Nicholas Strachan

Nice one.You guys are way too technical for me.I just smack the side of my 5000l jojo and I can tell where the level is but of course not as accurately as you .

That is exactly the size of my system and your numbers are 100% correct.

Me personally, I would prefer 2 batteries for redundancy.Your 1 big battery goes down and you have no back up for the night time if needed.

I live in Hillcrest which is about 25 km inland from Durban and its 2200 ft above sea level.We get tons of mist and drizzle in summer so sometimes I scratch but its workable. Yes winter days are shorter and sun is weaker BUT we have guaranteed sun so my output in winter is often more than summer. I have 1x 8kw sunsynk, 3 x hubble am2 and 7.25 kw of panels. I have a geyserwise system and with management in summer I "give" ethekweni about R120 pm of electricity just to keep them quiet. On hot days i use my lounge aircon off the panels without blinking and in winter use the ac to heat the lounge if i am too lazy to make a fire. Interesting how everyone has a different story/ need on solar.

Hi all. I am based in Hillcrest/Durban which falls under ethekweni municipality. To date there hasnt been a requirement to register our sseg system with them but am sure its coming along with some penalties for low usage. Has anyone out there heard of any new info regarding solar and Ethekweni ? Thanks

I dropped in 2 x s100 into my girlfriends mecer inverter system as the lead acids were stuffed plus I added a balancer and they work a treat.

Exactly. As long as you know what you are dealing with its fine.Ethekweni here Dbn are such a shambles.

Its interesting following these posts from here in Dbn because at the moment we dont have to register our systems with the municipality. That will change as they are so far behind here on all fronts.If they want this whole song and dance as discussed above then I shall disconnect from the grid. I suspect with revenues dropping off dramatically that a special tariff for solar owners will come and that would also make me go off grid which i can do already.

At the end of the day its up to the client if they want to rent a unit so that the lights stay on in loadshedding and up to the installer to explain the possible limitations of having a rental unit for a month or so that isnt exactly the same as what they are having fixed.

Well if anyone who is in the greater durban area needs a battery on loan for a client then let me know. I am happy to go ahead and buy some inverters and batteries if i see some requests coming through.

I was thinking of exactly those inverters.The 8kw I would have to charge a bit more for as they cost more than the 5kw but that can be worked out. As you said a 5 kw luxpower as well plus some batteries.

Thanks for the reply. I think the client should pay for it ,of course it depends on the circumstances. If the client is prepared to go without batteries or inverter while theirs is being fixed then so be it , but from an installers perspective i think it would be a nice service and unstrapping a battery off my wall or just taking one away from my stock is easy.

I have 3 Hubble am 2 batteries.If someone in the Durban area needs a battery for a client then we can do a test run.The installer can remove one of mine but prior to that obviously ask the client if they are prepared to pay R 1000 for a month of using it.Its up to the installer to charge what they want for the work done.I am assuming the risk as its my battery /inverter.It would be an interesting exercise and its a great service for installers to offer. I am in Hillcrest so it really would only suit Durban clients. My number is 0726025119.

I was thinking of around R1000 pm for a rental of either a battery or in inverter on a pro rata basis. I just know myself that if my inverter was gone for a month then I would not want to be without my system so 1k wouldnt make me blink and as you said there are continued electricity savings with having a loaner rather than nothing.

Thanks for the replies. Obviously one cannot mix up batteries and have to stick to the same type. Regarding the invertor ,I replaced my 5kw Luxpower with an 8kw Sunsynk and it was non event regarding wiring. I was thinking of getting a few 5k Luxpowers, a couple of 5 and 8 kw sunsynks. I would assume the risk of lightning strike and any damage to the inverter.It would be a risk I would take. I would like to hear your thoughts on what you think a client would pay for a month of renting an inverter in order to keep having their system while repairs are being done and the same goes for a battery.

Morning all. I am based in the greater Durban area and wanted to pick the brains of installers and suppliers. It seems that the repair time on batteries/ invertors can be quite long and then a client is left without one of those components. I was wondering how much of a market there would be if i bought a range of invertors and batteries and rented them out to the end user via the installer so that the end user could still be covered while the unit was being repaired.We dont have a quick repair chain here in Dbn as mostly stuff has to go to JHB or CPT. If there was a market then I would happily do that and installers can contact me for a rental unit. We all have our different comfort levels and to work out how much would i pay to rent an invertor or battery for a month (either shorter or longer) depends on the individual. It would be a nice service for the installers to have as it seems that the retailers/wholesalers of these often dont have loan units. Any feedback would be great. I was thinking of getting 5 and 8 kw invertors and and range of different batteries.Obviously if a client only has1 battery then we dont have the mix and match issue. There is zero risk for the installer as all the cost would be from my side and then a reasonable weekly/monthly rental price would need to be calculated.

Hi guys. Awhile ago there was a post from someone saying that Artsolar import and repackage some of their panels as well as making their own. I was searching for it on the forum but couldnt find it. Can anyone enlighten me on this discussion.

I have an 8kw Sunsynk, 3x Hubble am2 and 6kw of panels but am adding another 1.5 kw next week.

I am based in Hillcrest near Durban and with the constant rain we are getting PV output hasnt been great. I would love to hear from others in my area how they are doing.

I used to fly the 380 for Emirates and got struck on final approach into melbourne.Shat myself but all good on flight deck but pin holing on horizontal stabiliser

For sure, and when we have to reg our systems then I shall do that BUT if they try and penalise us then I shall go off grid and disconnect.

Down here in Hillcrest , KZN we have had so many days of lousy output but it looks better from tomorrow.Its drizzly and cold here even though its mid Nov.

I agree but fortunately I have an 8kw Sunsynk which can handle it fine.

The rain here in Hillcrest kzn finally shoved off so pollution free skies and clean panels. I have 5.95 kw worth of panels and yesterday they spat out a high of 7.1kw while the maid was doing her bit. They are 425 w Canadian solar.

I have 14 x 425 w Canadian solar panels which is 5.95 kw in total. After all the rain here in Hillcrest , KZN the skies finally cleared and panels are nice and clean. My output got up to 7.1 kw yesterday from my 5.95kw array. Clearly the Canadian panels are under spec as that is a massive output.