sunset1

Brand new aren't these 10500?

Thanks good point and something that I forgot. If I remember correctly some inverters have high surged built in. If my power tools fall under this would it be safe to operate?

We are a pretty light house in terms of load and totally agree with that one does not need much as most devices don't draw a hell of alot. Besides obviously the wife's hair dryer. We have gas geyser, gas stove, one 32" TV, fridge drawing 230w. Kettle is on the gas stove. Only thing is the toaster, washing machine. My Power tools draw max 2500w. 3 more lifepo4 batteries is going to cost about 18k so it looks like it's gonna be the Kodak 3kw with 24v and some carefully management of the hair driver and toaster. Can always sell later when we have more cash and upgrade Cold beer during sunset not having to worry about load shedding

As the title says, is there an affordable way to create 48v without spending 20k? Currently have a 12v lifepo4 setup I built with lithium battery sa DIY. We don't need too much storage as we are a small family.

Thanks for the info. Much appreciated. 48v seems the way to go. Just need to see if there is an affordable way to making a 48v setup. I currently have a 100amp 12v lifepo4. Perhaps there is a way to add a few extra amps to reach 48v

Thank you. The Kodak looks great as it handles 5000w of. Solar panels. Only issue is the larger 5kw unit requires 48v battery. Means I must be upgrade mine from 12v.

Any recommendations on a decent 3000w inverter. Was hoping for the sunsynk 5kw but can't afford it. Many thanks

Saw the five kw growatt is slightly cheaper. just wondering what it’s missing compared to the sunsynk. I’ve heard only good things about sunsynk on here so thought it might be worth spending the extra five thousand for peace of mind.

Hi, thanks good point ideas. I guess on a smaller inverter and battery they would adjust their power usage habits during load shedding when it trips. I just don’t want to have to keep going over and resetting the inverter etc. hmmm, I need to do some inverter research. we are doing gas stove and oven. No solar plugs in kitchen is also a good idea. however Maybe going with the 5kw sunsnyk and 2.75 Hubble would solve all the problems?

Hi 1Ought, How do you like your Solis 4g? Is it user friendly? Do you have any issues with it?

Hi, Are there any decent 3kw inverters out there have the following criteria? Ideally im looking for an inverter than supplements Eskom during the day, with some battery backup for loadshedding. Ideally I am looking for the following: Wifi or 4g capability for remote monintoring. (its a rental propert and we want to monitor from home for errors etc) Able to mix solar and grid to the house - ie, excess solar is used to supplement eskom Able to tie directly into all circuits on the DB, and when loads exceed 3kw for longish periods, the inverter handles it and perhaps bypass it to the grid Does something like this exists? There would be a gas stove, Led lights through, solar geyser. Battery we are looking at is a 2.5kw hubble or similar.

Hi, thanks, I guess the main issue with the cheaper inverters (modified sine) is the lack of remote monitoring. Seems im best going with a newer 3kv growatt or sunsynk as it can power more in the future should they need. Will checkout Revov, thanks!

Hi Folks, So I am wanting to setup a solar panel system for a rental house we are building. We dont have a huge budget and the ideas is just to cover the basics during load shedding, and offering some things that are needed right now We are hoping to advertise as a smart house for folks working from home alot. Supplmental solar system, solar geryser, and free internet. The idea is that the panels provide enough power to basics - lights (LED) throughout house, 2-3 laptops, modem and router. (we have solar geyser). Maybe 1-2Kw max? We would also like enough battery capacity to power these items for a 3-4hrs at night in case eskom sheds then. So far I was thinking of the following: An inverter that has wifi communication so I can monitor if anything goes wrong - dont want the folks renting to worry about this or fiddle. Was thinking the new hybrid growatt. Perhaps 2kw of lithium batteries - guess would be 24v system. Be great to have batteries communicate with inverter. 2-4 +/- 500w JA solar panel I would ultimately create a compartment outside that houses the inverter batteries, modem and router, so i or others can go check and maintain without disrupting tenants. Would like to stay under 40k. Any thoughts or ideas about the setup are very welcome as well as product recommendations. thanks!

What did you pay for those fans and where did you buy them from may I ask?

the mecer mppt 1200 one panel. I am starting to think the reading on the inverter is the mppt adjusting to best voltage and amps, and not the actual reading from the panel

Just bought a new JA solar panel. - model JAM60S20 - 380 watt. Back of the panel says amperage should be around 11amps, however on my inverter its showing 19amps. Voltage is around 24. is this normal?

So I’ve completed the fan swap out and so far so good. I tested 2 different fans, with different rpm and wattage and both work. The fans need to have the three cables with the third being the yellow tachometer. Fans without the tachometer won’t work and you will get an error. One can bridge the tachometer cable from the one fan to the other input if one of your fans doesn’t have a tach cable. That is what I did to make use of a two cable fan I already bought. I don’t know what the implications are of this so do it at your own risk. the inverter is now much quieter although I cannot recommend doing this as air flow ie, cpm, is lower since I used slower fans. That being said I use small loads and it’s never gets warm. Full loads and summer I will have to monitor.

Just a bit of FYI Bought a BMS from lithiumbatterySA.co.za where the BMS suddenly stopped working after about a month. I chatted to the tech department who basically said there is nothing they can do and said it was just from wear and tear. (Ive had it a month). This was pretty amusing as a few days prior the same tech guy said it was probably a loose/bad weld on the board. I stated that i thought it came with a 1 year warranty but they said there was nothign they can do. Thought this was an interesting warranty Anyhow It took a bit threating consumer act thing and going online for the tech guy (Ben was his name I think) to wake up. His boss I believed phoned back not in the best tone. He said I can send it and they will asses it. From his tone and the experience thus far I presumes this was a lost cause. Got the BMS checked out myself and it turns out the issue was the male molex connector that connects the thin wires to the BMS. The internal metal connectors became loose. Replace this and you are good to go. Dont bother with the lithium guys

AH ok thanks for the explanation! I thought maybe the adapter was just burning the difference (192 watts - 24 watts) in stepping down the watts and was thinking, that sure is a waste of x amount of watts lol. thanks for the help again.

Regarding electronic devices, in terms of calculating how many watts a device draws, say a WiFi modem, does one calculate the input or the output on the dc converter? the specs are as follows input 240v 0.8amps (192watts) output 12v 2 amps ( 24 watts) there seems to be quite a big wattage difference

When working out the wattage draw on my inverter do I calculate the input or the output from the photo attached. This is from our wireless modem

Been looking for while of resistors online but cant seem to find anything with decent shipping. Only thing i found is RSEelectronics but they want to charge R160 for shipping a few resistors. cant bring myself to pay R160 for mailing an envelope for R20 worth of resistors Be happy for any old 2 or 5 watt resistors, anywhere between one and 15ohm would be great. Happy to pay for them and shipping.

TX, do than fans draw exact same amp, watt etc

Thats awesome. What were your reasons for getting new fans? Which growatt do you have?

Yes also bought mine there. Are you using solar as well? im hoping to swop the fans out. Will be posting results here if interested.