Rodbuilder

Thanks for the comments. First just to clarify the current installation, I have two racks, both on the NE side of my roof which can hold 6 panels but only 5 were installed. So it should be very easy to simply install one additional panel on each array and this may well be adequate to reduce my winter problem. The reason why I wanted to place 2 panels on the SW side, which is not optimal in a general sense, is that from after 13h30 in mid winter the sun moves to that side of the house and it should provide more energy that time of the day then those panels on the North side. It is not that simple though as the benefit over North facing panels will only be for 2 & 1/2 hours for 3 months. As to the 6 KWh, it will make little difference in Summer as I have adequate power to run everything I want to, including my geyser and fully charge my batteries at the moment. In winter it is unlikely that the system will generate that much power, even with 3 extra panels. The inverter has a red line at 6 Kwh which made me think that it could be maximum.

I have the following hardware which is working well, except that I have a winter problem due to the angle of the sun and some other issues. Sunsynk 8kW Hybrid Inverter 10 X JA Solar 460W Mono MBB Percium Half-Cell Silver Short Frame MC4 in two arrays. 2 X Hubble 5.5KW Lithium AM-2 Ideally I would like to add a new array of only 2 pannels on the S.W. side of my roof and one additional panel on an existing array. In Summer I often get 4.5 Kw PV but I feel I need to push it to around 6Kw wich saould eleviate my winter problem. I will appreciate if those more knowledgeable then me can assist with some information:- Is it nessesary to balance the output between the PV arrays that they are all close to the same, so I would need to istall another 5 similar panels in my 3rd array? I understand that it is best to use the same pannels within an array, so is it OK to install different power pannels in my third array? I presume I may have to throttle the maximum PV input in to my inverter to around 6 Kwh? Anyone in the South Peninsula (Western Cape) that can do this small job for me?

Just a few comment's:- Past two month we used around 140 units from the grid whereas in Summer we get away with as little as 60 units, that was expected. During the 4 middle winter month my system struggles and I generate around 1/2 the electricity that I can do in Summer and I need to use the grid from time to time. I think most of us in the Western Cape would have this problem unless you have a roof designed for for solar, and even then! Basically the sun angle is all "wrong" for my house this time of the year and from around 13h30 onwards I don't generate more then 1 kw. I also have a chimney on my roof that creates a significant shadow over my array no 2 and reduces my generation around 30% between 13h00 and 16h30, that's not massive but still very noticeable. One other thing, I have a very powerful desktop computer with a 850 W power supply and discovered that this thing was sucking my battery dry at night as it was always on to run my security cameras. I now bought a NVR to run the cameras, this is saving me 200 W constantly throughout the night! My house now at times uses <100 W (fluctuates between 95W and 280W fridges and deepfreeze's do that) at night and my batteries still have 45% charge at 08h00 in the morning. I mentioned before that I installed a two plate gas hob next to my electric one, wife has started to favour the Gas which is not really the idea, I don't want to save grid electricity to pay it away for gas.🙄 I have been making all kinds of financial sums but attempting to improve my generation is not financially viable, even removing the troublesome chimney is not either. Guys want R8 000 to remove the large brick chimney and replace it with a SS pipe and cowl. The benefit of this I would estimate around 200 wats for 3 & 1/2 hours maybe every second day. To buy one additional solar panel would be cheaper and provide more electricity. I concluded that we are prepared to pay for the luxury of not having to worry about the solar and am going to invest in 3 additional panels which should take us off the grid without any worry in Summer and I can also put my stove on to the system. In winter this alteration would also make the system more efficient as I am putting 2 panels on the SW side of my roof. I run my geyser from Solar and two of my stove plates combined use less then the geyser. If we can manage to run both from the inverter we will be using more of the free solar without the hassles constantly monitoring the system.

My inverter is being fed by 345 W PV and 2800 W from the grid. Total 3145 W The load is 659 W from the house and 2250 W to charge the battery, Total 2909 W Why is there always a difference between what flows in and what flows out from the inverter in this instance 236 W, is this normal? My accounting brain says what goes in must balance with what goes out, usually…... Thanks

I went through very similar situation and as described above. I also eventually contracted another installer to do the registration with CtC at a cost, which I recovered from the original electrician who defaulted on his agreement. I wrote to the The Electrical Conformance Board of South Africa (ECB) https://ecb.org.za/ and explained how I got done in and by who. What happened between the parties I do not know, but 2 weeks later I received a very sad and apologetic phone call and the culprit reluctantly agreed to pay the costs of the other installer to finalise the registration, which he did.😁

Without doing the math, I realised right in the beginning that this was a non starter in S.A. What's more the CTC always needs money and they will just increased the fixed portion of your monthly bill in any event, their reasoning is that it costs them to maintain the grid and they need to recover that. I have a R200 000 investment in a PV system, I would also love to recover some🤣 Just a final thing, It took me 6 month to get my system approved and registered and I actually still do not have the approval document in hand! The original installer(s) could not do the registration between two of them and after some discussion returned what I paid them to enable me to get the services of more qualified people.

Agreed does not sound normal. Mine also make a fair bit of noise but regular and and constant and either on or of.

I did not think I could go lower then in Nov but we did, R390 and 90 units. We had very good sun and we are becoming experts at managing the system! I have also installed a Gas cooker and if the weather pattern holds then in theory we should go even a bit lower for Feb, lets wait and see. As I said before, we can never save as much as those who are completely off the grid, but we're doing pretty well I think. Currently we run totally on PV from around 22h00 to around 16h00 the following afternoon.

I have doubled my battery capacity and feel I have now reached the point of maximum “savings” from my system as I can now run on my batteries for 8 or 9 hours, effectively throughout the night. Bear in mind I am not off grid. The only way I could possibly still increase my saving would be more battery as I do not use all the electricity I generate and could save it that way, but the capital expenditure could not be justified. Another option could be to run my stove and oven from my Inverter, but that seems a bit "risky", its to easy to work in the kitchen and have geyser on as well as stove and then quickly switch on kettle🙄 I also heat my Geyser from my PV. We are at the point of maximum solar generation and minimum night duration! So only my Oven/Stove need the grid. I am considering changing my electric hob to a Gas/Electric more from a point of convenience then anything else. I have been told this installation is not allowed in S.A. Gas and electric next to one another, can someone enlighten me? Note the point I have made in the past, the effect of CTC’s fixed tariff structure, and my expectation that they will continue to increase this fixed cost; my units used from the City has reduced by 64% but my Rand savings by only 44% See new graph.

Bellville must have changed since I lived there.🤭 I live in Fish Hoek now, even more wind and benefit would be that wind is on nearly 24/7 including night time. I believe those things are expensive, especially in relation to their power generating capability.

Thanks. If I wanted to go to those length I would probably first have to address my stove and oven and get a gas electric hob or something like that. I don't think it is worth the cost, but what is the convenience worth..... A lot more. What I am trying to find out is if I can somehow get a Smart Switch to put the grid on/off?

The mistake I made was to use Grid volts i.e. 220 volts in my calculation, that's why I got to a very high number. I could instinctively see it was incorrect. Thanks again, this is now clear.

I have a Sunsynk inverter and yes it does have a CT coil. It is largely the Pre Paid meter I don't want but have been told it's a lost cause to try and argue with CtC. Does anyone have a registered on grid system without the Pre Paid meter and blocking device?

Nothing is "set up" anywhere I have programmed some of the initial setting by reading from Sunsynk manual. Am to cautious to do anything at the moment😀

I really appreciate all the input from you guys, is extremely helpful! This is a very nice forum with no rudeness and other BS.💯% I also like the software! Today I am installing another battery, expensive for a pensioner but I think well worth it. I will be able to run on battery throughout the night (or nearly) and will program the inverter at some point to charge from grid only at certain times. I have been heating my 400 W Geaser from the battery & PV for 2 month now and this is working well and I see no negative consequence. I do this manually at the moment and switch on when there is good sun outside. Usually I run the geyser for about 3/4 hour in summer. Winter will be another learning curve for me.