Treschen

Quick Update 3 Phase is a nightmare if you want to move critical loads to a DB. Finding all the Neutrals is a nightmare( It was wired like crap into the DB). We moved all loads to the new sub db thought we were done on Saturday but started finding funnies: Earth Leakage would trip on the new SUB DB *Fix* some neutrals for the upstairs lights going to the the main upstairs DB instead of the new sub DB. Tracked those neutrals yesterday and tripping stopped. My main lounge lights and study room lights are somewhere going straight to City powers Neutral. Let me explain we ripped the DB board disconnected all the live and neutral wires. We dropped two phases on the supply coming from eskom to prevent voltage from doubling. We run the one phase from city power with live wire on these lights connected directly to the single phase via a breaker. The lights TURNED on!!! This is with all the neutrals disconnected both upstairs and downstairs. I cannot get into the celling for these lights as the house is just built funny. So pretty disappointed about not being able to power the study/work room lights via the inverter. My father will figure this one out as it is beyond me The F#$ki#& buying never stopped, had to buy DIN rail breakers because every thing in the DB was samite. I did not mind as those breakers are pretty old and we found faults with some of them. The EL upstairs was also faulty from line side it was measuring around 236v on the load side it would drop to 196v *WTF* replaced it and that k@k stopped immediately. Took the cables to get crimped at a battery shop, the chops used a long nose plier to crimp it. That made me furious. I only feel sad for their customers. I went out and bought another set of lugs for the battery cables, went to 4x4 shop and dropped R800 on a Hellman(Thats what I think its called) crimpers. It Crimps lugs up to 50mm. Crimped it myself and Done! Only turned the system on yesterday after ensuring that new SUB DB had no way back to the main DBs Neutral. Turned on the battery Growatt powered up. Turned on Panels. Run the house for a few minutes of solar. Configured the growatt. Flipped the change over to inverter. Turned on the breaker on the AC input side and VOILA success!!! System is up and running. The sirius energy model was at 95% when I powered it up. *Note I am calling it an energy module and not supercap* Switched the growatt to power the house from battery got up this morning and it was at 89%. So far so good. Will update as I test the system more. I will post pics shortly

Update: Inverter and PV Ready. Electrical cables (10mm) have been run along trunking. Tomorrow: Electrical work will be done, moving critical loads from my 3 phase DB to a new SUB DB board. Hoping it will be up and running by 3pm tomorrow. Then testing of the supercap. I am installing a pylontech 9.6kwh battery bank for a customer so at least I will have something to compare against.

Sorry guys would I need any third party modules to limit to the grid ? I see this under the website

All good.

Yip

Will be providing feedback once install is done. I am also a reseller but will give you unbiased opinion regarding the supercap. I know my friend is running his for about 8 months. A lot has changed since the initial release of the first caps... They now come with Anderson plugs into the front as well as circuit breakers to disconnect the terminals. The form and shape has also changed... New software, password protection can be enabled to prevent theft. But really this thing took 3 to 4 guys to load and offload. I was initially going to get a Pylontech bank but the growatt guys said they have no support for Pylontech for the inverter I have only newer models and I didn't want gel or lead batteries so just bit the bullet and bought a Sirius energy module The is a lot of negativity yes... But for me the 20 year warranty says it all. Time will tell. The batch that landed recently is all sold out. I will cycle the hell out of this thing. Let's see how it goes.

Thanks sir. I can see this cable is going to be a challenge to work with good thing my trunking is big enough. When they brought it around didn't think it was for me... My eyes popped out when the sales guy said this is yours sir

Many thanks picked up some from Voltex today

Thanks that will be my second option. I went to a few shops max they have is 6mm flat in stock. Called Rubicon for 10mm now they out of stock but said they can order so waiting for pricing. The rating on 10mm is 65amp or around there

Growatt is up on the wall and PV Cables have been run to the wall. DC Breakers installed as well they 1pole for now. Will get 2 pole later on. I need to find an auto electrician to crimp the 35mm cable lugs for the supercap... Will see during the week who can do it. Still need to obtain flat twin + earth cable 10mm (So FREAKING hard to find this). Then electrician to will need to move stuff around in DB phase 1 of the DB board is almost perfect with exception of the 40Amp CB for the oven and stove. Otherwise perfect I would say 80% done

Thanks that makes sense. Looking like I follow the route of creating a sub db

Told my installer to make sure there is no leaks, he actually went up and fixed a few loose tiles which not in the path or under the PV panels But lets wait for a Rainy day

Thanks sir, what does it mean to switch neutral ?

My Father, he is a sparky by trade

Thank you Fazil, I will check them out

Hi Guys Where can I get circuit breakers, dc cabling, sub db boards, contactors etc ? In the Centurion/Midrand Area. A few hits on google builder warehouse, MCE... But there has to be some go to place to get these things ? Looking for DC breakers for my build and the other above mentioned things

Guys Forgive me for asking what maybe a stupid question, while I am not a sparky I do understand the basics of electricity. (Do not touch a live wire hehehe) Jokes aside My inverter has AC IN (Live, Neutral and Earth) and AC out (Live Neutral and Earth) I am assuming on the AC IN side will take the live wire from the main phase, and instead of feeding the rest of the DB direct from the live Pole on the main breaker, this will now be fed by output from the inverter (AC output from the inverter) ? Correct me if I am wrong. This will be done my a sparky. But for my own sake I would like to understand how it all fits together. And similar for the neutral and earth ? Here is a pic of my db board. Will be doing one phase 1 of the db board for now. Thanks

I am based in Centurion, inverter is going up this weekend. Will post Pics as I install

My build has kicked off today after weeks of trying to get a reputable installer for my panels a good friend came to the rescue and helped me with the installer he used for his system. Here are the first Pics 12 JA Panels, will update once the inverter is installed and supercap arrives

Thanks Dean

Hi Guys What are your thoughts on the Omnipower OPR240-12 vs Vision AGM 200ah batteries ? To be used purely as backup (load shedding)

Thanks can't wait

I had these geysers when I moved into my house (the previous owners installed them). I had constant issues with them gushing boiling water out through the overflow pipes. I eventually replaced them with normal kwikot geysers *Also kinda regretting not going with solar geysers again* I would call out the Suntank guys to check the efficiency

Hey Guys Want to know whats the best way to bring down energy consumption on my geyser ? Should I convert it to solar ? Should I put a timer on it ? in the form of geyser wise or even a controlled contactor ? Should I throw it out and just get a full on solar geyser system Its a 250lt Kwikot geyser