l3jorn

Generally are returned rate is extremely low. The  problem is our sales, extremely high even 0.004% results in a lot of returns.
As we really appreciate your support of our brand we have made a decision with all our major distributors. Any customer who has returned an inverter and it has not been repaired or looked at for over two weeks they have proof of the item being returned to our service centre our distributor will offer a brand-new replacement. subject to Ts and Cs 
No customer should wait more than two weeks to have an inverter, repaired or replaced. That is my commitment.
 
Keith Gough
ceo 
 
 
 

@ThunderdoltGC Solar rebrands or rebadges so many products. The entire Solar market is dominated by the ODM model. Original Design Manufacturer is where a company like Deye will be approached by Sunsynk, Fusion, Sol-Ark & a few others like GC Solar & produce the exact same product under the Original Design. Deye will enter into an agreement & under this agreement there is many variables that can be tweaked depending on the buyer. To answer your question: All of these solar products originate from China including lithium batteries. 
Now some ppl get romantic about Sunsynk & Keith (British CEO) about why the Sunsynk is better. Well I can tell you that Sunsynk asked Deye to produce them a Deye with special User interface & colours etc. They have marketed well & had to clean up the Original Deye user manuals & edit them into proper user friendly English. Sol-Ark the same in the US. It's a Deye with clever marketing & manuals redesigned. 
A good example is also Voltronics. They are sold under the name Mecer, RCT, Kodak, MPP Solar, EASun, Growcol & many others. The key thing is that they are all Original Design Manufactured by Voltronics but Kodak is a yellow branded box & in some markets there are variations of the power output. So Kodak has the OG10.0. This particular model is 10kW in the case of the Kodak but in other global markets it's 8kW & is called the MAX2. 
Another example is Soltaro. Soltaro all in one inverter & battery is an ODM & Livoltek has rebadged the original Soltaro machine. You will also find a Growcol exact machine which looks the same & has the same functions bar some small changes. 
Now along with all this comes clones & variations of all of these models. By complete definition you are dealing with Chinese Original Design Manufacturers & resellers. They are dictated to by supply chains & big corporations trying to make a buck along the way. 
However, buy from a reputable source otherwise you have no clue where on this great big side of the scale you are sourcing from. 

Hi has anyone used or using volta stage 1 5kva battery. It seems to be at a good price R25900 but I can't find any reviews on it. 

Hi, has anyone heard of these batteries before? I cant seem to find much information on them online. Volta_Stage_1.pdf
https://www.ptonline.co.za/products/volta-5-12kwh-100ah-51-2v-lithium-ion-battery?variant=42816827064488&currency=ZAR&utm_medium=product_sync&utm_source=google&utm_content=sag_organic&utm_campaign=sag_organic
Specs and price seem good, just worried about after sales support. 
 
Volta_Stage_1.pdf

I think it is a requirement. In any case the seperate earth spike and routing is safer for you and your building. Remember the lightning attack surface on pv frames is huge, and you will want the high current surges not to enter your building inner, rather arrest it via a seperate route. 

Hubble support is down right SOE(Telkom) level. Absolutely horrible  

I happened to be up at 4.30 am and smelt and heard it thank goodness.It could have got really nasty.

Yesterday I finally got my repaired Hubble am 2 back.
My installer connected it and did all the necessary.
Much to our horror both mppt indications on the 8 kw sunsynk showed zero.We switched the repaired am 2 off and and pv started flowing.
After doing some troubleshooting with switching ac off etc there was no change.
My installer called the sunsynk helpline in JHB and it was patched through to the UK.
A very helpful man there logged onto my inverter, he did an online upgrade on the refresh rate of the dongle and assured us that it needed a bit of time to settle down.
He also checked the inverter settings which was nice to see.
We gave it a few more minutes and it then worked perfectly.
Clearly with the new bms etc it needed a bit of time to settle down.
Outstanding after sales service from Sunsynk.

For what its worth, I decided to give GW Store a miss.
The Flags:
1) Recent reviews on HelloPeter are clearly fabricated. People give GW Store a 5-star review and within the hour every one of them has, in addition, dropped a stellar review for Megasolar. If you do your homework, you'll see that Megasolar is just a gauze for the scam-antics of GW Store of old.
2) You can't use Payfast for any purchases more than R5k. 
3) No Google reviews - for a retailer that's been in business for 5-plus years?
Nope...

Something to consider is that by having 2 batteries,if one has a problem and is sent off for repairs then you still have 1 battery left.I recently had a major issue with one of my hubble am 2 batteries but still have 1 left to use while the other one is being repaired.

My bms caught on fire on a 6 month old battery (am2).
The difference on data output from ones inverter or cloudlink or a solar assist device will cause issues if a claim on warranty is needed.Whose data will they use?
As for this constant need for updates and having to rip your battery off the wall and send it to ct for a fix and the service that I have had ,has made me and my installer run a mile from hubble.
Do yourself a favour and read the warranty and see how easily it is invalidated.

Following this topic with a gnashing of teeth. My hubble is less than a year old. After a few months it started providing about half the capacity. Took it in to hubble and and the tech reset the bms settings and it behaved for a few weeks but now it's back to its shenanigans.
Looks like it needs to go back to hubble. Maybe permanently this time. 
@HubbleLithium

REPORT BACK:
Okay, it's been a month or so since Hubble came out did my firmware on my battery (and the other 3 we bought).    I was furious, there was a problem, and I set my media team on dismantling them, but decided to give them a chance first.  
So, what is the outcome?   The batteries (at least in my batch) definitely had a firmware bug, and SOC would disappear overnight and I was left with a useless battery - one which died with 5 x Philips Hue GU10 bulbs killing it in 30min during loadshedding.    The guys who came out explained that the global chip shortage necessitated a change in controller or something, and this was the issue, and also that SunSynk blah blah.   
They updated the battery and I was promptly out of the country for two weeks, then back for a week that all looked good, then I travelled again, but upon checking both via loadshedding, and the Inverter running off battery during the night, all looks good.  I have no idea on the 110ah vs 105ah argument (above my skill set) but I'm getting the hours and percentages that make sense to me, and it looks like the firmware is good.    I want to add another battery, and I'm satisfied enough (currently) to call up Steve here on PowerForum and order another AM-2.     Granted, the red flags on alternate chemistry of the batteries, the changing ah values and the double cycle counts are worrying, but I figure since it's already installed and working, I'll take the chance.  
I do think however Hubble has handled this VERY poorly.   Instead of turning it into a total brand win and loyalty building exercise for almost no money, they dug in and took me ranting online to solve the issue (seems solved at least, which means my pitbull of a team is chilled).    But it's a small batch (apparently) and they should be hiring a team of two, giving them a branded vehicle, laptop and getting lists of where it's sold and setting a schedule to GO TO people and have it sorted.  Dont put it on your installers (who already told me that they are using other batteries) or consumers.   Two dudes, fuel and a car is super cheap to bury a problem, that with literally 2 people and effort could zero demand for your brand.
Build on your product, offer the right service.  Hands on service.   You'll kill everyone else.
TL;DR version.   New firmware fixed the draining SOC problem.   Happy enough at the moment to buy a second battery for my house installation.   Suggest that they hire a proper brand managenent / customer care consultant to fix their awful approach to handling a PR disaster.

Thanks to @Jacques Ester for connecting myself and @Steve87
 
Steve will be doing the installation which consists of the following:
Sunsynk 8kW Freedom Won 10/8 14 x JA Solar 545W Panels Quite excited about this.
 

I am about to take the plunge.
I am looking at Deye / Sunsynk 8kw inverters.
2x Hubble 5.5kwh AM2 batteries.
And about 12x 600W panels.
From the research I have done and read several debates this seems to be the "best" setup for my needs.
If anyone could recommend an installer in the Western Cape / Southern Suburbs that would be amazing.
Kind Regards

Hi Guys so here is another GIVE AWAY!
We are busy with a test and review of the Greenrich 1.5C 3.686 kWh Lithium Battery 
Yes we will be giving one away to one lucky Power Forum Member in a Lucky Draw 
I will post details on how to qualify for this GIVE AWAY soon watch this space!
Sponsored by Elleyhill Power (PTY) LTD
So some information to wet your appetite about these batteries 
Greenrich batteries have been in the market for some time now and so far we have had mostly positive feedback from installer and end users alike.
What makes the battery desirable is the 1.5C Rating this means the battery can discharge at 1.5 times its capacity rating.
Why would that be so great?
Here is why if you have a 5KW inverter discharge the battery at 5kWh then this 3.686 kWh battery will be able to absorb a charge rate between 0.5C & 0.75C and a discharge rate at 1.5C without tripping the benefits of that is that when you start of on your solar journey you don't have to break the bank with just one 3.686kWh Greenrich Battery because your 5KW inverter can never reach the discharge rates of the battery. 
The 3.686 kWh is also inter compatible with the 4.95 kWh Greenrich Lithium if you require to expand to larger capacity.
This Lithium battery is the only Lithium battery in the market that offers true 1.5C discharge ratings. With 1.5C discharge rates, the Greenrich lithium battery has a much higher power output compared to other 0.5C or 1C lithium batteries. 
The cell technology in the battery is LFP cylindrical high density cells which can do up to 2C however for longevity the BMS limits the discharge  to 1.5C and charger rates to 0.5C continuous and boost charge rate for 5 minutes to 0.75C
Battery specifications:
Weight: 41.5kg
Battery Type: Lithium Ion
Nominal Energy: 3686 Wh
Depth of discharge: 95.00 %
Voltage: 51.2v
Continuous Discharge Rate (Normal Use): 5000 W
Maximum Discharge Rate (5 Minutes): 5500 W
Surge Discharge Rate (15 Seconds): 6144 W
Maximum Charge Rate (5 Minutes): 2560 W
Compatible with many of South Africa’s popular Hybrid inverters’ brands.
Built-in BMS that protects the cell from abnormal temperature, current, voltage, SoC, and SoH.
DATA SHEET
 
 

Hello All!
The lucky draw is online!
Please find the link to the entry page. It is open for 7 days and then we will randomly select a winner!
https://app.viralsweep.com/sweeps/full/45b3be-121080?framed=1
Good Luck all!
Sincerely
Powerforum Team