Steve87

@Aartappel your problem is quite a generic one and I have seen a few different solutions that the farming community is deploying...Direct Solar panels on VFDs, some farmers creating micro Grids large in size and then installing their own MV transmission lines and then disconnecting the various Eskom incomer points. I have at least 3 users completed these projects & have done it in a staged approach but the savings and the benefits are there to witness. Those unreliable expensive Eskom points are worth shutting down & pocketing the ongoing costs into your own infrastructure.
I have been involved with especially ATESS and more recently over the last 2 yrs Megarevo Transformer based Hybrids and AC coupled Grid ties and DC coupled ATESS topology. The largest plant at 1.5MW carrying a base load of 700kW is in a factory with massive HVAC and high inductive loads. The Atess equipment is really robust and honestly can take a heavy punch with large motors starting and stopping...
Its just my personal opinion that the High frequency non transformer based inverters won't last long for the irrigation environment or SAs farming environment because we have harsh conditions and we require equipment that will last the next decade that is serviceable in the field.
If you need basic advice and user cases please PM me. I can definitely point you in the right direction as well as share plants with you that have proven themselves in the field. The farming community are ripe to reap the rewards of solar power & with Diesel pricing very volatile id imagine it's going to accelerate...

@Aartappel your problem is quite a generic one and I have seen a few different solutions that the farming community is deploying...Direct Solar panels on VFDs, some farmers creating micro Grids large in size and then installing their own MV transmission lines and then disconnecting the various Eskom incomer points. I have at least 3 users completed these projects & have done it in a staged approach but the savings and the benefits are there to witness. Those unreliable expensive Eskom points are worth shutting down & pocketing the ongoing costs into your own infrastructure.
I have been involved with especially ATESS and more recently over the last 2 yrs Megarevo Transformer based Hybrids and AC coupled Grid ties and DC coupled ATESS topology. The largest plant at 1.5MW carrying a base load of 700kW is in a factory with massive HVAC and high inductive loads. The Atess equipment is really robust and honestly can take a heavy punch with large motors starting and stopping...
Its just my personal opinion that the High frequency non transformer based inverters won't last long for the irrigation environment or SAs farming environment because we have harsh conditions and we require equipment that will last the next decade that is serviceable in the field.
If you need basic advice and user cases please PM me. I can definitely point you in the right direction as well as share plants with you that have proven themselves in the field. The farming community are ripe to reap the rewards of solar power & with Diesel pricing very volatile id imagine it's going to accelerate...

@Aartappel your problem is quite a generic one and I have seen a few different solutions that the farming community is deploying...Direct Solar panels on VFDs, some farmers creating micro Grids large in size and then installing their own MV transmission lines and then disconnecting the various Eskom incomer points. I have at least 3 users completed these projects & have done it in a staged approach but the savings and the benefits are there to witness. Those unreliable expensive Eskom points are worth shutting down & pocketing the ongoing costs into your own infrastructure.
I have been involved with especially ATESS and more recently over the last 2 yrs Megarevo Transformer based Hybrids and AC coupled Grid ties and DC coupled ATESS topology. The largest plant at 1.5MW carrying a base load of 700kW is in a factory with massive HVAC and high inductive loads. The Atess equipment is really robust and honestly can take a heavy punch with large motors starting and stopping...
Its just my personal opinion that the High frequency non transformer based inverters won't last long for the irrigation environment or SAs farming environment because we have harsh conditions and we require equipment that will last the next decade that is serviceable in the field.
If you need basic advice and user cases please PM me. I can definitely point you in the right direction as well as share plants with you that have proven themselves in the field. The farming community are ripe to reap the rewards of solar power & with Diesel pricing very volatile id imagine it's going to accelerate...

@Aartappel your problem is quite a generic one and I have seen a few different solutions that the farming community is deploying...Direct Solar panels on VFDs, some farmers creating micro Grids large in size and then installing their own MV transmission lines and then disconnecting the various Eskom incomer points. I have at least 3 users completed these projects & have done it in a staged approach but the savings and the benefits are there to witness. Those unreliable expensive Eskom points are worth shutting down & pocketing the ongoing costs into your own infrastructure.
I have been involved with especially ATESS and more recently over the last 2 yrs Megarevo Transformer based Hybrids and AC coupled Grid ties and DC coupled ATESS topology. The largest plant at 1.5MW carrying a base load of 700kW is in a factory with massive HVAC and high inductive loads. The Atess equipment is really robust and honestly can take a heavy punch with large motors starting and stopping...
Its just my personal opinion that the High frequency non transformer based inverters won't last long for the irrigation environment or SAs farming environment because we have harsh conditions and we require equipment that will last the next decade that is serviceable in the field.
If you need basic advice and user cases please PM me. I can definitely point you in the right direction as well as share plants with you that have proven themselves in the field. The farming community are ripe to reap the rewards of solar power & with Diesel pricing very volatile id imagine it's going to accelerate...

@Aartappel your problem is quite a generic one and I have seen a few different solutions that the farming community is deploying...Direct Solar panels on VFDs, some farmers creating micro Grids large in size and then installing their own MV transmission lines and then disconnecting the various Eskom incomer points. I have at least 3 users completed these projects & have done it in a staged approach but the savings and the benefits are there to witness. Those unreliable expensive Eskom points are worth shutting down & pocketing the ongoing costs into your own infrastructure.
I have been involved with especially ATESS and more recently over the last 2 yrs Megarevo Transformer based Hybrids and AC coupled Grid ties and DC coupled ATESS topology. The largest plant at 1.5MW carrying a base load of 700kW is in a factory with massive HVAC and high inductive loads. The Atess equipment is really robust and honestly can take a heavy punch with large motors starting and stopping...
Its just my personal opinion that the High frequency non transformer based inverters won't last long for the irrigation environment or SAs farming environment because we have harsh conditions and we require equipment that will last the next decade that is serviceable in the field.
If you need basic advice and user cases please PM me. I can definitely point you in the right direction as well as share plants with you that have proven themselves in the field. The farming community are ripe to reap the rewards of solar power & with Diesel pricing very volatile id imagine it's going to accelerate...

Hi guys, if his spacing is 1.2m apart then a weight of 70kg every second A frame row will do. I base this on the Valsa Ballast block calculations & certification testing. They assume you place a block every 2 panel spacing at least. The Valsa product has a block at the front & at the back each weighing 35kg. 
The pics below show a property in Midrand that has stood up to massive Gauteng storms including last night's destructive hail storm. The owner sent me the images this morning & was very relieved to tell me that all 18 LONGi 575W panels survived & actually had a good wash...

Must admit guys I can't wait to install one of these machines. I have had a recently very poor service episode with Sunsynk where I totally question their RMA process & maybe it's just the shortcomings of a very successful company that now start to feel absolutely not much for ppl that have taken them to where they are. 
But Sunsynk aside. This Solis looks extremely solid & I will definitely post my first install soon. My only let's call it constructive criticism if I may from an installers perspective is that there is not a pure 3 phase in one option yet. I hope that this can be developed because there is a large 3 phase market & some ppl don't want to scale with 3 machines in parallel unfortunately. 
Watching with intrigue...

Honestly it doesn't get better than this. Anything else will be a new product from the Factory. Lowest cell at 3.47 is very close to a full cell.
This type of top float balancing can even be done once a week. In the high end Commercial installations these batteries carry out 2 Cycles a day due to 2 peaks (morning and evening) and once a week keeps them in good shape.

Honestly it doesn't get better than this. Anything else will be a new product from the Factory. Lowest cell at 3.47 is very close to a full cell.
This type of top float balancing can even be done once a week. In the high end Commercial installations these batteries carry out 2 Cycles a day due to 2 peaks (morning and evening) and once a week keeps them in good shape.

Very long story about the 5kWh Pace BMS FreedomWon E tower and the rest of the lite family. The E tower is exclusively made and assembled in China. The Lite family is assembled and made under FW factory here in SA. All Lites and Lite 2 have Orion BMS Jr for LV and Orion & Orion 2 for the HV units.
The Orion has massive pedigree and is made in the USA. It's a delight to work with because it's in good English and for a skilled operator can allow some pretty radical stuff. There is a password protecting the nitty gritty for good reason. In the wrong hands can cause some harm.
Of particular interest the Orion HV is an adaptation from the EV market in the US and hence the price if you are looking to source one can be north of R100k. It's a BMS that can harness individually to all +200s cells and features Active balancing. So pretty special one big monster unit.
The Chinese EV market adaptation is slightly different topology. They have a Modular way of BMS control. A BAU in some cases , BCU and BMU. Modular making it significantly cheaper if anything fails. Each can be around R30k to R5k depending on the module.
Some useless info but must say very intriguing to be exposed to both topologies and to each their own. I see good benefits on both sides of the fence.

Then divide that number by 2 to extract the cycle count FW makes use of...

The Freedom Won has an old USB printer cable aka USB type D. You need to download the Orion BMS Jr software from the Orion BMS website. Its freely available and comes with a heap of support. 
One of the main reasons FreedomWon is doing so well in this market is because of the Orion BMS. They scale from 48V Orion Jr  all the way to +800V dc Orion 2 for automotive and Industrial applications. Its found great success in the US market and is distributed worldwide. The Orion BMS is bulletproof. 
https://www.orionbms.com/resources/
 

Anyone looking for someone reputable in the Gauteng area, please call Gideon :+27 82 905 0773. I have worked alongside him on quite a few interesting projects. A very good operator.

I think that @BritishRacingGreencan assist you with this. I have paralleled a multitude of batteries of different capacities. They will current share according to their capacity. The SoC of each pack will match vaguely & within 5% of each other. Very crucial to get the wire lengths all 100% the same length into the Busbar is the trick. 
The last part of your post tells me you see the logic. Who cares if the Discharge limit is 100A & you have a 8kW or even a 12kW Sunsynk. The Discharge limit will not be reached. I know that a lot of people are caught up in the romance of Inverter & battery comms. If you look very deep into the subject you will find that the Comms are very primitive in nature & provide protection for the battery. You are quite correct the System mode timer makes the SoC crucial for it's use. 
Different banks or capacities will have +-5% equal SoCs it's just the Current value that varies. I have a FreedomWon 10/8 in parallel with a LFP 6kWh DIY pack with direct comms to a Kodak OG7.2. in this same arrangement I have had added another 5kWh Livoltek pack. 
The smart shunt will be a good addition & that can be plugged into the Solar Assistant using a VE-Direct to USB into the Pi. The Comms of the battery of your choice can be plugged in the inverter. The SA can be setup to use the VE comms so that you can view & monitor the SoC of the entire pack & get good stats. The Sunsynk can remain on Lithium Battery Comms & these two portals can run side by side all that is required which is annoying is the manipulation of the Battery connection on the settings page. 
The VE stats will always be available even if Battery Comms direct to the Sunsynk is your default choice. Remember the Shunt will be your watch dog as to overall bank health. 
Many ppl will benefit from such an arrangement because batteries & their manufacturers come & go & honestly nothing prevents you from mixing and matching. It's a battery first before it's a smart communicating device. 
Some fundamentals that I think you will already know is that only parallel batteries of the same SoC & series value. So if paralleling get all the individual batteries to the same SoC & voltage. When you connect them allow them an opportunity to settle down so after paralleling them let them equalize in voltage and amps for a period of 5-10mins before just making use of them with the inverter. Have separate means of isolation via a battery breaker etc. So smaller sized breakers leading to the larger breaker or fuse. This way even if a BMS is protecting an individual battery the others won't be damaged by the larger power demand if it was left alone to deliver let's say 250A. Your switch gear is the protection, not just the BMS. Don't rely on a BMS for overcurrent protection. 

Thought I would share some of my experiences and learnings with my quest to be independent of ESKOM.
 
First some stats of the system that i had installed.
2 x Chase Megarevo 8kva inverters
6 x Chase 6.1 Kwh lithium batteries
22 x Trina 550w solar panels
Things to consider in your off-grid journey in South Africa
1.       Inverter KW rating (minimum 12KW)
In sizing my system, I had to keep in mind the primary purpose was to go off grid or get as close to it as possible. My starting point was to replace the ESKOM single phase input which is 220V at a max of 63A giving a theoretical max from ESKOM of 13.8 KW so I wanted my inverters to be rated for at least that, so I decided that my choices were one 16KW or two 8KW inverters I decided for the parallel inverter setup for the redundancy and added flexibility in panel configuration that it offered. I have not been over the 63A usage often but I have, so this was a must for me.
 
2.       How many panels (As many as you can)
There are many calculators and opinions on how many solar panels you should install, and here is my take: Install as many as physically possible. I can’t tell you how many times I regret not getting panels installed on some of the less-than-optimal areas on my roof, Why? Well it seems that most of those opinions and calculators telling you how many panels to install are looking at average sunlight for your location, when going off grid average is not going to cut it, you want worst case, when it is overcast for 3 to 5 days in a row and you start shouting at people for using hot water and your wife is grumpy that the pool is green because you switched off the pool pump, and you looking at the solar app obsessively, when those overcast days roll around you will be glad you put those extra 10 panels in, the additional cost when you do it all at once is far less that calling your installer back to install a few more.
 
3.       Battery KWh (24 hours of usage)
These are the most component of the system and hard to get an idea of how much capacity to install, so I went with the following install enough battery to run your house for 24 hours or as close to that as you can afford, it follows from the solar panel logic that you are not sizing for the average day you are sizing for the worst case. In winter when there is less solar production, my batteries hardly ever go under 50% in summer it is almost never at 100% because of all the cloud about.
 
 
I consider the above the minimum for gong off grid, there are other things to consider when selecting the equipment, you will be using, and the many manufacturers out there offer a variety of features that will interest you, good luck with that choice.
 
Some things I regret,
550w panels instead of 720w the price difference is minimal,
Wrong soalrman dongle, the ones I got do not integrate to Solar assistant.
Not putting on more panels.
The batteries I got seem to only charge at 100A (could be a config issues that I need to look into)
A high voltage setup may have been better for my needs.
The firmware on the inverters is not very good
 
Some summary stats from solar assistant,
the grid usage by the inverters irritated me so I disconnected the inverters from the grid totally in October.
The house hold has 3 adults till May when it increased to 6.

Having done this recently in my home...The following points are noteworthy from my limited experience:
1) Take note to use a quality submersible cable and thickness.
2) Rate the size of your submersible pump correctly.
3) Take note when they are drilling to know at what depth you first find water.
4) Try to have margin with how deep you go and take note of the season. In wet season the water table can be higher than in the dryer months so give yourself margin and go to a lower depth if possible.
5) Case the Hole to deeper depths if possible and affordable.
Points 1 - 4 can be the causes of the pumps not working. Also make use of quality thick wall Class 16 HDPE pipe it's more heavy duty with thicker Walls and won't perish or cut during installation.
I wired and dropped my own pump and wired everything myself without an assistant. My depth is 60m and we had a very poor soil formation of Clay down to 25m. We cased in Metal to 30m and then cased in 8mm Blue PVC to 60m. We discovered water at 18m. Did a yield test and ran for 5 hours at a rate of 4500l per hour and tested recovery.
I installed a 3000l per hour Pump and I fill up my 5000l tank in +-50mins. Ok given I had a poor formation forced me to take precautions of casing all the way down to my 60m depth but the hole is very strong and the water quality is amazing. I think the same rules apply here guys, get a good reputable company with some word of mouth reviews that will send an approved person to locate water and do a site survey before they drill.
If you in Gauteng and need a competent drilling company call: Top line Borehole Drilling:
+27 83 296 5917. I got in touch with them through word of mouth and I did not regret it neither has their former clients that refered me.

My initial thoughts: 
Clever design, good form factor across the range. Makes for scalability very easily. I  don't know the pricing but I can imagine it must be expensive. Also it uses AI to manage it's entire system on how you will use energy. So AI is great when I works but what happens when it doesn't? Imagine the frustration of trying to work with a system that is planning your usage & you not really part of that conversation. 
I like automation & lived with it in life critical equipment & it worked very well. AI unfortunately for me takes the leap a bit far because you are observed but not privy to the information. I like to know what a machine has planned for my house hold energy management. Also I think there needs to be a manual mode where one can manually do what they want to do. 
I hope there are these modes but for a residential modern home that will have an EV at some stage it's great. However, AI is relatively new...I would hate to be the guinea pig. I see that some want to use this on the Heavy C&I market & thats where I think the right tool for.the job comes to mind. It doesn't have a transformer so my guess is that it's a Gate Drive system. 
Unfortunately I don't have much confidence in that architecture for Heavy industrial places. 
Looks super modern & promising. Looks like it will be judged as time goes by but most average ppl will just buy a more simple easy cheaper manageable system that's not complicated. Maybe I'm just old & sceptical...

Hi Brad, you have accessed it well. In order to create a Micro Grid ie. Have Grid tie inverters connected to the load output of Large Hybrid inverters you need an Energy meter to carry out the Measurements of what the Grid ties and or Load is doing. That Energy meter allows us to via Modbus send production throttle commands to the Grid tie inverters. I have used most brands and they operate on the same principles. When the Grid ties produce more than the load, the power is exported into the LOAD port into the inverter. The inverter will suck up that energy into the battery and charge up. When we reach 95% we Throttle the Grid ties to follow the load only (Zero Export). We have successfully added our EMS controller into many of these control scenarios with very good results.
Please send me a PM if you want to discuss further or have a project requirement. This is a niche market and there are probably a handful of operators and EMS creators that can achieve this. I'm proud to say my company is one of them. Further to that of the handful only 4 of these companies are local and once again proud to be one of the local EMS producers finding solutions for large Commercial Solar Plants ...

Just my 2 c worth, I have DIY batteries so don't have either of these. If this was me I would keep the LBSA batteries, pay the 4k to get the old one sorted out, then purchase LBSA batteries for any new ones. To me the LFP battery chemistry is safer.

I can only second these sentiments. I am currently dealing with a warranty recall for this very reason. The BMSs are fried & trying to action this warranty is proving very difficult. The product never worked according to its design spec & this is within the 1st 12 months. Sure this may be an isolated case but Pylontech are digging in & this battery was bought from one of the largest suppliers in the country. 
They have replaced at least 2 major components in the BMS & so far the battery cannot be made functional again. It's been close to 3 weeks now & guess what, we still eating from the floor with both the main supplier & the OEM. The Lithium battery market with regards to buying a black box ie. A production battery is starting to become a harrowing experience. 
Also waiting for months on end for a paid for product is also poor practice. I'm sorry to say, if the Pylontechs of this world are this elusive to deal with then I must also concur the 10 warranty is a false dawn when you need it. 

Hi Brad, you have accessed it well. In order to create a Micro Grid ie. Have Grid tie inverters connected to the load output of Large Hybrid inverters you need an Energy meter to carry out the Measurements of what the Grid ties and or Load is doing. That Energy meter allows us to via Modbus send production throttle commands to the Grid tie inverters. I have used most brands and they operate on the same principles. When the Grid ties produce more than the load, the power is exported into the LOAD port into the inverter. The inverter will suck up that energy into the battery and charge up. When we reach 95% we Throttle the Grid ties to follow the load only (Zero Export). We have successfully added our EMS controller into many of these control scenarios with very good results.
Please send me a PM if you want to discuss further or have a project requirement. This is a niche market and there are probably a handful of operators and EMS creators that can achieve this. I'm proud to say my company is one of them. Further to that of the handful only 4 of these companies are local and once again proud to be one of the local EMS producers finding solutions for large Commercial Solar Plants ...

Glad this firmware and MCU files got you guys sorted. Funny the MKS4 has this issue. I have had a unit suffer this problem in the recent last 3months and yep just seems weird. Just glad you got the disco lights flashing again 😁😁

I know I’m joining this late, but I have been quoted on a Sigenergy system and I’m quite seriously considering going ahead with it soon. The installer is a Herholdt’s Premium Partner and Master Electrician, so I’m hoping they’ll do a good job.
They’ve quoted me on the following:
Sigenergy single phase gateway
Sigenergy 10KWH inverter
Sigenergy 8KWH battery (ground mounted)
12 x 550W panels (North facing)
This is within our budget for now, but the idea with the bigger inverter is to add more panels and battery storage within about a year, enabling us to run as much as possible off our system, even at night. Our primary goal is to cut energy costs, not merely get through load-shedding/outages.
We want a system that will last long and deliver well for what we’re paying, especially in terms of app usability.
We realise we’re taking a bit of a risk, but we figured that Herholdt’s has taken a HUGE risk running their whole Cape Town warehouse off Sigenergy. I also figured our findings might help other residential customers who are uncertain of making the jump.
We also use Plentify’s HotBot on our electric geyser and will enable SolarMode once our system is installed. This will ensure our geyser is never heated during loadshedding, but will default to using clean energy.

My initial thoughts: 
Clever design, good form factor across the range. Makes for scalability very easily. I  don't know the pricing but I can imagine it must be expensive. Also it uses AI to manage it's entire system on how you will use energy. So AI is great when I works but what happens when it doesn't? Imagine the frustration of trying to work with a system that is planning your usage & you not really part of that conversation. 
I like automation & lived with it in life critical equipment & it worked very well. AI unfortunately for me takes the leap a bit far because you are observed but not privy to the information. I like to know what a machine has planned for my house hold energy management. Also I think there needs to be a manual mode where one can manually do what they want to do. 
I hope there are these modes but for a residential modern home that will have an EV at some stage it's great. However, AI is relatively new...I would hate to be the guinea pig. I see that some want to use this on the Heavy C&I market & thats where I think the right tool for.the job comes to mind. It doesn't have a transformer so my guess is that it's a Gate Drive system. 
Unfortunately I don't have much confidence in that architecture for Heavy industrial places. 
Looks super modern & promising. Looks like it will be judged as time goes by but most average ppl will just buy a more simple easy cheaper manageable system that's not complicated. Maybe I'm just old & sceptical...