Weimaraner

I have a 12kw 3ph Sunsynk inverter and 3 Hubble AM-5's,18x 545 panels, all 70mm DC battery cable and 16mm power cable - system runs great. I am thinking of adding another battery. I have not used a busbar box. Will probably be better. I would like a box with busbars fitted. I do like and prefer good quality. Any suggestions on a box, a supplier and I would love some pics of yours please. Thanks

Quick close on this matter - Global Tech the Sunsynk SA agent kept my inverter for 5 weeks, they fixed it under warranty despite me saying I suspect a surge damaged it. I reinstalled but it did not work so I took it back and they fixed it in 1 day again under warranty. I then found that one of my batteries were still faulty and that BMS was replace under warranty at Hubble. So all good now. I am generating power again!

I dropped my inverter, at Globaltech the SA agents for Sunsynk, this morning. My goodness, there is a mountain of inverters and they said 2-3 weeks for assess, quote and repair. I made the mistake of not boxing the unit. Better to do that as I can see that it is probable that units are scratched and dented while there (let me give them the benefit of the doubt for now!). I will report back on how long it takes. By the way this is what the control board looks like for Hubble AM-5's.

I do have SPD's between the PV and MPPT. I have fuses between the batteries and inverter. I have SPD's on my utility feed from City Power.

Yes, my insurance covers the damage. I did the install in 2023 and it was running clockwork till the heavens decided otherwise. PITA to remove the batteries and inverter for repairs but I took the inverter out today - will take it to Sunsynk in the morning. It seems the comms are not working. I will report back. I am learning a lot through this exercise.

I agree with you 100% and that is what I am going to do.

Thanks for all the replies and discussion - I guess I followed the regulations religiously which was the right thing to do but I am noting what you are all saying and there are valid points. The panels are earthed to the house earth system and a rod, maybe I should disconnect from the house system. Then again the lightning hit the roof not the panels. Panels are working 100%. Got my batteries back from Hubble, great service by the way. BMS' replaced (2 of them, 3rd one is ok), R4090. The 12kw Sunsynk does not see them however. I guess the inverter comms are also fried, other than that the inverter is working perfectly. I am going to take it out today and take it to Sunsynk in the morning. Lot of hassle. I need a solution for this - I do not want to go through this pain again. Issue is that one is not always around to disconnect equipment.

The SPD's on the main incoming utility feed as well as my PV fuses and Battery fuses were all not damaged. The following got fried - Sub Woofer, TV, all my LED light dimmers, garage motor PCB's, oven timer, washing machine timer, electric fence energiser, intercom, network Poe switch and a couple of other things.

Our house (roof) got struck by lightning last week, knocked out a lot of items including the BMS's of 2 of my Hubble AM-5's, getting them repaired at Hubble R8090 for both. I was surprised at the damage as I have all the protection mechanisms in place. DC protection on both the battery and PV feed as well as earthing on the system and SPD's. I also have a COC from a proper electrician. I now see my WIFI logger does not want to connect, the red light keeps on flashing (Sunsynk 12kw 3ph, 3x Hubble AM-5's, 18x 550w CS panels, 75mm batt cable, 6mm PV cable etc etc. Any comments on how / why this happens and why only 2 of my 3 batteries are damaged? Any experience with the Data Logger not coming back online? Thanks Pieter

That is interesting, lightning recently hit my house and knocked out 2 of my AM-5's. I unhooked them, took them to Hubble in Modderfontein and had great service. They checked for warranty but I am out, only 2 years on BMS, both the BMS' are toast. The repair is R8090 for both and I cannot complain about the service. Where did you book them in, through an installer?

Can someone recommend an honest and reliable place to repair an older Axpert 5kw inverter in the Randburg area. Thanks Pieter

Hi All, does anyone have some input for me on the above? Thanks Pieter

Morning Everyone, I installed a 12kw 3ph inverter along with 3 5kwh batteries and 11 panels (limited roof space) in 2023. No real issues and I tweaked the system to suit my preferences. We have a solar geyser so the whole house is on the inverter - what a pleasure! I do plan to split the board at a later stage but not a real priority now as I do not really use the UF heating. The 12kw has 2 MPPT trackers with 1 MPPT having 2 strings. MPPT 1- (26A+13A), MPPT 2- 13A. PV input voltage is 160vdc - 800vdc, MPPT input voltage is 200vdc-650vdc. I have 11x 545w 46,5Voc panels on MPPT1 String1 and wanted to add a couple more panels - easy I just added 3 panels to MPPT1 String2 to realise that this does not work - does one have to balance the 2 strings? The moment I switch them on String1 shows zero PV input from the 11 panels. It will also not work on MPPT2 as I have not reached minimum voltage. I have limited roof space so my idea was to have 11panels and then 2 separate arrays of 3 and 4 panels. Can one run 2 arrays in series with longer connection cables between the 2 arrays? I use 6mm sq. I do not want to split the 11 panels into 2 arrays. Shouls I maybe move the 11 panels to MPPT2 and connect the 2 seperate arrays to MPPT1 string 1 and 2 but will the 3 panels be enough to start the string on MPPT1? Thanks Pieter

Can anyone lend some assistance with this?

I decided to start a new thread as this has to do with Cloudlink and I thought it could be useful to someone else. It has taken me rather long to complete my system and I only now came around to install the Cloudlink. My main reason for wanting to use something like Cloudlink is to monitor my batteries individually. Now I know quite a few of you would say that I should dump the Cloudlink and get something else but the thing is that I have bought it along with my inverter months ago and now I would like to get it working - I cannot however. So this is my progress. 1) Connected the module, it has power, is connected to WIFI and coomunicates 2) I have setup RIOT 3) Registered on the Portal and all good 3) Connected the Red Cloudlink cable to the MUL port on the Cloudlink Module and the Modebus on the inverter 4) Connected the Black short RJ12 cable to the RJ12 port on the Cloudlink Module and the Master Battery RJ12 RS232 port. The Battery CAN port uses a cable that is Sunsynk / Hubble specific to the Inverter so I have comms (working 100%) on the Sunsynk app. Cloudlink Portal however is not working correctly, I cannot see the individual batteries and most of the stats are not correct. My setup is a Sunsynk 12kw 3ph inverter + 3 Hubble AM-5 batteries + panels. My system works great - just this Cloudlink.....I cannot find anywhere someone that has connected with the 12kw and the AM5's. I have also tried the comms cable that came with the Cloudlink between the Cloudlink CAN port and inverter CAN port and have also tried this with the Sunsynk specific comms cable but no cigar! Help would be appreciated. Thanks Pieter

Finally I now have 1 array of panels installed (11 x 545w). Put them on the PV1 MPPT. Will later do the other panels. So now the fun starts. Generation is there so now it is up to me to figure out how I manage it. Question - I do not always understand what the interface screens mean and I see I am not the only one. I have the three CT's installed correctly, so I do not want to export power to the grid. With the below configuration mu understanding is as follows I am not exporting to the grid, Solar Export means that I can feed solar power to non-essentials, feed load first then batteries. Some set the Inverter Power Limiter to 0? Question, as long as the Grid Trickle Feed is set to something does that mean that feed back to the grid will also not happen. I would like to see how much my panels are generating but my generation displayed = my load, how do I see what the panels really generate without ticking Solar Export - this is why I want to understand whether ticking Solar Export allows power to the grid. Hope I make sense!

System runs fine. I am busy at work so I still have to install the panels (16 * 545). I have installed the brackets and rails on the roof (what a pain) and I have run two strings of 6mmsq PV wire (another pain). Also still have to install the Cloudlink. So for now I have a glorified UPS but it works perfectly. I run the whole house and the 12kw + 15kwh of batteries is enough. We obviously are careful with what we run together and so far no issues, even the geyser is on. It will be another story with the panels up and I will run another set of 3ph 16mm cable to the DB for non-essential items. Will update and post once I am done. In hindsight I am thinking that 2 * 8kw would be a better option than 1 * 12kw but it was fun doing it and it works! Very happy with the inverter and the batteries.

Sorry for only replying now. I linked the batteries together using same length 75mmsq cable and then ran a cable from the most left battery and a cable from the most right battery to the fuse disconnector. I still have not installed the Cloudlink so I cannot see the individual stats on the batteries but they run together well. Once I can see them individually I will be able to tell how they charge / discharge.

If I want to do an update (I need to) do I need to disconnect the batteries from each other. I have 3 Hubble AM5's. So I will upgrade each battery in isolation?

I need to upgrade my Hubble AM5's software. Does anyone in the Randburg or close to have a cable I can borrow? Must be one bought from them, apparently other sometimes do not work. Thanks Pieter

There is a cheaper alternative - check out the Electromechanica website for this 080110-0-4 100A MAIN TERMINAL GREY. You get them in different ratings and cable sizes. https://www.em.co.za/080110-0-4 But order online through online electrical, prices are good.

Thanks! I have also found this very useful! My problem again is that I have a sub db in an outbuilding from where my borehole and pool pump runs. My borehole is used at different times day and night. Maybe I must put that whole load on AUX but that means that without PV power I cannot use the borehole, is my understanding correct. The AUX will only use PV power?

I bought a 3ph Segen Earth Neutral Bridge box for inverters to 12kw that I did not use. New never been connected still in the box. R1500

I would like to monitor my batteries individually but the inverter does not show that on BMS. I bought a RIOT CLOUDLINK originally, will that give me more information?

Finally have it up and running. Pleasure to have power during loadshedding. I have a set of SPD's and a 4 pole isolator in a wall box on the outside, always have had it. I now have the E/N Segen bridge box extra (if anyone is interested) as I went the contactor route as I could use the contactor for a couple of other things. I have an issue with the a F18 error but it is intermittent. My batteries also sometimes get stuck on 92% / 94% while charging and I have to restart. All else is good. My panels got delivered and I will put them up over the coming weekends. Still have to put up the PV box and tidy up a bit. I have the whole house on this 12kw and so far so good. I do have a solar geyser although so that works nicely. I am going to split my DB into eseential / non essential - non essential will only be my underfloor heating and a couple of other things. Again 16mm2 is hard to work with! Anyone with similar issues on F18 and the battery charge %?