Roarty

For those who need the information.
Got this official link on the Mossel Bay Municipality rules, laws, regulations, etc. on going solar.
GOING SOLAR in MOSSEL BAY: What you need to know - https://www.mosselbay.gov.za/news-display/a0a75a88-5a41-4ad7-9c25-d95940900104 List of Approved Inverters 27 January 2023 - https://www.mosselbay.gov.za/storage/documents/c295e84707181106b5edbd537a484202.pdf What I figured out on the local council's info is that the best way forward is a new inverter. End of story!

Good day guys,
I just want to know a few things. I am trying to help an elderly couple who bought a SunSynk but they installed a HOSELECT. Everything was "fly-by-night" type of work.
Included is a drawing of the sytem that I am thinking doint to rectify the previous installer's....
There is currently no PV or Battery disconnect. The only thing concerning safety, is the installed changeover switch in the DB.
Just a few questions;
Is the HOSELECT HS-5500 5.5kW inverter legal/approved in Mossel Bay? It's not in the City of Cape Town's Approved Photovoltaic (PV) Inverter List. Is there anyway that I can connect the inveter, if it's legal and approved for the local council, to an app or computer? Is it ok to connect Array 1 & 2 in serie as per drawing. HOUSE DE BIL - SOLAR POWER GENERATION LAYOUT.pdf

For those who need the information.
Got this official link on the Mossel Bay Municipality rules, laws, regulations, etc. on going solar.
GOING SOLAR in MOSSEL BAY: What you need to know - https://www.mosselbay.gov.za/news-display/a0a75a88-5a41-4ad7-9c25-d95940900104 List of Approved Inverters 27 January 2023 - https://www.mosselbay.gov.za/storage/documents/c295e84707181106b5edbd537a484202.pdf What I figured out on the local council's info is that the best way forward is a new inverter. End of story!

Good day guys,
I just want to know a few things. I am trying to help an elderly couple who bought a SunSynk but they installed a HOSELECT. Everything was "fly-by-night" type of work.
Included is a drawing of the sytem that I am thinking doint to rectify the previous installer's....
There is currently no PV or Battery disconnect. The only thing concerning safety, is the installed changeover switch in the DB.
Just a few questions;
Is the HOSELECT HS-5500 5.5kW inverter legal/approved in Mossel Bay? It's not in the City of Cape Town's Approved Photovoltaic (PV) Inverter List. Is there anyway that I can connect the inveter, if it's legal and approved for the local council, to an app or computer? Is it ok to connect Array 1 & 2 in serie as per drawing. HOUSE DE BIL - SOLAR POWER GENERATION LAYOUT.pdf

Good day guys,
I just want to know a few things. I am trying to help an elderly couple who bought a SunSynk but they installed a HOSELECT. Everything was "fly-by-night" type of work.
Included is a drawing of the sytem that I am thinking doint to rectify the previous installer's....
There is currently no PV or Battery disconnect. The only thing concerning safety, is the installed changeover switch in the DB.
Just a few questions;
Is the HOSELECT HS-5500 5.5kW inverter legal/approved in Mossel Bay? It's not in the City of Cape Town's Approved Photovoltaic (PV) Inverter List. Is there anyway that I can connect the inveter, if it's legal and approved for the local council, to an app or computer? Is it ok to connect Array 1 & 2 in serie as per drawing. HOUSE DE BIL - SOLAR POWER GENERATION LAYOUT.pdf

Hi Guys so we have been working very hard to get a workable solution for the wind turbine integration with Home Inverter systems and also larger scale commercial systems.
So what we have found so far is that you can integrate a wind turbine with a SUNSYNK / DEYE inverter in a couple of ways. ( HYBRID INVERTER SYSTEMS) 
Option 1 is with a MPPT Controller that connects to your battery bank this is the least efficient method reason being you are always going from a High voltage to a low voltage and then back to a higher voltage AC to DC to AC Conversion process this creates a lot of loss converting the Wind power to usable AC power 
We also find that there is always competition between the wind turbine MPPT controller and the Hybrid Inverter Internal MPPT's and because there is no meaningful communication between the Wind Turbine controller and the Hybrid inverter you have to try an set everything up in Voltage mode which causes a lot of headaches to get everything fine tuned to work together.
Also the Wind turbine MPPT Controllers have very limited communication capabilities and it would require special software development to facilitate this which increases the complexity of this method. 
The Wind Turbine MPPT's also do not support all brands of lithium batteries so again you have to revert to Voltage control method which is not ideal because the battery BMS cannot manage charge and discharge rates using CAN or RS485 communication with the battery.
These systems are based on our own Variable Pitch ODIN Wind turbine range that start at 2KW up to 100KW 
The other option is using a Victron system and integrating a Bornay Wind Turbine MPPT with the Victron system however this is not the most efficient method because everything in the Victron system converts from Low Voltage to High Voltage and the Bornay MPPT Couples to the 48V Lithium Storage
Bornay can also couple with SMA however this method is mainly used for Grid tied solutions and not relevant in this discussion. 
However the Victron system can communicate with the Bornay wind turbines well enough and can reflect wind turbine production on a online portal linked to the Victron application using a custom Raspbery Pie integration however this is very technical and takes a very long time to get everything working seamlessly. 
So in short the Wind Turbine MPPT Connected to the Lithium battery in low voltage is not a very good way to connect the Turbine to your system because you always have the low voltage to high voltage conversion process which entails a lot of losses.
Works on Off Grid and Grid Connected Configurations.
Note we have successfully applied these applications and they do work but not as efficiently as we would like it to work.
Option 2 
Connect the Wind turbine via one of the MPPT's of the Hybrid inverter using a Constant Voltage controller which matches the MPPT of the inverter of choice.
So lets assume it is a 5 KW Sunsynk you will then sacrifice one of the MPPT's on the inverter for exclusive wind power production.
You can then connect a wind turbine with a constant voltage controller with its own dump load ( 3Phase AC)  that produces a constant voltage of say 350VDC to the MPPT 
You are limited to the size of the turbine by the maximum production of that MPPT which is in the Sunsynk 5KW case 3250 Watt also note the startup voltage of the Sunsynk MPPT is 125VDC and production voltage of 150VDC ( This means that the MPPT will only start producing useable power at 150VDC) 
This means the maximum size of the turbine you can connect to that MPPT is a 3 KW variable pitch wind turbine these turbines can typically produce 10% more power than their rating sometimes a little more.
Then you have to configure the Sunsynk inverter with the exact Power Production curve under its settings also program the inverter that there is now a wind turbine connected to the MPPT and not solar panels so that the MPPT can accept constant voltage and stop tracking the power produced. 
Once Configured correctly (Theoretically) then wind power produced would be handled by the Sunsynk inverter exactly the same way as when you have solar panels attached.
Down side of this Method is you loose one of your MPPT's that you could have had solar panels instead.
Works on Off Grid and Grid Connected Configurations.
Please note we have not tested this method however we are in the process of setting up a test system at my home fortunately form me Wind speeds here can reach up to 120 KMPH or 33 MS.
Please let me know if anyone has successfully used this method to connect a wind turbine some data of that project would be appreciated 
Option 3 
Using the AUX Input Output port of the SUNSYNK Inverter (Rudimentary AC Couple) 
In this scenario we can use the 5 KW Sunsynk again this time however the maximum size of the wind turbine connected is limited to 50% of the Maximum continuous capacity of the wind turbine so that would be 2500 Watt or 2.5 KW 
So our turbines do not come in odd sizes they are 2, 3, 5, or 10 KW so the choice would be 2 KW 
The Configuration of this system is relatively simple we get the wind turbine with a constant voltage controller @ 350VAC coupled to a Solis S6 2 KW grid tied inverter the grid tied inverter connects @230 VAC to the AUX Port of the Sunsynk inverter the CT Clamp of the Solis inverter then gets connected to the Utility Side of the Sunsynk where the Utility connects or Connects to the Load Side of the inverter configuration and method of use will determine if you would even use the Solis CT.
This systems works well the inverter controls production and what the power get used for because it is already 230VAC Loads can consume the produced power directly.
Or the produced power can be used by the inverter to charge batteries and even support non essentials loads or export to utility.
Benefits are for one you do not lose an MPPT that would've been used for solar power 99% of the time you are converting from high voltage to low voltage less efficiency losses.
The inverter controls where the power produced are sent seamlessly you have full record on the app of power produced via the AUX port no additional applications needed you can also use Solis Cloud to monitor Wind power production a second source of information to compare. 
Down side is you are limited to 50% of the inverter capacity that limits the size of the turbine you can use.
We can also supply the turbine with a Grid tied controller but there are a few complications with regard to that one being the controllers do not always come with CT clamps and remote monitoring so we rather opt for the Solis and constant voltage controller option.
We have a working system in the field like that which works well however we had to change the dump load to a geyser element the Inverter is a Sunsynk 5 KW with a 2KW Fixed blade turbine.
We have discontinued the fixed blade turbine due to over run problems and potential devastating failure if the dump load or cable fails.  
Hence the reason we only do variable pitch turbines and not fixed blade turbines in our ODIN range.
The Solis inverter is very unique in the sense that it is one of the few inverters where you can tell it to accept constant voltage and also parallel its MPPT's as one large DC connection there is actually settings for this on the Solis inverter does not matter what model all of them support this function.
Other nice thing on the Solis inverters is the low startup and production voltage of only 90VDC which means the turbine will be producing power very soon this is a great benefit especially for wind power production. Also it Converts High Voltage to Slightly lower Voltage which means less efficiency losses. As the sizing becomes larger the losses become even less and voltage ranges increases a lot up to 850VDC but that is for 100 KW turbines always via the Solis grid tied inverters in conjunction with Constant voltage controllers.
Option 4 
This option we are the most excited about..
Solis S6 Hybrid Inverter current Models 5, 6, and 8 KW available in Conjunction with Solis Grid Tied Inverters configuration as follows 
Solis S6 Advanced Hybrid 5 KW With a Solis grid Tied S6 4.6kW 2MPPT 1PH Inverter and a 5KW Variable Pitch Wind Turbine 
Solis S6 Advanced Hybrid 6 KW With a Solis grid Tied S6 6kW 2MPPT 1PH Inverter and a 5KW Variable Pitch Wind Turbine 
Solis S6 Advanced Hybrid 8 KW With a Solis grid Tied S6 8kW 2MPPT 1PH Inverter and a 10KW Variable Pitch Wind Turbine
The beauty of this setup is 
Solis S6 Advanced Hybrids can AC Couple on the Load Side of the inverter and supports frequency shifting to prevent the batteries to over charge just like Victron.
You can also use the AUX or generator port however then you will lose the ability to connect a diesel or petrol generator and if you do use a generator on the AUX port then you can still AC couple on the load side of the inverter.
The AC Coupling Ratio is 1 to 1 this means the max continuous capacity of the inverter in question so no capacity loss on the wind turbine size you can connect 
You can have 3 x S6 Inverters in parallel with 1 large 3 phase Solis grid tie inverter and one large wind turbine connected instead of 3 smaller turbines. 
This opens up massive possibilities to expand your system to almost any size even further than 1MW combining Turbines and hybrid inverters when Solis releases their much more Powerful Hybrids into the market ( Hush Hush) 🙂  
How will these systems work well quite simple really 
Solis S6 Hybrid 5 KW with a Solis S6 4.6 KW Grid tied inverter coupled to the load side of the inverter the wind turbine connects to the Solis grid tied inverter with a very high quality constant voltage controller @450VDC the constant voltage controller has its own coms and online portal for extra data and RS485 access with modbus and comes with a dump load the variable pitch turbine uses a mechanical variable pitch mechanism up to 10KW which means even if the dump load fail or there is a cable break the turbine cannot run away because the blades of the turbine will continuously change pitch up to 0 degrees much higher levels of failure safety. 
The Solis Hybrid will control where the power produced by the grid tied inverter coupled to the turbine goes for example charging batteries supporting loads essential and non essential and even export excess wind power production to grid and all of that without sacrificing any Solar dedicated MPPT's for wind power. 
You will also be able to add the grid tied inverter to the Solis application that runs on a browser or on your phone so that you can see a consolidated power production history and stats in real time via Bluetooth or with a 2 minute delay on your browser. 
The New S6 Advanced Hybrid also has a 4ms transfer time and a very short startup time and one large bonus they are fan less up to the 6KW unit. 
The Solis Grid tied inverters can frequency shift and support parallel DC connection of their MPPT's and supports constant voltage input from a wind power source using a constant voltage controller. 
From an efficiency point of view there is nothing in the market at the moment that can match this system.
I have been very fortunate to have a Solis S6 6 KW Advanced Hybrid inverter with 7KW (To be expanded to max 10 KW ) solar panels 7 x Hubble AM2 Batteries installed with a second unit in parallel very soon which we will populate 1 MPPT with solar panels and the other with the turbine 
We will be adding a 2 KW variable pitch wind turbine to the parallel system so we can test the following in real world applications this system powers my home off grid with no eskom availability 
I will also be adding a Petrol Generator to the system.
Connect the turbine to one of the MPPT's 
Connect the turbine to a Grid tied inverter and AC Couple 
I will post Pictures Videos and Historical records to show how well it all works together and we may even integrate something like home assistant to maximize generated power to various loads like aircons geysers water pumps etc ( will have to get creative) 
Oh and PS Keep a keen eye on Powerforum Store Commercial thread we will be giving away some cool stuff soon and also have some really amazing prices on batteries, solar panels and inverters...
Have a great one 
Regards 
Steve .. 

Hi Rich. below is a picture of a typical geyser element. The red arrow shows where your normal thermostat fits. You need to take out the original thermostat and replace it with the Sonoff probe. For this type of element, you will also need to put lugs on your Live and Natural wires going to the element, to make the electrical connection. With this type of element the lugs are part of the thermostat, so if you remove the thermostat, you loose your electrical connection.

I hope this helps. If you have a different element or something is unclear you can send me a photo and I will try to assist.

the installer password is goodwe2010

Sunny Winter Day ... 4577 W
6600W Sun panels at 24 ° ... 56 ° is a better angle for the winter sun in the Cape ... from the horizontal ...
The normal ... home use ... washing machine ... tumble dryer ... boiler ... kids on their playstations ... mom on her soapies ...
I love the power and grace of our great boss ...
... Can't wait for Christmas ... not for gifts ... but ... God's warmth through His sun rays ... more power ...
Bye bye Eskom ...
Thanks to @Fuenkli @plonkster @The Terrible Triplett and those I can't remember...
It's not 100% to my liking, but I am out of the country at work for two months...will play and talk to you guys again and ask for help...
100% Self-install...got the ok from an electrician friend that everything is OK...just waiting for the electrician to do the CoC inspection...

@anotherbrownbear, Here is the complete layout with 2 x "Dual Mount Earth Leakage 1 Pole + N 3kA 30mA 63A- QA17C" for the plugs/light line and the other for the geyser...no need for the stove, gas stove.
The RCBO is put in place in the AC PV board in the house but I can move it closer to the garage, closer to the inverter, if needed.
Do you have  RCBO's in stock and price or can I get online from you. I am currently working in Zambia so all my shopping is online.

ROARTY SOLAR SCHEMATIC.pdf

@Fuenkli @The Terrible Triplett @plonkster
Quick question and a check for me please?
I bought a system and mounting kit from SolarAdvice, but according to the minimum layout I can do, it is not enough.
They've send me less, critical items and more non-critical items.
 
HOUSE ROARTY SOLAR ARRAY MOUNTING LAYOUT REV 01.pdf

Sunny Winter Day ... 4577 W
6600W Sun panels at 24 ° ... 56 ° is a better angle for the winter sun in the Cape ... from the horizontal ...
The normal ... home use ... washing machine ... tumble dryer ... boiler ... kids on their playstations ... mom on her soapies ...
I love the power and grace of our great boss ...
... Can't wait for Christmas ... not for gifts ... but ... God's warmth through His sun rays ... more power ...
Bye bye Eskom ...
Thanks to @Fuenkli @plonkster @The Terrible Triplett and those I can't remember...
It's not 100% to my liking, but I am out of the country at work for two months...will play and talk to you guys again and ask for help...
100% Self-install...got the ok from an electrician friend that everything is OK...just waiting for the electrician to do the CoC inspection...

Mine is an ABB. Got it from @anotherbrownbear. LiveCopper should be able to get one for you if you email them and ask about it specifically.
You can also buy it from RS Components, but that is usually a tad more expensive.

Simplification: Do you need an RCD on the input of the inverter?
As far as I know you do not, unless that circuit also feeds plugs. But if it is a dedicated feed for the inverter (as it should be) then you don't need an RCD. Personally I do like to put some kind of additional protection on the input side, so on my inverter I have a 300mA RCBO on the input side. That gives it additional equipment-level protection on the inverter itself.
If you use an RCBO (an RCD that includes overcurrent protection), you can use one breaker to do the job of both main switch and RCD.

Done it, changed the lines and forgot to move it.
Done it, placed it after the changeover between the changeover and the EzMeter on the schematic
GoodweES  user's manual suggests "AC Breaker ≥ 50A" - Does that means that I can must go max 50A
AC Output Data (Back-Up) - Max. Output Current = 30A
AC Output Data (On-grid) - Max. AC Output Current to Grid = 24.5A - Max. AC Current from Grid = 40A
The K&N Disconnectors is part of the kit and wouldn't want to waste it.
I am changing the 32A to a 40a like for the grid
I removed it and will send you later the updated version. I am just busy listing the items so that I can send them out for quotations
I'm going to have a lot of 6mm² wire left over...so I might as well use it?

Sorry, my mistake, bottom line would have been the grid line but I changed it...thank you for reminding me...

Personally? I think the human race has become lazy, choosing to "GOOGLE" a problem, read one post, and believe everything they read, WITHOUT making any effort to figure out what the correct solution is. This and the fact, that no-one seems to have any pride in their work anymore.
We were told by a major sugar mill in KZN, to lower our standards, and remember we are in Africa? WTF??.......

Maybe you don't know about these?
http://www.gpslightlock.com/Store.htm
You can get them set up individually exactly how you want, but when I approached this guy with a requirement for -2hrs to +2hrs  either side of solar noon, he seems to have made it an off-the shelf item now. ( & about 20$ more expensive, than I paid).
Never need to reset the timer after a power cut.
 

I have tested some DC rated CB's in the past for faults and many of them don't trip when you short the solar panels wires directly. So a fuse is still a good idea for a fault or (accidental) dead short.

This is, almost, exactly what I did. I used a 2Kw element though. And it works great

but as mentioned earlier on in the thread I would convert the geyser to solar. The ROI is so short it is a no brainer. 

I am not an expert on surge protection so I can not really answer your questions. But I think the fuses will react to slow to stop a high voltage spike.

I don't think you need additional fuses in the PV DB board. The Noark CB's will take care of that. Just choose the correct rating for your cables. I use the 10A version.
Also make sure you have CB's between inverter and Grid and inverter and back-up loads. 

as I mentioned in another post they unfortunately do not work if you are not feeding into the grid. This is why most of us in SA can not use them.

RRR...PLEASE...nobody here in Mossel Bay and George replies to any queries...It'a a tourism area and it looks like everyone is permanently on holiday...