Solo

This is excatly the problem at the moment with the solar industry as a whole, different suppliers with such vast difference in prices and not just for solar panels but for all solar components. The Op most probably did a Google search on a new 250w solar panel and came to the conclusion that the price for a second hand panel is fair. Below a search i did and look at the vast difference in prices.  I will not post the link to implicate suppliers.
SUN SOLAR GJM-150W-18V MONO 150W SOLAR PANEL
R79900 R5.33/w
 
Canadian Solar 108 cell 405W Mono-Crystalline Module HiKu6 30mm Black.
R 1,123.55 Incl. VAT R2.77/w
 
 
Solar Panel 250w GJM
R1420,00  R5.68/w  

In short, I'd suggest you go with three rows of 450W panels. You'll maximize your energy production and have a smoother ride with maintenance and future-proofing.
https://www.mmandcoroofing.com/solar-panel-installation/

2.1m high panels are still popular and at times a better fit for some smaller/older inverters. 
Not many apartments have the over 4.6m from the ridge tile to the gutter to fit 2 rows of 2.3m panels. 

Not really much advice, other than you need enough space between the rows of panels, so someone can walk in between for potential maintenance, maybe a cable connection has picked up problem etc. and possible cleaning, here in the last 3 months, I've probably cleaned the panels every 2nd or 3d week... dry... dusty...

If I were you, I'd leave the panels in place, which the new owner, if he's not keen on the complete installation, can utilise when he wakes up to the fact that this is a money saver and allows you to have lights when the neighbourhood may be down... and move the batteries and inverter for a re-install with new panels at the new location... I figure the potential hassle with removal from roof (I assume they are roof mounted) and making good on possible entry points for cabling and the actual mounting hardware may not be too far off from paying for new panels, mounting hardware etc.

The technical aspect of registration seems to be pretty much the same everywhere. All other municipalities are largely basing their policy on COCT, and COCT is based on SANS (I think it's SANS, some standards issuing body). What is different from city to city is the red tape and which queues you have to stand in in which buildings.

The technical checks are mostly safety. This includes correct identification of breakings, and warning labels in certain places so that an electrician (municipal or otherwise) knows that they are dealing with multiple sources of power (this was the only point I failed on, but it was easily rectified).

I worked with a company named Pure Energy. You can email them on [email protected]. They tell me they do registrations all over the place, and they certainly seemed up to speed not just on the technical side, but also in terms of the municipal processes. In fact I signed a letter early on that granted them authority to act on my behalf, and they then took care of all the paperwork, the setting up of appointments and etc. If your time is worth something to you, then this sort of service is worth checking out.

Sure it cost me a few K, but it would have cost me a few K anyway to get an engineer (and it must be an engineer) to prepare the drawings that are required (Pure Energy did this as part of their service). It would have cost me to stand in queues at offices all day. So I regarded the money as well spent.

Also they should be able to advise you RE the meter, if it has to change, who bears the cost etc. 

NB! They are not going to fix any defects they find. They will just say that such and such is required and that's up to you to get done at your cost.

More pics:

You will need at least 500 ~ 600mm wide walk way between rows of panel to simplify installation and maintenance especially on a 3 storey building.
 

I'd stipulate additional insurance be taken out to cover the adjacent buildings in case of fire etc..This can be restricted to fire caused by panels only, will save underwriting costs.
As for annual maintenance: Does an annual maintenance schedule even exist, who will contract for an annual checkup? Just stipulate an annual checkup must be done at anniversary of install.
Too many mentions of "high quality"..Either define "high quality" or stipulate equipment specs. 
 
 

Personally I'd keep the maintenance under control of the body corporate. Something maybe like designating roof sections as exclusive use areas and charging levies that cover the costs. Or else installing the solar panels exclusively by the body corporate, and selling power to the grid. But not leave it up to the individual owners to take responsibility for maintaining the common property.
 
 

If were on the BC, I would stipulate that the system must be registered with the municipality or Eskom as required. Registration costs to be for the unit owner's account. 

If Eskom/Municipality come looking for unregistered installations, and find one, it is likely the BC that will be held responsible.

To me it sounds as if your inverter is not properly earthed, or that multiple earths are used.  You should only have one earth reference, meaning the inverter should use your DB-panel earth.  If your inverter is far removed (maybe in a garage) some people might rather slam  another earth spike into the ground.  There is no guarantee  that one spike might give you a good earth and secondly, it can differ due to ground currents.  I mean physically leakage currents in earth, ground, soil the stuff the Yanks refer to as "dirt".  LOL.    10 or 11V is more than enough for those LEDs to see enough forward current that they turn on dimly.

BTW, with electric fences, it is required to ground the fence energizer using THREE ground pegs, each one a distance of one meter minimum from each other.

I am not an electrician, but a retired electronic engineer.  There seem to be a lot of regulations that I am too stupid to understand or stupid regulations.....  you decide.  For instance, this bull of not combining 230VAC and LV DC in the same conduit.  That is SENSELESS.  But I guess I shouldn't complain.  If you look at US or UK wiring codes, they are 10x more strict.

It is interesting that in Germany, people do NOT need an electrical COC when selling/buying a house.  A COC is only required if/when modifications have been done to the electric system.

The world is turning mad with it's green agenda which is FAKE and I don't buy into it.  Not even solar panels are truely green, due to the exotic input materials and the finite lifetime.  However, now that we are all forced to jump onto this bandwagon, we should COMPLETELY re-write the rule books.  I always smile silently at the people (especially on this forum) that have these mega-installations.  Maybe the owners just have completely non-understanding wives....  that want, no, demand, that EVERYTHING works at the same time.  She wants to boil the kettle, run the washing machine, the micro and the dish-washer all at the same time.

There is no difference between an LCD and a LED TV.  They are both LCD.  But the old model uses CFL backlighting while the LED uses LED backlighting.  LED Backlighting consumes about 30% of what CFL does.  My point is this,  should you not rather throw out your 70W LCD TV and replace it with a similar sized LED TV for R 3000.  A 32-inch LED TV will run at under 20W.  And while you are at it, buy a TV that runs from a 19V laptop-type power supply.  Because then you can buy a R100 Boost converter and feed your TV straight from a 12V battery.  

The TV is just an example.  My point is, people are prepared to spend 150K+ on massive battery banks.  Why not spend only 100K on batteries and use 50K to replace old, inefficient technology.

I think future homes should use AC/DC hybrid wiring systems.  I HATE running an inverter 24/7.  The damn fan noise, the power wastage and the fact that HV AC is detrimental to human health.  OH, now I have blown it.  What a nut-case.  Who is he?  HaHa.  Well, go google the two medical conditions known as MCS (Multi-Chemical Sensitives) and EHS (Electro Hyper Sensitivity).  These two conditions often go together.  Read the story of Canadian song-writer Kim Palmer.  Then maybe, you will understand.

My opinion is that most things should run on LV DC.   12V is not ideal.  24V would be better.  AC distribution should NOT be always on.  Instead, it should be limited to things like vacuum cleaners, irons, power tools, etc. on a demand ONLY supply.  What I mean is, the inverter should be in sleep mode and only power up when a load wants power.  This would be simple to implement.  That's what the battery-backed up LED lights do, just in reverse order.  In fact, you get modules that power down a mains circuit and re-trigger on demand, used by the very people suffering from EHS...

A Mecer 5Kw inverter was working fine, but the batteries needed replacement.
The inverter was powered off for a few days, the batteries were replaced, and when the inverter was powered back on, all worked except the display was blank!
The display buttons, LEDs and audio beep still functioned, just no display.
a few hours later the display came back to life!
Any suggestions as to the cause?
 
 
 
 
 
 

This looks interesting:)
Defy is launching a hybrid solar mains fridge and freezer this month (Feb 2021)
3 * 30W panels come with the appliance and use solar power to keep the fridge or freezer powered when the sun is out, falling back to mains as required.
https://stuff.co.za/2021/02/11/solar-hybrid-fridge-freezer-south-africa/
https://www.businessinsider.co.za/defy-launches-solar-powered-fridges-freezers-in-sa-costs-under-r6000-with-panel-2021-2
https://www.defy.co.za/solar-hybrid
 
 

The term Hybrid in the English language means it incorporates features from two (or more) other types, in other words, it sits somewhere in the middle. The question is which types.
Traditionally a hybrid inverter was one that incorporated both battery backup and grid-tied capability. It does not need to also have an MPPT to qualify as hybrid.
Unfortunately the term is used somewhat interchangeably (along with the other term, Bi-Directional) to mean anything the marketing department wants it to mean...
So the best is to ignore it and just make sure you're comparing Apples to apples.

I've asked the installer how they're installed, it is within the max limitation of my inverter of 1500W though. When PV is in use the inverter reports 70V at max. I'll get back to you on this though.
Also just a heads up, I believe the Must is a clone of the Axpert.
Good question, I believe the Synapse isn't a clone - perhaps someone more knowledable than my can confirm?
I've had a read through another forum thread which shows you how to identify if it is a clone, I've done most of them apart from hooking up that dreadful WatchPower app. I've included a picture of the side labels below.
The fans do run a lot. I think the only time it isn't running is when the batteries are in float and PV isn't being used. I had my panels installed mid-month last month and have noticed that the fans run a lot. It doesn't really bother me since the setup is in a room outside of the main house.
The Synapse has been running as a loadshedding backup solution with batteries connected since December, I haven't had any issues... apart from posting here and wanting to upgrade to Victron gear
 

You've been missed!!!!
What a openings post...

Yes.
Yes, FLD and AGM preset settings 26, 27, and 29 to different sets of values; lower bulk/absorb voltage for AGM.
Just for ease of use. I'd never use them.
Yes, the user interface is far from perfect.

At a low 160W your calculations look about right, but do remember to add the self-consumption of the inverter itself, which for that particular model is around 50W if I recall, so you probably need to work it out at around 200W.
I would not say that a once-in-a-lifetime transformer explosion that results in a 70% DoD is necessarily "bad". As Coulomb just said:
 

Definitely.
Yes.
As you say, it would be best for battery life to stop at 50% discharge. But if you have a business that depends on the electricity flowing, it may well be best to take the slight hit on battery life, rather than lose stock or whatever the costs are of the electricity not flowing. It all depends on your circumstances. And of course, the power may not come back when advertised, so at the end you are continually sweating the choice: do I hang on a bit longer, or quit now?
I've heard it claimed that this ability to take the very rare three times deeper than usual discharge is a feature of lead acid batteries, that for example no lithium chemistry can match. I'm not sure that I agree, but it's something you have that you may as well take advantage of, as long as it really is very rarely.

Thanks for that. So it really comes down to what the typical conditions are and how long I want the batteries to last. So taking Coulomb's calculation, for the typical 4 hour loadshedding at my current average load of 160w: 160 x 4 = 640Wh., which is an 11% DOD. This would be "safe".
Less frequently, but not rare would be a cable fault, which takes perhaps 8 hours to fix, which is: 160 x 8 = 1280Wh, which is 22% DOD, which is still okay?
Rare, but not unheard of would be when a transformer explodes, and it may take 24 hours to get back online: 160 x 24 =  3840Wh, which is 66% discharge, and would be bad for the battery. Here ideally I should then switch to my backup generator during the day and/or lower the load to the absolute minimum.
At the "good number" of 50%, I would get 2875Wh to use, which is 18 hours runtime.
 
Am I on the right track with my understanding and calculations?

Phase 3 now completed. I have moved all DC into a db of its own. DB for AC change over and fronius input. Add a 250/70 smartSolar charge controller with 8 x 370 Wp artsolar panels. Added a smart switch to prevent the fronius tripping the system when the grid fails.
phase 4 will be to add 2 more batteries that i bought in July 2019 and still waiting for a certain Mr Jacco Jackson to deliver.
now i have:
15x310 Wp in series on a fronius 4 kW grid tie connected via an acdc smart switch to AC1 out of a multiplus 5kW.
8x370Wp on a smartsolar 250/70 (2banks of 4)
2x EMS 48100A1 li-ion batteries.
Eskom must do what they like...

Hi AScheff,
I am still learning about Axpert and batteries, but in my my opinion if you act quickly, there is a chance you can rescue the batteries by charging with a good external battery charger. One that can supply a high charging current, which may be able to correct any sulphation on the battery plates. As your batteries are sealed just have to be careful not to overcharge and lose electrolyte through gassing, as the batteries cannot be topped up.
How to charge the batteries:
1. Take them to a battery expert with charging equipment.
2. Buy a good charger
Hawkins are a good local make. These are manual chargers, use with care. They have a sticker 'do not use on sealed batteries'
Ctek make high quality smart chargers, quite pricey,  but quality chargers.
Midas sell a PDS008 charger for less than R1000, highly recommended by the 4x4 community for rescuing abused batteries! I used one of these yesterday and was quite impressed.
Both Ctek and PDS008 are so called smart chargers, they have many phases of charging which do various things to the battery, compared to the manual chargers which just use a brute force charge. Both are good, a charge is a charge!
If you buy a charger, disconnect your batteries, connect the charger and charge each battery overnight, one at a time.
Reconnect the batteries and hold thumbs, hope that the charger has paid for itself.
Let me know what happens, I would be interested in the outcome!
Omnipower are good batteries. Sealed for low maintenance, but probably can be opened to check water level. Of course this will invalidate the warranty.
If you have a good supplier contact, might be worth asking them for advice.
Good luck!
Solo
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Thanks. Found the problem, there was no supply to the system pump, this was the reason the pump didn't pump. Long story.