Rch1

Just wanted to quickly double check this. When earthing my solar rails / panels on the roof, can I run a 4mm solid core copper wire from each rail and then connect that into the rooftop junction box. This junction box on the roof takes the AC power from the roof and runs it into the DB board (via it's own isolator of course)

It depends on what you are looking at doing and how much you want to spend. Do you want to bring down the cost of electricity, or combat load shedding if you have that in your area and it is affecting the day to day running.

I would suggest one steers clear of this company, they "seem" dodgy and don't have an office or business etc, guaranteed to lose your money in my opinion. And only EFT is possible of course! https://suntechwholesalers.co.za/ Has anyone ever been successful in getting an EFT refunded by their bank because of being scammed?

I wish people would post who they bought things from that are possibly fake etc. Then we know who to stay away from.. anyone know of the company who these panels were bought from and what price he paid etc etc?

ok great all works 100% and my meter spins backwards and the numbers get smaller (did that as a test with no house load) not sure why one panel isn't working hmmm.. pain in the ass to get to that panel, it would be in the middle! It picks up voltage etc but no amps, weird. Will have to lift it up and reclick the MC4 connectors, maybe one is lose or wasn't done properly..

wait how can you go from top to top on an isolator? then you are bypassing the isolator... the current has to flow through it. Do you have a photo to show me what you mean?

I thought the isolator was so I could kill everything if I needed to work on the panels. But as you say the CB does the same since its a DP, if I turn that off it will kill the live and neutral ah well it's now a double double protection! lol Thanks for the info with regards to the micro inverter and the slightly higher voltage, was wondering how on earth they get used first, thanks

Hello, Excuse my rough sketch but I'm trying to get my head around wiring my planned solar setup: 1) It is a micro inverter system, but in principal its the same as any solar system 2) AC coming from the roof micro inverters 3) I've run 4mm2 two core surfix with an earth (the earth is not illustrated in my drawing) from the mico inverters 4) As per my drawing, forget the other breakers eg. lights, geyser, stove etc. I just want to power the plugs circuit with Eskom + solar 5) No batteries installed, this is only used during the day to reduce Eskom load 6) Is my wiring idea roughly correct? And if so how does my plugs circuit know to use my inverters / panels first and then Eskom if they need more? 7) If my neutral bar wiring is wrong I guess I could take a direct neutral line from the earth leakage to the 63amp DP isolator on my new DB board? Thanks in advance

I've just managed to source a DTU and now when I download the app it says I must get account login information from my installer (I am the installer)... I asked myself for the details and it was quite 😂 anyone have a DTU and managed to create an account? Thanks

If possible please photograph all the panels (at once) during a certain time of the day. Then compare that to your production. I just want to see if there is shading on any of your panels. Shade 1 panel = shade all the panels. If that chimney is blocking 80% of 1 panel, then all the panels will be at 80% in sympathy..

Can someone please help me with regards to sizing a solar panel for a 1200w microinverter, the specs of the inverter are below: The advert for the inverter says it is designed for 4 panels / 60&72 cell panels. INPUT DATA Recommended Input Power (W) 200-360 Peak Power MPPT Voltage Range (V) 32-48 Operating Voltage Range (V) 16-60 Maximum Input Voltage (V) 60 Maximum Input Current (A) 10.5 I can find 365w panels for sale, specs below: (Voc) 41.13 volts (Vmp) 33.96 volts (Isc) 11.30 amps (Imp) 10.75 amps Does the slightly larger 365w v 360w panel matter? Am I just looking at the (Voc) to be within the operating range of 16-60v, what about the amps? I'm guessing that by plugging the 4x panels directly into the microinverter the voltages don't add up (like in a string) otherwise 4 panels would then be 165v? Thanks hoymiles 1200w.pdf JAM60S21_355-375_MR_MC4.pdf

Hi, I'm looking at getting 2x Hoymiles 1200w microinverters + 8x 300w (thereabouts) panels + DTU-Pro. If anyone has the Hoymiles microinverters can you please confirm that I only need 1x DTU (or DTU-Pro) for my setup, I seem to have got quoted for 2x inverters and 2x DTU's? surely you don't need a DTU per inverter... Then does anyone know the difference between the DTU and DTU-Pro? I am currently using around 2000w 24/7 (have a business at home) so I just want to reduce that load as much as I can for now during the daytime. If at a later stage I wanted to export power to the grid as credit, can my setup do that with regards to the DTU-Pro? (don't worry about my electricity meter for now) it's mainly the DTU-Pro. I just don't want to spend the money on the DTU-Pro now and then in 6 months time I would like to add a few more inverters and panels so I can export the excess and then find out my DTU-Pro can't do that etc. I also have that Efergy electricity monitor and clamps etc if that helps. Thanks

Forget batteries, way too expensive and with your load you'll deplete them in no time a few times a day.. Solar panels and a large inverter, but then a large inverter say 10kw is around your entire budget.. this excludes panels, mounting, wiring, installation etc. Make 100% sure both your geysers are wrapped up in blankets and set to around 50 degrees or so, you can tweak it. Geysers account for around 60% of electricity usage. Maybe look at retrofitting your geyser to be solar, that is glass tubes on the roof, they work amazingly well. I just read a 200L electric geyser uses 14kwh per day on a household of 4 people. So you're using 28kwh a day = R56 give or take a day or R1680 per month to heat those puppies. Now you can't get that to zero, but you could chop that down by half at least with tubes. 750w pool motor, its winter so you can literally run it once a week for an hour to turn the water over. Summer depending on your pool size, once a day for an hour is fine. 1.1kw borehole, not sure if that is your drinking water or how often you use it to water the garden. Do you really need 4 fridges? Each fridge can consume between 150w-500w each depending on size. Maybe look at selling the 4 fridges and buying 1 or 2 inverter energy efficient fridges. 2x front loading washing machines, all depends on how often you use them and if they are also tumble dryers? If so, they chow through electricity like an Ethiopian cow at a buffet, that and they are never that great. I know load shedding is a pain in the rear end, but what are you wanting to achieve during the load shedding? If it's just to watch some tv and use the internet at night then I would also look at a small trolley type inverter or a fancy lithium battery pack, they are the same just more expensive. That covers load shedding and tv watching for a few hours until the power comes on. I have a little camping 150w inverter and a small 40ah battery, I made a little box and that powers my fibre internet during load shedding, I then just play on my phone, cost like R1500 and I've used it for years. Food for thought