Pietpower

Still happening, did not find a solution.

I hope someone can assist me. The battery SOC is not displaying on the graph. Is there a setting of way to get it to display. When I go into the devices section graph it does display but would like it to also show on the landing page. The latter for some reason does not show the load again.

Here is a similar product although at a much higher price. Does not seem to cover LiFePo4 https://www.4x4andmore.co.za/products/20-amp-dual-purpose-dc-to-dc-charger-with-mppt?variant=50192571654&currency=ZAR&utm_medium=product_sync&utm_source=google&utm_content=sag_organic&utm_campaign=sag_organic&srsltid=AfmBOopSZtKsx0mtAuV36YF4fNPVOVRd_4Zzma09iU6tgZku9fe_Om1OAO8

Had it for about a year now and not really used it. Need to make a plan

Yes, not that I understand how it can't convert batteries 50V to 230V but can still convert the solar voltage to 230V?

It is possible to remove it temporary, but who can repair it?

A few weeks ago we had lightning. At first I thought nothing was damaged, but now I don't have backup power anymore. The batteries charged to 100% and now they stay there. I have restarted or rebooted everything. Reran the PV master setup to make sure about the usage setting (General). The batteries measure correct voltage and all lights are fine. The inverter runs fine from solar power and grid power. Just don't seem to use batteries at all. When I disconnect solar and grid everything shuts down even though the batteries give voltage to the inverter. The system is a Goodwe 4.8 (ES) Batteries Pylontech 3000 3.5kWh - 2off JA solar panels 3.8kW Any suggestions? I suspect the inverter has got some damage and these are not supported anymore thus it would imply a new inverter.

This thread is specific to Sonoff and geysers. With the POW range of sonoff you can measure power usage of the geyser but it does not work if you use a relay. With the POW sonoff switches you can set a current limit so if you get a element shorting then it can switch off without damage. On the POWR2 the 15A rating seems too close thus hoping the 20A rating of the POWR3 is enough.

OK so the second one lasted me a bit more than a year now. Next up I am trying the improver 20A version. https://www.robofactory.co.za/smart-switches/497-sonoff-pow-20a-elite-smart-power-meter-switch.html

I vaguely remember studies that scaling actually increased the efficiency of a heating element due to the larger surface area. Up to a point and not applicable to boilers etc.

Under correction but I think the breaker for your secondary board should not be connected via the earth leakage. You should have another earth leakage device in the secondary board for the plug circuit.

Few things to ponder: Normally a cable supply from one to another DB is SWA (Armoured cable). Don't know what the legalities are about running wiring in conduits. Electrician should be able to give you answers. Current carrying capacity should not be a problem. 2.5 I think can carry 20A. Voltage drop as mentioned above would be an issue and requires a thicker cable as mentioned. Fault currents to be kept in mind. Cascading of breakers. Get an expert to check. If your earth leakage trip then the breaker is most likely in the wrong position in the board. Get someone in the know to check. Maybe it is an option to install a lights and plugs breaker in the main house DB and run twin and earth in conduit for each to the flat bypassing the DB in the flat. Someone in the know can comment.

Portable aircons sucks. The suck the cold air from your room to cool the condensing side and that brings efficiency down. If you have a two pipe unit or can connect the condensing inlet to suck air from outside you can double the efficiency of the unit.

What does a 300MH/s rig cost nowadays? From your graphs it looks like the rig use about 750W of power. Is this correct?

Do places like Makro etc use this micro grid systems? Where can I see more of how it works?

With the load profile of a shopping mall or office block mostly on during the day it makes sense to have a grid tied solution with little or no backup. But are these guys still without power during loadshedding? Must be frustrating to have all those solar panels on not being able to use the power during loadshedding. Surely there must be a way to disconnect from the grid and keep the power on while controlling the load (switching off AC etc)?

Was my reference point too but then you deviated to people dropping glasses after hours? 😜 But my question still stands: Does it matter if it is loadshedding or not? On most inverters when there is little sun you will draw power from the battery whether LS or not?

So you use a 1800-2200W vacuum to vacuum glass shards at night and it takes you an hour... 😜

Now that is just plain rude to brag about your vacuum and solar system by vacuuming at night during loadshedding when everyone else is sitting in the dark. 😜 On the odd occasion that the vacuum is used during loadshedding it would most likely be when there is enough solar power to cover the load and not drain the batteries. Actually, depending on the system, does it matter if it is during or outside loadshedding?

Firstly distinguish between kW and kWh Vacuum maybe 0.75kW and used for say 30min 0.75 x 0.5 = 0.375kWh Washing machine on cold cycle? Then what else do you use during the day? Dishwasher? Iron? Kettle? Then you will have two scenarios in my opinion. - Daytime with base load (fridges, wifi etc) and high kW short time items - Night time with base load with maybe some added stuff like lights, tv, phones charging or whatever your profile is. (night time load also drops after bedtime) For argument lets say you use 2.8kWh during the day for intermittent / higher load appliances and an average base load or 300W (0.3kW x 24h = 7.2kWh) to make up the 10kWh used. Your battery is 5.12 x 90% = 4.6kWh usable Day: 4.6-2.8=1.8/0.3= 6hours Night 4.6/0.3= 15hours Just for illustration on a best guess and your figures might differ depending on your load profile.

The first calculator on this page can calculate time for you https://bloglocation.com/art/water-heating-calculator-for-time-energy-power

Yes the Mecer/Axpert monitor systems I have seen always looked like an after the fact add on and not proper.

It is about striking a balance. If your solar panels can produce say 4kW and the battery can deliver say 2.5kW you have a total of 6.5kW available but can only use 5kW. Not a problem imho, your savings might be slightly less and your battery might last a bit longer with less load or cycling on it.

Yes you can, but only up to 5kW. The rest will come from the grid. In your original post you mentioned 30kWh per day. Those panels above is probably gonna give 20kWh per day in Gauteng. 30kWh then you are probably using 10-15kWh at night and a 5kWh battery is not going to last long. You can set it to keep say 30% for loadshedding and use grid power the remainder of the night. If I had to do this again I would probably get 2 x 5kW off grid inverters for a similar price to the 5kW hybrid and just put the whole house on solar system. Would save a fair bit on rewiring the DB and spend that on additional solar panels. Just need to keep the total load below 10kW with some load relays and timers. Also need to balance the system with enough solar power and battery power otherwise it would switch to grid.

Also intrigued. Original quote mentioned you don't use battery power but with Goodwe and most hybrids you do use batter and solar for a large upstream load. My geyser uses battery power during the day and when the water is hot the solar recharge the battery again. Wish I could set it not to use battery power on non essential loads after say 3pm. From the posts I thought the Sunsynk had a non essential side, essential connection and a third or extra connection.