KASman

@PeterGThe 600 watt panels are just over 17 amp. You can bridge the 2 x MPPT to each other to run that amperage. I will be putting 9 panels in series on each inverter. I have an inverter on that I am testing. I can see all the remote monitoring no problem at all. I do have an installer account though. I wanted full control of my inverters, else I would have gone another route. I need to be able to change my setup as I see fit as I am going to run a non standard battery configuration. I can put you in touch with the local support team if you are not. They are very helpful and friendly. They can create an account for you no problem at all. You then just add the dongle number and Bobs your uncle.

@Vaal Thank you! I might then go ahead with using the same wires as I am using on my panels in that case. It is 6mm and very nice to work with compared to general house wire. Insulation looks far superior to house wire.... I can then wire in 3x6mm as described.

@Steve87Thank you. I may have to try 6mm cable according to those numbers or limit to lower value circuit breaker, perhaps 3 x 25 amp.

@VaalI don't think you are allowed to use fine cored wire for cable runs. I think its because it is too easy to break some of the wires which would derate the wire. I don't know fore sure though.

Hi Steve I have 3 phase but will be using only 1 phase after this install. Reason is I want to connect my 4 inverters in parallel so that I never overload any one of them. I do a lot of high electrical demand stuff at home like welding etc etc. This way I have 20kW available should it be needed. I don't want to have to worry about running the welder and wondering if someone else is boiling the kettle and operating the oven, or whatever combo. Super happy that my method will work as it works out a lot cheaper, so I should be able to safely run 32amp x 3 = 96 amp, but each wire is 100% protected, so if one wire disconnects itself, the whole circuit will be limited to whatever is available. Even neutral will also be covered the same way. On the DC side I feel very comfortable, that is my area! I know I can make the whole system "work perfect", but what I need is to make sure I am compliant, as I want to make sure insurance still covers me. I also want to talk to my insurance company about covering the system, especially with regards to lightening because I feel in JHB lightening could very easily toast the whole system, which would be very unfunny. Thanks for your details.

@steve87 Thank you for the help. I for sure will need you to come and do the CoC for me. Heard great things about you on this forum. Perhaps you can quote me on a pre-install site visit to get me on the right path? Would the way I want to do it be legal at least? It actually works out cheaper as well as more convenient. My understanding is that 3 x 4mm cables will handle more power than a 12mm cable? The problem is not the space for the wire, its the stiffness through all the bends. If I am honest, it has a lot to do with the cost of the wire! I am stretching the budget on this system to the absolute max. On the batteries, I am trying something a little different. Instead of the usual 16s configuration I want to try 17s to increase the voltage a little as this will reduce the current I use. I will have 2 banks like this with 2 x BMS. I will then charge each cell with a max of 3.5 volts or a little less. This should be much easier on the cells and extend my cycles. I have got 2 x JK BMS which can do up to 24 cells and has a 2 amp active balancer onboard. So it pulls 2 amps from the highest cell and pushes it to the lowest cell. Very nice bms. Andy from off-grid-garage on youtube has some nice videos about it.

Hi guys, looking for some help. I am busy installing 4 x Luxpower SNA5000, 36 Canadian 600 Watt panels and waiting on 34 280aH Lipo4 cells coming from China. I have an electronics background, so planning to do the install myself, then have a pro come in and do a CoC. My question is this - I need to pull cable cable through the existing conduit from my main boundary supply db to my "solar room". There are 2 conduits running there from the boundary box but I have found it impossible to pull through anything bigger than 4mm wire. 4mm is doable, but I really need much bigger like at least 16mm. So I am thinking of pulling in 6 x 4mm pairs, 3 pairs input and 3 pairs output. So I would be paralleling 3 x 4mm wires to get me in the ballpark. In theory a 4mm cable can carry 32 amps. I understand the circuit breaker is there to protect the cable, so I am thinking of running each set of 3 wires on a 3 pole 32 amp circuit breaker at both ends and on both live and neutral. These would then be bridged together on the other side of the breakers. What do any qualified / experienced folks think of this plan? Wires will be 42 meters long. Hopefully I have explained it reasonably well 🙂 My solar room is positioned in a way that makes it super difficult / expensive to do a new cable run to it. Your time will be much appreciated!

I read something about them on hellopeter. It was reported as a scam. Looking at the prices, seems likely its not legit. I don't know myself, but I decided not to go that way 🙂

Anybody had any experience with Artsolar panels. Prices seem very good. https://artsolar.net/pv-modules/

Wow! Ok... This is interesting stuff, so I only need to use the relay to tell me to run to the DB and switch off the Heatpumps etc.

, I think the Bentley Infinisolar is based off that just with the Hybrid Prius added Thanks, more good info!

Very interesting, I am sure I have read somewhere what inverters you are running, please remind me.

Agreed, it is a relatively small advantage - the biggest advantage being the cycles!

On the inverter, if I connect the house to the load port and only the grid side to the grid, then I would be limited to only drawing what the inverter can supply so plugging in 52 welders would be a no no - yes? Whereas, if my house was connected to the grid side, I can connect my 52 welders while using all my inverter power to supplement? Or am I looking at it completely wrong? I am thinking, I could have the on board relay switch a contactor that switches over to the load side of the inverter and perhaps informs me that I should switch some non essentials off. Then the same thing in reverse when the grid comes back?

Here is an interesting article I am sure most of you have seen similar on increasing battery life (life cycle that is, not capacity). http://batteryuniversity.com/learn/article/how_to_prolong_lithium_based_batteries This info is interesting and agrees with what I know about Batteries in general I am qualified in electronics so have a good grasp on Current, Volts, Amps, Watts, KWh, etc etc. Just so you guys know!! I been doing it for a while - not trying to sound clever, just letting you know where I am coming from . Experience in my opinion counts more than any degree/theory!! Some years ago I built my own inverter with some transistors and a transformer and it was basically the same as what you could buy in the shops, HAHAHA, things have sure moved on. I think I remember calculating at the time that something like 50% of my 12V car battery was going to heating the heatsink on the transistors!Those days a 330 watt 12 volt solar panel system would have cost an absolute bomb and a car battery was top notch! Only a few years ago a 2.4 KW Lithium battery would have cost more than a new car, its now down to R15K. I am very much appreciating the experience, knowledge and advice here. For sure! Another advantage of Lithium is the efficiency of putting power back into the battery which is far higher than Lead Acid, so more of your energy actually gets stored. This in turn means more daylight solar is actually doing useful stuff. If we take Pylontech at their word which is 6000 cycles at 80% DoD then 1.92kW x6000 = 11500kW, which at City power rates R1.13 = R12 995, which is not that far off of the R15K the battery costs? Or am I doing something horribly wrong, I have the feeling I am being dumb over here. Please correct me if I am wrong. I am guessing the new inverters can convert 48Vdc to 230Vac at somewhere around 80% efficiency which has to be accounted for also.