KLEVA

@Richard Mackay - If that were true, many on this forum would be rich and famous If life worked that way I would be a multi-millionaire instead of having to have restarted my career at the bottom rung at 48. From a senior Project Manager with Telecommunication specialty in the Oil and Gas Industry, working internationally, to unemployed for 4 years... Changes your perspective... You take what you can or can build up on your own.

@Jaco de JonghNo, you right, did go off topic, forgot that the question was about realistic results. Think my brain was more concerned about people breaking their systems...

@Jaco de Jongh - On a 6 panel 250W/panel system, I have seen over 1500W according to an Axpert. I have also seen over 100W on my small PWM controller while out on the dam from a single 100W rated panel (3.85 A @ 27.2VDC = 104.7W, I recorded it on my phone) while charging 2 x 100Ah batteries, one of the reasons I switched back to a 50W panel - they started bubbling (@under 4A they never should have, but understood that they are cheap/nasty batteries). I also understand that temp and distance/cable size will make a difference and reduce it overall before the normal household input - but in my experience it does/can happen - So my opinion stands, set your solar panels as close to possible as the max, but be careful of exceeding the max your invertor/mppt controller can take.

Sorry, because of a question on another post - Did Mecer figure this out, or did your solar installer (you didn't make that clear)? Battery charging should be within specifications of the manufacturer (how many amps, what voltage, etc) I might have missed a post where you discussed your batteries, and I tend to be very conservative with mine, so I can only advise as follows (voltage of the bank is not relevant as we are discussing charging current): Please bear in mind that these are generalities and the manufacturer specification should be followed first. This is only when you have no clue. For Lead Acid and most derivatives, a 100Ah bank should be charged at about 10A maximum. This can reasonably be expanded based on the rule Ah/10 (eg: 200Ah at 20A) I might be wrong, and some people on this forum may disagree, but I prefer a max charge of about half of the above (5A/100Ah) to slower charge for normal use, and some batteries need a "push" every month or 2. Depending on the battery type (eg: Lead Acid / Lead Acid Gel, and others), you DO need to push this up to the max, maybe even double, about once in 2-3 months. There can be sulphate buildup on the plates, and at the bottom of the battery, that can create a problem. The above is incredibly general information, and assumes a basic Lead Acid battery or similar. Please come back to us with your battery info and we can advise slightly better than assumptions above. There are many good quality brands that you need to treat slightly different, so this is the closest and least advise I can give. Lastly, when calculating your battery banks Ah, please keep in mind the maths... The Ah remains the same for ANY batteries that are connected in parallel (eg: 12 x 4 x 100Ah batteries - is only 100Ah at 48V) - So still generally must be charged at 10A if only considering current.

He he - @Coulomb - I love the fact that assume Mecer have any clue how to repair these things in South Africa - Little bit of naivety from living in a decent 1st world country?🤣 Sent 2 separate Axperts in, with separate faults and I just got told to replace the entire unit. In SA they behave a bit like Apple - No clue how to fix, and no inclination to solve the problem. Unless you actually tell them what to replace or what component to order, they are "almost" useless locally (as technical advice/fix). Admittedly, if I tell them what part, then they actually do try their utmost to get it for you, but they don't have the diagnoses skills in solar (and even basic invertors sometimes) to try solve the problem. Go to them only once you know what the problem is, and to do that you will need to find someone with an electronics background first.

I appreciate the focus on Solar and off-grid living, but the wording of this article is horribly technically either incorrect or gives the wrong impression: 8000W from 6 Solar Panels - No way that can be true: Show me the solar panel that can produce 1000+W that is available on the market or even the one he apparently "designed". 8000W per day is easy, and there are a lot of people on this forum who can do it, and do a lot more, so either a remarkable solar panel, or not described correctly, in which case, not very impressive. I have a 5 KW generator that I use for backup, does that count towards the amount of "off-grid" power? It shouldn't be included in the calculation in an article about off-grid living. So lets, take the technical information from this article: He has 6 solar panels (for arguments sake, lets say they are brilliant and large at 500W apiece) giving him 3000W and a 5000W generator = 8000W. This is still nothing impressive compared to what many on this forum use. If you take the generation of 8000W per day instead of constant power, then even in this locality, then @Camel and my home system kick it's butt, and those are only the quick 2 I came up with. There is no description of the batteries he keeps for storage. If he was truly going "off-grid" then eThekwinini (Durban) electricity has NO specifications yet. If you are completely disconnected then you don't even need a CoC, except for your own piece of mind! His only issue, and maybe why the article is involved, is that he mounted stuff on an heritage site. Any normal person would have put the kit onto something that was not attached to the heritage of the building... For F@&^ sake I even do that with kit attached to my Camper Van - Nothing is permanently fitted, and nothing makes holes or damages the vehicle. Although I still appreciate the highlights of this article about getting Solar information out there, it is very badly technically written and can convey the wrong impression (and maybe only gives one side of the story) Edit: After viewing Grahams' "Blog" and website, I can only suggest that the article is an advertising slot for his business. This does not seem to be a valid article, and is NOT even close to a valid installer I would recommend in the area. The website/blog is not informative, looks like it was designed in the 90's and is definately not some company that comes across as knowledgeable about solar installations!

Since we going "off-topic": Mine was a non-turbo rotary engine Mazda 616, but with a faulty 2nd gear in an Automatic 3 gear box... Only way to drive the thing was to use the accelerator as an ON/OFF button. Nearly snapped a few passenger necks when trying to drive in traffic🤣

Yes, even just connected to Mains this can damage the internals of a Voltronics (normally MOSFETS first) before the fuse blows. Sometimes it is just the supply from Eskom or Municipality that goes nuts (had a few internal household items blow at same time), or even a spurious induction from a lightning strike nearby. I personally still haven't found something to protect it properly, so advice for future failures would be helpful from others? My current Imeon doesn't seem as sensitive as the Axpert to those spikes and has just tripped itself and all the circuits before the Invertor. My thinking is that if you have multiple faults visible on the same board as the MOSFETS, then rather just get a new board than trying to replace piece by piece. For temporary fusing in case you think it may pop again, there are places (similarly named Voltex for example) that still sell the old housing fuse wire. Buy a bit of it at AC Rating for the DC current (Amps in DC is close enough to Amps on AC when going through a piece of wire - NOT A CIRCUIT BREAKER!), its' far cheaper than actual fuses for testing.

If there are more outlets to the pool, then find out why they are not working, an possibly reconnect them. My best thought though is to divert the pipe from the pool to a a fountain (spout up with a little dancing & peeing Ceres looks cute🤣). Can even do that without a pipe diversion by connecting to the end of the existing pipe going into the pool (just might not look as neat). That will aim the pressure elsewhere and then gravity will take over, so drastically reducing the current/force from being in a single direction, and the water still ends up back in the pool. What are those copper pipes coming out the back wall? Are they not supposed to be connected somewhere and hence the high pressure?

@plonkster - Sorry, I don't understand what that means to us. Are they getting any financial benefit or less payment to government? Sorry for my ignorance here, but I don't understand the current Germany situation and why it is now a benefit to add to their load? I fully understand that Germany's feedback to grid has nearly reduced their municipal power to 0, that I know... I just don't quite understand the politics/legalities/reason as to why your news article is good news?

@phil.g00 - Hope you misread my statements and comments, or I might not have been clear in what I was trying to say about the reverse (I was comparing them to manufacturer's who use the lower standard) - I was agreeing with the fact that ARTSolar use the higher value on their product. ARTSolar are brilliant when they have stock available, and I would definitely at least give them first shot locally. My only negative with them is that they only manufacture 2 sizes at a time, and keep no older stock to expand existing installations. So if you did an install 5 years ago, then sorry you have to buy completely new panels as none of there current stuff will work.

@pauljatho - Some very large loads, so need to consider what you can do without during load shedding, or can reduce drastically. There is no doubt in my mind that if you can afford the capital outlay of a good Victron installation then you should go that route first, It may hurt the pocket, but you will never regret going that way if properly installed and advised. (PS: I don't sell or can afford Victron myself - It is a goal I aspire to) Next, as almost beaten into you by the guys above, a 40kW load per day is actually quite large for a house, you need to try reduce this with other strategies first. I seriously think that before you invest in solar electricity, you need to invest in Solar Water heating. Solar Water heating is a far better return on your investment, and the correct (not even that hugely expensive) solar tubes, would probably drop 5+ kW or even 15 kW off your power draw per day (depending on settings). The biggest draw I found when I started was the Geyser heating. Fix that and you might find that you power draw can even reduce a battery bank or inverter needed. In your large draw environment, consider having a changeover switch that isolates the solar install from just a municipal install. Keep a municipal power changeover switch (in emergencies, use municipal or Eskom power), this has saved me from SWAMBO on at least 2 occasions when the Solar stuff has let us down temporarily. With the size of your current power draw, I personally would still keep a Municipal/Eskom link, even though it's tempting to go completely off grid. A generator backup to supply your current load would be expensive to purchase, and a large cost to keep maintained properly. Try keep in mind - as a target - that even a large household, with a pool, should be able to get to under 25kW per day. So treat that as your first goal before you spend a lot of money on Solar Electricity. * SWAMBO - She Who Always Must Be Obeyed

🤣And teach the wife not to use her hairdryer or curlers when you not expecting a 2000W+ draw

@Vaal - A small diagram might be better to describe, and it also depends on how the panels are connected together and what they will be connected to (invertor?) before the pump. For some info - Some home installations definitely have some panels installed on one side of the roof, and then other panels installed on the other side of their roof, some for morning, and some for afternoon. So the configuration is most likely possible. Just give us a bit more info about your situation. Many on this forum would be happy to offer info. PS: Welcome!

PS: I just use a change over switch at my DB. I Installed it what I was using Axperts, but I still sometimes use it even with the Imeon.

Yup, as @Coulomb says: Axperts should be a bit better at reading from the Gen output, but we also have to understand that our Gensets in SA are not the best quality, so many don't put out a decent sinusoidal wave, they use a "chopped" sine wave output to "pretend" to be a good source. The Axperts tend to want a decent sinusoidal wave (or as close to) and cheap generators in this country don't do that.

@Jaco de Jongh - Definitely can get a higher Wattage from a panel that has been calculated with lower Lux values (to define Watts/sq meter). Lux is calculated in the 0.3-2.4 micro meter range of the Solar Spectrum (some is outside visible light) and then multiplied by approx 0,0079 to give Watts/sq meter. Yet in South Africa there are some days we can easily exceed a Lux of 100000 (standard industry used AKA Peak Sun, but some countries reduce this to cater for their own latitudes - So they can exceed their Lux value calculation if used elsewhere). Note: For the purpose of this discussion I am using Lux, not Lumens (they are slightly technically different), and W/sqM is weird because it depends on their entirety of the product build. Here is why: As mentioned Peak Sun is 100000 Lux Full Sun is 108000 Lux (if nothing is between you and the sun, and Sunburn/Skin Cancer is near), South Africa can get very close to that on some days, not just because we think so but because it has been measured by people with far more "Dr"'s behind their name than I have.. And the SA Weather Service. Good Solar Panel manufacturers will always use Peak Sun for their calcs. It is what most of the world gets at 12 midday with (was without until edit, sorry)out direct sun. So even if we have a good quality product, tested at 100000 Lux, you will can get an increase in the Wattage output above Manufacturer specs - Highly unlikely to be larger than 10% though. Max reported by SAWS is 104000, until they provide the datasheet I requested. That is already 4% higher - 250W Panel becomes 260W output at the same Panel. A worse quality product may be rated at 250W based on 80000 Lux - If you give that product a 15% increase in Lux, then it can drastically out-perform its specs, or just break because it can't operate at the temperature difference created by that 15%

I left out batteries, and you mentioned "portable" - Well it seems like your choice is then made... A 24 V system is simpler to maintain from a battery perspective, is much less weight when being "portable". Lastly, 2 x High Quality and Long Lasting batteries are going to be 1/2 the price of 4 similar batteries...

The 2 are not the same solution... You cannot compare an Axpert properly against a proper Victron! They are completely different types of Invertors. @Shockin - If you can go the Victron route (financially) then don't hesitate. Axpert and Victron don't play in the same league. Axpert (or Voltronics) have developed a great product to meet the needs/requests of the masses. But their product is designed as a glorified UPS system. It can do amazing things but it definitely not the quality and design of a Victron (and this is from an Axpert owner!) You are not new to the solar game, I will happily send newbies without a budget down the Axpert path for small installs and to learn how it all works and fits together. It is so simple, and very difficult to mess up as a newbie (I know, I started there myself). Seriously, if you can afford the Victron route (I can't yet, but want to be rich one day), then definitely get the "LEGO" system that you can add/change/build as you want, instead of being locked in to a specific size (most products outside Victron force you into a "one size for all you needs", which is never realistic). PS: Now my vote FOR Axperts... They are problematic with certain issues (hey, Victron stuff can also fail), but they are designed to be more of a backup system than a permanent solar solution. Axperts a brilliant at what they are designed best to do - "Off-grid" or "Backup" (like a UPS) and do it very well. If this is what you are looking for, then be happy going this route. It is one of the most affordable routes into the Solar Power world. If you go this route (Axpert), then please invest in Class 1 Surge protectors both before and after your AC (input & output) Locate a supplier of the MOSFETS (especially since there are limited repair places in SA that can fix when Mecer says "eish - broken"). Without the surge protectors I nearly lost 2 Axpert 5KVA's until I was taught on this forum how to fix.

Now seriously on your Solar Panels. This is one of the few times I disagree with @Jaco de Jongh. Solar panels are rated based on a certain amount of light (or lux) per meter square output. For many places around the world, they don't quite get the same amount of light (or lux) per meter square of solar panel, so they can either be rated lower for market or they specify (most specify). You will always see on a panel specification sheet exactly how they calculated the fact that it would deliver 280W or so in an environment. In places like South Africa and Australia, our sunlight level is far higher (I say sunlight to simplify, it is slightly more complex than that). So the panels we install that are maybe rated as 280W, can actually deliver a much higher Wattage than expected (even over 300W) - because we get better sunlight than the European countries that it is rated for. But then we have the reverse situation, if they "cheated" (my emphasis), then they can use the South Africa maximum conditions to spec the panels (ArtSolar based in Pinetown, South Africa do this with their spec sheets, but with limited detriment to the purchaser as they show many other Lux levels for the advised purchaser). At the end of the day, it means that depending on the source, certain panels will behave the same if they are rated 250W or 280W. When you buy panels, or especially if you need to add panels to your array, stick with the same size and supplier. If you can't - then try get them properly tested and matched to your array. I happily run 280W panels with 250W panels from 2 different suppliers, but other than a volt difference of 1V or less, they perform identically.

<RantOn> As a complete aside - How come so many people on this forum can afford to buy PylonTech battery arrays, but then buy an Axpert Invertor? I am happy that people take batteries seriously, but that is a huge financial leap to go from the "cheapie" invertor to the "expensive" batteries??? Not completely knocking the Axpert, it is extremely capable, but I just don't see the point on spending R50+k on batteries, and then cheaping out on a R9k invertor??? <Rant Over>

Batteries, Batteries, Batteries... Tut, Tut, Tut... I will put R1k on the block that your first problem is the batteries. I hate the fact that no-one told me the maths about batteries before I did my first big solar install... Normal Lead Acid, even "Marine" or off the shelf "Heavy Duty" or whatever are not going to survive most solar installs. Unfortunately, Voltage does not equate to actual power delivered or actual power available. Think it simple, and think it "good' (my thesaurus really couldn't supply a better word for what I wanted to say). Rough Math based on your info and equipment mentioned: Load: 810w/h maximum -> delivered for 24 hours in the day -> 19.44KW used per day. Solar: Your Solar array can deliver (I am assuming you have 250W panels or more) 9 x 250W = 2,250KW per hour max for max 8hr of daylight = 18kW per day The above says you are already drawing more than what you are generating.. Battery logic says (based on the calculation you provided above) you are drawing a 810W load (19.440KW/day for 24 hours) , and only supplying a solar power (and battery backup) of (18KW/day as the only max draw from your solar kit for perfect sunlight). Now that 18KW/day I mentioned has to be stored somewhere first before it can be used... Ideally batteries... But your batteries can only store a single amount of max 8.1 KW and only 1/2 of that is usable... You only have a usable power of roughly 4KW in your batteries (This is almost a Lead battery standard that only max 1/2 is available to use without destroying)... Generally, you can't store 18KW of power into batteries that have a capacity of only 8KW and expect it to last, especially since you will almost always need to feed in more solar power to the batteries than what you need to draw... I know all batteries are different, but he basic math clearly says that your storage power (AKA batteries) are the biggest issue. Ok, think I have proven my point, and Jaco's... Batteries - The power you generate from all this free energy and solar power, it has to be stored somewhere before you can use it... And dammit batteries are expensive! - Welcome to the club! (Then we can look at fixing your load vs panel generation😀)

Hi all, apologies for the late response but "HAD LOAD SHEDDING". Sometimes it doesn't matter that you have power, but if most of the ISP's and Cell Towers in you neighbourhood go down, then you are practically just as screwed. I want to comment on Load Shedding, as a ex-municipal employee, and seeing some minor insights... I know this is not true for all municipalities, but I don't think some of their efforts are recognised... Load shedding Stage 5 or 6 is "almost" no longer in the municipality control - Whilst the municipality can vote and make suggestions as to which areas to apply, Eskom has the final say on demand to those areas or at least to pressure municipalities into complience in regards to reducing power. This is why ALMOST NO municipality publishes, or supplies to mobile services like "Eshkom se Push" the proper information past stage 4. Stage 5 & Stage 6 Load Shedding can result in up to a single period of no power for up to 8 hours... Sound absolutely horrific, but we have never been there yet when we live in Municipal areas, despite Eskom incompetence. Mostly because a decent municipality shields you from it... There is an extraordinary amount of effort from the likes of eThekwini employees and management to try "spread the load", including last nights work to cut off some places for 2 hours only (outside of schedule), so that they could supply other places due for a 8 hour block during a Stage 6 that they did not deserve. <*EDIT*> I have remove a lot of political comment from this post (which was below this EDIT), as it is not "pertinent" or relevant to the discussion. I apologies to those that read it before I corrected.

Even second hand, this sounds like a decent deal, if you don't have to transport - My new Lead Crystals with an amazing discount worked out to R20k+ for the same "equivalent" size. @Fuenkli - Lead Carbon doesn't sound right for 200Ah batteries on a solar system to me, are you able to send a few pics of the batteries? I am sure you mean Lead Crystal (same as alarm or battery motors but bigger). If I am correct then they should be close to 60kg apiece, so expensive to courier which has to be covered (60x8 = 1/2 ton). I might know of a chap who wants some decent batteries for a Axpert powered backup for a School in Pmb, so if you can make it closer to 7k for batteries plus courier to KZN for second hand batteries I think we can make a plan (still works out to R8,700 for client for 1/2 ton from CT area)?

@Petum - Not that I recall. @Chris Hobson or @Coulomb can advise better on the Axpert and possibly the new pylontechs. When I ran off-grid and the batteries dropped below the Axpert set values, I always had to try a few tricks "AKA fiddle here, fiddle there" before it would switch back online properly, most often only when the solar came back and powered it sufficiently). Admittedly I could do this remotely, but it seems like the Pylontechs reset buttons are not accessible remotely?