smurfdbn

@Erastus  Wow!!! Congrats, wonderful project - your "blow by blow" is awesome, keep it coming... 

Just so happens that I have been Youtube'ing for the past few months on this very topic but for me, it is a pipe dream - day job get's in the way of me ever pulling a project like this this off.

Based in Durban interior and hope to be completely off grid in the not too distant future.  Winter is our best time for Solar but Spring and Summer is challenging in terms of Solar.  We can go an entire week with 100% cloud but thankfully we mostly have wind during these times so this is just what i'm looking to add to our setup.
Look forward seeing the final product once you have it all wrapped up... 💪
 

Who would be interested in a wind generator of 4Kw.

I am thinking of getting all done via a lazer cutter and then molds for fiber glass blades.

If you are interested leave a comment or a yes please will see to what level I can get it in a kit form with direct orders from suppliers.
It will have a MPPT look alike interface to work with a standard inverter and in my case I will have it working on grid tied system....
I am also planning to have a micro to do the feathering so we can control the speed and temperature

If this is boring then delete the subject.

Looked at it all, and not just the paperwork and stuff which is an overload for just a household consumer... At the end of the day I am not going to pay any new premium to the Municipality or Eskom. I have operated almost off-grid for almost 3 years without an issue, so my choice is to disconnect my Grid power.
I am going to have to get some additional equipment (since my wifes business involves baking), but we have not used Grid power for 3 years even with her business, and so far no major issues as long as we keep our power draw within spec.
I have applied to eThekwini to disconnect our power (this seems to confuse the few callers I have had), and had stupid people tell me about a R15k charge to disconnect - I just read the municipal bylaws straight back at them and they stop talking. After 4 weeks, I still can't get disconnected, even though I have switched off their mains. Tried to charge me for estimated usage of 11Kw last month which I refused.
It is a fight to go off-grid, but if you are sure your system and backups can do it, then keep fighting and don't let a municipality or Eskom force you into a position,
With eThekwini connection, my monthly cost is approx R1800. Without it should drop to R1200.
I am also busy with Water costs as I have 2 Jojo's for seperate use and use less than 1kL from eThekwini. If I manage this right I may be able to cut this off too (especially since our usage is less than 200l/person/day)
Some municipal bills I still have to pay (with "long teeth" in afrikaans)... Sewerage disposal, Garbage Disposal, and Rates. But everything other than Rates, can be reduced to almost nothing, and they aren't that expensive anyway.
My end game here is just to tell you all that you can get out of Eskom/Municipal costs, but you have to do it when your house is ready... Don't blindly say "f*cuk Eskom". You need to work it all out like you would a business decision to get the best outcome for your own environment. You might be a small consumer, but it can't hut to ask your municipality for a better price... After all they offer that to many businesses, and if you get the right operator, they may do the same for you.
 

How does that make you feel?

Nothing wrong with your thinking though keep in mind, broadly accepted DOD for Gel/Agm battery if 50%

Always an interesting discussion with many different perspectives.  I haven't done a detailed analysis but I have a DIY LifePO4 battery (6kWh @ R19300) and using the 3000 cycles/80% figure,  I am sitting at R1.34/kWh which beats Eskom by a bit.  Battery cost/kWh is pretty much fixed whereas Eskom cost/kWh is a moving target and will increase over time, 15.6% in April for starters.  If I treat my batteries with kid gloves, I could achieve more than 3000 cycles which will be a bonus
 

Yes, you are.
Firstly, I'm no leftist libertarian, and I am not going to apologise for it, or for thinking the way that I do.
In my own case, I have, at my own expense, and using my own (after taxation) money, purchased, installed and paid VAT on infrastructure that will relieve Eskom from their mandate (and until recently monopoly as a sole supplier) to supplying the daily 10kWh that it used to supply me with, sporadically and whenever whenever they felt like it. Their power supply was so erratic and unreliable and I wasn't able to generate any form of reliable income stream working from home. Their inability to fulfill their legislative mandate, I might add, is no fault of my own.
The outcome is that as of today, I am able to provide a far more reliable power supply than Eskom, and I do it both day AND night, so Eskom's argument that I am "...forcing them to ramp up power at a faster rate at night" is total rubbish at best and completely economical with the truth .  
The truth is exactly the other way around. It is because of their inability (for whatever reasons, there are many which I will not go into here) to run a decent utility, (which BTW was at one stage considered the most efficient in the world, notwithstanding the fact that they had a monopoly on supply), that I have had to dig into my own pocket to provide energy for myself. I have incurred personal capital expenditure, and I am faced with current and future maintenance costs for infrastructure which I have, at my own volition, installed in order to meet my needs (to be a productive citizen!?).
I am the one taking the risk of a long-term investment (15+ years just to break even) in something that I doubt that I will ever see a return on. In doing so, however, I have relieved them of their duty to supply my home with that 10kWh per day, which, due to their (self-inflicted) shortage, they can distribute and supply to the many in need. For that, I think that at the very least, I (and all the other home solar power users) actually deserve a big "thank you". In fact, Eskom should actually go on its hands and knees to thank home and business solar power owners, for their fortitude, their investment, their long-term commitment to this country, and their ability and bravery to get involved in something which is not their core competency, and which actually helps Eskom deliver (whatever) service (is left) to those less fortunate.
Instead, Eskom decides that we are the enemy, and punishes us with additional taxation An interesting strategy 😆

           
 

they're just out to protect their monopoly. do you really think if it was a free market (where competitors can produce/distribute/sell as much power as they want) energy supply for the masses would be an issue? they dictate the rules - this crisis is entirely manufactured by them. and i don't bleed lumpy custard just because its de ruyter now at the helm.
anyways we still pay a meter connection fee. i don't feed back - but those who are have signed up to an agreement that is already stacked against them is it not?
eskom has dug the country into a hole and expect consumers to bail them out. they're just trying to cover all their bases is all.

We on Eskom direct and have had a fixed charge for years which has been steadily increasing, about R1800/mth at present before we switch anything on  - will be off grid later this year

We on Eskom direct and have had a fixed charge for years which has been steadily increasing, about R1800/mth at present before we switch anything on  - will be off grid later this year

125A charge for the 250A discharge BMS.

Nope, the battery is a commercial unit with bms, inside a steel box with cells firmly secured, with a circuit breaker that is turned off so that the terminals on the front are dead - off course if you dragged it from JHB to Durbs behind your vehicle then there might be some problems.

Yesterday charged battery to 100%, connected BMV702 to the setup as per BMV install guide.  Adjusted BMV settings as per manual and my setup, sync'd SOC at 100% and also Zero'd current.
I have ESS active and discharge last night went according to plan, BMV stats looked appropriate for my usage .   However, this morning when charge kicked in, things did not go as expected. I have ESS scheduled charge setup, start at 06:00 with Stop on SOC of 5%, this to avoid charging from Grid.  
With the BMV connected, it's like it is ignoring ESS and the MPPT and system is charging from Grid only?  BMV measurements only reflect the Grid charge current and not Solar.  Solar was not going to loads so must have been going to battery?
My setup: Multiplus II, CCGX, Smartsolar MPPT - checked for firmware updates, all up to date.  Spent a few hours scouring forums and manuals but sadly, no joy in trying to figure this out.
Disconnected BMV for now and things are back to what I am familiar with.
 

Thanks Coulomb,
I love DIY. I remember my first.....(Sorry, nearly went off topic there) DIY. It was a crystal radio. No more than 4 parts. But when it actually worked, It felt very, very good. I was very young then. In a strange way you actually convinced me to go DIY. If Nikola Tesla, born in 1856 could do what he did, surely we can slap 16 batteries and a bms together. And don't worry. I will not blame you if something explodes. (That's what my wife is for )
If anybody else has built his own battery, please share your experience with us, good and bad, so we can learn and pass the knowledge on to our children, so when they ask you for the Iphone 35xs+/holographic display and 26 zettabytes of ram, you can simply say, "build your own, it's much more fun"
 
 

If you do go the DIY option, I would suggest you look at a BMS that do have some sort of communication options (the normal Daly does not, but they do have a Smart Daly version. Or the ANT, or Smart LTT/DJB BMS). 
If you do have comms then there is always the option to link it to your inverter in some way like the driver I did for the Victron system. 
https://github.com/Louisvdw/dbus-serialbattery

I’ll be the first to admit I’d prefer to DIY than to buy ready made. And I’ve been keen to sink my teeth into a DIY battery project for a while. Thing is, DIY needs to be a LOT less expensive in terms of parts, to justify the time spent getting it going to a reliable point vs commercial options. In the numbers above, I would seriously just get the Pylons; the DIY route isn’t saving you much vs the reliability and features you get with the Pylons. 
 
If you want to save with DIY, you need to go for a bigger pack and batteries from LithiumBattery SA.

Hi all,
DIY is not for everybody but I've taken the DIY plunge.
I have 2 x 16s, 120ah banks in parallel for approx 12KWh.  This setup has cost around R36k including bits and pieces to get it setup and LOTS of research and reading!

I have my inverter set to use down to 15% SOC at night and that provides 10KWh through the night

The ready made units have come down in price but when I priced Pylontech's a year ago, the above setup would have set me back in the region of R70k, very close to twice the price of my DIY setup so for me, DIY has worked out well and has saved me a bunch of cash.

At today's prices, I would need 3 x 3.5KWh Pylontech's to get close to the capacity of my setup and that will cost in the region of R58k, still about R22k more than the cost of my setup. 
Based on my setup and experiences so far, I have to say DIY is more cost effective than off the shelf

If you're not scared to get your hands dirty, i'd say go for it. There are a few other chaps on this forum who have gone the DIY route and are generous and always very willing to share their experiences.
 

Hi All
Have a DIY LifePo4 bank with a Daly BMS  - no comms, connected to Multiplus II with ESS.  Would love to add a 2nd bank.
Is this doable without comms or does one have to have BMS with comms for multiple strings?
Thank you

@Solaris Here's the link Phil shared:
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/241076784_Increasing_the_solar_photovoltaic_energy_capture_on_sunny_and_cloudy_days
In this thread: https://powerforum.co.za/topic/6581-mixing-solar-panels/?do=findComment&comment=79657
 

Don't we all:)
 

And with that you have been granted access to the SA Club 

Just 2 more panels babes then I am done 🙂

I suppose what you have to take into account is that 16 LiFePO4 cells from the same source will cost R14,400 and an ANT BMS will add R2500 for a total of R16,900. At least that is what I would consider if I wanted to buy such equipment. The breaker and meter are nice to have but would already be present in an existing installation. Besides the ANT BMS provides much more useful information than the Daly BMS in your system. Hope this helps you. 

@Lindsay check in here https://lithiumbatteriessa.co.za/ and speak to @Bain Viljoen 

I did see a thread on this but I don't know that i'm anywhere near being able to put that together yet, hopefully one day when i'm big 😊