KLEVA

@GreenMan I will check, I think I can find a few Pi3's and Pi2's (about 3-4) that are unused. Not sure of models. Will PM you once I get details about exactly which might be available.

Hi @PETER12 I have the software for the Imeon 3/6 (via USB connection). Not sure if that will work? You would also need to get a code/date from an Imeon installer to get access to advanced settings (I can't provide that). Give us a bit more detail on the Imeon system you have and others may also be able to assist.

@Sarel Still need to consider import and maintenance options, but nice to know there is a closer option. Thanks

Slightly late to this topic. I have tried cheap ICE scooters (175cc), ebikes, and a loaned chinese electric "bakkie" (practically a slightly more powerful golf cart) to try do my daily work run, but I have a fairly steep hill, where I need to be able to do 70-80km/hr (maybe 100km/hr for overtaking) and none of these have been able to do more than about 55km up this hill. This has made them impractical and dangerous on this 2km stretch. Any practical electric vehicle in SA should be able to do 100-120km/h on flat and 75+km/h on steep uphills. The pricing also comes into play as import costs and extended maintenance plans/parts is still killing local commercial use. A slightly more powerful version of this chinese vehicle would be the most effective in SA (it's already outselling Tesla's due to price): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wuling_Hongguang_Mini_EV

Hi, my knowledge of SANS10142 is a bit dated, but hopefully general common sense and stuff will help. The information given below is from an electrical standpoint and has nothing to do with any type of alternate energy so An aircon that size is going to draw far more power than a 15A socket is designed for so definitely don't go that route unless you like electrical fires. IE: Don't plug it in to a normal household socket! Most home circuits are 64Amp capable on single phase, so legally attaching it to your main Circuit Board is fine as it will trip any over-usage. 1. You can connect this (even under my understanding of the SANS regulations) to your DB, but with a separate 25A MCB 2. There is a legislation in some parts of the country (local municipal laws) that require you to have a disconnect (a basic power on/off switch capable of the 25A switch) within 1m of the device. This is distance is horribly abused, but logically they meant within 1m of the evaporator unit on the outside of the building. Make sure they fit a complete disconnect breaker near the evaporator. 3. The SANS regulation says that this circuit (over 15A) must be unique and not shared with anything else, so this has to be a separate switch on your Distribution Board, don't forget that. 4. Unless you have had major changes to your electrical plan/connections, you don't need a COC to add this by itself. My personal recommendation is that you pay to get one to prevent insurance disputes later. This is up to you to investigate, I can provide you with the advice, but some government/politics are outside my/your control. I know my info is slightly outdated, but the common sense still applies: Just connect the Aircon to a separate 25A Circuit Breaker and you are legally covered as long as the rest of the home installation remains compliant. Since this is

PS: Had a knee go out on me so had to prioritise changing cars to automatic first - I still would like another Imeon 3.6 so will contact you later when budget returns.

I use an old EEEPC micro laptop permanently connected via USB and running the Imeon software. It's very slow but does the job. I access it via AnyDesk. I don't think mine has a comms link, but never checked, I was in such a hurry to install after a failed Axpert and bad batteries nearly burning my house down that was the last of my concerns. Thanks to someone else on the forum I also managed to get admin access to the software to tweak a few minor settings. I also use the EEEPC to run 4 USB relays (connected to other high power relays further down the line) that I use to control power to certain devices at certain times of the day, and with AnyDesk I am able to remotely turn these on/off via Tablet/PC wherever I might be. Almost off-grid, but still need grid for my wife's baking business - My solar can't handle that yet.

I accidentally drove past my old Passat in Gauteng about 5 weeks ago, and I chased it like a mainiac (like a bmw driver :)) for a long time on the N1. Eventually I managed to get in touch with the current owner and was extremely happy about the care he had taken with my "precious joy" of the old days. The new owner had changed a few things, but had never heard of the butunol treatment that I used before (obviously using normal 95 octane). So even after the butanol use this vehicle had had no problems since 2012, although butanol wasn't it's primary source, and the fact that no problems were created due to butanol use, seems amazing to me (and proves part of the concept). This car ran in my hands for nearly 2 years only on Butanol (I thought it would die and break), yet is still going even when changing back to normal fuel.. And even better is still running nearly 7 years after I abandoned the project. There is still much to learn from this vehicle, but I cannot help but be amazed that I found an original test vehicle from the time when we had less resources than an ant.

When I first saw the Bajaj Qute, I thought this was an awesome vehicle/ Although it isn't exactly a "solar" solution, it came across a a beautiful solution for our daily environment. I then took the trip to Jhb (I am a KZN boy) to test drive this almost amazing new "car".... I cannot fault the specifications on this vehicle, I was amazed at the "normality" of this vehicle and the fact that it carried more safety certifications than some of the retail vehicles in SA currently. But it does have it's downfalls... South Africa is not flat - the Qute is not designed for any environment that is not flat, going up a steep local hill can make it's speed hugely dangerous on main roads (eg: it dropped to a max of 30km/hr up a steep hill in KZN and couldn't get faster) It is still a petrol engine, no matter how efficient (So not really an eco-friendly solution) It has a speed limit at 70kph, now not a big problem for general use, this is a huge issue in SA when it it ness not to break laws about min speed on motorways. There is no motor upgrade path that is reasonable and would fix some of the above issues (a 400cc motor could drastically improve... but that is outside my control) On the good side, it was amazing to drive a "scooter" with all theses features, I loved it and and really would love to own one myself. The negative for my personal use only resided around the lack of power for use in a non-flat area, and the limiter that kicks in at 70km/hr, and of course the ridiculous import price (nearly R75k), for a "scooter" that can't do anything close to a basic scooter available in SA. Stick a 400cc engine in there and set the limiter at 110km/hr (even if it takes 2 hours to get there) and you would have an awesome product for the SA market, and I would be the first to buy.

Looked at it all, and not just the paperwork and stuff which is an overload for just a household consumer... At the end of the day I am not going to pay any new premium to the Municipality or Eskom. I have operated almost off-grid for almost 3 years without an issue, so my choice is to disconnect my Grid power. I am going to have to get some additional equipment (since my wifes business involves baking), but we have not used Grid power for 3 years even with her business, and so far no major issues as long as we keep our power draw within spec. I have applied to eThekwini to disconnect our power (this seems to confuse the few callers I have had), and had stupid people tell me about a R15k charge to disconnect - I just read the municipal bylaws straight back at them and they stop talking. After 4 weeks, I still can't get disconnected, even though I have switched off their mains. Tried to charge me for estimated usage of 11Kw last month which I refused. It is a fight to go off-grid, but if you are sure your system and backups can do it, then keep fighting and don't let a municipality or Eskom force you into a position, With eThekwini connection, my monthly cost is approx R1800. Without it should drop to R1200. I am also busy with Water costs as I have 2 Jojo's for seperate use and use less than 1kL from eThekwini. If I manage this right I may be able to cut this off too (especially since our usage is less than 200l/person/day) Some municipal bills I still have to pay (with "long teeth" in afrikaans)... Sewerage disposal, Garbage Disposal, and Rates. But everything other than Rates, can be reduced to almost nothing, and they aren't that expensive anyway. My end game here is just to tell you all that you can get out of Eskom/Municipal costs, but you have to do it when your house is ready... Don't blindly say "f*cuk Eskom". You need to work it all out like you would a business decision to get the best outcome for your own environment. You might be a small consumer, but it can't hut to ask your municipality for a better price... After all they offer that to many businesses, and if you get the right operator, they may do the same for you.

Hi, I know you posted this in January and have probably thought that this site is not suitable... But you completely posted in the wrong section, which is why we haven't helped you so far... Nobody heard your inquiry.... I was just checking messages when I came across your problem in the archives. I am not going to email you, since your account is a business, but I (and many of us) are prepared to help you learn about how to use various aspects of solar to your advantage. You have presented a small business, which at a very rough calculation needs about 1.5Kw per hour from solar or other sources. Lots of us would be willing to help, but your company must understand that they will have to spend money to achieve any goals... Solar power is awesome, but it comes with other expenses. If your business is more than just a small office/home environment, then you do need proper advise. A forum message is not going to solve. We are all here to help facilitate your questions though, so feel free to keep asking. Regards KLEVA

Your best bet is to contact @Chris Hobson. In the world the HA02 are cheap, but once you bring them into SA they cost a fortune. Chris has provided me with the best pricing so far when he has stock.

Although this is not the most flexible or programable inverter, I have loved the way mine works. It just does and so far I have had no issues with this after nearly 5 years of use (other than removing a dead gecko that blocked a fan ) Once you set these up this (IMHO) only comes second to a full Victron setup and is ideal for a starter and advanced alike. It misses some flexibility, but dammit the French made a damn good product here. I have to wait about 3 months before I can offer you a decent price (cashflow), but anyone out there would do well to get this product. Regards KLEVA (PS: Yes, I copy/pasted this response from another review/comment but my opinion remains)

Awesome price and wish I had the cash. Although this is not the most flexible or programable inverter, I have loved the way mine works. It just does and so far I have had no issues with this after nearly 5 years of use (other than removing a dead gecko that blocked a fan ) Once you set these up this (IMHO) only comes second to a full Victron setup and is ideal for a starter and advanced alike. It misses some flexibility, but dammit the French made a damn good product here. I have to wait about 3 months before I can offer you a decent price (cashflow), but anyone out there would do well to get this product. Regards KLEVA

Realise this is a late response - We use this configuration at the office (The Ellies Invertor on Trolley). We have connected a 30A PWM Controller (Used to even be able to by Ellies ones, but ours was just sourced as Generic - with LCD display - Think Ecco is the brand), and then have 400W of 100W panels (2 + 2 configuration - 2 in Series, 2 in Parallel) so as not to exceed the Max DC voltage of the PWM Controller. Since we only run a few Laptops, a small Server and the ip phones, +- 30W of LED lights and fibre router. This setup has been tested without mains power and has lasted over 2 days (with sun) and the laptops and LEDs off overnight, and still was showing 3 out of 4 bars of battery on the 3rd morning before we switched the power back on.

Just reread your question - apologies, but most of what I discussed was about putting panels in Series together, not 2 strings in parallel (and for some reason I couldn't edit my post). Coulomb's response above is more accurate for your scenario.

Not standard but more common than you think, and in itself not a CoC fail, the wires just have to be clearly marked.

My first thinking is NO No matter how you match disparate panels you will always end up with lost of losses that are normally not worth it. That said, you can get close, but you have to understand that there will be losses, and it will never add up as before. Ideally you should replace all panels at the same time. Financially we know you can't, so read below: Here is a generic (based on an idiot who financially can't afford to replace all panels AKA me): Know the Voltage from your panels (real, not just the Vm displayed) Know the physical size of your panels (sounds wierd, but but many of the calcs are based on m2, so if a panel is a different size then the Voltages and Amps may not be accurate for your use) Work in percentages difference overall - It is too easy to say that a panel is only 2V difference, but also understand the current difference... If the current is higher than a previous panel, then that panel may heat up and provide less current. Now let me give you a horribly rough example: 6 x Panels with rating of 38.4V and 7A in Series (approx 260W in brochure) = 1450W real Max input Add 6 x Panels with 300W in brochure, but with differences, 51.1V and 5.8A = in theory - 1778W added Reality works out that instead of 3228W expected, you will most likely end up with closer to 1558W - Only a few 100W difference. There is a huge technical explanation and ways to improve this calc, but it is almost impossible to discuss here. Understand that I have taken very worst case based on the the imaginative values I provided, I am just trying to prove a point. The closer you can get the Voltage values for additional panels is the first prize, but you have to understand that the current values are also relevant. Mixing panels is not a good idea in many situations unless you completely understand all sorts of electronic and electrical values that impact. But more importantly, understand that you will get the worst of the worst from each set. Don't do it unless you are damn sure that they are as close as possible, and do not expect full service as they will be electronically fighting with each other.

Whoops - Missed the approximate sizing question (although this does go back to Wilfreds response about lifestyle change, and my response about huge and varied). PS: Still recommend you get and installer to accurately assess and/or a local power forum user to double check Your usage is just a bit over mine, so describing my sizing may help (I am broke and my credit card is only in debt due to the solar stuff I have bought!): FAIL - I started with basic deep cycle 100Ah batteries - Calcium/Calcium, but while these are suitable for lake/dam boats and basic caravanning, these are not suitable for solar - Many deep cycle batteries are not suited for solar, no matter what the salesman says. You need proper batteries for solar use, or if using VERY minimal cycles (On/Off) then good quality deep cycle batteries (don't EVER buy the cheapest "Deep Cycle" batteries advertised). Most Solar use needs either high quality Lead Acid batteries (Trojans are good) with higher maintenance, Gel type batteries (similar to lead acid but the water doesn't disappear as easily), Lithium batteries (like the Pylontech), but these cost big money and need to be checked if your invertor can provide the correct values, lastly the Nickel-Iron (don't know of anyone in this country able to afford) which are the gold standard but so expensive that you would need to sell your house just to be able to power your house. My Calcium/Calcium batteries actually melted (and could've destroyed my house). CURRENT - I currently use 200Ah Gel Lead (AKA Lead Crystal like in UPS's and in a home alarm/gate control) - They aren't perfect but affordable. Batteries will almost always be the most expensive part of your installation in the long term, so I always will recommend getting the best you can. PART FAIL - I purchased an Axpert 5kVA Unit - This is a pretty decent unit for either completely off-grid or part-time off grid unit, but it does have some failings when using it as a day-to-day unit. The Axpert acts almost like a very complex UPS, and cannot share certain power sources to reduce usage. It is known as a Hybrid system. It is designed ONLY to charge batteries, and when connected to municipal that means that your solar panels are not much use most of the time (your batteries will be charged just waiting for a power failure). It can switch over at preset times (eg: use batteries at night and charge during day, but it is a almost manual configuration). Understand as well when someone speaks of Invertor, they are generaly referring to something that does everything all-in-one, but in truth an invertor is only one stage of a complicated product. An invertor only converts the DC voltage of your batteries to an AC Voltage that you use for stuff in your home. CURRENT - Due to absolutely no budget, I purchased an Imeon 3.6 "on-Grid" system second hand - The system itself has been amazing, but I had to use my own knowledge and experience to program it correctly. I cannot honestly recommend a beginner go this route as there is almost no support or just costly support. There are many on-grid systems available, but an on-grid system (even if you don't send power back to the municipality), is the right way to go (if you have municipal power and want to rely on it sometimes). If you are prepared to completely switch off your municipal power forever, then look at Axpert or Victron - budget dependant 6 x 280W solar panels - This was actually a decent size for what I needed, but the above equipment needed more. Battled to find similar panels for a long time with the same Voltages and stuff, so try get all your needed panels at once. ARTSolar locally is most economical, but they only keep their sizing for a year or 2. Mixing and matching old panels is very difficult since almost no-one keeps old stock. When you do have to match different panels it can be a big challenge in regards to voltages and currents. DON'T GET DISCOURAGED by all my comments above, there are a million reasons why you should. I am just explaining that it is not a small change you are making to your life, and I have seen a few take the leap and either get horribly discouraged or worse into debt). Take it all in small pieces and we can help, or if you are hugely rich then do it all once (PS Don't forget then to donate to our forum )

Hi @Tbird, firstly welcome to the forum. There are a few choices with Geyser/Water Heating: Switch to Solar Geyser with a GeyserWise and some Evacuated Tubes - First Prize; Pros - Almost free; Almost never have no hot water; Cons - Costly to initially set up (R22k or less in your case); Has a electricity backup and usage when multiple days of no sun. Change to Gas Geyser - Second Prize; Pros, you only spend what you use; On demand heat, faster than geyser; Cons - Setup can still be pricey and gas is not free; Heat Exchanger - I am not 100% familiar with this tech, but it still needs electricity (however obtained) Try use Solar Electricity to heat Geyser Element - Least Practical, but doable sometimes I chose the 1st option, and have a manual switch to turn geyser on when needed. I use that switch possibly 3 times a year. When it comes to Electrical Power - The options are huge and varied (genuinely going from cheapie/manual solutions for under R10k to nearly R200k for your estimated usage). It is really going to depend on what lifestyle changes you want to make, how much you are prepared to invest to go "off-grid" and your long-term solutions. You really need to get an expert into your home to advise you, but you are welcome to tell us their solutions here so that we can try tweak the solution or help you reduce certain consumptions down. There are cheap ways of going solar, and there are expensive ways. Every single option has pros and cons. Water Heating should almost ALWAYS be the first thing to remove from your electricity, it has the most advantages. Solar Electricity is still not yet as cheap as Municipal power, and wont be for a few years yet, so we all have had to adapt to our own needs.

Hi @plonkster, I am not seeing the issue with the highlighted wire connection itself... It is just extending the connection of the thicker wire, since I can't see where that thicker wire connects, I am not immediately seeing any problem. If the thicker wire ties directly into the Mains (Municipal Supply) at this point then there still might not be a point for concern if there is a seperate Earth Leakage in the outside area. It is fairly common to NOT connect earth leakage from one DB board to another, since you have no idea what is going to be connected at that DB, and you don't want a earth leakage at that DB tripping a main DB earth leakage. From the SANS 10142, you only apply earth leakage to equipment directly fed from this DB. The only issue I see is if this is a completely unprotected circuit to the lights and outlets at the 2 flats. PS: This sometimes happens when someone has installed a direct connection and TOLD the electrician that a seperate DB board is going to be installed.

Something I have seen done in ANY areas that an get damaged via abrasion, crimping, etc: Use a short piece of cable with connectors each side that goes through the area likely to be damaged. This short piece can then be replaced without major cost/time impact on installation when ness. As an example: I use this method for ANY cable that runs from the inside to outside my Camper Van. It breaks, it is quick and simple and cheap to fix.

Surprised that it is the motorquip shutting down with 85W, my experience has more been along the line of the laptop charger just not working due to the modified sine wave. Some things to be aware of though - VA & Watts are horribly interchanged on cheaper equipment, and there is a big difference. A lot of equipment with capacitors inside that are not high end equipment, will allow more than than 2A of 220VAC as "inrush" current, so easily tripping the Motorquip's 2 point something limit; Be aware that Motorquip invertors are usually labelled at the MAX Wattage, but are usually designed for much lower continuous use, so it could be an internal sensor trying to protect the unit; Lastly, the big quick draw might be pulling down the battery voltage that the Motorquip detects down too low for just a split second, so it thinks that the battery is flat and shuts down. I think the size of the invertor may be the biggest issue. Even though you might not have a large continuous draw, there are some things that could exceed. Some cheapie solutions (not the best use of power, but may help for basic load shedding): 1. Use a PC UPS of 1KVA, or bigger, as the main supply to your "goodies" and use the Invertor to power that - If loadsheding lasts longer than your battery, then you still have time to start a car and connect the wires to a vehicle (horrible use of power, but can keep you running), but also the UPS can take a slightly higher quick power hit. Warning - using and invertor to seperately power a UPS will decrease your batteries up-time due to increased power losses. 2. Try test with 2 batteries attached to the motorquip, it could just be the last reason mentioned above, 2 batteries might reduce the chance of the powerquip detecting the lower battery voltage. 3. Invest in a bigger invertor and batteries - I know this isn't always a solution based on finances, but an Ellies or Mecer 1.5-2KVA invertor with solar inputs that you get from Makro, Incredible Corruption, or elsewhere, are pretty good value for money and come in under 10k, with the advantage that you can add solar panels afterwards with the right invertor purchase. It is one of the cheapest ways to get into Solar, and it powers a LOT if connected correctly (imagine almost all your lights, fridge, freezer, TV & PC's running without disturbance during load shedding)

Glad you sorted. For those who may come across this query in future - You can contact @Camel on this forum via PM and he will be able to send you a price, or advise further.

Thanks for Info. My call is to charge the 210 bank with a max of 25A when charging to 58VDC (for removing Sulphates/Equalising), but at 10-12A for normal float and for just a smidge under 54V. Those equalisers are decent HA02's which I use so know they work well. Forgotten the Axpert setting (the number to set in the programming), but treat them as normal Lead Acid settings (the default) and you should be good. I think the default Axpert settings are just over 58VDC for equalising, and about 54.4 for float - but double check with a meter at batteries to counter for any loss on the cables in case it reduces more than a volt, then you may have to manually adjust the Axpert values in the programming. You have a decent starting setup, I would only add a Victron BMV702 or better battery monitor to make sure the batteries are properly looked after. I have experienced a battery melt due to overcharging a bank when a single battery went faulty. Next is to check your load (ie: what are you using). Try not to exceed a constant draw of more than 500W on a 210Ah bank... The Axpert works on a Voltage sensor to determine battery state, and in a high power draw from the batteries, it may reflect a lower available power than what is actually available. This is not a bad thing for your batteries, but you might get a far less output time/power than what you expect before the Axpert cuts off. Input Hz and Voltage in SA needs to be adjusted slightly for the Axpert defaults - We can easily drop to 190VAC on the low side (mine was set to 180VAC) and jump to 250/260VAC on the high side (leave it at 250, anything more and you risk equipment, so rather have the Axpert look after above 250). Frequency doesn't normally go off too bad in SA, but a 48-53Hz range is sufficient, and nowdays the HZ is not as detrimental, so leaving the Axpert open to accept a slightly larger range is unlikely to cause problems.