Limpopo

Feedback: Just finished pumping 1250 litre water continiously for half an hour and very pleased with performance (heat-wise).

OK, so lets take a look at the cost of my system, now that its up and running: 2x150Watt panels...............R3000.00 2x400Watt panels..............R4000.00 1X MPPT Controller..............R2000.00....... 1X PWM Controller..............R310.00 2X80Amp batteries.............R3200.00 2X100Amp batteries...........R4000.00 Cabling..................................R400.00 Chines inverter......................R5000.00...... Labour....................................R0.00 (The old man charged me nothing) Total = R21510.00

Yes EdDee, I should try and get hold of a proper set of welding clips, they are designed for decent conduction. "..it makes a mess when a battery casing decides to pop.." many years ago, the father of a friend of mine died in his garage with a battery explosion ! I never heard exactly what happened. Terrible to have to go that way.

EdDee, I finished the job and as soon as I connected up all the panels and two controllers, it took an hour to FULLY charge the battery-bank. Vassen was concerned about my system safety, but I now have two panels running through a 20amp circuit breaker and each controller battery output going through a 40amp breaker.(I attach a picture) Please excuse the old breakers, as I make do with what I've got before purchasing. You say ; " I, personally, steer clear of crimped ends"..........> What I've done is to use heavy duty solder inside the crimped lugs. ".. it looks like a piece of galv plated mild steel pipe that you are using there in the mix..", please show where you are referring to. Thanks so far for your inputs/time. Rob.

Nice, ! even my wife thinks so

Readying the Roof for panel installation : Helova job, when your alone and 66years old !

If I am not using the Load output of the Charge controller...............? Last night laying in bed I came to the conclusion that the setting on/in the charge controller (Over discharge), ain't gonna save my battery bank unless I use its(charge controller's) load output terminals. Is this assumption correct? Maybe the older hands on this forum can give some advice.

Here is what the Chinese say I can do with their 4000watt Inverter :

Fantastic idea/project of yours RyanG ! If only the government were to demonstrate their talk, talk , talk about helping their people by implementing such an idea as yours. Lovely!

Yes RyanG. I believe many more people with low budgets(like me), are gonna start looking to go the "chinese" way for small, really small solar systems and hopefully our input here will help them. I was listening to a video yesterday where the guy(I think it was Ted Blom)..>>( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4uTAlmVRkX4 ) explains that Escom is going down the tubes quite fast. Many years ago when all the problems started, the government was prepared to dish out light emitting diode lights(Led's) to enable all households to reduce consumption(we were using the old 100watt bulbs at that time) and I do not know why they do not assist households today, with, lets say R10000.00 to enable each household to reduce consumption with a very small "chinese" system like mine. Can you imagine how many Megawatts Escom will have to spare/save monthly.

How to check a solar panel with a multi-meter: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eh6hzMb69gY

How to Charge Lead Acid Marine and RV Batteries in Parallel https://www.impactbattery.com/blog/post/how-to-charge-marine-and-rv-batteries-in-parallel Can 2 Batteries with Different Amp Hour Ratings be Wired in Parallel https://www.etrailer.com/question-130191.html Electrical Myths, Part 3: Mixing Batteries of Different Ages/Capacities https://rvnerds.com/2017/08/07/electrical-myths-part-3-mixing-batteries-different-agescapacities/ Q&A: Mixing Battery Sizes In One Bank https://www.morganscloud.com/2011/10/03/mixing-battery-sizes/ Interesting reading