Nitrious

5kW Sunsynk Hybrid Inverter
Max power input – 6500W Max V DC input – 370V (100V~500V) Max current input – 11A + 11A the Jinko 470w does 10-11A output and is R6.70 per watt
Nominal Max. Power (Pmax): 470W Opt. Operating Voltage (Vmp): 43.28V Opt. Operating Current (Imp): 10.86A maybe consider 7x 470w per mppt, so 14x 470w in total
you'll run on 300v per mppt, and around 10A, total pv power 6580W
 

There are plenty of "new" battery chemistry's coming out atm, even a few old one's are making a comeback (Lithium Iron), seems everyone's getting in on it (and their cousin). My view is its a very good thing, many wont make it past the lab stage, a lot seem promising, if overly complicated in conception.
My favourite atm is the iron flow battery, the basic components are in great supply worldwide, non toxic, zero degradation over 20,000 cycles. The battery is made of iron salt and water. So also super cheap to manufacture, recycling is a breeze.
if used in ev's an interesting concept is "charging" will simply involve "swopping" out your electrolyte rather than charging as we know it, making the process much quicker in theory. whether it will make it into ev's is an entirely different conversation.
It's currently being put into grid size installations, so also out of the lab and into the field, with specs and performance that have convinced the guys that sign the checks to go ahead with them, rather big checks.
From what I can tell, the trick will be to create a cost effective small form factor home size edition, 10kw-30kw, at the moment they come in 40ft containers.
In the next 5 - 10 years, my view is main stream home energy storage will have some kind of flow, and not just electrons either. 

they're almost all dodgy in the fine print, and you'll need system data daily over warranty period to prove you didn't exceed (insert variable here) spec, its really a case of guilty till proven innocent with the warranty's  

Morning everyone, 
How about a nice manufacturer warranty vs roi comparison, warranty's will be as published by the manufacturer, this will be on cell cycles only, so monetary values can be established per unit stored over the period of the warranty.  Focus will be 5kw units. 10 year warranty on the paintjob isn't really a factor worth considering imo, hence cells only.
I'll use this as a placeholder as I get the info together.
I'll also put some cell testing procedures i have on hand in, its actually quite interesting but please note not every cell manufacturer does this, or makes the data available.
its worth also noting different cells have different performance graphs at lower temps, I'll put in 2 examples for comparison.
warranty info presented will include diy or authorized installer installation required, and any other installation nuances as may be required to uphold the warranty.

I like Lithium graphene cells, 10,000 cycles.
I also like my lithium torch, with solar panel built in, its kinda cool, even charges my cell phone if I ever needed it, and goes 10 hrs on a single charge.
on a totally unrelated side note, please please read the warranty's on your li ion battery's, most don't cover more than 3,500 cycles or 5 years on cells, 10 years goes back to 3,500 cycles, one cycle per day.
The above came up in a question asked of me on local warranty's from most local brands, its really quite limited. Happy to paste the results, but its not good news.
also watching iron flow battery's, I believe they're the next big thing in home energy storage. Lithium iron is also making a comeback due to patents expiring this year. So keep an eye out for that.

in this case, everything but everything was done by the book, approved installer, owner didn't touch anything or interfere with settings. manufacturer consulted at every turn, before the battery went in for repair, so it goes on.
I'm sure there are very good experiences out there however, I'm only mentioning a particularly trying one which doesn't indicate a trend, merely a singular indicator at best.
So yes, under all circumstances ensure your warranty is upheld under any and all circumstances in which you operate, regardless of market.

I'm (trying) quitting smoking, so tone likely needs a change, I apologize and will make the needed adjustments. Its the second day today.
Every piece of equipment chosen needs to work together as a harmonious whole, bringing you a solution that covers your needs. 
But have the initial important steps being taken, 1. and 2. in my first post. How sure are you a 5kw solution is what you need. Do you have a budget in mind? I notice there's no battery in the quote you showed? Do you want grid tie only? What are your goals regarding solar. 
load reduction measures brings your load base down, and thereby allows a smaller, cheaper system to be used. But have a cost and sometimes effectiveness all their own. 
Measuring your actual requirements ensures your system is sized correctly to your needs. This is very important otherwise everyone's guessing, and there's a fair chance it won't end well. 
Please don't take this the wrong way, but your answer suggests these haven't been attended to or even suggested to you yet, and is a part of the installers job to discuss and/or implement these needed steps before waving a quote/invoice around. 
There's usually a solution document, nice and detailed, and an itemized invoice, you should be receiving both. 
unless all you want is grid tie, in which case there's a whole new set of questions. Are you going to export, do you want to limit export, how many power units do you use a day/want to cover, do you want to cover peak loads or just inject at say 5kw and cover most of the day time load, or export enough units during the day to cover your night usage costs.
the answers to all these questions tend to have a filtering effect on the equipment selection until you wind up with the exact solution that ticks all the boxes you need, although sometimes its back to budget and what can fit in, so compromises can occur, but good planning should future proof the solution so additions can be made later.
Anyway, the quitting smoking is around a week or so, I'll post again once the process is complete (and add a few days to be sure) and thus avoid further issues. 
Hopefully the above info makes up for any past issues, it wasn't intentional. Good luck with it all, thanks for pointing out the tone issue. You'll have the system for a while, make sure its a  good fit for your needs.

Our weather atm, solar output could be better

in my opinion skip growatt go sunsynk. its a few K difference, but you wont look back with a sunsynk. Sorry growatt owners, no offense meant.
I typically determine a products actual value by its 2nd hand value, ie you want to sell it and the market interest/price point attainable, before I even buy it. Compare away.
Sunsynk also has a proven comprehensive feature set, no mess no fuss.
 

Our weather atm, solar output could be better

The mppt will cap you (current limiting) at 13A, anything more will be wasted. Since the 540w panel is 13A, it's why it's a great match

The mppt will cap you (current limiting) at 13A, anything more will be wasted. Since the 540w panel is 13A, it's why it's a great match

the sunsynk mppt is 13A per mppt (with firmware upgrade)
this then usually involves 2x strings of 6x - 7x 540w panels, each string connects to a mppt.
7x panels helps in winter when daylight hours are shorter, 6x is marginally cheaper.
So you'll wind up with a total of 12x-14x 540w panels connected.
18A is btw very hard to match with modern panel current outputs being what they are. 22A is much much easier. (8kw sunsynk for example)
My inverters max pv current is also 18A, even looked at 700w panels with a max output of 17A and/or tons of 360w panels which I can get cheap.  either way I might wind up having to ship panels in.
In the end it may just be easier to just upgrade to a sunsynk, and get 540w panels. (time and effort)
the jury is still out on my upgrades atm, busy deciding, and luckily prices are slowly dropping back to normal while I do. However dont wind up is this position, start off on the right track from day 1.

in my opinion skip growatt go sunsynk. its a few K difference, but you wont look back with a sunsynk. Sorry growatt owners, no offense meant.
I typically determine a products actual value by its 2nd hand value, ie you want to sell it and the market interest/price point attainable, before I even buy it. Compare away.
Sunsynk also has a proven comprehensive feature set, no mess no fuss.
 

Our weather atm, solar output could be better

you'd think so, but still leaves a residue, had to clean them a few days ago (trying to max what little I can get), always wonder what the neighbors think when they see me up there with a foam mop and hosepipe.

Our weather atm, solar output could be better

you'd think so, but still leaves a residue, had to clean them a few days ago (trying to max what little I can get), always wonder what the neighbors think when they see me up there with a foam mop and hosepipe.

Grid tie is a cost effective solar system with no batteries and relatively simplified installation used in countries with a stable power utility to export power during the day, get credits, only to use them at night and thus have a net effect of a zero power bill.
an interesting project is occurring in Australia called the community battery, so this large battery is charged through grid tie during the day, and is then used at night by the same community.
fast forward to sa, no load shedding protection, almost zero realistic export tariffs to be found if at all,  and fixed access fees to ensure the money still comes in. aka there's almost no way to have that grid tie zero balance bill. I've only found 1 person managing to do this so far, if anybody else knows someone who has managed to have a zero power bill through grid tie export, please  mention it.
as things stand, an inverter with batteries, panels all sized accordingly, along with load reduction measures of choice (solar geyser, heat pump, gas hob etc.) and no export seems to give the best roi and best continuation of lifestyle, while shielding from the inevitable upwards trend of power pricing.   
my thoughts on grid tie.

A 8kw grid tie inverter can contribute 8kw (lets say) to the 16 kw load, while the grid supplies the balance.

@hoohloc
A grid-tie inverter converts direct current (DC) into an alternating current (AC) suitable for injecting into an electrical power grid, to inject electrical power efficiently and safely into the grid, grid-tie inverters must accurately match the voltage and phase of the grid sine wave AC waveform and maintain the output voltage slightly higher than the grid voltage at any instant.
so basically it tracks and matches the grid, and injects slightly higher than the grid voltage causing a small voltage potential that allows any local load to draw off the grid tie first, then the grid.
As a rule grid tie inverters inject the max it can at any given moment, based on its rating and panels connected, time of day etc.
Let's say you are injecting 5kw from solar grid tie and the load draws 8kw, the grid will supply the balance of power needed, in my example 3kw.
You can never exceed a grid tie inverters output through injection as it will self limit to its maximum rating. Possibly think of it as power mixing on the grid itself.
I hope it helps you understand grid tie a bit more. Another topic closely linked to grid tie is the effect of (mass) solar grid tie injection on the traditional duck curve of a power utility.
Here's what (mass) solar grid tie is doing in New England, apparently its being called a Turducken, It's supposedly a chicken stuffed inside a duck that's stuffed inside a turkey along with layers of stuffing (tongue in cheek) 

another decent illustration of the effect, without the actual duck image

 

As you say it, it's loadshedding right now over here, utter darkness looking out over the street/area. might even get the telescope out, it's a nice 8" newtonian, less light pollution. Of course my outside lights will have to go off. 

This is just down the road from me - might pay them a visit and ask - i DO need to buy panels later this month so might be worth a visit
 
@Don goodluck with the refund process

So I've been busy on a 48v 16s 200ah (10kWh) battery for a while, cost is around R25K. this very same article mentioned above is why I'm pushing up the release timeframe.
The BMS key features are a screen, canbus communication、rs485 communication (master slave comms)、cell balancing、Individual cell over voltage protection、Over/under voltage protection、temperature protection, over charge/discharge protection, over current protection, Short circuit protection etc.
in addition the BMS can support up to 16 units in parallel. 
Li Ion cell options are 4000 cycle,  Cell Charge is 1C/ Discharge is 3C, although specs will state 0.5C on both.
The key features are affordability and universal pylontech compatibility, Support and warranty will be local. 
atm the eta is around 7-10days from order. Please let me know if this is of interest to anybody.

make up extra cable length with mc4 connectors, they're cheap and much safer. I think around R45 for 2 or 4 at your local chinese store.
only plug in the extra cable once its complete and checked, dc can very dangerous. also wear insulated gloves as an extra precaution, just in case.
a youtube video demonstrating -> youtube link - ac vs dc - 220v