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PicHopper

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Everything posted by PicHopper

  1. I had this issue as well. It was resolved by our electrician who took the battery in to Hubble. I understand that they updated the firmware, and we've not had an issue since!
  2. Hi Ayoob Thank you for the feedback - I so love it when we can share our experiences with others! I will have a look for that Elon smart water and send you a PM if I don't come right. I appreciate it!
  3. Thank you for clarifying... Are there any specific makes of heat pump that are more effective than others? What is the appropriate size for: 150litre geyser 100litre geyser 50 litre geyser I may need two geysers due to the layout of property. one small one for the kitchen / scullery and a larger one for two bathrooms. Thanks for your inputs
  4. I've been doing some research regarding geysers and other hot water options. I saw something of interest on the Kwikot website: https://www.kwikot.com/product-category/solar-pv-water-heating/sol-pve-system/ I then tried to search for who designed and manufactures these and I found this: https://poweroptimal.com/elon-range-2/ The idea of using a DC element in a geyser is a good one, as DC is a more efficient tech. I would like some feedback from people who have this installed as a solution? Any experience or ideas would be welcome! Thanks!
  5. I see now what the issue with a heat pump freezing is: The cold water input to the Heat pump circulates to the heat pump and if the temp falls below zero, the water in the pipes (and the heat pump) might freeze, causing blockages of the system, or damage to the unit. Hmmmmmm.
  6. This sounds rather like preparations for the end of the world and a Zombie apocalypse! There will be different scenarios if the grid stays off for 2 days when compared to 2 weeks or more. That will be a very different issue! I do not believe that we will have more than a couple of days outage at worst. There will be intermittent outages in various areas, whilst the grid stabilises and that might take some time. I think that the biggest problem will be communication. All cell phone towers will stop working after 6-8 hours (battery life expired!). Fibre may remain in areas that the ISP's can keep things running with generators until the fuel supply is exhausted. Radio and television (which we all use via IP networks today) will also be affected! No "Family Meetings" possible................. Makes you think!
  7. @Steve87 - thank you for the open and honest feedback. I also lean towards the single system, which means that there is one item to keep running and is simpler to install and manage. I was hoping to get some experience from someone who perhaps started with a single 5KW and then expanded it... The majority of the feedback is to simply go for a straightforward 8KW system. Many thanks all!
  8. I've been researching alternative ways for heating the geyser..... I was checking on the Kwikot website for integrations with heat pumps, and found this: https://www.kwikot.com/product-category/solar-pv-water-heating/ The Kwikot web page is promoting the Elon Solar PV Water heating system. It appears to be a DC heating element fed directly from the PV Panels. I am not sure if there are batteries inside the box, but it does appear to be a system that can work if the geyser heating element is DC. It must surely be more efficient than running a geyser on 220v from an inverter that converts DC to AC.... Does anyone have one of these installed, and what is your experience?
  9. Thank you - this is very interesting. I also don't understand how the refrigerant used in the Heat Pump pipes could freeze ? Many thanks!
  10. Thank you very much for the info - its great to see how other people's systems work, and report. Each one is different!
  11. Thanks for the insight - How does the 2 x 5kW inverters behave? If you could share a pic of the management software / app / website that would be awesome.
  12. Hi Manie Thanks for the feedback - could you perhaps indicate where this is installed? Climate appears to have a bit of an impact. Also the makes and model of geysers / Heat pumps? What should I consider?
  13. I currently have an 8kW Sunsynk inverter + 10/8 Freedomwon battery installation - it works brilliantly! We are looking at relocating, however, and I would like to know the pro's and cons of using the same installation versus a twin 5kW installation in parallel. Single 8kW + 10/8 battery setup One system to manage One system to fail When it fails it fails completely 2x 5kW + 2x 5/4 battery setup Parallel system means two sets of inverters and batteries to manage Two batteries to keep in synch Two systems to fail When one system fails there is still a half capacity to go on with during repairs. One other consideration (not major - as it depends on where you install) is that the 8KW inverter has some noisy fans, whilst the 5kW has none! Any advice on whether it is a good idea to go with a parallel system (from anyone who manages parallel batteries or parallel inverters) as compared with a single setup? Thanks in advance for your replies!
  14. For those of you who have Heat Pumps + PV and battery installed: Where are you located to make use of the heat pump? I understand that in cold weather they still work, but not as effectively, and can even be prone to freezing. I am watching a house being built in Howick, KZN, where I know from experience it gets really cold in winter. How effective is the heat pump in winter, and what size does one need for a 150L geyser? It also appears that we will end up with 2 geysers: One for the kitchen / laundry and another for the two bathrooms. I am guessing that would mean 2 heat pumps as well? Your experience and advice is very much appreciated!
  15. Those of us who have invested in solar plant installations at home feel that we've got it sorted if there is a total grid failure - at least to some extent! WE are happy that we will have power during a sunny day at the very least. I have a question for everyone who has a solar installation at home: What will you do with your installation if SA suffers a total grid failure, and the power is off for say 2-3 weeks? For my own purposes, I will be doing the following: Turn off the mains breaker to avoid power surges or low voltages or low frequency power affecting my home when power is eventually restored Carefully manage my electricity consumption to keep a minimum power available in batteries overnight, and cater for cloudy days. I would probably keep on that regime until the main grid has been completely restored nationwide for at least a few days before turning on my mains switch again. Anyone else have some suggestions on how they plan to manage if there is a complete grid failure? as Baden Powell said " Be Prepared!"
  16. It was a matter of turn everything off - disconnect mains power and battery feed to inverter - and shut everything down. Then a restart managed to restore parity for a short while but after the first cycle, it did the same battery drop thing! I also did a reset using a toothpick on the reset switch next to the dip switches. This corrected things briefly, but then the problem reappeared. The issue was resolved by Hubble when the installer took it in. Since it was so swift, I can only imaging that they simply updated firmware and possibly reset the battery / BMS status. If possible, you might be able to have it done remotely over the internet. Ours was not possible, because we had no power and no internet!
  17. OK -so excellent news! Our electrician came through and collected the Hubble battery for us on Tuesday and took it away to the Hubble warranty returns. We were expecting 2 weeks without a battery - BUT: There was a call the very next day to ask when would be convenient to return the battery! It was re-installed on Wednesday and appears to be working the way it is supposed to! There is no way of knowing what was done, but perhaps all it needed was a firmware update........... Phew! Very impressed with the Hubble turnaround!
  18. Here is the extra bit of info for the same day when the issue occurred (
  19. It seems to be a fault that is happening to several of us! My inlaws have a SunSynk 5kW inverter and a 5kWh Hubble battery - their system simply shut off as if it were dead, but after 90%! The graphs are really quite interesting. Here's the last iteration........ First time, the battery went dead after dropping from 100% SOC to 90% then directly to 0% SOC. The battery would not accept a charge from mains via the inverter. The installer "reset" the battery by changing its type to an AGM% setting, then back again a few minutes later, and the battery started to charge from mains again. Another day (and more loadshedding later) the same occurred! This time it was around 89% SOC when it shut itself down and reflected 0% SOC. Would not charge. This time, I tried the same "reset" mechanism, and the inverter immediately started to charge again from 0% SOC to 12% SOC then a jump to 100% SOC........................ Next day the same thing - this time not loadshedding, but a cable fault in the area meant that the mains was down for considerable time. The SOC dropped steadily and as expected down to 60% SOC, then it shut itself off reflecting 0% SOC. The installer is going to come collect the battery and take it to Hubble for testing and repairs. Brilliant scenario for the inlaws (80 and 83 years old!) who expected this to solve their electrical issues, and not contribute to them. Does anyone have any suggestion on how to speed this testing up?
  20. I had the same issue a little while ago. Disconnected from Wifi and did not reconnect. Google search gave me this video, which might help you reconnect:
  21. Hi there I've had a Sunsynk 8.8kW inverter + Freedomwon 10/8 battery installed with 8x 540W panels. I have a low power demand because I have piped gas to my property but I am really close to being off-grid. I use around 1kWh per day down from around 20kWh/day. Either you buy into the concept of an all-in-one solution or you decide to mix/match and get the best out of the system. If you're looking at all-in-one, then my research showed that FoxESS was the better option out there. Good luck with your installation - enjoy the freedom it brings!
  22. Thank you for the tips! A very important difference between the different cycles! WOW! Whilst batteries are a high cost, I believe that the technology development of batteries within the next 10 years will mean that if you need to replace batteries within say 5 years even, the size and capacity of batteries will change immensely! We may even end up with a totally different technology to store energy! I thank you for your tips and your advice. Many thanks!
  23. Thank you for the very clear response... It certainly provides me with some good info to research more on the topic! Product websites always oversell the practical capabilities of their items. Its a problem that can only be addressed through existing users giving advice such as yours - many thanks! I am still waiting on quotes to hopefully get my own installation in place.... tricky times with Stage 4 Loadshedding.
  24. OK - so now I'm getting quotes for PV installs and can't compare the offers because of different battery makes. My daily consumption is below 20kWh at present. Essentially I am looking at: 8kW Sunkynk inverter 10kwh battery 8 x 540 kWp Panels = 4320kWp The different offers come with very battery combinations, and I am hoping for advice on which are the batteries that give no problems: Hubble - 2 x 5.5kWh Freedomwon - 1 x 10/8 Freedomwon - 2 x 5/4 LBSA - 2 x 5.1kWh Pylontech (waiting for the offer) Which combination would be the best to go for, from a reliability perspective? I am looking for a set and forget system. Thanks for your insights!
  25. Thanks for the tip - that makes sense......!
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