Dave

http://files.sma.de/dl/4148/SENSORBOX-DEN103131W.pdf This may be the answer...

The electrician has used potentiometer and a relay. It obviously still needs tweaking.

I don't think that it is available on the web logger. The web logger and powermonitor.co.za show what power is been used, not what is available.

I have a microcare 10kw with a battery monitor and web logger. The web logger updates a website www.powermonitor.co.za. I want to know how much power is available, not how much is been generated. The 10w panel would be powering a load that would act as a trigger to turn on the pump. On a cloudy day the pump should not turn on. It would be like running the pump off its own solar panels.

I'm looking for advice on how to use a 10w solar panel to mimic my solar panel array to determine if there is potentially enough power to run my pool pump. My idea is to put the 10w panel adjacent to the pool pump, but at the same aspect as my panels on the roof. A resister / relay / sonoff could then trigger the pool pump if there is sufficient power. Please advise.

Try the cloud hub from qwickswitch. http://www.qwikswitch.co.za/shop.php I use the cloud hub and their wifi switches to control my borehole, pool pump and pressure pump. My friend Paul wrote a script to activate the switches using data from the Microcare power monitor. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

It "helps" to have never had eskom in a rural setting. The money saved on eskom installation and line charges subsidises the off grid solar. @pilotfish is right about KZN. We often have 3 to 4 days rainy days in summer. This means that we need that many days of autonomy. I have run my generator at least 4 times last summer. I am not technical and i have found that there is a steep learning curve and it takes a lot of management. On the plus side having power when everyone else is bleating on the whatsapp group is priceless.

I lived in Hilton, KZN for 18 months while building a house on a small holding. In Hilton you normally only have 2 of the following: Lights, water or telephone. To mitigate this I installed LED lights throughout the house and a 1kva inverter on a relay on the light circuit. 2 102 Ah batteries powered the system and those were trickle charged with an electric fence charger while eskom was on. One plug was connected to the light circuit for the ADSL modum. This system helped with the numerous outages and is obvious to most members on this forum. Its cheap to install. The inverter was an old camping modified sinewave that cost about R1500. With a couple of solar panels and an MPPT it could be an off the grid project. It won't save money, but is a useful entrance to solar. I am now completely off the grid. Just had eskom lines through the farm removed.

Also a constant charging day and night, cloudy or sunny would keep the battery at higher charge and possibly mean longer life. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Sunny day now so battery at 100% Pool pump and borehole pump on. 6kw coming in 3.6kw going out. Yesterday not so good. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Perhaps the true purpose of my life is serve as a warning to others. Lap pools and off grid do not mix. We live in Hilton KZN, a particularly misty and wet area of SA. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

It quickly gets filthy. I'm also looking at a thing called a pool dolphin which uses 200w and filters inside the pool. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I have made provision for an extra 3kw pv. The problem is that when it's sunny I have plenty of power. When it's cloudy I have not enough. Typically I produce from nothing to 600 w on a cloudy day. Adding 3kw pv would not help. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Back to the power spout..... I am considering putting one or two of these in my stream. I have two 2,5 ha dams. 150m from the spillway of the top dam I would have a head of about 7m. This is below the house which is convenient for cables to my inverter room. My setup is as follows: 9kw pv 3x60 amp Mppt 24x2v mte 25 FNB cells 10kw Microcare inverter. My problem is a 20m lap pool with a 1,5 kw pool pump. Without the pool I have 3 days autonomy. My question about the power spouts is that at R32 000 are they a good deal. I am going to probably need two to deal with summer and winter flows. I been given 34 x 6m x 250mm plastic pipes for the penstock. I would need to do the civils on the spillway for the penstock inlet. I think this will cost about 100 to 120k for the whole lot. The power spouts should produce between 500 w to 1300 w. What say ye? Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

The biggest problem is that i'm impatient and everyone was closed over the long weekend. Microcare are always very helpful on the phone. Their sales manager has told me that they are re writing the manuals. I have learnt a hell of a lot in the last few days. I have also decided to increase my system by 50%

It's still like that. Nothing has changed. The manual completely fails to mention this. 5 minutes on the phone with microcare cleared everything up. Apparently I need to go on their two day training course. I'm doing the next best thing. I'm sending my factory electrician. I have no experience with any other solar equipment, but it seems to me that their stuff is good and their manuals are bad. On the good side though, their technical staff have infinite patience for a customer who can't even wire up a plug. First National Battery have promised to send me a technical manual. Apparently they do not normally give them out! A friend of mine has just, in his words, blown up his battery bank through ignorance so I would rather be clueless and concerned than ignorant and blissfull. My battery is up to 1.24 now so things are improving. Any tips on where to buy panels? Are solar world panels worth the 2,5 times price tag?

Success! I spoke to FNB and MC today. The MPPTs have a function to do an equalising charge. I ran three cycles and the SG is rising.

I have a microcare battery monitor. According to the monitor the system is 100% charged. According to the SG of the cells it is not charged. Once the battery was 100% charged I changed the boost to 15volts (or 60 across the whole bank). I was being cautious. After I have spoken to FNB and Microcare tomorrow I will have a better idea of how to proceed. Off topic - i have discovered how valuable a device that could turn on things like pool pumps and geysers at the appropriate time would be.

Thanks Mark. This afternoon i did exactly what you outlined above. The only difference being that I did the boost at 15 volts for about 2 hrs. I read some where that 15 volts was roght for those cells. The SG seems to be improving but still not right. I'm going to have words with FNB tomorrow morning. Hopefully I will have more clarity then. I will also phone microcare for more clarity on the equalising. I feel I need more panels because we put in a 20m lap pool with a 1,5kw pump. This and the pressure pump that i had to put in to get my gas geysers to run properly were unaccounted for in my calculations.

Thanks Mark. The only setting seems to be auto to manual. Auto will start equalising if the mppt records 10,5 volts per 12 volt bank. I set it to manual and the mppts did an equalise charge for about an hour. I was wondering whether i could set either the inverter or mppt to a boost charge of 60 volts? I know that the amperage has to be kept low , 5% of battery amps.

I think I will add another 12 panels and a 60 amp mppt.

Did not equalise for long and SG is only on 1,22. I am wondering whether it is over watering by my right hand man or sulphated cells caused by shallow charging.

Can anyone telll me how to perform an equalise charge with 2 x 60 amp microcare mppts? I have a microcare 10kw inverter, 2 x 60 amp mppts and 24 Mte 25 1660 ah cells. On the roof I have 24 x 245 watt art solar panels We are totally off the grid Edit. I have read the manual many times.

The casings are black. There are caps on the top for the electrolyte. And floats, which I have not yet fitted.

Hopefully my strapping and plywood solution will work. See picture attached.