependent on local regulations. I don't understand German, so maybe you are not talking about this. 👍

Yip, and as an installer who has to maintain legal requirement and warranties, it's best to follow the manufacturer's spec sheets. But for the private households who are willing to push the envelope a bit.... 🤔

My old SunSynk 8.8kW machine just clips the current without any issues or error messages. Notice the date, and all is still fine. I have now connected 13.1 kWp in the last month or so, and am looking forward to getting through rain and cloudy days this summer.

I currently have a SunSynk 8.8 kW machine with the whole house on UPS (Essential Load) and have never tripped it due to load. At times with Eskom available I've run over 10 kW through the inverter. I'm running 13.1 kWp of pannels and three Hubble AM-2's. With no Eskom / off-grid take note not to use more than 8 kW. If your budget can stretch a bit get more panels and batteries for the bad weather days. If money is no object look at the 10-12K or 16K inverters. ☺️ If you are looking for a SunSynk / Deye get one with the latest specs, not old stock, have a look below; Sunsynk_Hybrid_Inverter_8kW_Datasheet_v22_English.pdf Sunsynk_SinglePhase_10-12kW_Datasheet_v6_English.pdf Sunsynk_Max_Datasheet_v11_English.pdf

That would be a fraudulent practice unless each vacant plot has a wired termination point with an MCB available. Maybe someone with same money and time to spend needs to test the municipality in court? In the midlands KZN, this is also an issue that requires a number of stages to remove the municipal feed from a property, and costs a substantial amount. Note, that a property with dwellings, here can't be sold without power provided, but solar power is considered as (power). Hope you manage to find an inverter that suits your needs, or even better find a way to overcome the municipal bureaucracy. 👍

Nope, the "state"is a burden to the public, due to their incompetence, theft, bloated and unnecessary departments, insane salaries, thousands of unnecessary taxes, etc. Now these government muppets are trying new and expanded ways to steal more money for themselves and their cadre's. All of this has absolutely no benefit for the public or local businesses. Obviously I'm not a fan of bloated governments... 😒

Some of the rumors I've heard floating about are that some large solar installations were affected by weather (wind, cloud, dust, not sure?), and caused large fluctuations in output. This would support your thought of renewables with insufficient battery reserves. With load 'constant' and generation diminished and not sufficient battery reserve, frequency would drop below 47.5 Hz, and other generation plants would disconnect away from the transmission lines causing a cascade.

Deye and SunSynk are both excellent pieces of hardware, differentiated by branding and firmware. I personally enjoy the SunSynk firmware, but that is personal taste. The failure rate has been quotes at 0.4% for SunSynk, but with a large installed base this reflects as "more" failures than other brands. I have had my SunSynk 8.8 kW machine for a number of years now, and have never had it fail unexpectedly. Once it did shut-down, but the reason was expected, and no damage to the inverter or household appliances. What happened is there was a municipal Neutral failure which caused over 300V between Live and Earth, I have SPD's on AC incoming and Essential Load after the inverter. The SPD on Essential Load fired and shorted to Earth, which caused the inverter to shut-down. Walking into the power room and smelling that acrid electrical burnt smell sends shivers down the spine. 😕 Once the fault was diagnosed, municipal power was disconnected, the damaged SPD replaced, the inverter booted up with no problem and ran on batteries for the night. One tough "sun of a gun", so I am happy with my machine. Also I have passed through well over 10 kW.

Rather disconnect the panels from the house earth, and only connect them to dedicated earth rods. I have never understood the logic of connecting "lightning conductors" to the house earth. You never want multiple current flow paths between earth, as this can cause unwanted potential differences on earth.

@Lostduke welcome to the forum, and the journey of solar independence. Depending on budget, you can never have too many batteries or panels. 👍

The HV inverters normally have 2x battery connections, each connection can only accommodate 50A and the Voltage according to number of batteries. Depending on battery type, you can duel feed to both connections, therefor having 100A, if a battery parallel port check box is ticked on the inverter. Notice the duel output and convenient stacking of these batteries. Also can easily handle the 50A+50A current draw if needed. https://bslbatt.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/ESS-GRID-HV-PACK-231118.pdf

If you get a 30kW HV unit, you will have 4 MPPT's anyway, and a lot less trouble with battery wiring, as @frivan says. Here is a spec sheet.:- Sunsynk_ThreePhaseHI_29.9-50K_Datasheet_v15_English.pdf

Does this happen when you switch off the Eskom MCB, or only with loadshedding? How close are the inverters together, and are you using the supplied comms cables? All inverters on the same firmware version. What batteries are on site, cable size and length? Most strange, because on change-over from grid to battery and PV, battery takes the instantaneous load, and then the MPPT's catch up if solar is available. Does this also happen at night with no PV? Has this fault occurred from installation, or is this something new? Have you tried setting another inverter as master? Just a few questions, then I'm sure everyone will jump in. 👍

When production is higher than load and batteries are full, can't you dump excess power to a dummy load maybe to heat your pool, geyser or something else?

SONOFF POW CT Ring Smart Power Meter is the bees knees. 👍😎

Replace the panel if you can find a spare, the time cost and effort of repairing the panel is not worth it. You will get shorts to earth when water gets in like @abd7 said, which will cause all types of chaos for the inverter.

Have a look at the Sonoff devices. https://sonoffafrica.co.za/product/sonoff-pow-ring-smart-power-meter/ 100A should be enough for most houses never mind a geyser.

Are those panels powering the house or something else at 250m away from the house?

Aha! That's interesting. Somewhere in my province. 😎

Times up, lets see all those pictures. 😂 Suspect the install is somewhere in the eastern Cape?

Some hints and tips from others with heat pumps to get to amazing efficiencies. One day when I finally get my farm, I'll be getting a heat pump too.

Great to have helped, especially if it saves hard earned money. This powerforum has also saved me a lot too, so thumbs up to the system ops and users. 👍

Wow, my basic connection charge (MCB charge 50A) is more than 4x that amount, before I even use 1 kW/h. Sounds like a good residential system in South Africa to leave Eskom behind.