tvic

Sent you a private message - I also have a taker for one. Thank!

I think this is huge..... from a quick glance if you order large quantities it seems they are already cheaper than LifePO4?

I think if Eskom has any problem with people charging their inverters they should sort out load shedding. Otherwise they should shut up and deal with it.

Heat pumps and extra water storage is a great combination for use with PV. I have 2 geysers in series - then you are sure that the hot water will last for the whole evening and morning. If I remember correctly the extra geyser in series is equivalent to a sizeable battery....and much much cheaper.

I think trying to insulate your house should be the first move. We have ceiling insulation and it does make a difference. Make sure all the breeze blocks are sealed off if you have an older house. Also make sure the windows and doors are air tight if you can. This makes a massive difference in the amount of heat your house retains. We use mid range samsung aircons - I cant remember the model exactly. I think the kw usage per AC is about 0.6kw to 1kw when its running and the room is already warmed up a bit. It sounds like a lot but compared to most other heaters it isnt that much. In the same rooms we have used 3 big oil heaters and it didnt warm up the room.

Unexpectedly I found that air conditioners are a good option for heating. A good AC has a heating COP of around 3 and the distribution of warm air makes it more effective. We have a very cold house in winter and a few ACs are able to heat it up with way less power usage than any other electrical hearing device. Its important though to get an inverter AC with a good COP.

I have solar MD batteries - they have good local support. I think for the price at the moment that battery is unbeatable,

Yes I was wondering what type of cells it has and what bms. The fact that it is a non bluetooth bms is a bit irritating and it would be good to know if it does balancing. If the cells are OK quality and the bms isnt great maybe just a BMS upgrade would be good.

Has anybody opened up an s120 or s100 to see what cells and bms they actually use? Would be interesting to know.

20 kW is quite a big load? If it is 20kw than my comments below might not be valid. Our servers typically use less than 1kw per server. In our office we converted to inverter solutions for UPS'S for our servers. A normal UPS is supposed to only provide power for a very short time while there is a power dip or when you transfer from one power source to another. The advantage of an inverter setup is that you can supply power for a long time. Our small inverter setup easily powers our most important servers for more than 4 hours. That is needed over weekends when we are not there to start the generator. Many UPS's also use lead acid batteries. They have pathetic life spans when discharged deeply. So with our load shedding setup many of the batteries in UPS's only last weeks. If you put lithium ion batteries into an inverter setup they can be deeply discharged thousands of times and should last many years.

I'm very satisfied with mine - hope you are with yours too.

If you do buy one from that store - I also bought the small LCD screen here https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005003451100409.html?spm=a2g0o.detail.1000023.1.305c614byILCu4 It is a handy addition and only about R250 extra.

I imported this one from this specific store with fedex IP shipping https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005004220673099.html?spm=a2g0o.store_pc_promotion.promoteWysiwyg_6000463681370.0 It arrived quicker than the estimate and works very well.

BTW at the moment I'm leaning towards something completely different. I'm thinking of using a sturdy a see through food storage container or something similar. That way I can keep an eye on everything on the inside of the battery too. The connections to the battery will be done with an anderson connector and that way I can make a small hole for wires through the container that can easily be sealed.

I think most of the drop in replacement batteries come in waterproof enclosures. The ones like blue nova, hubble, revov. So I think it should be fine.