cbrunsdon

FYI: For CoCT it is now required for all solar installations to use an Installation Electrician.

My installer had to send one out last week to get my application up to scratch (again) - the longer the City takes to finalise, nine months now, the more red-tape my installer has to go through. Oh, this is all at my installers expense, not mine. I've a growing mini filing cabinet next to my inverter with all the documents.

Hi guys, from an installers perspective: A standard single phase installation that the customer has acquired the equipment and needs me to install without solar panels. standard installation with additions of changeover and AC protection DB with indicator lights and CoC in the ball park of between R18k - R23k if its not complex. 
The factors that are variable and influence pricing. AC cable lengths std 5m AC cable easy but when ones garage is 30m cable length away and there is ducting into and out of a roof you start to realize that there is more time and effort to this. 
Also depends on if there is a current existing CoC or do we need to issue a full new CoC and supplementary for the new alternative AC power solution. I use Schneider and Hager as my preferred brand of AC switch gear. A full CoC involves testing of every circuit and plug point.
All these variables come into the equation...
Now when you add panels then you get the DC Combiner box and I use Noark switchgear there. A DC combiner box can add between R2.5k to R5k onto the price depending on the configuration. A battery isolator also depending on size can be along the lines of R3k. Then DC battery cables which are also not cheap.
Then PV DC cable and Bosal metal conduit and earth spikes etc. 
Dont get me wrong you can get this system up and running or barely so. Doesnt mean it will be safe nor will it be functional for a long time. But there are good operators and then some chancers. 
Where do installers generate their revenue from: Margin on equipment sales (We get equipment at wholesale prices then sell at Consumer prices). Now once you supply the equipment you remove a large portion of revenue. So the installation only fee with required accessories is unfortunately higher because there is less earning capacity left.
Like any contractor selection, do they come recommended because word of mouth is crucial in this game. Do they provide after sales support and are they contactable post installation?
Do they have a google business page and a review section with more than 10 reviews? 
You spending hard earned cash. Choose wisely.

As we are in silly season. Let's take a guess how many hours of LS and power failures have we had on a per year basis counting only Mon-Fri during office hours during the last 4 years. 
I will provide the real hours for an area in Tshwane. 

I mean using drones. They couldn't care less if you have panels or not, but using Google maps you can discover all sorts of interesting things, like which of your neighbours have green pools.

It definitely is. The more battery capacity you have the better. You never have too much. It also lovers current stress on the battery, extends live expectancy.

Some installers are heedless when it comes to pv wire installations. All the gp ac wires in the photo is contained in 25mm pvc conduit, why not the single pos and neg dc wires? If it was decided to use 4mm² or 6mm² Surfix or Norsk cable in the roof space it would have been within Sans spesifications but it is single conductors that must be contained in pvc conduit or trunking. If the wire run exceed >50 meters the pv wires needs to be in metal conduit earthed at 1 point. Furthermore the dc pv wires needs to be labeled "DC PV Wires" with intervals if in pvc conduit or Surfix. Care needs to be taken on high voltage pv cables as the dc side of the installation is much less forgiving than the ac wiring. 

This is common. We all think we know what power we use and when, but unless we have good monitoring tools (which you get once you have PV) you could be way wrong.

The way to make the best use of any solar driven system (solar geysers, PV systems such as you have) is to make as much hay as you can whilst the sun is shining. Domestic users go through this to. You want to heat your water during the daylight hours, run your pool pump, as far as possible run your appliances then. My life is made a bit easier by having gas for cooking, but we still use the microwave a bit in the early evenings and the kettle during the evening. Those are not too bad because they don't run for long, but an oven (for example) is not something I'd want to use once my panels have stopped producing. There are only two of us in this house, so it's relatively easy to control consumption during the night. 

This is also why one should split the loads into essential and non-essential. When there is load shedding the system only backs up the essential loads.

Another kind of management you have to do is to conserve the battery. My system is set so that it will not discharge the battery past 60% DOD (IE 40% remaining) whilst there is grid. So I should always have 40% of the battery remaining when the grid goes down.

A catch to the above is that the inverter may disconnect if grid voltage drops too low. Then it will stop providing power to the non-essential loads, but also it can discharge the battery past that 60% mark (on my system with my settings).
Yep. Your system is at it's most vulnerable early in the morning. You've been running on battery through the night and then if there's not sunshine and not grid in the early morning then you are going to keep on running the battery down.
 

My bet is on you exporting power and being charged for it...
Make sure your CT coil is correctly installed and disable export to grid.

If solar supplies 30% and you are using 2kWh more per day then you have quite a high increase in power used. That would be the area to focus on to actually achive a real saving and the Plus of always having power. 

My 8kv Deye adds 2kwh to my daily usage.
I also found our electricity increased because we are no longer restricted by Eskom outages.
In our case we shifted load off the generator back onto Eskom and never realised how hard the generator was working (we run a business from home). We also need a full battery by 8am and this often charges at night, adding more units used.
Our nighttime usage is higher than anticipated and only seeing it now that we can monitor it. Solar is only supplying 30% of my usage.

My 8kv Deye adds 2kwh to my daily usage.
I also found our electricity increased because we are no longer restricted by Eskom outages.
In our case we shifted load off the generator back onto Eskom and never realised how hard the generator was working (we run a business from home). We also need a full battery by 8am and this often charges at night, adding more units used.
Our nighttime usage is higher than anticipated and only seeing it now that we can monitor it. Solar is only supplying 30% of my usage.

It's due to these kinds of bad practices that the regulation will be tightened as the risk factors far outway the benefits.

By installing the Gesyerwise with Tuya module, I gained valuable insights into my geyser's activity. The solar geyser isn't working because the anti-freeze needs to be replaced. But I've adjusted it to use the least amount of grid power when there's no sunshine.
Now my solar panels heat up the geyser to 65C during the day and Eskom 45C at night. Yeah, yeah, I hear the mother Grundies going on about legionnaires diseas, but a geyser cools down to lower than that multiple times in the day.
My geyser is on non-essential and my Deye inverter sends extra power to it. Electricity use is down enough to make a difference. Your mileage will differ, but we are saving R500 plus a month already.

* 4500W panels
* 8Kva Deye Inverter
* BX51100 battery 5Kw
 

@cp69 If it is a cost thing, I doubt it will be as expensive as the solar mounting was for my roof (Flat concrete).
I paid around R13k to mount 10 panels on my flat concrete roof and I feel R13k is on the cheaper side for this type of mounting system.
 
Spend the money and do it properly the first time I feel.

Get a geyserwise system installed with remote access via their own tuya implementation or get the even better geyserwala unit. Then you can remotely or via timers switch your geysers as needed.

Hey Guys so its that time of the year again and we have a whole Host of Giveaways lined up some to watch out for would be the New Solis S6 6KW Advanced Hybrid (Beast) we are busy with a long term review in real world conditions with the Solis S6 the Unit we are giving away has already gone through a preliminary review but we may give more of this brand away in the future. 
Magneto has given us some wonderful product to review and give away MAGNETO Lithium-LiFePo4 Rack Mount 48V 5.1 KWh also note the great prices on those units  and a  Magneto Thermo Tank also promise of more nice items to give away in the future. 
Then we Have the Revo Inverter and battery Combo (not listed on our online store yet but soon) there will be some terms and conditions on this giveaway however an exciting product squarely aimed at Sunsynk and Deye.
We are also receiving a very nice Battery from Halo Energy to give away the 113AH HALO Eclipse WM-5 48V 1C however this will only be in about 5 Weeks time but still a very nice compact battery.  
Power2SA is giving us one of their VTC Vxl5100W 5.1kWh LifePo4 battery 51V/100Ah Rack Mount to review and test this is also a very nice rack mount battery with Bluetooth and WIFI features decent cycle count compatibility and scalability and we will give this away to a lucky forum member. 

Hi guys,
So we quite literally just moved over to solar an hour ago! Exiting times. 😁
I am fairly new to Solar so apologies in advance for stupid questions. 
My main goal is to safe as much on electricity as possible. Our electricity bill has skyrocketed in the last month or two. 
I noticed on the Sunsynk app that the inverter is still drawing quite alot from the grid and only 48w from the battery. 
 
Should it not be the other way around? 
Regards,
Oelof

Unfortunately, inverters are not 100% efficient.

In theoretical terms, direct solar heating of your water with a solar geyser is more efficient because you are turning solar radiation straight into hot water without the intermediate steps of AC->DC->heat in the element.
BUT
once your water is hot, there is nothing else that you can use that solar geyser for. If you add extra panels, once you have heated your water, you can use the solar panel to charge batteries or run other appliances in your house.

Go with extra panels on your solar PV system. This should not even be a debate. Just use a 2kW AC element. 

Hi Merlinda, just for a little background; during loadshedding, the Neutral (N) and Earth (E) coming out of the inverter need to be bonded together for safety, but after loadshedding this bond needs to be automatically broken as Eskom provides a bonded N&E.
Most inverters have an internal mechanism to do this automatically, but the Sunsynk inverters usually don't so they need an external device to do the E/N bonding and unbonding and this should have been installed by your installer originally. Some installers will just permanently bond the N&E, but that is 'illegal' and dangerous.
If you could provide some images of your installation, there are quite a few professional installers on here like @Leshen, @Steve87 & @TaliaB who could help to identify if the necessary equipment has been installed correctly.

As the inverter is attached to the buildings it should be covered under buildings insurance - and the rates will be a lot lower. All risks is effectively meant for items you can carry around - and get stolen (lost) easily. A rule of thumb, if you turn your house upside down does the risk stay behind. For an inverter the answer is yes so it is covered under buildings insurance.

The insurance  industry is "struggling" with inverters and their risks - it is only very recently that lots of people have installed inverters. Policy wordings (and procedures) ae not always up to speed. Most insurers are now insisting on a CoC.

I would make sure that you keep the communication with your insurer - in case their are any issues at claim stage. I would keep a record of:
The invoice The exact items installed; The CoC that was provided. With load shedding and the rise in claims many insurers have removed cover for power surge - or limit cover. It poses a risk to you as an inverter system could easily be worth R100k+. Whilst the risk of a power surge is really limited, it could be a financial mess if your system is wiped out by a power surge and your cover is limited to R10k. Be very careful here.
Some insurers have also required surge protection (arrestors)  - and this protection to be checked regularly - for their to be cover. Surge protectors are usually installed with an inverter - don't think many people think of maintaining them.

Doesn’t it matter, if it’s covered by your household or building insurance?
 
Those of you with the small premium increases, do you know what you are covered for? If your system gets stolen, is your insurance going to pay for it?

Ouch. The finance company, Merchant Wes through Solar Advice, are only charging me R73,99 (incl VAT) for a R162K system.
As they are financing my system, they know what cover I need for their Tees and Cees.

Thank you. I do notice that my geyser draws power from the (PV) system when it is on during the day. However, I assumed it was a mistake because it remains off during load shedding. So, are you suggesting that even though it draws power from Eskom, the Deye inverter is actually supplementing its power during the day?