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KLEVA

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Everything posted by KLEVA

  1. @Muhammad Ahmed - As mentioned above, most decent invertors have a setting that will prevent feed-back to Grid. If you want to mix the solar with Grid on the input, then a Hybrid Invertor wont do that, but that is the only true way to prevent a small, or sudden feed-back. I don't see an issue with a extremely small feedback personally, there is no way you are going to supply the country with a 5kW invertor and take away the municipalities money... Lastly, from your description of the DB layout, even if there is a small feedback, it will get used by everything else on the phase before it could even think of feeding back to the municipal supply (I highly doubt that you are using only 1 phase for lighting only). You may be overcomplicating the installation and thinking?
  2. @Lucas Mill - Sorry, most of us live in South Africa - What is "ice"? Seriously though I don't have an answer without knowing the specification of the powertool, the load on a battery should be foremost, then how you are going to use (few minutes, hours at a time, etc). We need a lot more information before we can advise.
  3. @Mike - Have been living in another town for a while so only got to take a closer look at the Imeon today - Imagine my relief when I opened the covers and found that the only reason the fan had stopped was a dead gecko stuck in the fan... Cleared out the petrified remains of a dead gecko and the Imeon purred back into life. Saved me nearly R2k on importing new fans! @Wayne Kolevsohn - I had this issue just today after restarting my Imeon... To start with, shut down the Imeon completely (no solar, no battery, no input AC and no output AC). Wait for the Imeon to completely shut down and then give it about a minute after. Then connect all the sources and outputs again and check. If still not charging the batteries then you need to go into the software admin mode - If you don't have the software, and/or the admin access then you will need to chat to us further. From the Admin mode - under Flow Manager, switch the "Function Mode" to "On-grid" (Warning - this might cut output from the invertor). This will reset all the Battery Manager functions internally, and will reset the charging logic (both the "Allow AC to charge Batteries" and the "Charge batteries from grid authorised from...". Seems weird, but the Imeon lost the settings on mine and even putting the correct settings in didn't reset the charging. Once the "On Grid" settings have been loaded (takes about a minute or 2), then set the software back to "Smart-grid" or "Back-up" (whichever you use) and check the rest of the settings are what you want under Flow Manager, Battery Manager and Grid Manager. Hopefully this will resolve the charging issue.
  4. @Richard Mackay - Most Gensets only have a 12VDC output, so not going to help on a 24VDC or 48VDC that Axpert uses. @Sandro - Gensets are all different, so difficult to say if the output will be accepted by the Axpert. You can most often safely try putting the output of the Genset to the Input of the Axpert, if the Axpert doesn't like the supply then it will stay "offline". Be aware of something I like to call "hunting" - This is when the Axpert will switch from one mode to another on/off - This could damage the Axpert if done over long periods and will NOT actually charge the batteries. So , the simple answer is to try. Unless your genset is majorly faulty, you can't damage the Axperts inputs while testing for short periods (10 min, unless "hunting"). Think of an Axpert like a large PC UPS, it might or might not like the stepped 220VAC that the genset provides. I have 3 UPS's that are happy with my genset stepped output and 1 that doesn't - As they say: "Milage may vary". Addendum - If the Axpert "hunts" you wont have damaged it if it is for a short period (like 10 min) and then you just disconnect and know it wont work
  5. @Bushtracker - The HA02 battery balancers are available from @Chris Hobson on this forum. PM him for pricing - got all of mine through him.
  6. I dont have access to a decent drawing tool on my Tablet so have to describe: 8 x 200Ah 12V Lead Crystals in 2 Parallel strings, each 48V (Batt 1-4;Batt 5-8) 2 x HA02 units (HA1;HA2) HA1 connects to Batt 1,3,5,7 HA2 connects to Batt 2,4,6,8 Note1: This is not the standard, normally you would connect HA1 to Batt 1-4 and HA2 to Batt 5-8, but I like the idea of small balancimg across the banks. Note2: I swap batteries around in my bank every 1-2 months, so different balancing on different HA's and different banks. To answer the single string suggestion: Yes of course you can use balancers on a single string,, but it is paralell strings that get out of balance easily, and it is usually easy to figure out a problem battery on a single string. A single string would show problems before major issues occur, and the parallel charging/usage would mask. Hence the main reason why many say its not ness.
  7. @phil.g00 - The HA02 does go down that low (to 1.5V if I remember correctly). @Chris Hobson, can you confirm? But anyway balancing on single series string is not ness.
  8. @Farai - If you can, try get 2V batteries that can deliver 3000Ah in a single series string, then there is no need to use balancer.
  9. @Richard Mackay - Solar Tube installs are slightly more expensive, but are not more complicated than a Flat Panel panel installation, if anything they are simpler. @Yogie - Ouch, you have been ripped, my costs were under R23k for all items (150l Solar Geyser, 2 sets of tubes - 24 total, GeyserWise Max, 12V DC Pump - I have a 12V central feed installed in my roof already) Check out my Blog Post where I chat about Solar Water https://powerforum.co.za/blogs/entry/34-i-am-broke-how-do-i-make-solar-work-for-me/
  10. Hi @Donwil Sorry about delayed response - Was away for the weekend and my current workload is nuts... I will try answer some stuff quickly before returning to work... Blog can be found on this forum at https://powerforum.co.za/blogs/blog/7-klevas-lessons-learned/ An Amp/Hour or Ah sounds exactly what it is - It's how many Amps per Hour you need or need to use. Batteries are usually given in Ah to give a basic idea of how much power they have available (in absolute total) before they are "shot". Practically you should work on half of that, especially since any decent controller will not allow them to get that far depleted. But there is also something that is rarely found (unless you hunt the specs) and that is a "C" number (a symbol for current) which indicates how the Ah value was calculated. The C value basically indicates how they carried out the test to prove that it is a certain Ah battery. For example: 200Ah at C5 means that if you draw 5A maximum then the battery promises to deliver 40 hours total (although that max would kill the battery - roughly work on half of that or less to not destroy your batteries), lets say practically 20 hours. If you draw 10A from the same battery then there are no promises, but I generally would expect it to be exponentially worse, say closer to 5 hours (4 times worse). The C value in most cases also applies to how fast the battery can be charged without damage. Charging a C5 at 20A would not be good for the battery and most likely will damage it (and even risk dangerous stuff like explosions and meltdowns). Again I have given the worst first! Most decent batteries are C20 or C10. Gel Batteries are almost always better than standard Lead Acid for longevity. It really depends on how they are used. Gel Batteries are in a way also Lead Acid, the difference is that the liquid inside is a lot thicker (think grease vs water). Some of the Pro's of Gel are that they don't build up sulphates at the bottom of the battery as easily, they don't lose "liquid"/acid as quickly when charged heavily/quickly, they generally last longer, they need less maintenance than a good quality Lead Acid. That said, a well maintained Trojan Lead Acid battery is the best cost effective product - but you will have to have a proper maintenance schedule to keep the pH right and the batteries topped up properly. Using your example: (Although you must have a very old CRT TV or a HUGE flatscreen if it uses 300W - he he) 300W + 3W = 303W, which equates to a roughly 340VA (slight increase to take Power Factor into account with the products you intend to use, but don't worry about Power Factor yet - That's for later lessons - Power factor only applies when converting to AC) 350VA (rounded up) gives approx 1.6A AC current, but more importantly, is over 25A from a single 12V DC source You are looking at 2 batteries, so 30A (rounded up) is 15A draw each - So if you get C20 batteries rated at 100Ah, you will safely get 100Ah available, which is 100Ah/30A = 3.33 hours usable The batteries in this scenario are holding you back. While it seems like you should be easily able to power what you have, it's the storage of the power that often confuses. You have 400W in panels, so during the day there probably wont be a problem, but your batteries are only storing about 2 hours of that power maximum. For simplicity I will refer to everything in Watts here -> Think 400W of Panels x 2 hours of full sunshine = 800W, and you will be draining it at about 350W, therefore my max 3.3 hours estimate. You just don't have enough space to store all that sunshine for later use. To answer one of your last questions - a generic PWM controller is usually settable at what Voltage it cuts off (10.5VDC should be absolute minimum, but by default they are normally set at 11.5VDC), which means that they are generically fairly decent about that part. Especially since battery voltage under load is usually lower than what it actually is. So the cutoff on a even a generic PWM will be safe for your batteries, but might annoy you due to the limited power/time you expect. You overpower your panels and controller to take into account the bad days for charging the batteries, but the batteries ultimately are what is supplying your load. You have to get that calc right. I have given the worst case values here, so that you understand the problem and limitations. As an example again: I have 300W of panels on my Camper Van normally, with 4 x 100Ah batteries, which only gives a feasible draw of 200W over the whole night. If I have to run the Freezer overnight then that is only 3 hours runtime (70W). tldr; You have to store all the power you generate - 400W of panels is 3.2kW of power per day (at max), where do you store it? Your storage is what is supplying your power to your load, not the panels and controller.
  11. Will try that @Mike.
  12. Usually all solar mounts are bolted to the tresses (trusses?), not the roof/tiles themselves. My loose installs (all off-grid) have even used just basic "hooks" just to hold in place a few panels, and even rested on the roof - but that is NOT a proper (or COC) installation - because it didn't need to be. But those "hooks" still were connected to the wooden trusses under the tiles. All other installs with proper solar frames have connected the same.
  13. Hi @Donwil There is a lot of info on this forum and on the blogs. But I can send some basic info your way here: A PWM charge controller is designed for basic use and will not optimise your 400W of Panels, so only use this if you intend on drawing much smaller amounts from the batteries (eg: I use a PWM controller for my Camper Van, where the only draw is usually a fridge and a few LED lights). Secondly, most chinese controllers are very poor at converting your available 400W to something decent and many cant cope at the rated capacity. Rough calc 400W/12V = 33.33A so nearly already bigger than a standard off the shelf 30A controller can handle. As chinese controllers go, look at the ECCO brand with a LCD interface, but still only expect to get about 60-70 percent of your PV back in real terms. In full sunlight my 300W of PV through a PWM controller is closer to about 12A of charging current for your batteries. FORGET about chinese invertors! They Lie, Lie, Lie about the ratings, and they can get away with it for the most part. Just think about the price and it should give you a hint. Many of the chinese invertors out there that are rated even at 1500W can barely push out 500W before letting the smoke out. Just try find a decent invertor, possibly on this forum or web store, that at least has been proven (the small axperts, although chinese, are at least proven as basically capable by a few members here) Next is your load - You haven't specified what you are thinking of running off this small power plant? Is it your whole house, a few PC's? 2 x 12V 100Ah batteries will give you a maximum (if you don't plan on keeping the batteries too long and working at 50% which is reasonable assumption for Gel batteries) of 100Ah usable power (extremely rough calculations - I don't want to be shot down by the experts with the mathematical calculations and discussions about specific batteries). If you drain them at a decent rate then roughly 4 hours at 25A (300W - 3 incandessant light bulb or 1 or 2 basic Desktop PCs). Drain them slower at 10A, then about 10 hours (1 incandessant globe) I have a blog on this forum called "KLEVA's Lessons Learned", and my lessons have been expensive for someone with limited funds. How to start? Well you already have some panels... For a 12V setup you will need to connect these in parallel to a decent PWM (or better if you can) Controller. This will be able to charge a decent 2 battery setup (also in parallel for 12V) to start with. But you are definately overestimating the amount of Load power you can feasibly get out of that arrangement, if you try draw 3kW (or kVA) out of 100Ah of available batteries you will only get about 20 minutes of power (and you are going to horribly stress your batteries) Now that I have scared you, I apologise. You have some decent starting ideas, but you need to think a bit more carefully about your load and batteries to store the power. Your 4 solar panels have the ability to generate roughly 3kWh on a perfect day (your batteries will only keep roughly 1,2kWh and a decent PWM controllermight only just be able to supply that), so you need a better way of trying to collect that energy, store it somewhere, and to use it carefully.
  14. I know it's an old post, but today it's my turn - IMEON intermittent fan failure (027) - Seems to kick in whenever charging the batteries (Solar or AC) - Bypassed and Muted for now, just grumpy that have had 2 invertor failures in 2 years, especially since both have only been in backup mode type installs. Am hectically occupied over next few weeks so just have to bypass for now... Then hopefully just a small strip and cleanout...
  15. Hi Charl To answer some of your original question/s: Solar water heating is definately far more affordable than electricity - Recovery cost drops to months, not years Evacuated Tubes are far more efficient than flat panel systems (most solar guys won't even offer flat panel anymore) A 150l geyser in your part of the world only needs 12-18 tubes to get "bliksem" hot (over 60 degrees) A pump is always a good idea rather than thermosyphon. Despite assurances, thermosyphon is actually quite difficult to achieve in most scenarios as your geyser is usually at almost the same/similar height as the input. GeyserWise Max, GeyserWise Max, GeyserWise Max - They are damned expensive for what they actually are, and also damned ugly, but they work, and can properly control a pump without running it constantly. The GeyserWise also allows a bypass to municipal supply if or when you need. The pump and Geyserwise will also work off a small battery and solar setup, even further reducing municipal electricity input. My geyser is a bog standard Kwikhot. Not ness the best brand, but covered by insurance and has already once (in 20 years) been completely replaced by insurance. From your explanation (about your roof), I expect that only the collector should be mounted there due to weight. Your geysers should be under roof or wall mounted. Note: Wall mounting a solar geyser needs a proper company to sort, not something I can comment on about how/where, especially since you might require a larger pump. Without looking at your exact scenario, I would go with the 300l geyser and 24 evacuated tubes, with a Geyserwise Max and a small 12VDC pump. And if have a few bucks to spare after, add a 30-50W solar panel, a 14-30Ah battery supply, and a cheap PWM charge controller and it will be totally self sufficient.
  16. Hi Martin I can only provide some guidelines according to SANS and a little bit of logic/experience, and if you want to have proper (sometimes overdone) safety (in my terminology, read invertor as any solar charging circuit): Each solar string should have a cutoff before merging into a feed to invertor. This should be a DC fuse & switch, or a DC circuit breaker before a junction that merges the supply into an array that feeds the invertor. At the invertor, or as close as feasible, you need to have a similar arrangement (obviously at max voltage/current expected from PV) to isolate the feed from the invertor. There is a specification in the SANS code regarding a single string of PV panels, so if you exceed the voltage/current, you may need to provide additional protections on your PV array between panels. Apologies, I don't remember what those values are. The obvious electrical considerations need to be taken into account for your incoming AC supply (breakers, fuses, etc), and duplicating the same on your outgoing supply from your invertor. Pay attention to Earthing (note I don't use the word Grounding here) and ensure that the Earth on each side of the invertor matches the Earth on the incoming supply (especially in regards to each phase). Test this in all stages that the invertor can get to (Grid-Tie, Offline, Online, Hybrid - Whatever it can do), seen a lot of and experienced plenty of shocks and damaged kit due to changeovers, so do test this and look for spikes. Grounding - This is a very touchy subject, and some items I disagree with SANS, but you can comply with both my ideas and SANS at the same time with a bit of thought.. Ground fricking everything possible with the shortest possible route and with the biggest cable available (my thinking). Your route to ground should be direct and as short as possible. This is where SANS and I disagree, but is still compliant if you properly ground your array, but up to you to decide: I personally don't believe in linking your array ground supply to your incoming supply (I can provide arguments in separate messages), and if far away from your array then even your invertor should be separately grounded. Depending on where you live, the shortest possible route to ground (any valid ground) can save a lot of equipment in a strike. And here is some of my reason for disagreeing with SANS: providing an extra path for high power (eg: lightning, inducted) energy to flow is going to damage something. Copper, even if temporary before breaking, is still an easier path than Ground! Hope this at least answers some thoughts. If you need further detail, I work closely with a Senior Electrical Engineer who works multiple MW Solar projects and would be happy to pose the same question to him, although we would need to discuss offline.
  17. Hi @DeepBass9 I have seriously looked into this for scooter use:- Grab a cheap Chinese scooter with a CVT transmission (basically an automatic transmission using belts AKA GY6 if searching for it) change out the engine for an electric motor change out the throttle for a rheostat type or a controller specific solution add a drive controller and batteries Oh man, was the cost just silly. The controller and motor is the key - They are expensive items to replace if you don't size them right up front, and they are expensive to get decent quality. We can play with batteries and load a bit but if the controller isn't right and flexible and working with that motor, then you get a slow horse! It might not be a perfect solution (and it wasn't suitable due to weight for scooter, but might work for a quad?): Look for second hand forklift / golf cart stuff. That already has motor, controller, etc and would simplify the conversion, but those generally come with high DC voltages. But bear in mind that your speed may be severely limited compared to a petrol engine (in my case I was looking at 45km/h vs 80km/hr). This is my opinion and not based in fact - Stay with the lowest voltage possible for batteries and motor, it will make the charging solutions much easier to achieve, it is a small distance, so thicker cables are not a big cost factor. A 12VDC or 24VDC charger is easy to find and purchase, 36VDC and 48VDC not so much. It also makes any accessories you want on the quad easier to power from same source (lights, +++) IMHO - This is a cost exercise that will not work yet, the battery power with a decent sized motor needed to be useful will cost way over R50k currently to do properly (maybe closer to 100k)... I have even looked into hub drives as a "hybrid" type situation, and even without looking at the cost, the thrust they can give at the moment is minimal, especially once you consider the added battery weight. As a hobby exercise I even had to say NO. Unless you have free access to the above mentioned. For your usage at the Lodge, a second hand Golf cart would be far more cost effective than a conversion... And later when you want, use the golf cart parts to make your project.
  18. @Dex_ - Thank you. My Takealot wishlist already has a few selections like this at similar prices, have already tried 1 of their 10A units and the quality was rubbish for the R 350 price tag. Popped the moment I tried to give it anything over 7A. So I have to use bigger if going the Chinese route. Might be willing to test the Electroman unit, but again delivery cost puts it out of viable price range again for a small unit. @Jaco Venter - I have placed a single order for that PiShop unit... Lets see how it performs... I am just looking for units that may be unused by forum members "nearish" Durban, that they may be willing to part with. Buying brand new untested units for these purposes is just a waste of money. I can even use old 20A or 30A units and do swap outs with existing kit. Even older PWM stuff that might be sitting in a shed somewhere - he he.
  19. @Jaco Venter & @Franklin. Many thanks for those suggestions, will investigate them both. [UPDATE] SETSOLAR don't have an online store, and the shipping from Cape Town to Durban would cost more than new local. PiStore currently only have the one mentioned in stock, but on investigation the description is misleading... It is only a 5A at 12V, and the input is limited to 60W. Most of my available panels are 100W so this doesn't fit the bill. Thanks though for keeping an eye out. Might still but one of those PiShop units though for the Dinghy.
  20. Hi All I am finding constant uses for these basic charge controllers (under 10A), the kind you used to pick up for about R300, but now seem to be coming in at nearly R650. If anyone in the Durban"ish" area has any of these lying around that they want to get rid of, please let me know. I use these on all sorts of basic projects for personal use and have run out of units. Still have small panels and batteries that I am redeploying, but my small dinghy and my basic vehicle battery charger units have had to be "stolen" for other uses, so really need a few more but don't want to spend more than a new unit. Regards KLEVA
  21. Hi - Late to the party, but use the HA02's for a lot, not just Solar. eg: cordless drill batteries charging As mentioned, @Chris Hobson carries these most of the time, so don't have the import/post office stress. Just get from him. The HA02 cater for anything from about 2VDC up to about 20VDC balancing, and the batter tech is "almost" irrelevant, but bear in mind that they are only designed for smaller differences and charge currents - if your batteries are broken, then they can't help with that. (see my melted batteries post in the blogs, they had an HA02 attached, but the cells shorted). I highly recommend the HA02s for almost any installation of solar, but even if you race RC cars and are charging batteries for that, the HA02s are often cheaper and work better the balancers you buy elsewhere that are limited to specific voltages.
  22. Just to add - even on a bad day (like today/yesterday when it just rains and rains, with almost no sun) my water heating is still at 38 degrees - enough for at least 3 people to shower. Running costs are minimal, maintenance minimal, I cannot emphasis enough that a proper solar water install is hugely better than trying to heat your geyser with solar electricity.
  23. I have to say NOOOOOO! Solar water heating is one of the cheapest and best ways to save power. It is also the only way to save money overall (Solar electricity is still far too expensive vs Municipal power). You will save money, and your entire electricity power setup if you just do a proper solar water install. You need to also remember all the losses you incur by converting from Solar Electricity -> Battery -> AC Power -> Geyser Element.. Every step in that process looses power/heat. Any element that uses heating will kill your batteries and need you to provide much higher invertor specifications that you need. Get a decent solar geyser with some tube heating instead. You are wasting money otherwise. My Water heating with a Geyserwise does 60 - 85 degrees per day with no electricity input. You would need at least 2-4 hours of electricity input at 2kW to provide similar.
  24. Wait... Wait... I am misreading the diagram? That doesn't look right. What is your Grid feed? 3 Phase or Single Phase??? Back to the actual OP question: If you reconnect your other two phases back to Mains, and then only use your system on a single phase (backup only, not grid feed!), then you will be ok. But that diagram (by joining the poles together), is wrong without any other context... 1. Please don't allow feedback to Grid on only one phase! - This will give you more headaches and possibly smoke than you need in a 3 phase setup! 2. You need a decent electrical guy to advise you on the feedback and phases, and a correct neutral point. Stuff can get easily out of whack when you isolate a phase without comoning the neutral and earths correctly. It seems simple, but if done slightly incorrectly you will have floating voltages as high as 110V AC at points. Your current setup negates most of that by either being isolated or common across phases. 3. Please don't wire this as your diagram suggests, rather replace your 3P breaker with the correct single breakers on each single phase, although it may be simple to you, any electrical bloke (especially government or inexperienced) could easily misunderstand the wiring. (Note: this is just discussing what you proposed above) 4. If you are prepared (which it seem you are from your responses), get a damn good Victron installer to work it all out (again you seem to like the Victron stuff which is awesome just pricey). I am a qualified electrician who dables in Solar quite deeply in my private capacity, but I still think that any 3 phase solution has to be evaluated properly. There is too much risk in making a mistake. 5. 3 Phase brings an entire set of challenges vs Single phase. Although we tend to treat it the same (each phase is a single phase, neh?). If you miss the common Neutral and Earth between these phases by bad isolation/commoning when trying to split up a phase you are risking your home possibly going up in flames if done wrong! (Yes, this is a horror story and not really likely, but I have seen far too many bad isolations go south enough to cause fiery ends). If there is a shorter route, no matter how improbable, Electrons/Electricity will find it!.. Now that I have put the fear of a flame ridden death into you... What you are suggesting is a great solution. Just get it double checked (especially if you think you are going to do it yourself). It is worth the call out to both a high end electrician and a qualified Solar installer to confirm your calculations. You are working with 3 Phase here, and even decent home DIY and qualified electricians make mistakes... It is worth it to double check that there can be absolutely no feedback or isolation that creates a dangerous voltage/current situation.
  25. KLEVA

    UPS small office

    If just for UPS (without Solar attached - but can add Solar later...): I have to recommend the Mecer 1400 that come complete with 2 batteries, or better systems for your specific environment and request - Damn, even Makro supply. My office ignored my suggestions of a proper system with solar for 8 laptops, 1 server, telephone system, router and 1 printer that would have run them about 20k min (without solar) and decided to just go for a Mecer solution powering 1 laptop, no printer, telephone system and router. Paid R8.3k from Makro and a few extension leads on top. I have to admit that that the unit performs well - With that small load, we easily get 6+ hours. That said, it is not a decent install and although very impressed with the capabilities of the Mecer unit, it is still a UPS setup, so batteries are key. Decent quality and size batteries can make even a "crappy" invertor seem good and perform decently. That solution is definately not "top of the range" not is it the "best build" but it seems like it will cope with the needs requested in your post (although my suggestion is to only use 1 printer attached and advise them very carefully that it will be for emergency use only... Any printing will kill the available power). Now I wait for people to beat me up on the forum for recommending such a basic solution As an aside, I have assisted some acquaintances with an Oxygen generating unit that was on a Mecer 1400 with some decent 105Ah boat batteries - Lady can't survive without added Oxygen for more than 15 min - That unit has survived through many Eskom debacles and is still going strong after 3 years. I think they only have had to use Oxygen tanks once in that time. As a UPS unit/invertor they are very impressive, but they will not solve all your problems unless you understand the uses.
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