Jacques Ester

Then it is perfectly legal and COC was rightfully issued by 1st electrician then i don't see why the electrician want to issue a new COC he just need to issue a  supplementary certificate for the added string. The cost of a new coc is going to be more than a supplementary certificate that is maybe the motivation. 

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Todays technology can always be reviewed in a few years much like the Sunsynk has in the above posts. Solis is the latest flavour. At the same time as the Sunsynk Honeymoon was the Woolworths (because of price) FreedomWon Honeymoon at the same time. How time & brands change. 5 years of good service from any of these brands is doing good. Tech changes quickly & so does the utility supplier. Given you on a farm id not even bother with a hybrid that is bi directional. The costs of the transformer pole doesn't make sense.
2 X 6kW off grid deyes are the sweetest honey in terms of price & redundancy. Get a small 6kW Genset with the savings. I love the quality of the 16kW deye but you could buy all the items I've mentioned in this paragraph & have change to spare. At R7k a pop it doesn't get better than that. The Deye MAX is somewhere north of R40k. Too much in my opinion for the romance.

Hi Corne, not really a unique situation. The modern Commercial sites have this type of Micro Grid topology mostly if there are Grid ties involved with a Hybrid BESS system that's are AC coupled on the Load side. The advantage of AC coupling on the load side is the Grid tie gets Voltage ref from the Load side and will produce power all the time. If on the Grid side it will island if Grid power is lost. I used to know the Victron architecture well but I certainly am not current on it at all. The Victron does feature Frequency shifting, however, it's only possible when there is no Grid power involved because it can shift the frequency & the Grid tie will ramp. When there is Grid power that's not an option.
If costs were no issue I'd DC couple with a Victron MPPT because the extra power goes to the Battery and the Mppt will self regulate as it's a Victron product. But price is an issue and the Solis is cheaper. I wouldn't worry about losses at this power level of AC coupling Vs DC coupling I think it's going to be negligible.
There is a another way depending on how handy you can be with HA and Venus OS. Modern Grid tied inverters don't rely solely on frequency shifting to limit power. They also support RS485/ serial Comms & use Modbus. The Solis will definitely feature Power dispatching. Basically you tell Mr. Solis: hey I need 2kW from you & he will produce 2kW. So in HA you will have your instance looking at battery SoC from your Victron & tell the Sols to limit to Load when the battery is above 95%. I actively work in this field with much larger megawatt plants & a controller that can arbitrage and dispatch power as required to service the plant as a micro grid.
However, this is small residential project & all said & done probably the best & bulletproof option is the Mppt from Victron. The Grid tie option is affordable but adding an EMS (Energy management system) doesn't really make financial sense. If you however, you have the time and patience it's doable, there is a Solis integration available on HACS as well as a Venus OS integration. Blend the 2 together and write some automation rules and you in business. Doesn't even have to be complicated, can even program something simple like Above 98% SoC Shutdown the Solis and startup again below 95%. Keep it simple...

I think the main issues the Chinese battery makers are having is the cells can deliver that energy at 1C but the BMS cannot. The only BMS I'm aware of that can go big is the JDB300A BMS & that said I have not seen anything that is close to that. Maybe 230A at best.
Of course if you stack them then this unlocks that energy but I always ask the question: if I have a Sunsynk MAX or Deye 16kW Inverter and I demand 16kW of power I would like to know I can draw 16kW instantaneous from the battery. Even the Deye SF16 is limited and that's probably a PACE BMS.
No insult to the Knyee product but the above 12kWh Chinese batteries all seem to not be true 1C. The only one I know of is from FreedomWon & they not using a Chinese BMS at all. The only ones I know need to be stacked in 5kWh modules or 10kWh modules and my calculated guess tells me it's the BMS tech that struggles to regulate that power through a printed PCB. On the other hand a JBD uses a physical DC Contactor rather than a the mosfet arrangement. Food for thought. All the HV inverters and Batteries also deploy DC Contactors as do EVs.

Very happy to report that my invasive balancing and getting my 10/8 back into a positive direction has bore some fruits...Was a bad case of not reaching 100% and giving the poor battery a chance to top balance and level things out.
She is now producing what I expect and I'm happy that it wasn't anything worse than I thought. Sometimes there is a good ending...the delta to Lowest and highest cell been reducing for a few days and cycles.

Knyee Energy ES-LV-16 Update Real World Testing Progress
Hi all,Here’s a progress update on the Knyee ES-LV-16 after several weeks of continuous operation in my micro-grid.
Efficiency & Temperature
Behaviour Round trip efficiency is measuring consistently around 98%.
I have also been charging and discharging the battery at a constant 6 kW.
During these sustained high-power sessions the battery shows only a very small temperature rise above ambient.
Ambient temperatures over the test period have ranged from -2°C to 22°C, and the pack continues to run impressively cool.
BMS Communication & Flexibility
I have switched the battery between different inverters and the BMS communication happens seamlessly every time after selecting the correct protocol in the Knyee App.
It also performs very well in pure voltage mode.
Capacity & Cell Quality
Although the design capacity is listed as 16.08 kWh, I am consistently able to extract close to 17.6 kWh from the battery.
This is a strong indicator of high-grade, new cells. Nominal capacity is calculated at 51.2V × 314Ah = 16.08 kWh.
Delivering close to 17.6 kWh means the cells are actually producing significantly more than their rated 314Ah roughly in the 340Ah+ range.
New, high-quality Grade-A LiFePO4 cells often show this kind of over capacity when fresh. Lower-grade or aged cells rarely deliver this much above the rated figure.
BMS App
The Knyee App remains one of the strongest points of this battery.
It is extremely comprehensive and offers a high level of visibility and control.
Key features I am making use of include:
Detailed real-time cell-level data (individual cell voltages, multiple temperature sensors, balancing status)
Clear historical logs and graphs
Easy protocol selection for different inverter brands
Comprehensive alarm and protection event logs
Parameter monitoring
Reliable remote access over WiFi
I am still figuring out the best way to export the data from the app so I can analyse it properly on my computer.
I will post screenshots of the app and detailed charge/discharge curves at a later stage once I have sorted the data export.
Ongoing Testing
I will continue both short term and long term evaluation, including further capacity verification, higher load testing, extended cycling, and long term capacity retention monitoring.
More detailed updates will follow as the data builds up.
Happy to answer any questions.
Cheers!

Update:
545wp Longi PERC panels replaced by 665wp Akio bifacials. From 2180wp to 2660wp+bifacial on the same footprint.

I don't think you will get solis to display these details on the Solis. The Orion JR BMS also has these messages displayed in its CANbus. In fact the Orion can be configured to display any host of information as can be configured on the CANbus and you can make your own CANbus frames to configure with any inverter or EMS to read.
But this is what you have to understand: when a battery OEM decides to support an inverter they have no control over what the inverter integration team will want. Generally the bare bone basics will be battery temps, Charge and discharge limits & SoC. This is almost an industry standard of sorts. However, you can't force Solis nor FW to make or build features that only you want. They can see it as a suggestion but that's about it.
The points 1,2,3 &4 are all readily available on the BMS and on the Orion ready for broadcast if configured.

Between myself, my dad, and my father in-law, we have 21x US3000C batteries, all varying around 1000 to 1400 cycles.
So far, we haven't had any issues, but all of the feedback on this forum concerns me greatly.
Further to this, I have a friend who traded in his batteries on this deal and the trade value for batteries with less than 1000 cycles was incredibly low (R2000 per battery). This is very poor for batteries that have only used 1/6th of their design life (1000/6000 cycles). Based on this, I would rather purchase a different brand going forward.

This Offer is still available!

Further to my posts really what I'm trying to say here and we have already seen it in the automobile market: Are the Chinese starting to gain respect and market share and how do we try to still support & protect the local market. We talking about local content and jobs. Shein and Temu case in point.
FW & others the honeymoon is over unfortunately....I don't have all the answers and don't even have relevant questions to analyse something like this but it's fascinating to watch unfold almost in front of our eyes.

@Bernardf your point is well noted & I don't disagree with you. I followed the same steps as you but unfortunately being off-grid I could not wait for 4 weeks and lose 10kWh of capacity. The same prospect arises for their HV batteries and the lightest one is +-400kg. So the concept of remove and take to service centre is not so straightforward for a logistics perspective. They usually visit the site with technicians and service and sort out on site.
In the past there was no issue with requiring assistance like this and they offered it willingly to all locations countrywide. Lately there has been the combination of refuting the warranty and wanting to get the customer to pay for travel and logistics to their site location as well boarding and lodging charges added in a quotation for such repair and evaluation. I have also seen on occasions that replacement of the LV & HV Orion BMSs be quoted prior to on site evaluation between R60k all the way up to R250k. Some have not been my installations but one of them was and the customer paid the R250k up front replacement costs before an onsite inspection was carried out on the equipment.
The Orion is great and all the bells and whistles but is this not becoming an Achilles heal for the end user. The Typical HV topology of BAU/ BCU / BMU doesn't cost R250k, this in the case of a Chinese production battery imported. In contrast it's along the lines of R35K maximum. It also does the same job & it's components are serviceable and repairable component wise. It's also adopted from the Chinese EV market.
I'm was a massive FW supporter and still am to a much lesser degree but unfortunately the market is shifting and in my humble opinion FW and other local OEMs will find it very hard to stay relevant in these modern times with the production Chinese equipment imported from the Motherland.

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Out of interest definitely would be keen to explore and try your products. Just a couple of questions though:
Would you ever consider or are you in the Southern African region (Zimbabwe, Zambia, Mozambique, Botswana)?
How well do your products perform in areas where Internet network connectivity is erratic and not the best, in terms of data collection and aggregation?

Some pics attached as I needed to balance a cell that was quite far off the others...

Good day guys, I haven't posted something for a while and really haven't had the time. A very interesting problem arose on my FreedomWon 10/8 & due to the sheer frustration of trying to get support I made a decision to get intrusive with the unit & I voided the warranty. More on the warranty a little later and in general I hope that this thread opens up a very worthwhile conversation on warranties and what are they really worth. Even more interesting is the South Africa Battery assemblers as I call them. Let's face it, the raw Lithium is processed in China and made into prismatic cells and then shipped away to our shores as either an assembled battery unit or finds itself on the assembly line here in SA via FreedomWon factory or other well known SA battery manufacturers. The Local guys here then have a factory to a build those prismatic cells into a production unit & pair it with a BMS and then sell this finished product.
Now here is starts to get interesting: How long will these businesses stay relevant because it's a very tough market. The Chinese have the technology to process lithium, they also have the R & D to produce BMS controllers and let's face it their manufacturing costs are a fraction of what can be done here in SA. We now start to see Lithium batteries starting to reach Lead Acid pricing for the first time and sales on the market in general have dried up.
I have evaluated and deployed locally built as well as Chinese LV & HV batteries is mass. I myself used to build batteries. I'm sorry to say the undercut and the affordability of buying a production Chinese imported battery makes this a no brainer.
I hope there are more people out there that can add more perspective to this starting thread. Will add more details on the problem I had, the support that was offered and the steps I took to take matters into my own hands to salvage my battery and get it healthy again.

Kindly note that, as outlined in our warranty terms (refer to the image below), third-party devices connected to our batteries are not covered under warranty.
To ensure reliable performance and proper operation, the batteries must be connected in the installation sequence and configuration recommended by us.
We recommend disconnecting any third-party devices and reinstalling the system according to our approved connection sequence. Failure to follow the recommended installation guidelines may affect both the performance of the system and the validity of the warranty. 

Hello Everyone, I am pulling this review out of the archives for good reason. It is now almost 3 years later, and my long-term experience with the Solis S6 Pro inverters has been nothing but a pleasure.
These machines are incredibly reliable and robust in every aspect. I have run my full household completely off-grid on these inverters. Previously I used a Sunsynk that simply could not handle the punishment in a true off-grid scenario.
On a single 6kW unit I have successfully run:
Electric lawnmowers, chainsaws, angle grinders
Oil bath & inverter welders
Borehole pumps, drills, impact hammer drills, circulation pumps
Base load of 6 fridges/freezers, air fryer, microwave, electric geyser 2kW element, CCTV 8 cameras, computers, TV, sound system, external LED lights
12,000 BTU aircon (winter and summer)
I regularly pushed the inverter to its limits and used the 200% surge capacity for short bursts. All of this with zero noise from the inverter.
Other successful tests:
Generator integration Grid and Aux port works flawlessly and allows precise throttling of generator power draw.
2kW wind turbine on MPPT (constant voltage mode) and AC-coupled on Aux/backup port. Solis even created a special firmware to improve charging range. Their strong grid-forming capability makes them compatible with sensitive wind grid-tied inverters where others fail.
Parallel operation: Added a second 6kW unit one dedicated to PV, one to wind.
One unit was damaged during extreme experimentation Solis promptly replaced it under warranty. Their after-sales, technical support, and swap-out policy is second to none.
The Micro-Grid capability is absolutely amazing.
Internal transfer losses are almost zero.
I am deep into the experiment right now and will soon be adding a Solis 4.6kW grid-tied inverter into the micro-grid for further testing of TOU functions, charge and discharge rates, etc.
Their new Energy Management System (EMS) soon to be fully AI-powered makes perfect sense for grid-connected systems, from residential all the way to commercial solutions. It lets users set up Peak, Normal, and Off-Peak rates linked to intelligent charge and discharge schedules.
This maximises financial returns by optimising when to charge from the grid or solar, when to discharge to the loads, and when to export.
The upcoming self-learning AI mode will take it even further by automatically predicting solar generation, learning your actual consumption patterns, and making real-time decisions with minimal user input a big step forward for effortless optimisation. Up to this point I can only applaud Solis for a true Tier 1 product in every aspect.
The ability to create a micro-grid with their Hybrid inverters opens up huge potential for users who have multiple houses or buildings on the same property, with distributed batteries, inverters, PV, generator, or wind power systems all running seamlessly together on the same micro-grid.
Firmware upgrades are mostly for new features and battery compatibility.
The system has been so stable I went over a year without updates at times true “install and forget” performance in normal use.
I am now running an 8kW Solis Pro as the grid-forming master for my 6kW Solis Pro using CT clamp from the 6kW on the 8kW backup output. Each has its own battery bank and power source.
I am also planning a formal review of the Solis 5kW Off-Grid models soon.
Strong note: these are currently the only off-grid inverters that are NRS certified. We will be asking Solis for some units to give away.
Highly recommended!

Good to have AfriForum asking the right questions and based on what laws can a metro try and boost it's income - until all that can afford it moves to off grid
R2,400 fee for people with solar panels on their roofs in...
AfriForum has demanded that the Municipality of Emfuleni explain why it wants to charge residents who use rooftop solar R463 per month and a R2,400 application fee.

The Reality here is that it just makes more and more sense to go off grid then all you need to be compliant is a COC.
Even setting up small privately owned micro grid then starts making more sense.
My 2 cents.

AM16+ First Impressions After a Few Days
Very Impressive So Far Hello Everyone,So I have been running the AM16+ for a couple of days now and I must say what impresses me the most is the efficiency of the battery.
I am consistently getting round-trip efficiency of 97% that’s excellent. As many of you know, I am 100% off-grid with a well-performing
Micro-Grid setup:
The 8kW Solis is the grid-forming / load-bearing inverter with the old 30kWh AM2 battery bank + PV.
The Solis 6kW sees the 8kW as grid no connection to its backup port and currently has the AM16+ connected with the wind turbine.
Last night I ran an experiment from 7 PM to this morning to test how well the AM16+ would handle my nighttime loads with only wind as the supplementary energy source good wind conditions last night. AM2 Bank (8kW Inverter):

As you can see, the SOC and discharge on the AM2 bank stayed very stable from 7PM to 7AM. Once solar production kicked in this morning, it started charging the AM2 bank again.AM16+ Performance (6kW Inverter):

The AM16+ carried all the nighttime loads. Even with wind power injecting into the system, the discharge curve is remarkably flat and stable.
It held nicely around 72% SOC overnight and has already recovered to 87% SOC this morning.
Very impressed so far!
Out of interest this is how the SOLIS CLOUD sees the Micro grid it combines the PV and Wind Yield the grid import you see is there to prevent the 6KW from Exporting into the 8KW limiting to the load on the 8KW backup port. It Also shows the combined SOC of the two separate battery banks.



Update on AM5+ Parallel Testing with Old AM2 Bank
I had a long discussion with the Hubble Energy engineers regarding running the AM5+ in parallel with my old AM2 bank. They mentioned we may have some capacity issues due to the different battery chemistries (NMC vs LFP) and voltage ranges. We are still going ahead with the tests for educational purposes to show what is possible.
I will test both configurations:
AM5+ as the master battery
AM2 bank as the master battery
I’ll report back with the results of both setups.I’ll keep sharing more data as the testing continues Cloudlink graphs, parallel testing, different load scenarios, etc.
Any specific questions or things you’d like me to monitor/test next?

He good news is @TaliaB has been discharge and he is busy recharging hopefully to 100% SOC on a family farm.
His oxygen levels still need to recover and could take a while.
Thanks for the support on behalf of our friend.

Finally all installed at the end of last week (to not much sun over the weekend). Everything has been running smoothly the past few days and service has been great from the installer - today he brought the team to move a panel as it was getting a shadow on it and not generating.
I also installed Home Assistant and some smart switches on most lights, the pool and garage doors - the convenience is great. I also installed one Shelly with a temperature probe that it attached to the geyser outlet pipe - might consider a geyserwise to get a more accurate picture. Excited to start setting automations and optimizing, although I fear it’s a slippery sloop
i have a spare temperature probe so if anyone has any ideas on how to get a more accurate sense of the geyser temp I am all ears!

Hello Everyone
First Impressions are that this is a quality product with very well thought out features to make it easy to install maintain and repair if need be.
So I managed to get the very heavy AM16+ unboxed and upright safely had to get extra hands to help Hubble energy recommends 2 people in reality 3 people are needed the battery is very heavy and you do not want to drop something expensive like this. Once it was on its wheels it became very easy to move around and the wheels are of high quality and has leveling retainers that you use to level the battery when its in the place you need it very nifty in my opinion.
Here is a photo of the AM16+ still in its wooden box you can see the wheels and adjusters clearly and also note the packaging is decent to keep the battery safe in transport.

Here is a picture of the AM16+ Unpacked with all its cables on top of the battery note that there are no hard manuals with the battery everything is available online there are 2 data cables one is BMS the red one and the other is a parallel cable white with 2 x 35MM black and red battery cables. There is also a small L bracket that will allow you to secure the battery to a wall so it cannot fall over or move and a Hubble Energy sticker as part of the accessories.

There are silicone cable access glands where the battery cables and comms cables need to go in and the top cover is held in place by magnets with a magnetic click release all of the crucial components are accessible from the top of the battery including the cloudlink with its antenna and the BMS.
If the BMS needs to be removed for repair or if the clouldink needs to be removed or replaced the main pack does not require to be opened up.
Here is a picture of the top with the cover plate removed where you can see all the ports for the BMS and cloudlink with the built in DC Isolator, reset, power button, binary jumpers, RJ11 terminator, CAN terminator and cloudlink buttons clearly visible and accessible the battery terminals are very robust and there is an earthing point for you to attach your earth cable too.
There is a (Allow Charge/Discharge Dry Contacts) Port a MON port and a expansion port will find out from Hubble Energy what these would be used for out of interest sake.
Also to note the decent Antenna for the Cloudlink wifi comms. There is a gap in the lid cover for the antenna to protrude.
Note the Red BMS cable they provide and the white battery parallel cable also provided. You can run you DC cables through side glands or through the back glands. I assume the provided 35mm Battery cable purpose is solely for parallel configuration. The battery terminals for the AM16+ are M10 not M8.

The Battery is currently connected to my Solis S6 6 KW Pro Version with full BMS communication via the cloudlink and it is currently being charged with wind power only.
Some nice things about the Cloulink is that I can see in close to real time what is happening to the battery so there I can see the Turbine via the S6 6KW MPPT is pumping in around 793W per hour not bad for a 5 to 6 meter per second wind.
The battery was at 39% SOC when I received it now at 52% SOC and charging smoothly.
Note this is a micro grid setup so the 6KW is not carrying any load at the moment it is just charging the battery.

The Data on the inverter does not give such a nice accurate curve because its broken up in 5 Minute segments and the Cloudlink samples every second almost real time.

Before I can get any serious testing done I need to charge both batteries to 100% SOC
My main bank ran down to 16% SOC thanks to a very cold and cloudy weekend so that also needs to get to 100% SOC
Just a reminder I am 100% Off Grid so no utility power to boost batteries quickly.
I have a generator and will use that during the week to boost the batteries if PV and Wind is not sufficient however I want to avoid burning petrol.
I also have a lot of cables to make up for the different tests I plan to run etc.
I will post some info on the AM5 Later however this is also at 39% SOC and needs to be charged to 100% will get to that later this week.