Dylboy

SANS says extraneous conductive parts to be earthed... So earthing is then a must. However panels are class 2 but with earthing points... Whole kettle of fish and actually there is no written rule as such yet.
Lighting protection is very different to earthing and earthing is different to bonding. 
One day there will be a black and white answer.
 

Can't quite see to great but it seems there is 10neutrals and there are 11 lines off the earth leakage.
Appears there is a neutral missing on the earth leakage. Perfect working would be 11 lines and 11 neutrals.
Just my 0.2c from what I can make out. : )

Yes ya I agree. And look I am sure they would have gone with it to get a battery in to keep lights on etc.
I have also considered doing loan units etc, almost plug and play, but first I need my numbers to match on the lotto.
So I do believe there is a need for the loan service, especially when warranty times start expiring...

On my side as an installer I could have used a rental battery about 3 times already. 
As for the costs it's tough on who fits that bill the client or installer. 
Installer you choose the battery with the system so not the clients fault it failed  nor installer fault.
Client trusted the installer for advice etc and the installer trusted the material used.
So with that at the height of my battery issues R500 a week is something I could handle to just get the job sorted. Probably even R800 to 1k.
It's a tough one as I am not big to keep loan units and when equipment fails it's really hard.
It's tough as the price someone can pay is difficult. 
To me the manufacturer/supplier of the equipment must do loan units yet they don't and it's a huge killer.

Second to that who is paying for the upgrades ?? The horse left the barn way before there as a line in the sand. 
 
Albeit with the Sans regs and how I read it I did relays, however had to CoC properties sold that had a perm bridge and other forums AiA have stated to use a perm wire. 
It's like a religion this industry, one side or the other haha.

This came with the email :
 
Please kindly note that if you have installed a solar system or planning to, you have to declare it with us by firstly filling in the electricity of supply form in order to receive a notification number. We are not authorized to create a notification number for our customers ,you are therefore required to walk in CoJ customer service center, should you be walking on behalf of the property owner the following will be needed:
 
 
 
1. Fill in the electricity supply form as attached 
 
2. Authorization letter indicating you are representing your client
 
3. Certified ID copy of yourself and your client 
 
 
 
Upon completion and receiving of the notification number, you will therefore be required to fill in the attached forms and advice when your system is ready for city power to do a site visit and check its compliance.
 
 
 
Should you have any more queries, feel free to contact us.
Application for Electricity supply.pdf APPLICATION FOR INVERTER BASED GRID TIED PHOTOVOLTAIC INSTALLATION FORM.pdf CP_TSGUID__012_GUIDELINES FOR GENERAL PHOTHOVOLTAIC INSTALLATIONS.pdf PHOTOVOLTAIC INSTALLATION COMMISSIONING REPORT FORM.pdf

Vital to being able to keep within the inverter output limits (and avoid importing expensive grid power unnecessarily) is having the means to display the relevant information in an immediate and accessible way.
That's what I told my wife, anyway.  Really, I'd just scored a bunch of old RC servos on ebay for £5 and I wanted to play with them. 😉

 
In context:

 
It uses 6 servos, a Wemos d1 mini clone and a tri-colour LED.  Dial faces are 3D printed, with a filament change from white to black (which turned out much better than I imagined, TBH).
The servos only had around 90° of sweep angle, so I 3D printed some little holder/gearbox things to get over 180° and provide a shaft for the needle to go on, plus some 'steampunk' needles.


 
All run buy the obligatory D1 mini and held together using the very latest in 'twist and tape' technology.

 
Yee-haw! 🤠
It gets fed the data from 'node-red' running on a Victron CerboGX via UDP packets over WiFi, updating as often as the data changes (approx 3 second intervals).  The LED changes colour according to state, so 'All OK' is green, 'You're getting very close to/exceeding the inverter output limit, so if you don't want to pay for grid, don't turn anything else on' is red, then blue for 'dumping power into the hot water tank'.
It's by no means silent in operation.  I originally made a single-servo version for just PV generation and coded it so that the meter movements were gradual (a kind of PID to get from one value to the next), but apparently it 'sounded like we have cockroaches' when it made it's ticky-scratchy transitions between values, so the big version just jumps between values with a 'zzziiiiiup!' sound.
It's actually quite reassuring to have an audible indication when the sun comes out for 5 seconds, or it starts charging at night.
I'd also put a little radar sensor in there, with the aim of having it detect when there was nobody around, so it could stop displaying to save power/noise.  Unfortunately, that meant that every time you entered the room, all 6 needles would suddenly move at the same time, making you jump out of your skin and spill your horlicks, so we just leave it 'on' all the time now.
There's also a basic web UI, so you can see the same data on your phone or whatever, plus it's useful for troubleshooting:

 
I had fun and learned loads making it - and now it's become a family game to try to cook dinner without making the red light come on. 🙂
 
Libraries used are 'ESPUI' and 'servo', plus 'arduinoOTA'.  Code, FreeCad file for the gearbox & stl file for the arrow-head needle are all in the attached zip.
Power_meters_v2..zip

So yes that is that companies quote, get others and try compare from there. One companies overhead is different to others.
Also make sure they are electrical contractors or sub the electrical work to an electrical sub contractor properly registered.
Second is will this company answer your call when you have a question. If they too cheap then probably not and you on your own.
Also to cheap means cheap products and shortcuts.
 
Sure there is a market rate to a tune but each company has their own requirements.
So I agree ask these questions to find out and figure out what is what but I do recommend more quotes with apples vs apples.
For example my call out fee is more than the "general" and it's for reasons. To start my car is a lot compared to the average "general" sparky.

SANS says extraneous conductive parts to be earthed... So earthing is then a must. However panels are class 2 but with earthing points... Whole kettle of fish and actually there is no written rule as such yet.
Lighting protection is very different to earthing and earthing is different to bonding. 
One day there will be a black and white answer.
 

Tell that sparky to switch off the grid to inverter via a double pole or in laodshedding go and push the button on that earth Leakage...
He/she/it will notice it does not trip and therefore CoC invalid...
Literally at the bottom it says operation of earth Leakage button and it requires a tick...
 
So that is a quick way to make that sparky wake up and maybe learn something...
I am busy these days from installs from other people let alone my own installs haha.
Anyway you are correct and that spark needs to rectify. 

Not quite as you would require to do an earth resistance test but the result required is not published, anything around 12ohms is good but to get that you may have to drive a 59meter rod... 
From what I have been reading and learning with other sparks and documents is that if you use an earth spike you need to still bond it with the installation earth, so with that just run the earth cable to the earth of the DB. So if you want run a spike but also a cable to the DB. 
 
The honest answer is there is no answer and it is what ever that spark is happy to sign. 
 
Thing is bonding is done to 2ohm, and minimum of 2.5mm cable, lighting protection is 16mm and 6mm depending. 
At the end of the day ask the spark who is going to do the CoC.
 
The honest truth is any installation done DIY should not get a CoC at all as it was not done under the general controll of a wireman... Only if property is sold would a CoC then be conducted.
There are loop holes galore and no public knowledge and the industry as a whole is confused and it's the wild west. 
 
So do what ever the spark wants who will sign it off for you. Insurance also don't care and just want the paper as a tick box. 

SANS says extraneous conductive parts to be earthed... So earthing is then a must. However panels are class 2 but with earthing points... Whole kettle of fish and actually there is no written rule as such yet.
Lighting protection is very different to earthing and earthing is different to bonding. 
One day there will be a black and white answer.
 

Thinking, as you did getting the amps per phase or leg I can then multiply that with 230V to get the watts per phase. 
I was not sure if it would multiply by 400v or 230v but you correct in that each phase is the potential of 230v.
 
 

Not quite as you would require to do an earth resistance test but the result required is not published, anything around 12ohms is good but to get that you may have to drive a 59meter rod... 
From what I have been reading and learning with other sparks and documents is that if you use an earth spike you need to still bond it with the installation earth, so with that just run the earth cable to the earth of the DB. So if you want run a spike but also a cable to the DB. 
 
The honest answer is there is no answer and it is what ever that spark is happy to sign. 
 
Thing is bonding is done to 2ohm, and minimum of 2.5mm cable, lighting protection is 16mm and 6mm depending. 
At the end of the day ask the spark who is going to do the CoC.
 
The honest truth is any installation done DIY should not get a CoC at all as it was not done under the general controll of a wireman... Only if property is sold would a CoC then be conducted.
There are loop holes galore and no public knowledge and the industry as a whole is confused and it's the wild west. 
 
So do what ever the spark wants who will sign it off for you. Insurance also don't care and just want the paper as a tick box. 

Not quite as you would require to do an earth resistance test but the result required is not published, anything around 12ohms is good but to get that you may have to drive a 59meter rod... 
From what I have been reading and learning with other sparks and documents is that if you use an earth spike you need to still bond it with the installation earth, so with that just run the earth cable to the earth of the DB. So if you want run a spike but also a cable to the DB. 
 
The honest answer is there is no answer and it is what ever that spark is happy to sign. 
 
Thing is bonding is done to 2ohm, and minimum of 2.5mm cable, lighting protection is 16mm and 6mm depending. 
At the end of the day ask the spark who is going to do the CoC.
 
The honest truth is any installation done DIY should not get a CoC at all as it was not done under the general controll of a wireman... Only if property is sold would a CoC then be conducted.
There are loop holes galore and no public knowledge and the industry as a whole is confused and it's the wild west. 
 
So do what ever the spark wants who will sign it off for you. Insurance also don't care and just want the paper as a tick box. 

Not quite as you would require to do an earth resistance test but the result required is not published, anything around 12ohms is good but to get that you may have to drive a 59meter rod... 
From what I have been reading and learning with other sparks and documents is that if you use an earth spike you need to still bond it with the installation earth, so with that just run the earth cable to the earth of the DB. So if you want run a spike but also a cable to the DB. 
 
The honest answer is there is no answer and it is what ever that spark is happy to sign. 
 
Thing is bonding is done to 2ohm, and minimum of 2.5mm cable, lighting protection is 16mm and 6mm depending. 
At the end of the day ask the spark who is going to do the CoC.
 
The honest truth is any installation done DIY should not get a CoC at all as it was not done under the general controll of a wireman... Only if property is sold would a CoC then be conducted.
There are loop holes galore and no public knowledge and the industry as a whole is confused and it's the wild west. 
 
So do what ever the spark wants who will sign it off for you. Insurance also don't care and just want the paper as a tick box. 

Not quite as you would require to do an earth resistance test but the result required is not published, anything around 12ohms is good but to get that you may have to drive a 59meter rod... 
From what I have been reading and learning with other sparks and documents is that if you use an earth spike you need to still bond it with the installation earth, so with that just run the earth cable to the earth of the DB. So if you want run a spike but also a cable to the DB. 
 
The honest answer is there is no answer and it is what ever that spark is happy to sign. 
 
Thing is bonding is done to 2ohm, and minimum of 2.5mm cable, lighting protection is 16mm and 6mm depending. 
At the end of the day ask the spark who is going to do the CoC.
 
The honest truth is any installation done DIY should not get a CoC at all as it was not done under the general controll of a wireman... Only if property is sold would a CoC then be conducted.
There are loop holes galore and no public knowledge and the industry as a whole is confused and it's the wild west. 
 
So do what ever the spark wants who will sign it off for you. Insurance also don't care and just want the paper as a tick box. 

6500w total (both MPPTs) but you can over provision - just don't have more than the 425/450V max or the MPPT will blow.  You can have more than 13A but the inverter will clip the excess - useful for winter months

The issue comes, and I am no means an expert and my drawings do seem to prove it to my understanding, but a lot depends on inverter make up in my mind, but if you have a permanent bond and everything running with the grid on, then if the PEN conductor becomes high resistance i.e broken or big fault then the current will return via the earth... It will do so until it finds your Neautral earth bridge and then go along the neutral as that is less resistance. So then the whole street or part where that PEN or TNCS cable was broken the Neautral current will flow through your bridge wire and turn it into a toaster wire.
 
 

Those figures are very common for sealed lead acid batteries. They're actually at the low end of charge voltages for lead acid; some flooded types you charge to over 16 V per 12 V module (occasional equalisation, usually once per month, and you have to water them after such a charge). A common absorb voltage is 2.4 V/cell (14.4 V per 12 V modules, 28.8 V for a nominally 24 V system), which is right on the gassing voltage at 25°C. But sealed lead acid has no way to replace water, so they can't handle much gassing at all. Hence the lower 14.1 V per 12 V module.
So no need to worry that the voltages are too high.

Tell that sparky to switch off the grid to inverter via a double pole or in laodshedding go and push the button on that earth Leakage...
He/she/it will notice it does not trip and therefore CoC invalid...
Literally at the bottom it says operation of earth Leakage button and it requires a tick...
 
So that is a quick way to make that sparky wake up and maybe learn something...
I am busy these days from installs from other people let alone my own installs haha.
Anyway you are correct and that spark needs to rectify. 

All done & dusted. Powered up the 15kW compressor with ease. There was place in the Sub DB that had the load circuits so it was decided to be used & not add another Sub DB. I say this out of interest for many ppl that insist that a Seperate DB is required for such. It's not a requirement. However, if there is no place then that will be required. 

Victron is insanely overpriced ,thats why . I would recommend the 8kw Sunsynk or even two of them and it would still probably be cheaper than a Victron alternative.  I also dislike that they still advertise in Kva and not Kw as many people think its the same thing but in reality its a marketing thing used to make it seem like you are getting more than what you really are.

As a start the laodshedder can then be used to wirelessly take a load off when in loadshedding so it does not use the batteries. 
 
I have installed I think 7 now on different sites when I discovered this and the clients are so happy we not chasing, digging or charging for cable just to have something off.
 
For now it's been a great success, just hoping these in field tests don't fail and keeps grafting. I expect a minimum of 1 year working life. Hopefully more but it's technology and s#-t happens hahaha.

Yeah all good, make sure to re insulate via heat shrink or electrical tape over the ferrule.