pvdw22

I started out with a SOLIS 4.0kW Grid tie system some time ago. Had the opportunity to upgrade to a hybrid and desided that a Goodwe will suit my needs just fine.
The system consists of:
Goodwe 4.6kW inverter.
16x275 JA panels-(Can upgrade to 20)
1x Pylon 3.5kW battery-( Will upgrade to 2 before year end, and then 3 later on)
Final labeling needs to be done and then COC of the system and my house.
This a good general system for a typical 3/4 bedroom house with a daily consumption of around 20-30kW/h.
The settings on the Goodwe is a bit limited but the unit is a nice plug and play setup. I agree that Victron gives more options but for now this is my pride and joy.
I just have to mention that Escom has failed as I am sitting here typing this post. So yes, out lives continue as normal today thanks to solar.
 

Hi Rob
Just a question.  Why would you want a change over switch from DC to AC?  The Sunsynk has 2 x MPPT ports for the DC feed from the Solar panels and an AC grid input feed.  The device can manage the charging of the batteries automatically using either Solar power or the Grid as available.

I use 4 mm² for the output (AC-out) cable, and 6 mm² for the AC-in. Theoretically, you could be supplying 5 kW to the loads in line (bypass) mode, and utility charging at 3 kW, so that's why you need a heavier cable for the AC-in.
20 metres is a moderate haul, so 6 mm² for both would not be unreasonable, slightly reducing the "lights dim with fridge start" effect. As others have noted, 10 mm² is way overkill, and is difficult to work with. You might not even get all the conductors into the terminal blocks.

VisN I would prefer to do that and I do think that SANS will agree. My way of reasoning is that even when you trip the isolator/CB between your inverter and backup loads the lights on the inverter will stay on. This for me is not a correct indication of what is going on in the DB. I do my installs with 2 lights, 1 for mains and 1 for alternative power, and goes for both solar and generator installs.
 
Here is the SANS regulation.
a) supplies power only to certain circuits in a distribution board, a power-on
indicator (visible or audible) shall be provided on each such distribution
board as well as a notice indicating that the standby power main switch
shall also be switched off in an emergency,
b) only supplies a part of the electrical installation, the notice shall also be
displayed on each distribution board in that part of the installation (see
6.6.1.1(d)).

VisN I would prefer to do that and I do think that SANS will agree. My way of reasoning is that even when you trip the isolator/CB between your inverter and backup loads the lights on the inverter will stay on. This for me is not a correct indication of what is going on in the DB. I do my installs with 2 lights, 1 for mains and 1 for alternative power, and goes for both solar and generator installs.
 
Here is the SANS regulation.
a) supplies power only to certain circuits in a distribution board, a power-on
indicator (visible or audible) shall be provided on each such distribution
board as well as a notice indicating that the standby power main switch
shall also be switched off in an emergency,
b) only supplies a part of the electrical installation, the notice shall also be
displayed on each distribution board in that part of the installation (see
6.6.1.1(d)).

I have an 210 liter A+ chest freezer, and I can confirm, they really are excellent value for money. I mean in general Defy has become quite crappy in other areas, but this one is still tops in my book.

Defy is using R600a gas in the new fridge/freezers. The gas is more effiecient than R134a so they do more with less W's.
That is only one 1/2 of the story. I saw on the Defy chest freezer the wall thickness is clearly thicker, even the lid/door is thicker. So by improving insulation with less heat ingress the already better R600a compressor has to run less to do the same work. 

Defy is using R600a gas in the new fridge/freezers. The gas is more effiecient than R134a so they do more with less W's.
That is only one 1/2 of the story. I saw on the Defy chest freezer the wall thickness is clearly thicker, even the lid/door is thicker. So by improving insulation with less heat ingress the already better R600a compressor has to run less to do the same work. 

Nice topic.
I speak to a lot of my friends asking them there basic needs. Almost all of them have the following as there first priority. 
Few lights, TV, WiFi, Alarm/security. That is the bare minimum for most of them. Very few of them even mentioned a fridge.
For this application I guess a basic UPS like the ELLIES 24v 1400W unit would do good for a few hours to manage the average 2 hour load shedding we usually have. I started with the even smaller 12V 600W system.
I started 10 years ago with a solar geyser(after my electrical geyser started leaking), then few years later a gas stove(after electrical plates burnt). The last year I have been putting a lot of effort into my solar system.
The real newbie should know 1 thing I learned and that is to become independent or even just partially independent is a process and not an event. It takes time and homework with lots of planing. I have to say I loved each and every step of the process.

For me I guess that sudden family time, kids running into my bedroom looking at me as their hero for answers, for a while I had their full attention.😃
Now these days, Forbid. I get the blame and Eskom is in the clear should the slightest dip in power happens.😬
Looks like I will never win.

Indeed. The basic needs start with lights, entertainment (TV, internet), but the very next thing I miss is coffee (and even a cheap percolator type thing needs a kilowatt or so). I also remember from the early baby days that infants don't care that the power is off (they are hungry NOW) and the ability to heat a small amount of prepared foot for exactly 17 seconds (but at 2kw) is incredibly useful. Anything more than this... and a small Cadac gas stove becomes much better bang for buck.
So in some ways industry has answered the question. These 2400W trolleys you can buy at the hardware stores... that's pretty much the thing you need for "a few lights and TV". IMHO anyway. Of course, I have some quality concerns with those thingies... but in principle they are not badly sized.

I used to ask people what their requirements were regarding backup power. These days I tell them specifically what I can/can't provide backup power for.
If  I hear " I just want to have a few lights and maybe the tv too"  I dial out and lose interest because it is a clear sign they haven't thought through this subject at all!

A small partial solar system is great for a Solar DIY enthusiast. He will know what its for and what the system was designed for, but offering it to a client is a completely different ballgame and it hardly ever end good. It normally goes as follows.
Customer want a system to keep the (Inside) lights on , have one fan thats running through the night and want to watch TV till 10, so after a lot of discussion everybody will agree and install - Load-shedding sorted. At the time of the installation all the lights on the dedicated circuit were LED's, but a month later you get a call, "The Batteries must be faulty, they go flat much quicker than before " - investigate and 2 globes pack up and were replaced with 2 old 100 watt incandescent that was still in the cupboard.... Then another few months past and now outside lights must be added for security purposes, just come have a look, we only have LED spotlights outside, it cant be difficult. (The one client had a total of 680Watt of LED spotlights.  Then a feeder in the substation blows up as Eskom restores the power and the 4 hour load-shed turns into a 16 Hour power outage - Next Call. If we add a extra plug or run and extension, we can mos sommer plug the Fridge in as well, we have after all spend all this money so far and for that amount the system can run a fridge as well........... NOT SO?? And the next call and the next and then the Aircon........................ And before you know it, because you wanted to help the client save some money, he is running around telling everybody, Solar is @%#$, you cant even run your fridge or outside lights, and you spend months doing damage control. 
Believe me, For a DIY project, please go ahead, but offering something like that to a client again, without a serious contract, never ever again..........

Nice topic.
I speak to a lot of my friends asking them there basic needs. Almost all of them have the following as there first priority. 
Few lights, TV, WiFi, Alarm/security. That is the bare minimum for most of them. Very few of them even mentioned a fridge.
For this application I guess a basic UPS like the ELLIES 24v 1400W unit would do good for a few hours to manage the average 2 hour load shedding we usually have. I started with the even smaller 12V 600W system.
I started 10 years ago with a solar geyser(after my electrical geyser started leaking), then few years later a gas stove(after electrical plates burnt). The last year I have been putting a lot of effort into my solar system.
The real newbie should know 1 thing I learned and that is to become independent or even just partially independent is a process and not an event. It takes time and homework with lots of planing. I have to say I loved each and every step of the process.

Nice topic.
I speak to a lot of my friends asking them there basic needs. Almost all of them have the following as there first priority. 
Few lights, TV, WiFi, Alarm/security. That is the bare minimum for most of them. Very few of them even mentioned a fridge.
For this application I guess a basic UPS like the ELLIES 24v 1400W unit would do good for a few hours to manage the average 2 hour load shedding we usually have. I started with the even smaller 12V 600W system.
I started 10 years ago with a solar geyser(after my electrical geyser started leaking), then few years later a gas stove(after electrical plates burnt). The last year I have been putting a lot of effort into my solar system.
The real newbie should know 1 thing I learned and that is to become independent or even just partially independent is a process and not an event. It takes time and homework with lots of planing. I have to say I loved each and every step of the process.

Nice topic.
I speak to a lot of my friends asking them there basic needs. Almost all of them have the following as there first priority. 
Few lights, TV, WiFi, Alarm/security. That is the bare minimum for most of them. Very few of them even mentioned a fridge.
For this application I guess a basic UPS like the ELLIES 24v 1400W unit would do good for a few hours to manage the average 2 hour load shedding we usually have. I started with the even smaller 12V 600W system.
I started 10 years ago with a solar geyser(after my electrical geyser started leaking), then few years later a gas stove(after electrical plates burnt). The last year I have been putting a lot of effort into my solar system.
The real newbie should know 1 thing I learned and that is to become independent or even just partially independent is a process and not an event. It takes time and homework with lots of planing. I have to say I loved each and every step of the process.

I fully understand and from there my opinion of rather fix your electrical installation while you live there and reap the fruit of your investment yourself rather than fix it up for the next owner.
I speak to quite a lot of people selling there houses and I can assure you that by the time I walk into the house to do my inspection the seller is more than gatvol of agents,buyers,lawyers the City counsel,moving company. My results will not add to there joy!!🙄 
The moment I tell them that the perfectly functioning 20A circuit breaker for the geyser has to be replaced as the labeling is unreadable because they used it daily as a switch to save electricity I am in the dog box from there on until I pack my stuff and go😉
Lets be honest, this is not an easy topic and not an easy job if you do a COC according to regulation or even close to regulation. As I have mentioned in my previous posts and above again, COC or fix your house for your own use and come selling time the pain will be so much less and you will have the peace of mind that your family is living in an save electrical environment.
Maybe if there is a need I can compile a short list of tests and inspections for a DB to be done, general inspection guidelines and common faults I find when doing inspections. 
 
 

I fully understand and from there my opinion of rather fix your electrical installation while you live there and reap the fruit of your investment yourself rather than fix it up for the next owner.
I speak to quite a lot of people selling there houses and I can assure you that by the time I walk into the house to do my inspection the seller is more than gatvol of agents,buyers,lawyers the City counsel,moving company. My results will not add to there joy!!🙄 
The moment I tell them that the perfectly functioning 20A circuit breaker for the geyser has to be replaced as the labeling is unreadable because they used it daily as a switch to save electricity I am in the dog box from there on until I pack my stuff and go😉
Lets be honest, this is not an easy topic and not an easy job if you do a COC according to regulation or even close to regulation. As I have mentioned in my previous posts and above again, COC or fix your house for your own use and come selling time the pain will be so much less and you will have the peace of mind that your family is living in an save electrical environment.
Maybe if there is a need I can compile a short list of tests and inspections for a DB to be done, general inspection guidelines and common faults I find when doing inspections. 
 
 

Furfex is round, and not flat twin and earth. Round surfex has its own aluminium protection and can be used without conduit even outside.
Flat twin and earth can be used outside if trunked or used as is inside a roof or where not exposed to the elements.
 
Another big money making racket is double pole isolators for aircons as well as ceiling fans. Do or don't is the Q. The regulation is clear about this but plenty electricians prefer to ignore it or they are just not interested to read the regulations.
This all said, there are plenty guys out there that make me feel stupid when it comes to the finer detail regarding SANS 10142 and it is always a pleasure to talk to those people.

As someone who is in the process of selling right now, I can explain this to some extent. It's not the R50 on that one item. It's the combination of R50s across everything that is suddenly inexplicably wrong... and no home owner can understand each system, and everyone is equally adamant that it is imperative to get this done.
In my case it was an electric fence. In 2010 there were no requirements for the fence. Now it needs a compliance certificate. The first company quoted me 15k to repair the fence. Essentially the cost of entirely replacing it. The second company quoted R2700.
Guess which one I used. You see, the regulations merely require that it is earthed at multiple points and that you have a gate contact (not dangling chains)... but the 15k guys faulted numerous extra things... things I would probably do if it was for myself.
I also had to fix a small roof leak (the kind I would not bother with myself, but was terribly worrying to the new owner). The electrical and beetle inspection is still upcoming. Now some electricians pretty much run around making sure your RCD works and that all the light switches and sockets are earthed... others wants to charge you for earthing the Satelite dish.
Then I also had to hand over 8k (around 4 months worth) to the municipality to clear the municipal account.
Mean while I am actually also buying a new place... so I'm over 100k into transfer- and lawyer fees...
Trust me. You may THINK the seller is thick in the dough cause he's selling his house at profit, but frankly this is a time of terrible terrible cash flow.

This is true, Also estate agents normally have their own electrician doing all their COC’s and that electrician is normally the cheap one that will get the selling process moving. Most buyers won’t  know their COC is worth poo, only years later when they want to sell they might find out the installation was never really in order. If you get the electrician with a reputation to uphold the price will be higher than the guy that needs to sign of 10 houses a day. 
The COC can become a great negotiating tool on the price of a property or even on the reputation of the estate agent. if you can spot the problems before signing that offer. I’ve managed to get the estate agent to take legal action against a seller almost a year after my purchase, when I started to realize conditions  on the offer to purchase were never met. The seller had to unhappily spend about R35K nearly a year later on my home.
 
 

So let's assume you get a mere 3000 cycles out of that battery. Then a US2000 module at 2kwh useable at a price of around 16k means 6000kWh for 16k. That's R2.66/kwh, which is very close to what Cape Town charges in their most expensive block. Plus opportunity cost. So this little exercise really depends a LOT on how well the batteries will hold up to their cycle life promises.
But that only proves that Lithium is not cheaper than grid power. The topic here is whether it is really cheaper than lead acid... and without doing any math again, I think they are at the very least on par, with Lithium probably winning out slightly. And there is the advantage of being lighter, charging and discharging faster, deeper DoD allowed. Lithium wins... though perhaps not by as much as marketers tell you 🙂
 

I love this post.
 
I do COCs on the side and I see both sides of the story.
First off all there are cheapskate electricians out there that do 8-10 inspections a day for R450 a shot and some of them seriously screw up. They are highly in demand as the general South African public support them and do all they can to get a COC as cheap as possible. The biggest portion of home owner  is selling a R2mil+ property but is questioning every R50 fault I find. Most used phrase is "But I bought the house like this" A socket outlet that needs replacement will make them groan like someone with a kidney stone passing. The SA public buy service by price and not by quality. 
The problem with the system is that the seller has to spent his money to fix up a property for the next owner to have a save building that is up to standard and he, the seller has no use of this upgrades. They just want the yellow paper and do not care in what condition the electrical installation is that they hand over to the next owner. It is like a complete fix of a car before selling it. New tires, shocks and upholstery all for the next owner.
I have a few clients that called me to COC there houses just to know that the house they stay in and raise there family is electrically save and up to standard. These customers usually do not mind to pay for a proper inspection and a real fix of there installation as they get the value for the money they have spent.

I started out with a SOLIS 4.0kW Grid tie system some time ago. Had the opportunity to upgrade to a hybrid and desided that a Goodwe will suit my needs just fine.
The system consists of:
Goodwe 4.6kW inverter.
16x275 JA panels-(Can upgrade to 20)
1x Pylon 3.5kW battery-( Will upgrade to 2 before year end, and then 3 later on)
Final labeling needs to be done and then COC of the system and my house.
This a good general system for a typical 3/4 bedroom house with a daily consumption of around 20-30kW/h.
The settings on the Goodwe is a bit limited but the unit is a nice plug and play setup. I agree that Victron gives more options but for now this is my pride and joy.
I just have to mention that Escom has failed as I am sitting here typing this post. So yes, out lives continue as normal today thanks to solar.
 

I started out with a SOLIS 4.0kW Grid tie system some time ago. Had the opportunity to upgrade to a hybrid and desided that a Goodwe will suit my needs just fine.
The system consists of:
Goodwe 4.6kW inverter.
16x275 JA panels-(Can upgrade to 20)
1x Pylon 3.5kW battery-( Will upgrade to 2 before year end, and then 3 later on)
Final labeling needs to be done and then COC of the system and my house.
This a good general system for a typical 3/4 bedroom house with a daily consumption of around 20-30kW/h.
The settings on the Goodwe is a bit limited but the unit is a nice plug and play setup. I agree that Victron gives more options but for now this is my pride and joy.
I just have to mention that Escom has failed as I am sitting here typing this post. So yes, out lives continue as normal today thanks to solar.