sproete_za

Just an update: the installation hasn't happened just yet. Apparently, it's quite difficult to source 550W panels these days because installers are moving to larger sizes, like 600W to 650W panels—or at least that’s what he's telling me. They did manage to find some 550W panels, but they arrived scratched. The installer said he didn't feel comfortable installing them and requested replacements. In other news, yesterday was the first day of full sunshine we've had in probably a month, and I managed to generate 18.1 kWh worth of energy

Thanks, much appreciated! I've scrolled through the Solar Assistant data. In the summer, the amps are definitely getting clipped. But now in winter, it's struggling to reach 10 amps on MPPT 2 and 7 amps on MPPT 1. This is the highest I've seen the voltage jump when there's little to no load on the inverter. To give you better context, I'm in Mossel Bay, about 80m above sea level and 1.3km as the crow flies from the ocean. We definitely don't see minus temps, but it can drop into the single digits. Since sub-zero isn't a factor here, it sounds like pushing to 7 panels per string (7E/7W) will keep me safely inside that 500V MPPT limit. Ground mounting won't work on my property, but that microinverter setup on the Aux port is a very cool idea! Thanks again for the detailed breakdown. Installation for 2 pannels is scheduled for Wednesday.

Thanks for your feedback and opinion! My total daily consumption is just shy of 20 kWh, though in summer it's around 23 kWh. I haven't had a clear day recently—as you can see below, the most I've generated in the past 30 days was 18.5 kWh. This will really help with the cloudy winter weather as well. Yes, I've checked now and the safety limit on the Sunsynk is 500V, with the optimal working range being 150V - 425V. We seem to fall well within that, which I assume is safe. My only concern was that the inverter cannot throttle the voltage, if I'm correct, but it seems to be okay. Thanks for the tip. I just received the quote from the installer and it comes to R9,650. Since my initial install, panels have gone up by R389 each, and labor increased by R500 for a half-day's work, but the rest has stayed the same. They assured me they're the same panels as what's on the roof. I know the two extra panels will be useless in summer, but my main issue is winter, so I'm fine with that because that's when I need the boost. According to my calculations, the ROI goes from 2.86 years to 3.38 years, which is still very acceptable since I received the inverter and battery as a gift.

I've been running my system for about 11 months (the inverter and first battery were a lucky gift from my brother-in-law). It's great in summer, but the short days and low winter sun here in the Garden Route mean I'm struggling to cover usage and fully charge my batteries. My self-sufficiency fell from 81% in April to 64% last month, and I'm sitting on 52% at the moment. I want to add 2 more panels purely to boost my winter generation, but I'm worried about inverter safety. Current Setup: Inverter: 5kW Sunsynk Batteries: 2x Revov R100 Panels: 12x 550W Trina (6.6kWp total) (TSM-550DE18) Split: 6 East / 6 West (24° roof pitch) If I add one 550W panel to each string (making it 7E / 7W), my total array becomes 7.7kWp. I know the extra capacity will clip in summer, which is fine, I just need the winter bump. My questions: Will just 2 extra panels actually make a noticeable difference to my winter battery charging? Given the East/West split (meaning the inverter never sees peak wattage all at once), is 7.7kWp safe on the 5kW Sunsynk, or is this pushing the hardware too far? Thanks!

If I may add my two cents here: I installed a Stiebel Eltron 300L heat pump just over a year ago, and I’ve been very happy with it. It sips power—usually between 400W and 500W per hour. We're three adults in the house, and today it ran for about 4.5 hours. Even now, the water is still sitting at 62°C. No washing was done today, and we all shower in the mornings. The insulation is excellent—once it’s heated, it holds the temperature well and doesn’t switch on again until the third person starts showering. We currently have a top loader that uses a lot of hot water, so on some days, the heat pump can run for up to 12 hours. That said, we plan to replace it with a front loader as soon as it gives in. Yes, the heat pump cost about four times more than a traditional geyser, but I believe it’s going to be well worth it in the long run. I’m in the Garden Route, where we get a fair amount of cloud, but even so, my solar system is able to cover the base load—something that wasn’t possible with the old geyser. Since making the switch, our electricity usage has dropped by almost 60%. Do your homework and see if it will work for you.

Interesting reading the comments. Also receiving high voltage from Eskom in the Garden Route—anything from around 243V to 255V, from what I’ve seen.

Let us know what you decide on and remember the foto's.

I’ve had two Revov R100 batteries running for just over two years now—no issues at all. Before that, I had a BSL 6.4 kWh at my previous place. Both worked well. Revov is definitely the cheaper option, but you get what you pay for—Revov has a 10-year expected lifespan, while BSL is rated for around 15 to 18 years. Both are rack-mountable, so setup was easy. My brother-in-law also has one Revov R100, using it just for loadshedding backup, and he’s had no problems either. All in all, Revov has been good value for the price—I just don’t expect it to last quite as long as the higher-end brands. All the best with your decision.

I've recently moved into a new property and I'm getting the same "device is bound" message, is there a way to get pass that or should I ask the previous owner to delete his account/remove it from his profile?

My retired parents live with me and all the energy is used during the day. There is no cooking or anything in the evening, because the main meal is in the afternoon. All the lights are LEDs. The problem is only that the municiplateit shuts off the water from the reservoir from 20:00 in the evenings, so then the pressure pump from the Jojo kicks in, so opening each tap = 1000watts plus, minus. Then there is also a warm mist humidifier that is on during the night that uses about 350 watts. The battery is at 25% so between 1h and 2h in the morning. I intend to purchase another battery in July when SARS pays out, because I'm still between 20% and 25% dependent on Eskom, which is probably not bad. I have the solar panels to charge the additional battery, so it's not a problem at least. Thanks for your imput and opinions.

Great topic, I have started looking into a heat pump but I only have 1 question and it seems I can't find the answer for it at the moment although my common sense says ja. I need to run my geyser 150L, 3kw element for about 30-45min in the morning, the rest of the day it runs off PV. Will it make sense to get a heat pump or just to get another battery for the solar as my current battery runs out in the early morning just before the geyser kicks in?

Sorry for adding to this old post, but the only one I can find. I feel my temps are dangerously high or not? According to the manual, the normal operating temperature is 60 degrees.

Hi Everyone, I'm on M 3.3.7.0 / S 1.5.1.5 / C E.4.2.0 I've read that some users experience problems after an update as there needs to be no load on the system during the update and apparently there's no warning when the update will happen, is this true? Thanks in advance.