pilotfish

Wow I had no idea - I never bought anything from GW Store but had my finger hovering over the button on a number of occasions, phew!

No, but I cant see any reason why their panels would be any better/worse than any of the multitude of Chinese multi-crystalline panels available. I previously used Setsolar panels which are also RSA made and was very happy with the product. Setsolar/Artsolar sound very similar, I wonder if it is not some kind of breakaway? They are well priced, I would be happy to use them.

The Rolls Royce, Axpert

No arguments there, then it just boils down to the maths to see which battery gives the best bang for buck. I think Pylontech have made it a much closer calculation.

I dont think you can put a straight percentage to the loss, in my case the (2 parallel) inverters seem to have a basic loss of around 100w which doesnt climb significantly as load increases. So losses are much higher at 500W load than at 1500W load as an example.

I have often heard this argument in favour of LFE, but if you read the next subject relating to real life PV systems you will hear about how systems go into idle once the batteries are charged. On a good day my system will reach float around midday and my efficiency drops off because there is nowhere to send the power - if my batteries were more efficient it would happen at 11am instead of midday. That doesn't sound like a good reason to buy more expensive batteries. I am not knocking LFE, just saying that the efficiency factor is overrated.

I am sure that Chris is aware that the joke didn't refer to his wife. It would still be very valuable if you could carry out the early morning, midday, mid afternoon test on your current setup while ensuring that all arrays are full capacity - it would settle a lot of assumptions that have been made over a long period, my own included.

I hope nothing serious and all goes well. The test is very interesting and the results from the disparate string are better than I expected, but there may be a problem with the test method; I have noticed with my 2 parallel Axperts that while at full PV capacity their PV output is identical (which I assume is the max output from the identical arrays), but when output is being restricted by the load then the Master is often 5-10% lower than the slave. So results may be impacted by the MPPT while not at full PV capacity. In order to avoid the above it would be necessary to bang on some heavy loads before recording test data to ensure that the arrays are being fully driven, that way we would know that the MPPT's are pulling everything available from the 3 arrays.

Sorry, i just reread and see you were looking only for wind.

Download @Chris Hobson "Axpert Settings" document in the download section - you may need 5 posts before you can do that so float around the site and post 4 more arbitrary comments The Program 01 is normally SBU not SOL, if I read the description they seem almost identical so not sure if it will help but try it anyway and see if it makes a difference.

Great job. The Cabstrut nut is a very cheap and easy method of bolting panels to P1000. Your method has some "security" to it in that the panels are a bitch to steal!

What interests me is WHY were you both at your PC's at 3am to have this conversation?

I dont doubt it. Your system requires a battery protector that will cut off the pump before battery gets damaged - too late for this battery I'm afraid to say.

It is very difficult to judge performance of a panel/mppt with a dud battery - replace the battery (I suggest 200Ah to allow for some cloudy days) and try again.

2 days ago the battery went from 14.3V (fully charged) to 10.5V (SOC=0=damage). A 75Ah battery can theoretically supply 900Wh between SOC=100 and SOC=0, your consumption was 560Wh of which 280Wh was from the panel so 280Wh should be from the battery. The battery should never have dropped from 100 to 0 under those conditions - so my opinion is battery kaput!

The reason I ask is because I was typing my first response before you posted your reports - there us definitely a problem! A lead acid battery should never be allowed to drop to 10.5V, if I look at 2 days ago your battery went from 14.3V to 10.5V while the panel was supplying charge. So either your pump runs all night or the battery is shot - but something is a bit off.

Out of interest, what controls the pump, when does it run/stop.

With a full battery and a small load yes, pretty normal.

I must say that I don't see a problem, the pump draws about 30W and the panel supplying about 100W which is enough to run the pump and keep the battery topped off. If you would like to test the panel capabilities then try this: Disconnect panel from the system so not charging, Run the pump from 7am to midday (about 150Wh), Then connect the panel which will now have a battery to charge and a pump to run. If you do the above then I am sure you will see much higher power output from the panel, dropping as the battery SOC increases.

Not that I know of but @plonkster and others will know much about this subject.

It is only required during the upgrade and would then be disconnected. I am not familiar with your batteries but I believe Coulomb mentioned that you cannot communicate with them via the Axpert RS232 port The GCLS is using CAN Bus protocol and Axpert is using RS232 protocol on the RJ45 port. PC shop - Google USB to Serial adapter.

eish You should have received a cable like this with your Axpert inverter... If you have an old computer with a serial port then go ahead and use the above cable to do your upgrade, however most computers no longer have a serial port in which case you will use the USB port and require this... USB to D9 serial adapter ... This is an electronic device that converts between serial and USB protocols, not a couple of arbitrary cables smacked together to give you the right shaped plugs on each end! EDIT for clarity - plug the above USB to Serial converter into the Axpert serial cable.

Accuracy of the voltage measurement of the Axpert/MPP Solar equipment has never been questioned to my knowledge, and it is accurate to 1/10th of a volt which is more than adequate for its purpose (as is just about any digital voltmeter you can lay your hands on). State of Charge measurement within the Axpert/MPP Solar (and most other similar equipment) is based on battery voltage which is a very poor method of ascertaining SOC and is highly inaccurate, bordering on useless. Spend some time on the Forum and read up about Axpert inverters, Victron BMV-702 battery monitor (which will deliver accurate SOC) and ICC software which will help control your system using the SOC info delivered by the BMV.

See attached document regarding update procedure - this is for previous firmware but the procedure is unlikely to have changed. Coulomb - Patch Instructions.docx