HennieL

Thanks for responding to this thread - You do have a steep hill to climb if you honestly do want to honor your goals stated above... and at the risk of stepping on your toes (apologies for this...), you are not starting off very well (in my humble opinion). There is a long-running thread on this forum, titled "Pylontech Swollen Batteries", that was started way back in September 2024, where a number of people have complained about their Pylontech batteries that were swelling for no good reason, and even worse, about the zero assistance and/or interest of the Pylontech agents and retailers. These complaints carried on until on June 16th 2026 (a month ago...), when someone from "Lumo Energy" posted his or her only post to date, stating that "Solar Deity has taken over the service for SA" and added an image of a "Certificate of Authorization" for Solar Deity, that on closer examination turned out to have expired on the 1st of June this year. Now, this person did not identify him/her self as being an employee (or the MD...) of your company, and this could just as easily have been a fraudulent certificate and a phishing attempt. Anyway, after some further complaints, you posted on that thread on the 18th June, presenting a "new" unsigned certificate that is stated to be valid until June 2027, and that contains a spelling mistake - not something that is usual on any official documentation, and especially not on a formal certificate...
Anyway, I then responded to your post, again asking for clarity on your company's position in South Africa, and how many other officially authorized agents were operating in South Africa - reason being that one of the complaints previously mentioned was that one "agent" refused to honor the warranty on a battery because it was sold by another "agent". One further poster complained about your company that visited his house for a warranty complaint (that he had to pay for before you would even visit his home), but that your technician merely downloaded data from two of his batteries, and then weeks later only sent a standard template response. To (that) date his complaint was still not resolved - nearly two months later...
My last post on that thread was made on the 19th June, and to this date (13 July) neither you, nor "Lumo Energy", have responded to my very valid questions and comments, or to ANY of the complaints logged on that thread - that does not show any interest to assist the end users that have problems, and also does not build trust from uninvolved people like myself...
Lastly, I think that many members of the Forum will appreciate an honest response to the following: Have you actually read your "conditions" (or small print, as I previously called it...) referenced by @Energy-Jason above? Do you honestly think those conditions and vague terms are Fair and Just to the many end users who have been complaining about Pylontech products for some years now?
Thanks again for your time.

Do I understand this correctly: A current owner of a Pylontech battery must ship the battery to Solar Deity at his own cost, then they will test the battery (Is there a cost to this???), and then while they have custody of the battery they will make an offer of a discount for the purchase of a new battery? So, if the owner does not agree to this "discount", then he/she must again pay for shipping it back (plus packaging, plus other service charges???).
May I suggest that Solar Deity be totally transparent on this "deal" of theirs, and disclose ALL costs, and "small print" right here in this Forum so that there can not be any "misunderstandings" of terms and conditions later on...

I cannot really make recommendations, but can give you some feedback on the Eenovance batteries. When I set up my system nearly 2 years ago I bought what was sold then as Sunsynk Sun-Batt 10kWh batteries. It later turned out that this was actually re-branded Eenovance batteries, and although I was really pi$$ed off about this blatant fraud by a "reputable" manufacturer, the batteries have been performing pretty well... I did experience some errors and one of the units tripping at random for some time, but after an upgrade of the BMS firmware and the inverter's firmware (twice), this problem was solved, so I cannot really point a finger at the batteries.
The battery firmware update had to be done manually with the installer hooking up his laptop with each battery in turn and the actual updating process done remotely by Herholdts Electrical (the Wholesalers / agents for Eenovance). I really must praise Herholdts for not only being profession and quick to respond, but also for being accessible - the guy that did the remote updates actually phoned me twice, and spoke to me in Afrikaans... Local is Lekker 😁
One other battery brand that I have heard mainly good things about is Freedom Won - but they are quite expensive - R68 000 for their Home 15/12 unit... (and I'm not sure of their South African support footprint), but I'm sure that the Powerforum Store will be able to advise...

I like it. Was wondering if a couple of 50mm holes through the wall will work for the external box... But screw it, dig up the floor!

@Yellow Measure As I've indicated Solis team service representatives gave me a commitment, last comms was in January 2026, they have been silent since then. I have not received feedback from Solis since then. Trying to engage them on a public forum is in the hope that I get traction and a response. If at the end of all this, the whole issue lies squarely with FreedomWon not playing ball, would it be unfair for me to have expected a response from them indicating what has transpired, initially privately? Secondly, I have not said Solis nor FreedomWon products are bad, AT ALL, in fact am very happy with the products I have from both, it's the issue of a dropped ball in relation to only a specific issue, which I am now getting clarity on this forum that this is a FreedomWon BMS not sending the information to the Solis app/web portal.
I have no reservations, at all in apologizing to Solis. If you had engaged them and their representative commits to getting the issue resolved in partnership with the other party and then it's not done, what is the recourse? In my humble opinion, the recourse is to say, "listen we have engaged the other party and they are not playing ball or you have old hardware that is not able to get what you would require" or whatever the final story is and then the matter rests.
AGAIN and for the record, would I purchase products from both vendors? ABSOLUTELY and without reservation and am intending to do so again.

Does it trip at the earth leakage? If so, is the neutral/earth bonding (termination) done correctly for the inverter, and for the generator?

Hello Everyone,Generator integration on the AUX Port or grid side of the Solis S6 works very well when done correctly.
A few critical points:
If the generator is smaller capacity than the inverter, you must use an inverter generator pure sine wave with stable output.
If you are not using an inverter based generator, the generator needs to be much larger than the inverter’s demand.
Even though the Solis applies load evenly, cheap conventional generators fluctuate too much in voltage and frequency.
The Solis will reject the “dirty power” and trip or refuse to connect.
Very important!!!!!
Proper earthing is non-negotiable:
The generator must be properly earthed and share the common earth of the system.
The neutral-earth bond on the generator side must also be done correctly, otherwise you risk elevated voltages on the AUX port that can damage the inverter.
Make sure the Solis settings are configured properly:
Smart Port set to Generator mode
Maximum generator power limit entered so the inverter doesn’t try to pull more than the gen can supply
If the installer is back on Monday, get them to check the above plus the port settings in the Solis app/cloud.
We’ve seen reliable operation (charging + load support) when these rules are followed.

At Solis, we are committed to providing reliable technical support and exceptional after-sales service throughout Africa.
Whether you need assistance with troubleshooting, warranty claims, product servicing, or technical guidance, our dedicated local and regional support teams are available to assist you promptly and professionally.
For all after-sales and service-related enquiries, please contact our support team at [email protected].
Your trusted energy partner, supporting you every step of the way.

I personally don't like it when a manufacturer, supplier or distributor comes onto these forums and post to tell us how great they or their product is and how much they care (biggest lie ever). If they post something like the above then they must be willing to respond to questions being asked on the specific post. They treat it as their own personal advertising board without taking the responsibility. I believe if they post here then the admins of these forums must enforce responsibility rules and remove their "advertisement" posts if they don't respond.
I am in the process of upgrading my system to a bigger inverter and battery and I am in the research phase. I remember how Sunsynk ( @Keith Gough @David Drake ) treated their customers and that will affect my decision. I am watching the other guys as well.
I see some activity from Solis on the forums lately so why haven't you responded on this post yet, @Solis Inverters SA ?

My pleasure - now let's see how long it takes for Solis to respond - currently 2 full days and counting...

This is not my field of expertise, but I would think that if your products are of good quality and value, and your service is outstanding, then Word of Mouth advertising from your clients would be much cheaper (free...) AND much more effective than any online marketing. I tend to skip anything that remotely looks like marketing online, and if it cannot be avoided then I ignore it. It really amazes me that companies would spend huge amounts of money on advertising online, and then treat their customers badly by not responding to inquiries, not honoring warranties, and just simply not be absolutely honest with their clients. One negative report about such a business in Hello Peter, or in a post in an online forum such as this (see e.g. this link https://powerforum.co.za/topic/30787-pylontech-swollen-batteries/ ) can undo any amount of paid-for marketing.

This could turn into a very interesting discussion... My thoughts:
One would obviously have to consider daytime (good solar harvest) and nighttime (and bad solar harvest daytime when e.g. it is very cloudy or raining) separately.
Daytime with good yield: Simply use electricity generated by your PV. This assumes that your system was properly planned and "over sized" for this eventuality. I switched on my 2kW electric blower heater at 08:30 this morning, and just charged the batteries a little slower. Currently (11:00) my solar harvest is just over 5.3kW, and I'm comfortably running both my 2kW geyser and the heater from solar, and a 8000 BTU inverter type air conditioner set to heat whilst still charging the batteries at a low 640W. Around 12:00 the heater will be switched off so that my wife can use the stove (the batteries will be fully charged by then). I planned for this when I designed my system larger than normal (12kW inverter), and even though the ROI might not be as good as some people would like it to be, I am enjoying the "luxury" of being practically off-grid and warm during the cold Free State winter 😁
Daytime with bad solar yield: We use the gas heaters.
Nighttime: Now this is where we can have a serious discussion about draining the batteries vs running the risk of not having power if there happens to be an electrical outage or load shedding the next morning... and where the esoterics can be thrown around 😉 (How about a "sand battery" heater?). We have under-carpet heaters in the house that are run off the battery for an hour or so at night if really needed, although I don't like to drain my batteries lower than 50% SoC.
Looking forward to inputs from other Forumites...

There are four factors which determine the cross sectional area of a cable
A] Cable Length
B] Cable Resistance
C] Operating Temperature
D] Current
Cable length and the cross sectional area of the cable has an influence on the resistance of the cable. The operating temperature also influences the resistance of the cable and also determines the type of insulation used on the cable. The current that the cable must be able to carry also influences the cable cross sectional area.
Silicone cable has a wider operating temperature so a thinner cable can be used for a short distance because the insulation of the cable would be able to handle the heat where PVC would not be able to handle the higher operating temperature and a thicker cable would be used so that the cable would not heat up and burn the insulation off.
To determine the cross sectional area of the cables in your photo one must either look at the cable insulation and see if it is not indicated on the insulation or measure one of the strands in the cable, calculate the cross sectional area of the strand measured and then count all the strands in the cable and multiply that by the cross sectional area of the one strand and that would be the total cross sectional area of the cable.

Hi Emma, and WELCOME to the Forum.
You already have two options for your geyser - I am controlling mine via a CBI Astute smart controller such as this: https://www.voltex.co.za/product/cbi-astute-smart-controller-asc-wifi-enabled that works via Wi-Fi. As long as my home router is on, I can access the controller from work and switch the geyser on or off as I like. I can also check the power used for the day, and check daily historical power usage for some months.
Best way to learn is to ask questions right here on the Forum.

On this point we seem to be on the same page. The only problem I see after I suggested the same is that by lowering the cut off from 24V to a low 20V does not provide the same power as it is in the area of the SOC falling off the cliff.
So far a varied view on possible solutions.
Adding more panels which might not be possible but @HennieL suggested a +1 going landscape above or/and below the current panels. If there is anywhere on the roof that one can fit more panels of say 167cmx90cm or smaller I will outline my suggestion.
Some other suggestions like a genny (costly and noisy) or more batteries while the current PV is already lowish to fully charge is costly.
May be space for a 167x90cm panel on another portion of the roof = R1300 for 330W (Vmp=36V) providing 1.6kWh/day average per year in full sun for Gauteng. Experienced installer to connect this panel to a MPPT controller that cost R900 for a smart Victron 75V/15A. This controller charges the battery directly. This controller has got a lithium profile. Thus the yield for loads and charging is greatly improved from the current system.
This controller can actually even control charging on a 585W panel but will only allow about 420W charging directly to the battery. Very low loss compared to the current PWM.
Yes the OP was advised correctly that panels in series where even I panel in the shade has a major affect on the whole series string.
While typing this I guess even using 2 of the above controllers at R1800 fed from each of the current panels via the MPPT tech might improve charging. This is not qualified advice without having access to the data of the current system. Charging can then be 29V x 2 x 15A. The Victron 75/15 is by far the mostly used controller for lower voltage PV systems in the 12/24Vrange.
@Deanos

Hi Emma, and WELCOME to the Forum.
You already have two options for your geyser - I am controlling mine via a CBI Astute smart controller such as this: https://www.voltex.co.za/product/cbi-astute-smart-controller-asc-wifi-enabled that works via Wi-Fi. As long as my home router is on, I can access the controller from work and switch the geyser on or off as I like. I can also check the power used for the day, and check daily historical power usage for some months.
Best way to learn is to ask questions right here on the Forum.

I will give you the short version:
The more warm water you use, the more energy you use. The warmer the water in the geyser, the more losses you add to your system. Controlling time is a poor way of controlling hot water temperature and quantity in the geyser. Geyserwise and some smart thermostats measure water temperature inside the geyser.
In your situation, you should consider what you can hide from the landlord. I suggest installing an Elon thermostat:
ELON SMART WATER THERMOSTAT https://leroymerlin.co.za/elon-smart-water-thermostat-81504247?sfdr_ptcid=32806_617_759128507&sfdr_hash=7335bbd6c20f0137a8f17f884afc1515&gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=17335597113&gclid=CjwKCAjw0o3SBhBVEiwAh28-jSaEDa18r5LEgEY0IkANeWI_WTyUOj0ZvL4DGkbWcgE9jZvnfXWOXhoCy1UQAvD_BwE

And if you don't have wifi maybe something like this will work!
Communica South Africa
MAJ MTD8
Major Tech MAJ MTD8 Timers & Counters Timer 24Hour 7Day ON/OFF Programmer24Hour 7Day ON/OFF Timer Programmer Overview The MTD8 is a 30A 16 On/Off Digital Programmable Timer that is easy-to-use, quick

Thanks @Deanos A picture paints a thousand words...
Your slope angle is not too flat, so that's out of the picture 🙂
It is true that one cannot have one "string" of panels working as expected if there is even just a portion of one panel being shaded, so your installer gave you good advice on that...
He did NOT give you good advice on matching the panels to your inverter. His crucial mistake was not matching the maximum voltage output of your modern, high-power panels (being 52.7V per panel) with the maximum VOC of the PWM of the solar charge module of the inverter (which is 80V). When one exceeds the rated VOC of the inverter module the inverter will become permanently damaged... so, you are limited to only one solar panel in series (one panel feeding through a second panel, the same as (say) two torch batteries feeding one through the second to give the required voltage. One can double the current (Amps) being provided by the solar panels by connecting two or more of them in parallel without increasing the VOC, but panels are more efficient when supplying power at higher voltage. What he did not allow for, was the fact that your panels are not optimally facing the sun (both in terms of slope, and especially in terms of directions relative to the sun's path (called azimuth). Because of this, your two parallel connected panels are not even producing sufficient voltage to reach the ideal "operating zone" of 30V - 32V as stated on the inverter label (your first image posted in the first post). If he had recommended lower rated older technology panels (as @Denns stated he did in his last post above) then ironically you would have been better off, as you could then have connected two panels in series and used most of what they would have produced...

Layman's 2c, use at own risk, or get advice. Some points to consider all the same.
You've got an inverter with a 1200W PWM charge controller. In Winter that's just not quite enough to keep the battery charged. On average, touch and go, under the best of conditions in Winter, it's just-just sort of okay, but most of the time not, and if you're intending to run daytime loads from it as well, then you just don't have enough power generation capability. On top of that your setup is likely not optimal to begin with.
I'm assuming that your 2 x panels are connected in parallel, or it would have exceeded the inverter's max VOC and caused a failure. If this is not already in parallel, you really should change it over to parallel. But your panel's Vmp isn't ideally matched to the inverter. Better would have been to use a panel like the Canadian Solar HiKU6 CS6W405MS panel (x3), because the Vmp spec is better aligned with the battery charging Voltage. Unfortunately you've got a 25% loss of efficiency with the current panel right out the gate.
You could lower the discharge cut-off Voltage to 20V (spec as per the battery), ie. discharge it deeper than the inverter is doing now. And then I think you should change from SBU mode to utility mode, ie. just keep the battery and panels on-hand as a loadshedding solution, without trying to power the whole house from it permanently.
You'd have to do a more drastic upgrade, like changing to a 24V MPPT-controlled inverter, and adding maybe another two panels, before you can start thinking of running daytime base load and then still charging the battery by day for draining at night.

This issue cannot be resolved with a connection or a setting. It is a characteristic of the panel that is not optimal for the inverter's charger type.
Also, considering that the house is already facing around 20 degrees East, those panels are actually facing a bit towards South-East, further reducing the generation capacity. Would there be too many shadows if you fit them to the main roof facing North-East?
Unfortunately you've got a complex situation with possibly no easy solutions.

I respectfully disagree. Inverters can accommodate some over-supply, as they just limit the input. Even if this inverter cannot do so, the maximum output power of the panels is at standard testing conditions, which might be achieved in some places in South Africa at the peak summer time between 12:00 and 13:00. It is highly unlikely that the panels would produce this power at the rather flat slope (vertical angle) that they are installed at - and the azimuth angle is also working against this. I would be very surprised if the panels can even reach 50% of this rated power...
What I do note when comparing the specifications and output information provided by @Deanos in the first post is the following:
Solar charge module rated current = 50A @ 24V
Charge module VOC = 80V
Solar charge module operating voltage range = 30V - 32V
PV input voltage (measured) = 26.6V
PV input current = 11.0A
It is clear that the PV input voltage is below the PWM operating window. At the time the measurements were taken, the batteries were being charged at approximately 26.6 V × 10 A = 266 W (about 0.05C for a 200 Ah battery bank). A 24 V, 200 Ah battery bank stores approximately 4.8 kWh of energy, and charging from 50% to 100% SOC would require about 2.4 kWh of power. At a constant charging power of 266 W, this would theoretically take about 2400 Wh ÷ 266 W ≈ 9 hours. In practice, however, charging will take even longer because the charging current tapers during the absorption stage, and the available solar power varies throughout the day.
@Deanos can you please confirm if the PV input voltage reported by the inverter is the true input voltage (as stated in the last screenshot of your first post), or is this the voltage of the batteries being charged? According to that last image, the battery voltage is reported as being 27.03V, and if that is the case then the batteries were not being charged at all at the time of measurement...
From all the above, it would appear that your system would have worked better with older solar panels that have lower VOC ratings, where you could connect two panels in series, and not in parallel (you cannot do that with these panels as this will exceed the critical VOC limit), and with perhaps a second "string" of 2 series connected panels then paralleled with the first "string". If you cannot do this, then the only option left would be to face the panels correctly (facing close to north, and at the correct slope (between ~30 and ~40 degrees from horisontal, depending on where you live)).
PS. This is assuming that the panels are in fact connected in parallel - if connected in series the I agree with what @Denns said above (I was busy typing when he posted...) BUT then there is a real risk of exceeding the VOC limit in winter...

My experience with PWM controllers kind of shows otherwise to be honest.
His panels seem to have a Vmp of 42V. The PwM will only make use of 30V from that panel so it really will only pull a maximum of 400W from that panel.
The installer didn’t match the panels to the type of charge controller he has so at best he will get 2/3 from that panel. Had he gotten panels that had a Vmp of around 32/33 then most of that panel would have been used.
So he can comfortably add another 1 or 2 panels and then he will start seeing numbers close to that PWM limit. Later on he can change the arrangement of the panels when he switches to MPPT.
I had a PWM once and made the same mistake of buying large panels without matching the voltage to them. I had 4 on mine and did eventually hit the 1600W my controller could do which made things much better for generation. I was still wasting a lot of solar potential as the panels had a Vmp of 42.
PWM isn’t necessary bad, it’s just that installers don’t match the panels to the inverter. I sold my PWM to a friend and specced the panels for it. He gets to about 90% of the panel rating all because the Panels have a Vmp of 32 if I recall. So decently efficient.

A belated Thank You to @Powerforum Store This clarifies it well
This is a very good price. Given that installation costs for the various systems should be fairly similar, it would be interesting to compare purchase price of the three systems (Solis 2x6kW vs Sungrow 10kW vs Sunsynk 12kW), especially when also comparing the variance in battery and PV capacity of the three systems (2 x 15.3kWh vs 1 x 10kWh vs 1 x 16kWh for the batteries and 11.04kWp vs 6.2kWp vs 7.2kWp for the PV)... That's a "no brainer" for me.

I am always very skeptical about cheap systems that promise things like "100% DoD", even if it is "warranted". In my opinion, and taking into account that one would expect an acceptable service for a period of 12-15 years, one should not settle for the cheapest install "just because it is the cheapest". Have you looked at the actual warranty requirements (specifications) from the manufacturer? Would daily discharging down to 100% DoD still give the "warranted" service life of industry standard 6000 cycles? What if the operating temperature was (say) 30 degrees, or even 40 degrees, as is common for many places in South Africa... What if your charging and/or discharging rate was (say) 0.5C or 1.0C (here, "C" is not temperature, but current ratio, with 1.0C being your battery's rated nominal current capacity (~100A for a 5kWh battery...)?
The old Afrikaans saying "Goedkoop koop is duur koop" is very true when it comes to solar... have a look at this recent thread: https://powerforum.co.za/topic/34086-lfp-and-other-lithium-facts/