Nish4

At present I am looking at the following estimated costs: 8 x 585w Canadian panels and tiled roof mounting kit - R19000 1 x 5kW Sunsynk inverter - R16000 1 x 5kWh 100Ah Sunsynk wall mounted battery - R20000 Installation estimate - R10000 +-R65000 all in.

Thank you Carl, Ideally I would like to end up with a system like yours with total 20kWh batteries and additional panels (totally off grid). Looks like the additional 5kW inverter is making more sense. I know I will lose if I try and sell the 5kW inverter as second hand to purchase one single unit.

Excellent feedback, thank you.

I will redo the cables to ensure all are of equal length.

I might be answering my own question here. I have noticed a lot of issues reported with the parallel inverter setup with multiply batteries. Maybe the 10kw or 8kw inverter upgrade and single 5kw battery addition is the way to go.

I hope someone can give me good advice on an upgrade question. I currently have a 5kw Sunsynk grid tied Inverter with two 5kw sunsynk batteries connected to 8 panels and all is well, this has been running for almost two years and we have realized the limitations this system has on a 3 bedroom home with a garage and outbuilding. I would like to upgrade the system by at least another 5kw on the battery side and up the inverter to 8kw or even 10kw to handle the additional demand that is required when we have a full house etc. I have two thoughts of going about this and this is where I require your help please. Option A: Sell the 5kw inverter and purchase a new 8kw or 10kw inverter. Buy one additional 5kw sunsynk battery. Option B: Buy an additional 5kw Sunsynk Inverter (exact same unit as installed) and install in parallel. Buy two additional 5kw batteries OR one 5Kw battery and 8 additional panels. Is it a no brainier to go with option B ? Space is not an issue and the cost of the 5kw Sunsynk inverters is currently on sale at most suppliers. The option of another MPPT line is also desirable as I would like to add additional panels at a later stage. We have good sun coverage and the current 10kw system is fully charged before 1pm on most days. Questions: Has anyone done this system recently and could give me further insight to the pros and cons? Do I link all the batteries to a common bus and then to both inverters or keep them separate IE basically replicating what I currently have (One inverter inked to two batteries)? Will it be a problem with only one PV line feeding the system or does the second inverter require the additional panels? Would I need to upgrade the electrical feed between my existing DB board and the Inverter/s ? Thank you for your help in advance.

Yes, we use the hot water in the morning for the normal ablutions but NOT a bath or shower. The water is pretty warm in the morning and you could boost it for 1/2 hour to get the temp back into the 50-degree side. 2kw for 1/2 hour on the non-essential side is not a big deal from the grid. The geyser is fully insulated with a properly fitted blanket with all hot water pipes lagged for 2m in all directions.

I recently went through this exercise. We have a 150ltr geyser that only gets used at night for two people showering. When investigating I noticed that Heat pumps are not that efficient in cold temperatures and still require power to run when the hot water is turned on. I went with the evacuated tube system linked to a geyser-wise setup (solar panel, pump and 2kw element) The water is circulated through the heat exchanger only when there is sun (it will not cool the water down at night). I have had the unit off-grid for a month and can report the following: On most days in January, the geyser reached 60 degrees during the day (sun only, no power) 67 degrees were recorded in February! After two showers the temp dropped to 45 degrees and raised again to 50 degrees (the geyser is well insulated). The temp would rise again in the morning after 10am and the cycle would continue. The geyser-wise controller can be set up remotely and controlled through an advanced timer. There is a quick heat button on the display that will heat the water if necessary and flash when the required temp is reached. The 2kw element is essential if you want to run this through the inverter. I have saved R900 during this month.