AfricanTech

Hi all, my dad was scammed out of R37 000 for a battery from ‘The Solar Mart.’ They are definitely a scam company. We have also logged a fraud case with SAPS and our banks are investigating. Please note that they appear to be using multiple bank accounts including Capitec, Nedbank and Absa bank. I have also reported their website to SAFPS. 
 
I really hope we can spread the news far and wide so that this website can be taken down and no more people will be scammed from their hard earned money.   

Check out the response I just got from them now - probably after they saw my post above.
Their SCAM is obvious for all to see ... most certainly a fraudulent company/website..... it needs to be shut down! 

Hello all,
I initially posted some feedback (above) and then edited my feedback to "interesting" after I got a threatening email from them to take things further (see pic below) - read it ("persuade further" 🤐)... and then updated again with a summary after posting the below.
In summary - as it stands today (06/02), it looks like my money is gone - I have opened a criminal case of fraud against this company and reported them to their bank.
Read my experience and make your own mind up.
PS: Herewith some initial warning signs that I missed: No phone Number, no unit number shown on their address and they only accept EFT...oh and they only have 1 unit left (isn't this always the case to hook you). I also called the Infinity Business Park property administrators who did not know of this company.
Here is my experience - They are excellent responding to the chat on their website as well as by email. Thier site looks good, and their prices look even better than most (maybe this is also a warning sign) ... in short everything looks legit. You can create an account, log in and track your orders etc. In my experience, there is nothing that makes one feel there is something wrong.
After chatting to them on their website (they were very responsive) I placed my order (I have attached my chat as reference) - everything sounded great.
After I placed my order, their response was excellent, an account was created for me, I got an invoice, and I got an email advising me of EFT details - I was advised that the order is on hold until payment had been received. The email correspondence looks excellent, wording and language is good all very professional.
I paid immediately by EFT and advised them I had done so - they advised that they ship the goods once the funds reflect into their account.
all good so far .... so, I thought 😞
As my order was placed on Saturday and I belong to another Bank, I did not expect the funds to reflect on Monday, so I let Monday pass. On Tuesday morning I emailed them and asked for an update where they responded that the money had not yet reflected into their account. 
This seemed strange so I contacted my bank (Nedbank) who advised that Capitec had received the funds on Monday already and sent me a bank PoP which I then forwarded to them and asked for an update.
They responded (relatively quickly) and advised that they would send this to their admin dept to check.
then silence for the rest of the day ...
On Wednesday morning I sent a follow-up email advising that since they had received the funds on Monday, if they did not ship the goods, they need to cancel my order and refund me (by this stage I was already very anxious) 
Their response was professional ...but look at it and you will see its rubbish - I attached it below for all to see (honestly people must think everyone is stupid) - they first tell me the money was returned and shows on their bank statement...... then later they say it was a normal Capitec branch code and not a Business branch code that was used (really??) - and then tell me to ask the bank to recall it (I thought is was already returned) .... look at the feedback and make up your own mind.
It is now Thursday, and I have no goods and no money and no further feedback - the bank believes that there is little chance of recovering the funds.
Looking at the above and the pics below - will you buy from this company?
Clearly, the stupid person here is me - I just got scammed for R33k - I am beyond pissed off
 
Note: If anything changes - If I get my order or I get my money back, I will update this post... until then, the above is the current status!
 
 
 
 

Hi , 
That website is an SCAM . 
I tried to go to there office ...... but what did i find . nothing 
see the mails
---- 
Hi Hein
Unfortunately, we are an online-based store; hence, this would not be possible.
You are however welcome to come by and verify that we are legit our order process unfortunately remains the same.
Kind Regards,
-----

This is a SCAM company/website ... read posts below - I was an idiot and got caught 🤬 (I was desperate and acted too quickly/irresponsibly after loadshedding kicked in last Friday) and ordered an additional battery for 33k (and lost the money).
Hindsight is 20/20 vision 😞
Warning signs: No phone number, no unit number on address, loads of links don't work, some content is in the wrong place, returns include gift vouchers which is not sold, only accept EFT, and if you reverse lookup the pictures, they are all generic/copied from other sites and probably more if you look closer.
I did a reverse google image lookup and found this site with the same pics: Danhofer Solar – your partner for high-quality photovoltaic systems
I have opened a case of Fraud at SAPS as well as the local banks, including their bank which is Capitec.
At this stage I am hoping I am the only chop that got caught by these SCAMMERS and want to make sure no-one else gets caught - this site needs to be shutdown, the money trail followed, and these bastards locked away for good.
Perhaps an idea is for "The Power Forum" to start a page of Solar/Power companies caught out scamming people, Companies with Poor ratings etc, as a service to its members ... just an idea 🙂
 

We must just make sure this does not relate to US power where they use 2x120V split phase systems. 
Hope our experienced installers can add their input. 
I thought that 2 in parallel would operate on 1 phase only. The big aircon can perhaps snooker a put and forget system if concurrent loads are not taken note of. 

You also won't be able to feed back extra solar power to them with the CT coils, which you could have done on non essentials on the same phase. 

No you still want non essentials on the same phase as essentials so that you can power them during the day time with excess PV. DB must just be split. 
If you have them in parallel you should have enough reserve to start loads like a big aircon. You will end with 20kW available for starting during the 10sec of 2x normal output. 
Not sure what loads one would leave on the 2 non backup phases. 

Note, you would then only have backup power on the one phase, but increased to 10kw. So this would require an electrician to change the essential loads around and put them all onto the phase with the inverter. 

Yes it would help. Even without a 3rd battery. 

Good to see all is turning out fine. 
Our installers will be in a better position to answer around the y-connectors. I am a bang Jan when it comes to these DC voltages as well as the high current on a single MC4. I prefer each string to the combiner box with all the extras. As you have 2 inputs per MPPT I would use it on the inverter and pull each string with 4mm cable to the inverter. 
This will also allow you to do fault finding easier but having access to each string if 1 panel would say have a defective bypass diode or any other fault that can affect the operation of the string. Easy then to disconnect a faulty string and still have the remaining string producing power. 

Just my layman's 2c. MUST be checked professionally.
I'd think twice about this. Usually you can do it if the panel specs are fairly close, but here it's basically a 13A panel in series with an 11A panel. You can expect to lose around 15% of the output of the new panels by putting them in series with the older panels. Also, as you say, you could only add around 3 per string before you're starting to push the boundaries of a prudent Voc.
Why not consider putting the first two strings in parallel on the first MPPT (22A input - to be checked if it's really 22A or not down-specced), and adding a new string of maybe 6-10 of the new panel in series on the second MPPT. On the understanding that it's okay to have an unbalanced MPPT loading, which is why I'm deferring to people who know better.
Worst case you could maybe drop down to two strings of 7 in parallel of the 375W panel on MPPT1, and put anything you like on MPPT2, it doesn't have to be the same type or a similar size if it's on a different MPPT entirely. Lots of well-priced panels if you shop around, and maybe a cheap 550W  panel x 6 or times 8 could make up for the loss in output from dropping 2x375W panels.
 

Due to the remote possibility of a 464Voc when adding 3 I would only add 2 per string. 
As you have seen the new 410W can provide 13.23A but would be limited to the 10.94A of the 375W panels. You will still see the improvement so not a train smash. Just perhaps spend a bit more time to see if you can't get a seller with the 375W you have. Surely it's not a must do ASAP? just to get a bit more yield. 

Hi there, I am hoping someone can throw some light onto expanding an existing Solar Panel installation once the modules used have all but disappeared off the market.
I have an existing installation of 16 x Canadian HiKu 375w Mono Perc modules (Canadian CS3L-375MS modules with 8 x modules per string x 2 strings) attached to a Deye 8kw Inverter (larger panels were not cost effective when we did the installation 2 years ago).
I upgraded my inverter 10 months ago (from 5kw), and it is now evident that I am not generating enough capacity from my solar panels and continuously have to be supplemented from the Grid, even during the day when the sun is at its peak.
My inverter allows for up to 500v per MPPT, and I am currently on max (@ 0 deg) 349 volts, so I have the possibility to expand by 3 additional modules per string as long as the VoC voltage @ zero degree does not exceed 50v per panel (mindful that Cape Town would rarely...if ever....get to 0 degrees.
The challenge I face is that these 375w modules are no longer available.
I can get Canadian Hiku6 Mon Perc 410w modules and wanted to know if there would be any issues with me expanding each string using these Canadian CS6R-410MS? (I understand that by adding these to the existing strings these modules would experience some capacity loss because I am connecting to 375w panels).
Does anyone see any issues with this?
Any input/advise would be appreciated as I would like to understand how people expand their existing installations down the line when product modules become obsolete or are upgraded by the manufacturers so frequently.
Thanks, Marco

CS-Datasheet-HiKu6_CS6R-MS_v2.1_EN-30mm-frame-1.pdf CS-Datasheet-Hiku_CS3l-375MS.pdf

Grid voltage or frequency out of range probably. 

Hi How are you?
Yes it will definitely work, just need to be carefull as the is a usb powerd device 5 volts but it dose have a sensor to read the state of the gate.
Aleks
 

As far as I am aware the garage door opener would work for a gate motor. The only potential problem would be wifi signal depending how far the gate is from your router.
https://www.sonoffafrica.co.za/product/garage-door-opener-lite-version/

Congrats @PsyWulf
Noice goodies

Hi 
1. The Gate controller on our site, I would configure it first at your desk and just make sure you have it working in the eWeLink app and Alex and that you can hear the click noise as you push the button in the app. 
2. Because there is so many different gate motors out there I honestly don’t know, generally it would go on to the Triger port. The controller has NC/NO and inching.(Which is a timer how long the pulse needs to be.)
3. Not sure if Alexa has custom commands because the device is seen as a switch so the command Gate ON would defiantly trigger it if the device was called Gate in ewelink then linked to Alex. Getting a gate installer in once you have the device configured would be recommended.
Aleks

This is not a Sonoff device but works in eWelink app and we have only had one return in 2 years

Hi, which sonoff do you have? if you are comfortable with some hardware modifications I'll assist where you make some changes on the PCB so the output of the sonoff is not a live connection but you can use it as a dry contact (regardless the warranty will be void), sonoff has some 4ch modules that offer dry contacts out but reckon it's a bit of an overkill, unless you want to wire up additional things like lights etc.
once that is done, you can set the device to itching and give the gate a short trigger to the controller and open the gate. I personally don't like this because if there's a glitch on the sonoff my gates might open and currently there's no way to view that feedback remotely.
Another feature I asked for waaaaay back when is if there's any way to use a sonoff to show the status of an external device, like a gate, if the external signal comes in the sonoff shows on/off whatever, just some feedback

Looks like a good time to have joined.
Newbie luck incoming 😄

Hi, If you are just looking to open the gate with a pulse the gate controler would be most cost effactive but it will not give you a status. Its not a Sonoff products but it work with eWelink which would then be connected to you Alexa.
https://www.sonoffafrica.co.za/product/ewelink-1ch-wifi-switch-inching-self-locking/
Coupon code Powerforum5%
Aleks

There is quite a large community on MyBB that has good insights and experience with HomeAssistant. The application itself has also matured and made a lot of things easier. The main benefit of HA is local control AND ability to work across manufacturers - So your Sonoff device can influence what happens with the Tuya and Aqara devices based on these conditions. The Sonoff integration to HomeAssistant is pretty stable and easy to implement

Looks like a good time to have joined.
Newbie luck incoming 😄

I think that automatically disqualifies him