ghatikar

Homer is One of the best out there  for microgrid and off grid 
some others are 
 
PVSyst –
SAM (NREL) – free registration
 SolarGIS data -  
 PlantPredict - 
 

It all boils down to price and application. e.g. Nigeria where grid-tied is not really a viable option due to missing grid regulation and infrastructure.
They are targeting mission-critical applications primarily like ATMs, digital signage where efficiency is not a real concern. Imagine if you have 70 % saving in deployment cost per ATM !!
The other battery-less 5KW inverter is what piques my interest. the biggest advantage is you can use crappy /secondhand battries for applications like airconditioner loads without bothering about AH and C10 
 
Although I suspect even the Victron will keep on working after disconnecting the battery  but I dont want to try it with 2000 Euro ineverter 
 

I am using a similar solution for my NAS / router/Network switch for quite a while now  except I use a Victron Filax changeover which is fast ( https://www.victronenergy.com/transfer-switches/filax-2)
a 20 AH Lifepo4 with cheap Charge controller - https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/6v-12v-Lead-Acid-3-6v-7-2v-NiMH-6-4v-12-LiFePO4-Li-Ion-solar-charge-controller/292584753349 with a 20 Watt panel 
and a generally good quality inverter with minimum fan noise - https://www.ebay.co.uk/p/Inverter-Power-Bestek-300w-DC-12v-to-230v-AC-Car-Converter-Electronic-Dual-USB/5017022038
why the wired combo ?-  most of the components were left over from my earlier projects except the charge controller 
 and I needed something to keep my internet/server  going when I am playing around with various assistant setups in the Victron 

Thanks, Guys,.
 
I contacted REC and they Confirmed the 16Q model is fully compatible with Victron over CABUS out of the BOX . The BMS on spec sheet looks wonderful but is rather expensive 400 Euro plus for basic ( software, cables, contactor, adding temp probe etc) take you well north of 900 Euro 
 
Maybe I will get one of those cheap Chinese versions, USE the ATC/ATD contacts   and  keep the battery isolated with sandbags 
https://www.dhgate.com/product/high-accuracy-battery-management-system-bms/409065600.html#s1-2-7b;searl|3968060313

What? That's not how that stuff works, or not how it should.
A computer does multitasking a bit like a man who chews bubblegum while walking, but cannot do it at the same time. He chews a bit, then walks a bit, then chews a bit, and so on. If you swap between chewing and walking really quickly it looks like it is happening simultaneously, but in reality it isn't.
Even a single-core CPU can do two things at the same time using this method, and that is how we did it for decades before symmetric multiprocessing became common. More cores means more things in parallel, but there are way more than just 4 or even 8 things that needs to be juggled on a modern OS, so it will still juggle them.
So whether your CPU is single, dual or quad core matters little. Threads will be juggled anyway. At 19200 baud rate, that thread will spend most of its time sleeping anyway (waiting for an interrupt on the serial port to wake it up), so you really shouldn't need a dedicated core to run it.

Yes. It's adjust and zzz... :-)
It's zzz because when you don't have a full keyboard and you have to use arrow keys to key it in, you want the default to be something that enters easily. And I think you can reach z with a single button press, so this is a least-amount-of-button-presses sort of thing.
Mine is rooted of course and my ssh key is installed, so no more passwords for me.

Some of it is documented here, but I don't see the /Bms paths documented there.
Interestingly I'm looking at the modbus document as we speak. The registers are:
57 (AllowToCharge) 58 (AllowToDischarge) 59 (BMS expected, this bit is set by the Multi if it is programmed with a BMS assistant or ESS) 60 (BMS error) All of them are flags, writing a zero means no, writing a one means yes.
You can get the full list of registers here.
Must admit I've never done this before, so I am not sure which unit you should speak to. My device instance on my setup is 257, for example. Look on the Device section on the CCGX.

With a bit of python code you can write directly to the dbus paths on the ccgx instead of going via modbus, which is what I would likely do:
conn = dbus.SystemBus() charge = conn.get_object("com.victronenergy.vebus.ttyO1","/Bms/AllowToCharge") discharge = conn.get_object("com.victronenergy.vebus.ttyO1","/Bms/AllowToDischarge") charge.SetValue(1) discharge.SetValue(1) On a CCGX the vebus is usually on ttyO1, but it might be elsewhere.

I just got a feedback from Ipower installation engineer ( Voltronic rebrand for Nigeria) - Apperantely after 2016 the 60 and 80 amp models have a very low failure rate  apprentely less than 1 in 100. But most of these units are installed in banks with large battery banks with loads at less than 30 % except when the ATM starts counting notes. THE CC part is fully loaded with a 3 KWp panel setup 

Thanks @plonkster, though I must admit that I probably did not understand all of the above that you were hoping to convey to me. Hopefully as I learn more it will make more sense to me.

I used the UK setting, with the the three phases bridged. I could not get the German one to work.
It takes some force to push it, yes. A bit more than I felt comfortable with really.
It switches on after the delay, as far as I know. The requirements for how long it has to wait depends on the grid standard you selected. For some you have to wait a full minute, for others 20 seconds is sufficient. If you put it on a poor power source (such as a small petrol generator) you'll see it count down, sometimes it might pause, sometimes it will start over. It has to see clean power for the whole period before it connects.

I kept RoCoF on. I think NRS097-2-1 requires it.
I did most of the setup using the German manual that came with it, I got tired of mentally translating it (I read German, but it still hurts my head after a while), and thankfully found the English manual online :-)

Ifr no batteries are needed then Look at SMA  
http://www.smainverted.com/what-is-a-photovoltaic-diesel-hybrid-system/

From 2013 to now I have had 3 ( 4048 MS- 5 KVA 48 V)  of them fail
All in the middle of Night ( cool, no Solar but on inverter duty as no grid available). Every time it was caps blowing out. ( 09 Error DC BUS Fail
Every time solved by dealer by replacing the whole motherboard  at my cost 
I have now started paralleling two and keeping one around handy. Still cost of three together is less than one Quattro 5 KW ( not evening adding the MMPT or Venus , mk3 etc)
 

Hi all!
did i report to this forum that everything is working now?  After upgrading the firmware of the two Axperts 5KV the generator (red) connects to both Axperts and charges the batteries and at the same time feeds the loads (bypassing).  

I  am considering BYD  Bbox pro 10 -  http://www.byd.com/energy/bbox.html - 6000 Cycles 10 KWH 
my challenge is to manage 30 Kwh /day with 6 KWp and BYD At least the solar water heater will help somewhat. No permission from Better Half yet to replace the telly  and all lights are already LED  with most of them automated. 

Oh man, I love these things. You know how lead acids taper off over 85%, still accepting a couple ampere but not really wanting to... well not these things. They recharge all the way up to 98% at all the current you can throw at it and then stop... like a plane against a mountain. A few more minutes and it drops down to 500mA... and then the BMV resets to 100% :-)
Edit: Look how the charge current drops of around 5PM...

It's in, finally...
The RS485 cable to the BMS still runs shortcut-style through mid air because (as usual) I didn't have one of the right length :-)

You and I are using the same source, that is, in as much as this is from "the horses mouth", I had a chat with the same horse.
I think the trick here is that if you use a lower discharge rate -- and technically that is not that far-out an assumption, for powering domestic loads you're not going to do 1C for extended periods of time -- then you do your work at a higher voltage and you can get a bit more power out of the batteries for the same amp-hour kitty. Now with that said, it still seems a terrible stretch. A LiFePO4 cell lives between 2.8V and 3.6V (those are the extremes), and if you work out the worst possible loss due to voltage efficiency, that would be 3.6/2.8 = 1.28, that is an extra 28%, and if you add that extra 28% to your 3.1kwh cell, then you ALMOST have 4kwh. And thus ends the lesson in marketing :-P
Victron uses Winston, so it can't be THAT bad :-)
Apparently CALB has a cell called the CAM72 that has amazing cycle life, at least it's marketed as such!
The simple BMS systems simply trip if there is a low/high cell, to protect the battery. They may also do passive balancing on the high side. When the BMS trips, the inverter turns off and your power goes out. The more complex setups allow the inverter to go into bypass mode, or perhaps even charge the batteries slowly to prevent damage.
For off-grid setups, a simple BMS might be perfectly suitable. Set the MPPTs properly, and the lack of full integration might not be a problem at all.
I have no idea how deep the integration goes with the mypower24/Axpert setups. I suspect it doesn't go to the same depths as the Victron setups, where the system is intimately aware of the charge current limits, voltages, shutting down and going into low-power mode or bypass, etc etc...
:-)

I'm not familiar with this kind of setup. The low-pressure stuff we have here all have a small reservoir tank on the top, with a float-valve inside that reservoir tank. The cold water supply (typically much higher pressure) simply connects to the float valve in this reservoir. The float-valve thus acts like a pressure reducer. There is a safety/air-vent pipe attached to the top of the tank (the hot water part, not the reservoir on top), and this pipe stands taller than the reservoir. So everything basically fills up to the top of the reservoir and then the only pressure from there on is gravity.
Ideally, if you're going to attach mixers to that, then the cold water side should feed from reservoir and not from the high pressure cold water side. Otherwise you must use a traditional (by British standards) two tap setup.

thank you @ghatikar for providing us with this information!
we will think twice prior to jumping to conclusions in future.... although you must admit we could not resist this issue being used for a bit of fun

Victron Energy units ( maker of Pheonix) is commonly used in Yachts and RV's  as well as service, catering vans. Vibration is common in these scenarios. 
In fact, recently a Boat powered by Victron inverter and batteries won the race - https://www.victronenergy.com/blog/2017/09/08/solar-boat-racing-clafis-victron-energy-unstoppable/
  I use a 350 VA Pheonix to run my critical loads  ( NAS, Router, switch etc) as the thing consumes less power while inverting than an APC ups which is on standby. it is running nonstop for last 6monthss without any issues at 50 % or more load 

apply any mechanical pressure on the pump - I think refers to mechanical load from joints/  from the pipes/misalignment etc.

apply any mechanical pressure on the pump - I think refers to mechanical load from joints/  from the pipes/misalignment etc.

At 50 KW with multiple units, it gets very sensitive to Size and length of cabling both AC and DC  due to sharing limitations. Also, the addition is not arithmetical
Unless it was an upgrade /addition to existing it is always preferred to have less no of big units. I think Victronhas some thread on the Discuss but I can not find it for now 

I will try to d that at some point in future. using Ac coupling - basically, feed the Victron Quattro  5KW ( lithium Ion) from my Axpert 5 x 2   KVA with 400 Ah battery bank on AC/IN 2
Potential losses 30 % along the way  DC ->AC and thenAC->DC.  Since the Axpert Feed only AC and water pumps I can afford to drain the Lead ACid and keep house lights on in Emergency 
 
And Yes I know it will be more practical just to install a manual change over to feed the house from Axpert. but this will be in the name of Science and will be easier to implement. Only two additional wires MCB and some clever assistant Logic 

Made in INDIA  Infact in the neighbouring state of my home town - https://globenewswire.com/news-release/2017/02/01/912808/0/en/Incap-Corporation-s-opening-ceremony-of-production-facilities-in-India.html