Rory Kilpatrick

Thanks Guys. Greenfields , no sign of any fault whatsoever . Just me having anxiety issues. Frivan, I have a 5kw genset . Dylan {very helpful guy} at Solis helpline set the inverter to limit the charge rate at 3000 watts. I am in East London and will probably fire it up for an hour or so after a really bad solar day today.

Hi , I have seen quite a lot here lately regarding limits I have Solis S6 6kw with 3X5 kw e-tower and 10X550 panels and completely off the grid. Solis bluetooth tells me my limits are Charge-285A and Discharge 315A. Dunno if this good or bad I am not clever with electrical terminology . Do I need to get sparky in? Thanks a lot for any advice

General knowledge question . To gain more early morning power to an existing flat roof {on brackets] north facing system [all on 1 mppt] one could erect another array of bi-facials on second mppt facing east . With winter in mind and using bi-facials what angle would be best? My brain tells me steeper equals more power early morning but dropping quicker. Flatter equals less early on with longer duration as the sun moves to the north .However that could also allow setting sun to to have a chance to add power if they were steeper . Would mounting frame shadows nullify any gains in the afternoon .Not sure if modern day panels have good optimizers l suppose a white roof would be a bonus .This system is in PE latitude 34*. Original existing north array would not shade potential new east array fortunately. .

Forgive my ignorance but it would also answer a question of mine. Could it have anything to do with the battery brand which has a .5 C rating?

All these comments and tips are fantastic. Thanks to all. TaliaB ,your drawing makes a lot of sense. Do all you guys agree that a steep angle ,say 45/50 degree for mid -winter would give me at least 75% of panel rating for a good couple of hours . My maths tells me that +/- 2 hours would probably charge one battery to full from say 30% SOC for want of putting it simply. Dennis ,I was Eskom direct. It was a mission but I was a very happy guy when my deposit eventually got back into my account.

So that would be for East. Would I then duplicate for western array or does one get a Victron unit to accommodate both arrays. I am very grateful for yr time.Thanks

Thanks Jacques .Could you elaborate a bit. Maybe a layout proposal .

Compliments of the season to all. It's been 18 months since I switched Eskom off and still going strong with a few hours of help from my 5kva gennie. Inverter set to draw max of 3000 watts from generator . About to enter 3rd winter pretty soon and am contemplating a few extra panels.Currently have 5X550 nnw and 5X550 nne ,Solis s6 6kw inverter and 3 5kw e-tower . I miss out a lot early morning and late afternoon .What about combining my existing set-up into one mppt and then into 2nd mppt add 8 almost vertical panels facing due East and West. 4 and 4. Surely there should a timer switch or something that in the morning the East array could be active from sunrise till about 11h00 and that device would then switch over to West panels at say 14h00 till sunset. Feasable???

I have connected my 5 kw petrol genset{Zongshen} with built in AVR to my Solis S6 6kw gen port. Inverter set up to draw 3000 watts,so therefore gennie runs at 60% of rating. Works like a charm

I have the same system as you .November I had two of those exact down-spikes on one day and one the following day. Two at about 06h00 and then about 11h00. However everything continued normally ,charging and discharging . We switch on the dongle at about 6 each morning and still do. Nothing since then so I have put mine down as an anomaly caused by connectivity which is a problem where I live.I will just add that LUKE at Solis JHB is a great help and very patient.

Hi. Voltex. R 14 800.Including VAT is what I found. Dunno how to share a link.

Good prices on e tower battery at the moment . What issues ,if any,to add one to my solis 6kw system which currently has three e towers. Existing system is seven months old. I disconnected from Eskom in June and still awaiting my approx. 3k deposit . Cheers

Thanks Guys.What I really don't understand is that it's 20% over the 550 watt rating . Doesn't damage result from this ? It's almost like getting one liter of brandy from a 750 ml bottle

Please can someone explain, in layman terms how come yesterday, in East London on a partly cloudy day at noon my 10 X 550 watt panels produced 6800 watts [spike] as per Solis app. Solis 6kw inverter.

Set at 10% Overdischarge Histeresis SOC 0 Forcecharge SOC 5 Battery Healing switch OFF Battery Capacity 50 Hope that helps.Thanks

Can I please get help with solis s6 shutting down at 30% SOC. Need it go to 10%.Running three e-tower 5kw batteries . It is my installers first Solis job and he is battling.

Hi. My installer doing his first Solis S6 6kw install and struggling with DOD.How does he change from default 30% to 10% please .East London has 3 days of solar misery from today

So I get my guy to connect to gen port. No chance of power backfeed to gennie? No need to install CT? I am not good with electrical technicalities but want no issues. Gonna ask him to limit gennie max power to about 12 amps [about 3000 watts?] Am I on the right track please? Thanks

SolisS6 6Kw 10X55O pv 3XF1 E-Tower batteries. Off-grid since install day.April 20th Looking to connect 5kva generator Will set inverter to max 3500 watt draw.I will run gennie when I am home in the evening so I know only to have lights on in the event of low SOC for the next day if forecast looks bad .My worst SOC to date at sunrise is 38% reaching 100% next day by noon if sun shines.In rainy condition gets to 70% max at sunset but use about 30% overnight so after 2/3 days I will be very unpopular at home. Should I install the ct coil that came with the inverter? I want to connect via generator input.Do I need changeover switch? Can I use my 15 amp plugtop or something else.Would only run gennie for 2/3 hours to top up to 50/60% Would appreciate advice so that sparky and I are on the same page. Thanks

Forgot to mention that Eskom was switched off on day of commission and still off

Been up and running since 20/04. Am very happy . Done a bit of experimental stuff to see how it all works . Crappy inclement cloudy rainy weather since switch on but still not dropped below 39% at sunrise .Had battery powered roast chicken previous evening. Installer was not very excited about doing his first Solis install but he seems suitably impressed now. Pv peaks 10h30 till 14h00 at 75/80% with the odd 5200 watt spike which I assume is cloud related .Getting first pv about 15 minutes [100 watt]after weatherman says sunrise and ends 30 minutes before sunset. Generator not connected yet.All I can say is Thank goodness for this site . The options and independent opinions are invaluable . Two of my mates took only local mates advice and now that winter is upon us are not very happy. Question. How bad will east/west exactly , pv performance get %wise at latitude 33' with panels at 30' June 16th Question 2. What medication is available to stop me logging on to my app every ten minutes

After many quotes have decided on solis s6 6kw inverter,10 trina 550w panels [5 nne 5nnw per mppt] and 3 f1 e-tower 5kw batteries .Plan is still to go off grid completely .During good weather where should I set my d.o.d As per eskom meter I use about 4/5 kw per night .My thoughts are at about 60% and then can maybe change to 90% during inclement times . Will that help with cycle life ? I will have my generator to assist. I think that I can set inverter to pull about 4000watt , idle the house down to 500watts which my 5.5 gennie should handle easily . Installer will set hz accordingly .I will keep eskom for a month or so via changeover switch just in case . One disapointment is roof angle of 26 deg as opposed to ideal 33 deg for my latitude . Will monitor through winter and maybe build adjustable structure.. Thanks Guys

So I risked life and limb on my roof and with a tape measure established that I can fit 6ne and 6nw not 4/4 as I thumbsucked before. That will remove the need to build a structure which would affect my budget for xtra pv. Voltex are doing pretty good rates (IMO) on SOLIS S6 6kw and HUBBLE 5kw battery. Mid to late last year theree was a lot of folks complaining about HUBBLE voltage. Is that issue resolved ?There seems to be a little bit of negativity around SUNSYNK service on the forum at the moment.I also have to work within a budget.So I am close to going with 3X5 battery and the 12 panels 6/6 and the SOLIS.. Should I find a way to alter panel pitch from 26* to 33* which is my latitude keeping mid winter in mind.Does anyone have a 'checklist'of things to check with installer .As a total novice I could easily be conned wrt fuses,earth ,breakers, cable size etc. I would much rather be over safe. Appreciate very much all contributions to date. Forum is FANTASTIC for the ignorant .

PLEASE bear with me. Early morning sun hits NE array at 07h00 fully. NW is out of shadow at 11h00 and getting minimal angle sunlight . For those 4 hours I will get whatever power is available from NE without having NW throttling the system .From reading other posts here this is what I understand . Times are hypothetical .

I spoke to my guy today . He says that combining ne and nw onto MPPT 1 will result in ne dragging nw output down in the afternoon and the opposite in the morning . He also wants to go with 460w panels to stay within amperage safety range. He is gonna do quote options on 3X5 S/S or Hubble AM2 Got my wife trying to find out more about pre-paid