Sidewinder

Even 60s is fairly useless, in my view, if your intention is to find out how your system is really performing. Electricity wise, weird things can happen in 60s, which you will not be able to track/find.

@Zweli ,

@IronManZA , Agree with @Kalahari Meerkat , you need to monitor the cell voltages over time, specially under load (charge & discharge), as well as when close to 100%SOC. Hopefully you've discovered what BMS is inside the Battery, and it has a RS232 port, so you can use something like PBMSTools (for Pace BMS, for e.g.), that matches your BMS. Would be interesting to know what BMS/tool is required to monitor your battery via RS232. BMS's normally have 2 OVP parameters. 1 for cell voltage typical 3.40V - you maybe need to set it up a little higher so the cell OVP doesn't trigger 2 for battery voltage typical 54.40V - you maybe need to set it up a little higher so the battery OVP doesn't trigger BMS don't report/communicate this to the inverter, but merely reacts to it or not via Warnings/Alarms

@Pebbles I would disconnect the PV from the Inverter (disconnect only when no current is flowing), and measure the DC voltage on the PV wires at the disconnect point. As mentioned above, it should be around 40+ Volts in bright sunlight. If not, then first address that. Thereafter you can decide how many panels to add. Be sure as not to exceed the 145V on the string.

@Pebbles , I think your PV voltage is too low to consistently provide power to the Inverter. The Inverter PV spec says 30-145 Volts. So even at 33V the MPPT controller is struggling to "switch" on. When there is good sunshine, the volts on the PV goes up a little, and you see 140W or something. I would just add another PV panel or 2 in series, to get the MPPT voltage to 66 - 110V. If this system is installed permanently, I would go for 3 panels, to get maximum PV to use during the day and to charge the batteries.

@ga_za , You need to analyze this a bit more careful. 1st look at the specs of the Inverter. The ideal & Max PV string Voltage is 425V and Isc = 26 A. So 425V/8-9 panels in string = 47-53 V. So you need to look for a panel that has Voc around 47-53V and Isc = 26A. That does not exists (yet), so that should give you a clue that you need to parallel 2 string from the get go. So Isc = around 13A. Can go a bit higher, to account for losses in cables etc. Even a JA Solar 580 is a bit high on Voc, but as you did not state your location, I would go for something smaller e.g. 545 or 555W, if you reside in a colder part of the country e.g. Gauteng. Freestate Bethlehem etc area I would even go smaller, like 500W or so. (Bigger isn't always better😉). If you reside is a warmer part of the country (no temps below freezing), you may want to go slightly larger in Wattage. As the Inverter has 3 MPPT's, you can entertain 3 strings. Ideal would be an East, North & West orientation, to "lengthen" the production during the day. As you have very little East facing roof (+ possible shading from the neighbor), I would want to use 2 MPPT's in the northerly direction. That's 4 x 8 x 500-545W on roofs 1 & 3. That will give you healthy production +- (14-15 kW) during midday hours. If you do not have enough space for 32 panels, then go 4 x 7 x 600W config. or 4 x 6 x 600W as a last resort, space dependent. Lastly, the 3rd MPPT to be used on roofs 4 & 5, which will give you nice production later in the afternoon, so you can start your cooking chores around 4pm in summer (and much earlier in Winter). The assumption is that the whole house is on Essential. I have this setup, and use Airfrier & standard oven for cooking/baking, with gas stove in reserve, as we work from home. Yes, I bake muffins and brownies in the airfrier regularly🤪. Not all 3 strings need to be the same length. So you may end with something like this as well: String 1 : North : Roof 1: 2 x 6 x 600W* String 2: North : Roof 3#: 2 x 7 x 600W* String 3: West : Roof 4 & 5: 2 x 5 x 600W* * substitute 600W with smaller Wattage if in colder area. #Can be split over Roof 1 as well. With some clever orientations (portrait & landscape combined), you may just be able to install the full capacity of the Inverter - around 21 kW worth of PV on your available roof space.

@Lourens1975 , It would be great to know what model of 6kW Inverters you have, in case someone else runs into the same problem.

"There are about 4000 homes in my property" @Bobster. How big is you property?😁

@Ei Electrical , In theory you can do that, but I would first do a whole lot of research before attempting. You supplier/battery manufacturer local agent/dealer should be able to tell you if they are 100% compatible. If they are out of reach, you need to find out if both models have the same version of BMS (assuming already they have the same battery chemistry - Hubble comes to mind AM-2's are NMC, and AM-5 is LiFePo4) Even if they have the same version BMS, they may need to be on the same version of Firmware, before they will "talk" to one another. It may even be that the 4.8 model is a 15S battery, and the 5.1 a 16S battery, in witch case you are a bit snookered. So I suggest a whole lot of Googling...

@McGuywer , No, the Inverter doesn't take the "punch", it is designed to follow the grid (i.e. keeps in sync). Quickly plotted Grid vs Inverter Output Voltages to confirm this. The "clean" part is also not true, if the grid is available. Yes, the inverter's output does become "clean", as in 230V @ 50Hz, the moment there's a grid failure. Here below an illustration of how the inverter goes to exactly 50Hz & 230V during the time of Grid outage. You can clearly how the frequency stabilizes when Inverter is disconnected from Eskom Grid. Should have added a Inverter Frequency plot. Just ran out of space!

Personally, the Inverter without "some" Battery backup is not such a good idea. When the grid fails - an believe me, it will - then the Inverter has no way of alerting the Gennie to start automatically. Even if you have separate "grid-loss" signal box to start the Gennie, there will be quite a few seconds (30?) before the Gennie's power is stable. Because your Inverter is dead, it will take even longer to wake up, + you would need an ATS between Gennie and Inverter. Perhaps you already have those items, as that is probably how it is operating today. Even if you Factory/Premises operations can tolerate the 2 dips in power for 1 bout of Load Shedding/local Grid failure, most Electrical devices don't like frequent power drops, and it will shorten their lifetime. Running the Gennie 24x7 is never a good idea, and the cost of doing that should easily pay for a small, say 5kWh battery. Yes, at full tilt, it may only last a few minutes, in which time the Gennie can recover and switch. Most modern Inverters have this function built-in these days. I would design the system size such that the PV & Inverter can cover the whole load + a bit in reserve. The Battery size just the minimum to cover the switchovers. Go for the biggest Inverter model, as I seen parallel (Master & Slave) installations are a bit more cumbersome to install/maintain/manage, and should be a last resort. As mentioned, if you reach the top end of an Inverters capacity, there's always a few micro-inverters (AC Coupled) that can add 2kW steps of AC into the mix. Pity that the 125% rebate for commercial solar installation has ended 1 March 2025. Start with getting the basic's right. The 16kW SS mentioned is probably the right choice. It can handle the full load. It can support 20800W of PV, so I would prioritize the budget for Inverter (+-R52k) then 5kW battery (+-R20k), and the rest (R30k) into PV/Installation. Even if the budget then only allows for 10kW of PV, that fine, as the next time you have budget available, just add more PV. If you choose a too small inverter (say a 10kW), then you will need to fork out more R's to do a forklift, or even to expand the existing system. In any case, allow for ample space for expansion, irrespective of which way you go. Good Luck.

@ARC Lighting , You are able to set the Charging Amps to say 70 or up to 190A's Max, but you need to remember a few things: 1) You need to back that up with enough PV (MINUS your LOAD at that stage). Hence I would also suggest you make sure the inverter is set to Battery Priority. You have approx. PV = 9000W (after losses) available. So with a 5kW load, that leaves only 4kW to go into the battery. That's only 77A worth of current, and it's only available for a few hours around midday, let along a cloudy day like today. Adding the 2kW Geyser bring the CA down to 38 A. It's going to take a long while to get that Battery to 100%, if at all. 2) Taking the size of you battery in consideration, I would set the CAmax to 60A (20A per 5 kWh, purely from a longevity perspective. You do want to make them to last 10+ years, I hope !

For me, 1st prize would be to have a "smart DB", ie all appliances on their own Wifi CB, but doing that on an existing DB is problematic, as space becomes a real headache. The smart plugs is a good alternative. I just worry about the current rating, specially when deployed on geysers, HP, Dish washer, Dryer, etc. I haven't tried the Aliexpress/Banggood 1 gang CB's yet. I trust the Lesotho based Astute's more (even if it is made from Chinese components), but their shear size makes then a tight fit in most DB's.

@johanpre, I use Astute into HA as well, and I think my one on the pool pump is probably an older version (couple of years old already), and HA reports the power consumption just fine. I got a new one - still unopened - for future use, and see on the side it is marked "ASC-W-002". So I'm assuming that is a newer V2 then.

Oh, and Yes, this combo port is how SA get's the data, but I found that using the splitter does corrupt the RS-485 data, so I've solved that by crimping both cables into one RJ45 plug.

@JaseZA, Yes, that (RS-485) port is available, but it only spews out Inverter Data. The Battery Data it does provide is an aggregated view from the Inverter perspective, so pretty much useless. SA does it a bit better, with the appropriate USB/RS-232 cable, but it is very limited in what it does display. The Battery spews out a lot more info of value than what SA provides back to the user. Make no mistake, SA is very useful, but it is very limited in how/what it displays information, with very little customization possible. This is why I use the SmartDeyeDongle (RS-485) with HA, with USB/RS-232 cable to the (master) battery, so I can see what I want/need.

@DannyBoyZA, I may miss the mark completely, but why are you plugging a RS-485 port (from Waveshare) to an RS-232 port. I would just try and plug it in the master batterie's Link In port. AFAIK, these link ports on all batteries are all RS-485 ports, no matter what the label says. Typical for most Inverter/Battery/Management setups should be something like: Inverter to Battery - CAN Inverter to Management System (SA or HA) - RS-485 Device (typically a battery) to Monitor or Management System (SA or HA) - RS-232 using appropriate cable Seeing you are doing everything Management wise via RS-485, you should also use the RS-485 port (the Waveshare device) Keep us up to date, so we can all be in the know!

Yes, that's why I occasionally cast an eye on cell voltages, pack temps, etc. HA is great for that, as I'm sure you already know!

@NadaCT, Depending on what Inverter you have, make sure it is set for Priority. You probably need Battery Priority mode (at that time), and Load First at other times, depending on you needs.

Seems there is a paragraph missing: 22. Homeflex penalties: The following penalties shall apply to each POD: 1. Per month: 1.1 A proportional penalty each and every time that Eskom fails to deliver Power at the POD. 1.2 For each and every failure - forfeit the R/POD/day rate in totality. 1.3 Pay additional penalties in relation to the Stage of Load Shedding: E.g. Stage 6 - applicable penalty is 6 x R/POD/day rate. 1.4 Penalties may not be used to offset Usage at the POD. 2. Per Year: 2.1 Should the Utility fail to provide a 24 x 7 x 52 service at the POD, it will be incur additional penalties as follows: 2.1.1 R10,000 if any failure occurs during this period. 2.1.2 This amount is to compensate for long term effects of any loadshedding, e.g. replacement of electrical appliances, inconvenience, insurance premiums, additional expenses incurred at the POD by the home owner to ensure a continues supply of power. 2.1.2 Penalties may not be used to offset Usage at the POD. 3. No excuse performance will be tolerated. E.g. generation, distribution, force majure, Regional & National Government, etc.

Those cell voltage graphs actually don't look too bad....better than mine! So you seem to have 32 healthy cells! What I do find interesting, is if you look at the SOC vs pack voltage graphs, pack 2 is the one always showing the lower SOC, yet it has/follows a slightly higher voltage (+-100-200mV over the whole pack) on the pack voltage graph. To me that would just indicate that the SOC calibration for pack 2 is not OK (or is it the other way round!) I found a similar SOC variance on a 4 Hubble AM-2 set of batteries (Also has the PACE BMS). Voltage per pack is all equal, but SOC% is all over the show. These batteries are remote, so I can't help the owner to fix it, as he does not have a extra USB/RS232 cable to use PBMSTools to re-calibrate them. Even so, I haven't done that myself (my packs don't exhibit this SOC% variance). I saw a Hubble techie do it remotely, so I know it can be done. It seem's it can be done at any time. He basically determined which pack's SOC is the highest, and reset the other pack/s to that value. He used PBMSTools to do this.

The Battery SOC was almost full. Look at the last graph and read from the black line (SOC). Battery setup is pretty standard, I don't allow charging from the grid, and use TOU to keep a reserve (20%) for Load Shedding. I know, it's not much, but in 4 years, we've learnt to cope with that during LS times. When no LS , we use electricity normally (i.e. no power policing)😬. Would like to add a 3rd battery, once I can find a good price.

As far as I understand BMS's, no necessary the PACE, every time a battery reaches "full" voltage - around 3.45V/cell = 55.2V, the BMS is supposed to reset the SOC to 100%, which looks like what happened when you allowed the grid to charge. So I would still use PBMSTools to investigate a) if any OV/UV Alarms are present. then b) Look at the cell voltages. Graphing these and other parameters (in HA) over a longer period hopefully shows more than looking at the values for a few minutes. I think an comparison of cell/pack voltages of Pack 1 vs Pack 2 may indicate what the problem is. Good luck and let us know what transpires.

@RoganDawes, I have a similar setup, just not Greenrich, but LiFePo4 + Pace BMS, and my SOC's run within a few 1/10th of a % from another. Perhaps you have a cell/s that is sagging. Maybe plot each pack's 16 x cell voltage over time and see if it shows any anomalies. Up to 120 mV delta is not ideal, but acceptable. If that doesn't show anything conclusive, then maybe use PBMStools to look at the setting of each battery.

@Kalahari Meerkat, whole house is on essentials! Fixed my previous post with pictures added for clarity.