Corné

Good Afternoon Anyone, real-world, experience with the Mecer M3 (Dyness B3) Lithium Battery?

Is there a reason why you do not want to set the time to have the heat pump run from say 11:00 (batteries on their way to being fully charged) and off at 17:00 (to prevent draining the batteries when the sun is not shining). That would allow the geyser to reach the max temp. The water should still be quite hot the next morning as it should not loose that much heat from 17:00 to 06:00 the next day. A geyser of 200 liter should be sufficient for more or less 4 people. If needs be you can run it for one hour just before you need water to compensate for the overnight standing loss.

I want to know from the collective knowledge... Lets say I can go totally off-grid, will the municipality allow me to do that? In other words, to come and disconnect me?

Hi Everyone I have been running a Victron system (4 x 370W panels, Multiplus II 3kVA, 150/35 MPPT, 2 x pylon 2000 and Venus GX) for more or less two years now. What a great experience. I find myself, now, again in a situation where I am in need of the collective advice of this forum as I would like to expand on my current system. Option 1: Additional Victron MPPT to cater for another 3000W odd of PV and the associated solar panels. Option 2: Solis grid-tie inverter to cater for another 3000W odd of PV and the associated solar panels. The MPPT will be more or less R10 000 model dependent, which incidentally is a little bit more than a 3.6 kw Solis. On the one hand I am considering option 1 since I am now familiar with such a setup. Install panels, connect MPPT to panels via combiner box, combiner box to battery, MPPT to Venus GX and Pylons. Same software platform. On the other hand, I am considering option 2 since in this instance the load will be spread amongst two inverters, hopefully bringing some redundancy to the party. No need for combiner box. With the two pylons my load shedding needs are pretty much covered. I now want to reduce my day time use of eskom. Currently I am basically using all the power generated during the day with not much left to charge the batteries. Should additional PV come into play by either an additional MPPT or Solis, batteries will be used as they were designed to be. Currently they don't discharge more than 60% otherwise they cannot be recharged in a single day. Thank you in advance.

Date: 17 September 2020 Time: 10:00 to 11:45 Venue: Microsoft Teams Webinar link: CLICK HERE TO ATTEND https://teams.microsoft.com/l/meetup-join/19%3ameeting_MzI2NGJlZjUtMmY1NC00Njg0LThmYTEtNWZmZjM4NGUwYzI5%40thread.v2/0?context={"Tid"%3a"f32b4671-5e4e-4c38-9ef6-f741f23c136d"%2c"Oid"%3a"e27229d8-c314-4f27-bcfe-278d1f9bdb34"%2c"IsBroadcastMeeting"%3atrue} PLEASE RSVP [email protected] The Virtual launch of SANS 10142-1 - The wiring of premises Part 1: Low-voltage installations Standard The Latest edition of the wiring code (SANS 10142-1), known as “The Wiring Code” addresses the gaps in the requirements that were not mentioned in the previous edition. This vital standard is used in South Africa for all types of low voltage electrical installations. The Occupational Health and Safety Act, 1993 (Act No. 85 of 1993) (OHS Act), which is administered by the Chief Inspector of Occupational Health and Safety of the Department of Labour, requires that electrical installations comply with the requirements of SANS 10142-1. It also requires that an accredited person, as defined (master installation electrician, installation electrician or electrical tester for single phase), will issue a Certificate of Compliance for electrical installation in line with the requirements set out in SANS 10142-1. The requirements addressed in this edition, include the addition of a table on minimum size and the maximum length of copper earth continuity conductors rated at phase conductor diameter; for general purpose circuit-breaker with the instantaneous tripping current. These conductors had very low values as compared to international norms. Additional to this, the alignment of medical location requirements with international norms, clarification of tests reports for hazardous location, medical location, an electrical installation which has been divided into two test reports, and to modify lightning protection requirements and to introduce the test report for lightning protection. PROGRAM Programme Director:Dr. S Bissoon - SABS Time Topic Speaker 10:00 - 10:20 Welcome and role of SABS in developing relevant South African National standards in OHS Dr. S Bissoon - SABS Standards Executive 10:20 – 10:40 Why was the standard revised? and what are the most important changes that have been made? SABS/TC 067/SC 06 Industry expert Andre van der Elst 10:40 – 11:00 South Africa’s legal requirements on the wiring code Inspector Municipal inspector Mark Palmer 11:00 – 11:20 South Africa’s regulation requirements on the wiring code Department of labour representative Pieter Laubscher DoL 11:20 - 11:35 Panel discussion All panellists 11:35 - 11:45 Closure Dr. S Bissoon - SABS Standards Executive

Hi Jason This sucks! From the letter the son gave his dad permission to represent the company on his behalf. Surely then you can contact the son as you see fit? Unfortunately from HelloPeter: https://www.hellopeter.com/zonhan-wind-and-solar-pty-ltd/reviews/wwwzonhansacoza-2963433 and facebook: https://www.facebook.com/search/top/?q=zonhan wind and solar&epa=SEARCH_BOX things don't look too promising. Have you tried this number: Good luck.

From my interpretation: Total energy used: 22.783 kWh. Total energy produced: 25.803 kWh. Only 3.02 kwh margin for losses or alternatively stated available for inefficiency. Don't know what the "official guideline" for system efficiency is? @plonkster Total storage capacity= 12 x 2400Watt x (80%/90% depth of discharge?) = 23.040 kwh /25.920 kwh. From studying the 5 minute interval log, I think you may be underestimating your actual loads. What happens at 12:25 - 13:45PM (uses more or less the same amount of electricity as your geyser).

Good day Everyone Always make sure the + is connected to the + unless the + must be connected to the -. Also understand that the - must be connected to the + and sometimes to the -.* Kind Regards, Corné *The above is intended as a joke. Please seek the assistance of a qualified professional. Discussion-Paper-Correct-Wiring-of-Double-Pole-DC-Breakers-LVL2-131210-v2.pdf

Hi Everyone Who thought switching to Lithium would be a measure to reduce theft. https://mybroadband.co.za/news/telecoms/351685-the-creative-ways-vodacom-fights-cellphone-tower-battery-thieves.html?fbclid=IwAR2JpihVnBVtUP_wM1P5rbL3DDoYh6vJ9LSuJOkhcCUVS0HaxmLBqV3Lbb4 Kind Regards, Corné

Good day Everyone Not exactly light reading but some of you may have a lot of time on hand. Why not read up on something that may interest you. The first link is the press release and the second the excel file with the url links to the e-books. 1) https://group.springernature.com/fr/group/media/press-releases/freely-accessible-textbook-initiative-for-educators-and-students/17858180 2) https://resource-cms.springernature.com/springer-cms/rest/v1/content/17858272/data/v4 Kind regards, Corné

Hi Everyone Please see the following post: https://powerforum.co.za/topic/5036-wires-through-roof/?do=findComment&comment=68572 Kind regards, Corné

Good day Everyone A test-report on batteries for what it is worth. https://www.solarquotes.com.au/blog/battery-test-7th-report/ Kind Regards, Corné

Who would have thought... From a shortage of 6000 MW earlier this year to an excess of 7000 MW. https://www.fin24.com/Economy/Eskom/just-in-eskom-halts-energy-supply-from-wind-producers-20200331

Ok, I think I understand it now: SANS 10142-1:2017 Ed 2 = The wiring of premises Part 1: Low-voltage installations. SANS 10142-1-1:2018 Ed 1 = The wiring of premises Part 1-1: Low-voltage installation in medical locations. SANS 10142-1-2:202X Ed ? = The wiring of premises: Part 1-2: Additional special requirements for low voltage small scale embedded generator installations connected in parallel to the normal electrical supply. SANS 10142-2:2018 Ed 1.02 = The wiring of premises Part 2: Medium-voltage installations above 1 kV a.c. not exceeding 22 kV a.c. and up to and including 3 MVA installed capacity. According to an article shared by @acs the standard was approved in Feb 2020. It is, however, not yet available on the SABS website to buy.

Good day Everyone @plonkster, what is the name/code of the standard you are referring to here? I must be missing something?

Good day Everyone I found this link: https://www.victronenergy.com/upload/documents/MultiPlus-II-to-MultiGrid-and-MultiPlus-comparison-EN.pdf Can someone maybe explain the differences to me in a very basic way? For example: When would one choose the one type over the other apart from the power differences. Which one should you choose for a back-up and lower Eskom bill situation? Kind regards, Corné

Hi Introverter, thank you for the very clear and detailed post. I appreciate it.

Good day everyone I saw these today... Anyone experience with them? https://mhn.co.za/shop/mecer-lifepo4-2-3-kw-lithium-iron-battery/?gclid=Cj0KCQjw3qzzBRDnARIsAECmryqRNVYJqC3BK9WfF_17XVtIljhcgzX48duvd71c43OrYsmfN44hWEMaAr0mEALw_wcB Kind regards, Corné

Good morning all. To which code are you referring to? Also, would it be possible to post a list of codes, standards and legislation one needs to follow shoul you wish to install a solar setup? I think a list of the above, compiled by the informed members on the forum, would be very valuable. I wish I could help but my knowledge stops at red = + and black = -. 😉

Hi Charl I smell a rat: https://powerforum.co.za/topic/4187-solarguru-rsacoza/ and https://powerforum.co.za/topic/4822-lfeli-48100tb-batteries/ Maybe the clever people on this forum can check the IP address thingies...

Seems like the MPPT is limited by the output capacity of the inverter being 2.4kw?

I remember reading (in other words I don't have the faintest whether this is correct) that if the shadowed panel is part of a string, only that string will be affected. It, does, in other words impact the other panels to which it is connected to in series. Not those to which it is connected to in parallel. The other thing I remember is that the shadowed parts of the panel will heat up... even to the extent of possible damage? Can anyone confirm?

Hi Everyone I came across this document explaining tripping curves in a language I could, more or less, understand. Corné Understanding Trip Curves.pdf

Good day Have anyone had experience with the UFO brand of Lithium Batteries? 5kw at R26 450. https://solaradvice.co.za/product/ufo-5kwh-lithium-ion-battery/ Kind Regards, Corné

Thanks everyone. See, this is why I love this forum. No questions is off the table.