PlanB

This is a fair price, but not exceptional, The same price as Takealot, or am I missing something.. should all the options maybe include the GX display?

@Oscalot.. Are these still available or have you sold them? I've also got the Victron batteries and would be very eager to get one or 2 4Kw. If you will take R8000 each for both let me know.. 082 469 6666

Need your expert advice again. I have a Victron Multiplus II and a Victron Color control GX.. then as batteries I have 1x 8kW BlueNova and a 4kW BlueNova On the Color control as well as on the Batteries there are no alarms or error messages. However on the VRM Portal on my PC I have an Active Battery Monitor (512) error I contacted Current automation and they initially said that it was a battery problem, , then contacted BlueNova and they said it was a Victron problem, then after a few weeks Current Automation said that it must be a Software/ firmware problem. I cannot seem to get rid of this error and don't like active errors. Any advise will be much appreciated

Thanks for this very helpful information. I have not gone through winter yet, I only installed this setup in October2020 these are my stats: Do you think strings of 3 panels will be OK on the Victron MPPT?

I suppose my question will reveal just how little I understand, but please be patient. I have a Victron setup (5Kw Multiplus II, a 150/100 MPPT, and the color control GX and 12Kw of BlueNova LifePo batteries) On the roof I have 8 x 420 watt panels (4x2 strings) all facing the same direction (about north) As I lose a lot of morning and afternoon sun I'm thinking of adding a 4x panels that face a bit more east and a 4x that face a bit more west. Would that require 2x more MPPT (one for east and one for west) or can one MPPT devise mange the additional set of 8 panels. or don't I need to add a MPPT and can I just wire the new strings into the current MPPT?

A few months ago I procured a Victron Backplate with a MultiPlus-II 48/5000/70-48 Inverter and a MPPT 150/100 I also managed to get my hands on 1x 4kw and 1x 8kw BlueNova Batteries and for my PV panels I got 8x 440w half-cut large wafer cell monocrystalline percium panels. Today I saw a reading of 3712 W charging on the monitor .. I was expecting at the very best conditions 3520W (8*440) , so I'm impressed and very happy. Is it common / Ok for panels to produce more than what is specc'ed? I believe ARTSolar is a South African Company, and I can so far recommend their service and the panels.

Thanks. It seems that the 4K is just too small, and that it is not under performing. I'l now start the saving for a new 8k BlueNova.. together with my 4k, it will therefore be 12K and that should carry me through an Eskom load-shedding of 4+ hours.. I hope

Good Morning, Have been lurking around and reading , but this is one of my first posts. Please be kind/patient. I bought a Back Plate solution form a Co in Kaya Sands (it has a Victron Multiplus II 5KvA Inverter, a Victron MPPT and a BlueNova 52V- 77Ah-4k Battery. I also have 8 x 410w Art Solar panels. I am really happy with the Victron and Solar panels, but am unsure how to feel about the battery. I'm hoping someone can tell me how to tell if the battery is performing as one would expect from such an expensive battery. I have set the ESS to Optimized( with Battery life) and set the Minimum SOC (unless grid fails) to 75%. During the day when the PV are producing, it works beautifully and I power almost all consumption from PV. However, when the sun goes down within an hour or 2 the battery is down to 75%. I run almost everything through the system (more like trying to be off-grid than as a Back-up). so Yes, the configuration of my loads and if I should rather have essential and non-essential loads etc is a separate conversation. So, yes, the drain on the battery can be as a result of so many loads, but how do I test it. How can I confirm that the BlueNova isn't under performing?

Hi, is this battery still available? What did you pay for yours? Will it work with a Victron Multiplus II? any photos? Kind regards Dou 0824696666

I've been lurking in the shadows and posted once or twice, a while ago. Now I'm again considdering to do a Hybrid (Grid tied) installation. How do I calculate my current usage? Is there a device that I can connect to my Db that will show a graph of the day and how my household used electricity? I presume I can go to each known devices and add all the watts, but I might miss something. To have an actual reading through the day with a graph , over a whole week wil show true usage. Should I considder a Phased approach Is it worth the effort to first do an install without the PV pannels and set it up like a UPS and then later add the PV pannels , or should one just bite the bullet and do the complete setup and get it done with? So too with the batteries, one can go for the Pylontech straight away or first go for cheaper options The Victron devices seems to be the best, but are pricy. Is it worth getting a interim charger/converter and then to upgrade to a Victron later. In other words.. Should/Would one have a phased approach regarding the complete solution as well as the components , or is that just a waste of time and money ? Would it be better to have a solution designed and financed and installed ?

I've been looking at the various brands of panels. If my understanding is correct that 80% of them are manufactured in China, and lately they are all much of a muchness. However,,, There is an SA manufacturer ARTsolar and they make 3 sizes of Panels and their pricing is very competitive. Has any one used these panels and can they be recommended? https://artsolar.net/

I'm trying to calculate the Voc of these panels if I know that my property has had temperatures of -5'C for the last 2 winters. Is it correct that for every 1'C below the Normal operating temperature the can be a 0.33% increase in voltage. therefore -5'C is 25 'C lower than NOCT and would therefore have a possible increase of the Voc of (25 x 0.33 = 8.25) Does this mean that hypothetically the Max voltage of this panel (72 cell)on a very cold morning could be 38.6 + 8.25 = 46.85V? (see attached Picture)

Thanks Coulomb (and others) for clearing this up for me. I've got another question. Last week as a precursor to getting my house on solar, I started by converting my Gate motor and Electrical fence to solar. Both these 2 devices works from a standard 12 V 7Ah sealed battery. I obtained a 30amp Charge controller, a 95Ah deep cycle battery and a 135W solar panel. I didn't need an Inverter, I connected the 12V load from the controller directly to each of the Centurion D5 Evo gate motor and Merlin M28S Energiser. I thought this would be overkill, but I was wrong.. with the lovely rain we had on Thursday and over the weekend I woke up Sunday morning with no security Fence off) and no gate operation. It's wasn't to much of a problem, I restored Mains power to the 2 devices and all was fine. I hope to get a bigger panel this week, Maybe a +250W , as long as it's Voc is within the limits of the small Charge Controller. My Question though is: IS there a Charge controller on the market that has 2 x Charge inputs 1 from the PV and one from 220v Mains, so that I can Trickle charge the battery at night if the solar panel was not able to get it to 100% during the day? Thanks again

Hi Forumites... I'm starting out on this journey and already have sooo many questions.. I've been lurking in the shadows, reading many posts and I want to know the following. I'm on a smallholding outside Centurion. I've been looking at the InfiniSolar Plus 3K or maybe the Goodwe GW5048 Em 5KW or Infini Solar 5kW Dual MPPT Hybrid Inverter 1. Why would one want to have an inverter that can be connected in Parallel? Would it not be better to have one 10Kw hybrid than 2x 5Kw 2. Almost in the same area; Why does some Hybrid Inverters have Dual MPPT? 3. There seems to be a few Voltage variables that Solar panels have; Voc(open Circuit) and then Operating Voltage (12/18/48) Which one is most important when pairing a PV to the Inverter ? 4. Some PV max voltage can harm the Inverter if it is more than the inverter can handle. How does this work (in which circumstances can this max voltage be "activated"? 5. It seems that very cold conditions also have an impact on the voltage , why is this ? ... Maybe in general if someone can just summarise the voltages, as my head is spinning from trying to make head and tails reading Wikipedia and other websites that explains PV panel voltages 6. The InfiniSolar Inverters are sometimes branded as Mercer and sometimes Voltronic and sometimes ?? this seems confusing.. is there a Branding one should avoid (e.g. InifiniSolar 3K PLUS Single Phase Hybrid Single MPPT Inverter Charger bi directional with grid 48V DC(SOL-I-IS-3M) .../// Mecer Infinisolar 3KVA . Plus Hybrid Inverter Single Phase) 7. From some posts it seems that Mono PV is better than Poly , but then someone mention something about operating temperatures ,, which is best for South Africa? 8. I get my mains power directly from Eskom , I have 3phase power. In the main Box I have 3 meters, One is a grey box with a blinking light, the other 2 are the old type with the spinning wheel. I'm hoping that I can put all the loads that will be paired with my solar setup on one phase and install a hybrid Inverter and hope to push back power into the grid, making the wheel spin in reverse during the day and forward during the night when I use Eskom power... As I'm not on Jhburg Power or Tshwane Power, will I have to register and apply for this from Eskom or do I just sneak this in and hope they never notice? There are many more questions, but for the moment these are the few I find most pressing. Hope the Forum will shed some light (solar) on these 🙂

Good day. Just started on this journey. I'm staying on a smallholding outside Centurion. We have 3 phase power. I have a 3phase borehole pump but the rest are all single phase. The eskom box has 3 meeters, 2 are of the olde revolving wheel type and one is .?? "new type" I'm hoping to get an Hybrid type inverter [Victron Multiplus or InifiniSolar 3K PLUS Single Phase Hybrid Single MPPT Inverter Charger bi directional ] ANd maybe one Lition Iron Battery [PylonTech US2000B Lithium Ion] and pair this with 5 or 6 300W solar panels. These should just power my house during the day and a portion of the night when it should switch over to Eskom until the next day. I have a Solar geaser (with Eskom backup) What I hope to get from this forum. Some advise on my Planned setup. To read about the things I should not be doing , or should rather be doing. Maybe also advise on better alternatives to the Inverters or batteries that I have chosen so far.. Usually these forums also are the first to know and to "broadcast" new technology or specials. and in time maybe also contribute lessons that I have learned.