Atti2de

Geesh thanks for the rapid response! Appreciate it, although I do not see it. Should I define it as User-Def and input the parameters?

Hello all! I recently moved over to the Solis 4G grid-tied inverter, and I am feeding my Tesla Powerwalls when we have sunshine. The Solis requires a setting, named "Grid reference standard". Does anyone know which grid standard to use in South Africa? They refer to standards such as AS4777-02, VDE4105, C10/11, EN50438 IE, etc.

Hey guys! Yeah I had it in 'standby' mode. At the moment, I am pushing so much power back that I can run everything for a month without paying. I think I may have too many batteries; but then once again, if the power fails and is off for a few days, then I would be ok. I guess I can set it to use some batteries at night...

Have you applied for the smart meter which allows you to be credited/ invert back into the grid? Those batteries are hellishly expensive and you would want to maximise your lifespan.

Hey @Leshen! Welcome! Like your install man! A fellow Goodwe lover! Add another two Pylontech's so that the SOC doesn't go that low... You will get more lifetime out of your batteries. Also, why don't you set it to mode 3 (backup)? My batteries basically sit by and idle.

Hey @phil.g00! There is a supplier, named Antsolar, which is kicking butt in the pricing arena. Try her! She also has all the different mountings, etc. http://antsolar.co.za/ 065 9285 731

Hey @Super_mil, Thank you for the comments! I am stuck with the 1 large series string! The higher voltage seems to favor the MPPT chargers...

@Antony, you are going to have to get an electrician to check the individual circuits from the DB to find this bugger.

@Antony, the main thing on your earth leakage CB to look out for is the leakage current. Seems like 20mA there. Are you sure that you don't have a neutral somewhere touch the earth inadvertently? What I found is oxidation (rust) on the top of my oven connectors. The neutral wire had melted(!!!!) partially and started to rust. This in turn caused a periodic leak to the earth and subsequently gave me erratic trips. Has the frequency in tripping shorted (happened more often) or could it be ok for a week and then trip?

Morning all! Hope you had a great day yesterday. Must say that this is truly awesome. I have learnt quite a bit from you guys! Thank you especially to @Chris Hobson and @KLEVA. So, thus far I have basically been pushing back into the grid daily and only use the batteries when/ if required. The meter seems to have run backward.... Anyhow, awesome day of producing yesterday! You will see that in the late afternoon I decided to switch on the aircon (which is connected to the grid). It seems the best way to do this is to use your system as a grid tie solution, with battery as backup. (In my case at least)

Hey Petum! Like your install man! Beer helps! Do you need lightning protection for the PV's? I did some proper earthing and linked it to my main earth. What do the other power users recommend?

YAY! Did everyone have a great generation day yesterday? Made 18kWh!!!! Love this!

@KLEVA, what I was saying is that the inverter is feeding back into the grid to turn the meter back when it detects usage on the “grid only” circuit. I set the export limit to 0W now, let’s see if it doesn’t try to push the energy back for stuff it shouldn’t. I wasn’t expecting it to do it, nor trying to trash the batteries. I followed the instructions carefully and installed the EZ meter as directed.

Maxomill, Yes it was at 75 DOD at 8:30. At this stage I am basically relying a lot on the batteries through the night. My meter is basically dead and doesn’t move. I will need to increase the bank a bit as to not get such a huge DOD. It also compensated for any grid use, such as the wine fridge and aircon unit. It is doing what it says on the tin.

Hey Antony! Yeah there is a spike but that isn’t the kettle. It is my wife with her ninja hair dryer! Hehe

OK! Some results... these show the kWh produced for the days by the PV's. Day 1: 12.7kWh (2x6) Day 2: 14.5kWh (2x6) Day 3: 15.4kWh (1x12) It seems as if the higher voltage wins. I think the simple reason for this is not because of resistance in wires or anything, but simply because the inverters' MPPT starts generating power above a certain voltage.

There are two strings and each one has a set of cables from a set of 6 panels. If I had to remove one string and series the panels on the roof then I will have 15m less cables (and therefore less losses). I understand your point - it does make sense. Let us see how big an influence the 0.46% loss has.

See this is why I like doing these kind of experiments! And it has a few of us thinking which is better... Real world practical vs. theoretical usage. To be continued!

Understood but I fail to see the correlation with my response. Current will stay at a max of 8.8A in my case. The voltage is more important here as it will allow the inverter to start generation from an earlier time up to a later time as you have more voltage in a 12 panel series string vs. a 6 panel series string. If I am missing the boat then please correct me. Very willing to learn more.

Hi there Antony, I am using tubes; they are apparently more effective. The geyser is used as warm water storage only and circulation/ temp regulation is done using a Resol CS with an MK2 module (the visualization and logging). Connected via VBUS. There is no element nor thermal switch used. Saving in energy use alone is about 3kW for the heating.

KLEVA, you mentioned something about resistance in the wires earlier. From electronics I recall conductive resistivity being used to calculate the resistance and hence the voltage drop At 480VDC and drawing 7A, I calculate a 2.19V (0.46%) over 30 meters. The resistance in the cables stays the same, but now there are two sets and therefore a drop in each string, is 1.09V (still 0.46%), which totals 2.18V. Either way the resistance is the same and therefore the loss the same unless the cables are shortened. Make sense or am I thinking nonsense here?

KLEVA, that makes complete sense to me. After tomorrow I will change it to 1x12 panel string and validate. I can see that the solar panels managed to produce 12.4kWh today. Admittedly the generation stopped at 13:00 as the load was low and the batteries fully charged. I then removed the feedback limit at about 15:00. Will see how it goes tomorrow. For today, I have produced more than what was used.

Oh yeah it is the GW5048D-ES. I understand where you are going with this. One more day to check and then it is high voltage time!

I have a Goodwe inverter. It can handle the stated Voc. It makes sense that the incoming voltage will be higher for a longer period during the day. I will try it for two days on two strings, and then on one string to see the kWh produced. Thank you for the shared knowledge thus far.

Hi ho Silver! i am using the Canadian solar 275W panels. As mentioned, the total of input voltage should be around 360VDC. I managed to finish the installation today, but didn’t have full sun to check max voltage. I did get 180VDC on each string. Just wondering if anyone had specific experiences with a setup where one string would be preferred. At the end of the day it is all about the wattage.