d3nominat0r

I've made a minor update, forgot to include the Inverter Wiring flows.

So here is my thinking for a proposed DB Board layout (in the scullery), Sub DB Board for Inverter will be in the Garage with all the PV kit and batteries.
Hope this make sense for everyone, in summary this is my thinking.

Phase 1: Dedicated to the essential loads, can be switched out with a generator supply if needed for Inverter if batteries are running low
Phase 2: Dedicated to Sub-DB for Spa (Pumps x 2, Blower, Spa Heater) and Aircons
Phase 3: Dedicated to Stove and perhaps Pool + Geyser (Not sure if it's better to leave on Phase 1?, in hindsight perhaps better leaving on Phase 1 and figuring out how to switch in front or behind inverter).
As for the comment around running load off batteries overnight, I'm considering getting a 5KVA Lithium Battery, however this is probably something to be setup on the Inverter and should not impact my DB Board design? @plonkster @The Terrible Triplett, would appreciate your views on this please.

https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/1249/8241/files/PbmsTools_V2.5EN.zip?v=1600336921

Hi @d3nominat0r, I did. A company called Somewatt Solar (owner is named Dean) did a some of extra work for for me, adding a battery and fixing the mess Renegade Energy (original installer) made with the wiring and setup. After that work they did a CoC and SSEG registration. I'm not sure they do that in general for installs they didn't start themselves, but you can ask.

Interesting, I thought all phases share the same neutral. Why is this?

There is no three-phase loads in the house I bought. It is biggish house at 500 m2 and as such a single-phase 63A was insufficient for the loads in the old days. Each phase was treated as a separate 63A supply to spread and balance the loads. 
But as things stand now, I actually have limited use for the three-phase supply and can easily get away with a single 63A supply. However, the municipality do not want to convert back to single-phase supply. I therefore still need to try and balance the three-phases as much as possible, but it turns out very difficult to do with low loads.
It also seem cheaper to have 3 x Victron Multiplus II units than a three-phase Victron, but I cannot see the use.

Sure ,TOP has large loads ( geyser , oven , garage )
MIDDLE has all other plugs and lights 
BOTTOM has 2 plug and 2 light that will run of lithium battery battery , 
All 3 rows have Earth leakage and Isolator. 

I still have the "other" 2 phases connected to some "high-power" loads (air-con, some plugs etc.) that do not get used very often. In summer I was only using about 10kWh per week from Eskom. Now that we are heading into winter, this has increased to about 20kWh/week 🙂

@NigelL Thanks, makes a lot of sense and would simplify my installation considerable and reduce cost. Going to have a stab at putting everything on a single phase, calculating the load. I get the added benefit as mentioned with the the CG Meter to feed back to the non-essential loads if there is access PV during the day which would result in more cost saving.

Normal residential 3-phase electricity meters will correctly record total power usage even if you only use power on a single phase. It is recommended to divide the circuits/loads across the 3 phases so that there would be roughly the same load on each phase if all circuits/loads were in use, but in practice one never uses all loads at the same time.
I have a 3-phase supply but many of the houses in our street have a single phase supply. It looks like they try and balance things out by connecting houses, with single-phase supplies, roughly evenly across the phases.  We have had a couple of occasions where one phase has been down and only a few houses in the street were affected.
I have also installed my system on a single phase and have not run into any issues.
EDIT: The municipality generally wants the maximum possible current drawn on each phase to be roughly equal. It does not matter if you are currently using a relatively low un-balanced current.

They connect to Live and Neutral.

I have no experience with generators and how to integrate them with solar. I think a good way to start is to begin with a layout diagram with all the wiring connections and get other member's opinion on it. That's the way I began.
Regarding running load off the batteries during the night. I would not recommend it. It might seem like the logical thing to do, but from a cost benefit analysis, you are better off using the grid, it's cheaper than batteries. So 1st priority is solar, 2nd is grid 3rd is battery and 4th is generator.
 

You got the general idea right, now just get a sparky to execute it properly 🙂

So here is my thinking for a proposed DB Board layout (in the scullery), Sub DB Board for Inverter will be in the Garage with all the PV kit and batteries.
Hope this make sense for everyone, in summary this is my thinking.

Phase 1: Dedicated to the essential loads, can be switched out with a generator supply if needed for Inverter if batteries are running low
Phase 2: Dedicated to Sub-DB for Spa (Pumps x 2, Blower, Spa Heater) and Aircons
Phase 3: Dedicated to Stove and perhaps Pool + Geyser (Not sure if it's better to leave on Phase 1?, in hindsight perhaps better leaving on Phase 1 and figuring out how to switch in front or behind inverter).
As for the comment around running load off batteries overnight, I'm considering getting a 5KVA Lithium Battery, however this is probably something to be setup on the Inverter and should not impact my DB Board design? @plonkster @The Terrible Triplett, would appreciate your views on this please.

I'm considering getting one of these from Hager. http://www.em.co.za/Home/Distribution-Boards/VS318TJ.html. I guess it should do the job 3x18 (54 slots).

I'm considering getting one of these from Hager. http://www.em.co.za/Home/Distribution-Boards/VS318TJ.html. I guess it should do the job 3x18 (54 slots).

There's usually little point in that, with one exception. That exception is when the generator is too small to handle all the loads. Then you can set the inverter to do PowerAssist and provide the difference. But this also means you need to use a good generator that's not all over the place re voltage and frequency.
Otherwise, the most cost effective thing to do is to run your loads from the generator and to use all surplus to recharge the batteries. Typically one would at least complete the Bulk phase of charging on the generator, and then finish with solar (if possible).

Yes you are right - it has to be a pretty good generator if you want to run power assist.
I have a 55KW three phase Deutz diesel - pretty much state of the art but with a three phase ESS it just does not work - I have to tweak the generator carefully so it remains on frequency while the three Victrons combined with loads fight the generator - just hopeless. Without the ESS it however works great.
If you have a battery system having a generator makes sense - it is useful during longer periods of bad weather (or say for a few days of grid meltdown, should that happen). It allows you to run your loads on the generator while at the same time giving your batteries a boost - combined it means you can aim to run your generator at its designed maximum efficiency load so you get the most bang for the fuel spend. 

Knowing where your power is being used is always valuable info. - There are many ways to skin that cat, a clip-on ammeter and some extrapolation is all you really need, but each to his own.
Energy is all about the losses incurred each time it is converted, the more conversions the more losses. Direct heat transfer and vacuum insulation must be up there with optimum efficiency.
PV requires  light to DC at about (18% eff.), DC to AC (97% eff.) , (If batteries are used, well between 3-30% losses depending), electrical wiring losses and still has to deal with the same heat transfers losses at the end of all that.
My thoughts are that it still pans out from a physics point of view. Its a number-crunching exercise that has to take your roof size into account.
There are many people who would argue that PV should attract a premium value in that electrical energy is more valuable than heat energy as it is more flexible.
But really you don't have to bother with all this debate, it until you can answer this question:
If you're only allowed 4.6kW of solar, why waste it on doing something that there is no legal restriction on?
 
 

Hi d3nominat0r,
 
I had a similar project a few months ago. We solved Geyser and pump with the same solar pannels. A string of 8x330 w pannels, a 2.2 kw driver for pump and a system designed to feed geyser. It is a very cheap solution, without inverters, batteries...

At long last.. I've completed the wiring and installation. I switched on the system this morning and by 6:23 am the GTI started producing power. By 7:20 am it stated limiting so it was already matching my consumption. Very happy indeed.