Wetkit

Victron do have very good quality products, but the cost for what you get is still very high. Outback is nearly in the same class.

I think you can run the Imeon without a battery bank, but that will not help when load shedding hits you. Perhaps Mike can answer you better, as I do not know the Imeon that well. You looking for about R30k for the Imeon, R30k for 3kw PV and say another R30k for about 300Ah storage. Say another R10k for installation. This is only ballpark figures, as all will depend on your specific requirments and site.

If you get your bill from City of Cape Town and have a Solar PV connected to the grid, you need to register. Best way to get around this is to have your system off-grid by having a change-over switch to switch between solar and grid power.

For THAT price they can leave it, sorry :[ Even 2 x 3kw units is still less. There was talk that these 5kw units can be run in parallel, but I think not? The Imeon is looking better every day!!! Guess the only thing that comes close WRT price is 2 x 5kw Axperts with a huge battery bank Even the 6KW IngeCon with it's 96V battery bank is sounding good now, and it can be run in parallel...

Hi BatBoy, You looking for a Hybrid inverter and nothing else. Currently your best option would be the Imeon, as the 5kw Infini price is nuts . There is also other options, but most of them have battery voltages from 96V up to 192V !!! (IngeCon or AEC) Just make sure your really want to run ALL night from batteries, as this will put a huge strain on the bank and your wallet. Just make sure you understand the limitations of each Inverter. The Imeon can do 6kw, but only when it runs from mains. During a power failure you limited to 3kw, so plan accordingly to avoid dissapointment. Regarding the feedback to the grid, it is not worth it IMO. According to City Of Cape Town, you have to apply for permission for a solar PV system connected to the grid, period. Even if you NOT planning to feed power back to the grid. So far I know the Imeon is an approved unit, but the paper exersize is just not worth it. For your own safety and others, just make sure you get a COC from your installer or electrician. Also inform your home insurer to make sure they aware of the PV system.

Hi FRZ0n, Is both geysers close to each other or very far away? If they close together, I would combine them to give a total storage of 300L. That will work great for solar heating. Still keep one heatpump and use that for backup, rather than elements. Through a lot of experimentation I found the best solar water heating to be a pumped system with a decent controller. Vacuum tubes works way better than flat plates, but they do cost more. I have to ask why such a huge heatpump was installed on a 150L geyser?

Ok, let me try it this way.... I have 3 locations on my roof for solar panels. Problem is they can go max to 9 panels each due to space and shading, meaning 9 panels in a string is my max!!! So if I now remove 2 panels from each string, I then only need to buy another 3 panels to get 3 strings of 7. The biggest advantage is this is that I should then have very good PV for the whole day, not just morning and afternoon. When I have more money again, I can the expand the strings, 3 panels at a time till I am back to 9 in a string. The load currently is Pool Pump(750w), Irrigation pump(1100w), Wellpoint(800w), Greywater sump pump(600w), Computer stuff(800w), then also all the lights in the house, TV, security system, and then fridge and freezer.

Anybody care to speculate as to what the best PV voltage should be to aim for a new installation? I'm currently running 2 x 9 string panels. Voltage around 268V to 250V. This is working fine, but I am looking to add some more PV. Thing is I cannot afford another 9 panels right now, so been thinking of running 3 strings of 7. Would 208V do it?

Which side would you like to put the GTI? Before the Axperts or after the Axperts?

Battery voltage? Max PV power?

To cut a big cable if you do not have the correct tools... Take good nitto tape and wrap the section you would like to cut. About 5cm wide should do it. Make sure you have at least 5 layers wrapped tight. Now use a small hacksaw, or a big one, but with a dull blade reversed, and saw through the section without too much pressure. With welding cable the thin strands tend to pull, so be aware. Once through, take a carpet knife and remove as much of the wayward strands as possable to give you a clean "cut". In the past I have also used a "biltong" cutter, but it was not mine

I cannot see why this is such a big problem. At my incomming box to the house, the neutral is bonded to earth. So if I do it further down the line too, why the fuss?

Did you sell the 400W unit? 40db at 50m is ok, but who as a 50m yard? Guess it is just envy talking....

Nice install Viceroy!!! Before you do anything else, please make sure about your battery cabling length too. The ideal is to have the cabling to each bank the same length. Any difference in length can affect the voltage and charging of the banks. As your batteries is your biggest asset, protect them!!

Ok, so when you running a battery inverter like the Axpert, there is no Neutral link between mains and inv output, when the inv is running from batteries. Reason for the strange voltages is that the inv and mains might not be running 100% the same frequency. If your house earthing is good, you should be able to tie the inv output neutral to the inv earth. Do this right at the inv output connections. That should reference your neutral to ground. This is the main reason why these inv cannot be supplied from an E/L unit. If your home main breaker is an E/L unit, you might pick-up issues here.

How is the noise?

Hi Theokie, Firstly, in which mode are you running the Infini? Grid-Tie with backup or Off-Grid? Then there is also the PV supply priority. It might also be that your unit is set-up for solar battery charging only. Attached is my settings, but mine is set-up for solar charging only. I hope this help. P.S. You have to restart the inv after making any major changes. The software comms at best is very poor. Only make one change at a time and apply. Close the current window and open it again to verify is the setting did actually change. Only make a single setting change at a time.

Ok, think I figured it out. You have a live or neutral that is crossed before or after the E/L unit. So what this means is you perhaps have a live from after the E/L feeding a circuit. The neutral of this circuit is then connected before the E/L unit. It can also be the neutral. The E/L unit works on sencing the diffence in current between live and neutral. If the diff is bigger than 30mA it thinks there must be an earth fault somewhere and trips. Happy hunting.

Who did the DB wiring for you? Was it done from a drawing perhaps? Reason I ask is I see there is a bypass switch for inv and normal feeds. Now, when running from the inv feed, where does the inverter gets it's neutral from? With certain inverters you have to tie the neutral output of the inv to ground, if I am not mistaken???? Do you still have an E/L in your DB for normal supplies, or is everything in the house now on inverter power? It could be that there is an issue on either the geyser contactor wiring or the geyser itself. Somehow this is feeding back via the E/L?

Sounds like you could have an earth or neutral issue on the inverter somewhere. Perhaps is when the inverter changes from batteries to mains or the other way round.

Ok, so I have joined as well. Will be updating once per month manually. Still trying to figure it all out....

Hi Noobie, If you having problems with battery cycling, perhaps you need to look more closely at your battery settings? 25V at 50 amp and 25V at 10amp is totally diffrent. 2nd one might be battery size? The bigger your storage capacity, the less likely it would be to cycle so many times. I split my loads after the inverter. Those I would like backed up during loadshedding (lights + TV) and those just looking to run on PV, like the fridge. I used a 220V contactor powerd from Eskom power. So if Eskom falls out, the contactor also falls out and thereby disconnecting the loads I would not like to run on UPS power.

Naw, I'm not looking to sell my exiting bank. However, I do have 8 x 6V T105 Trojans. The units I have see is 4 x 12V J185-HC Trojans. If I look at the specs, the 185 units looks like 2 x T105's combined in a single unit. Thanks for the link Coulomb.

Ok, time to revive this one, yet again. Lets say I do run the two 5kva units in parallel, can I still have 2 seperate battery banks? Reason for this is I can get a 2nd battery bank to what I currently have, but the battries is not the same. I know I am going to struggle with my current bank, as it is too small.

That shows you what tempreature can do to your PV panels