Warlok

Start up current can be up to 7X more than running. Keep that in mind

Hi. Is this the best way to prolong battery life? As I understand from reading a few forums and posts, a battery only has a certain amount of cycles before it dies. So, if I keep my batteries at float voltage and only start discharging them once the grid goes down, will this make my batteries last longer? or should I just cycle them every day at night? (They can handle the load with 70% left when the sun comes out and takes over to re-charge them) This will bring my utility bill down, but at the cost of the batteries been cycled a lot more. I've set up solpiplog to change the charge priority so the batteries never goes below 99%, unless we have very bad overcast. Don't mind using the batteries, but will this behaviour really make my batteries last a few years more?, or a few months? or should I just don't worry and use them? I haven't posted this forum for a long time. Any views/comments on this would be greatly appreciated. Ha

Thanks man. Point #2 on the sticker have me worried a bit. "DO NOT disconnect pv panels or batteries while load is connected" Sometime I should just RTFM

Thanks Tripple T. I'm sure my second inverter will be a much better choice after all of you guys help. I'll just ride this one like a rental till it explodes.

Put this in between the panels and the pv input? Simple, 08h00 on and 16h00 off?

Can I maybe use a contactor wired to a simple electronic timer? I'm going to blow something up, just wait and see.....

Thanks Plonkster. Built my first little 8bit pc in st6 to do home automation. Control lights and so on. Used 8 relays to control the shebang. Actually was a school project. Got an F for that because it wasn't the norm, (everybody else had what a normal st6 child had). Good times (1981) Also thought what it would like to be able to have a device I could hold in my hand to do everything, like the smartphones of today. But, wrong time, wrong place. Thanks for the advice. Will give it a go.

Thanks PaulF007 Was just thinking about my plan and I read somewhere that everything must be switched on and off in a certain sequence. I could just maybe blow something up.

Just a thought. Can I use a timer to switch my solar panels on and off? Got the system up and running again, followed the great advice from the forum members. The reason for my thinking is; I have the crappy clone fake inverter and in the early morning and late afternoon (between 06h00-07h00 and 16h00-17h00) the bloody thing does not know what to do. It switches between solar and battery a dozen times when the pv input is trying to generate power (between maybe 40w to 60w) Not exactly sure, but around there. Would it be better if I keep the panels off between 16h00 and 07h00 and have them switch on once the sun is up? I will bear with it if its cloudy or overcast or whatever. So far pv has saved me about 250 units ( about R471.00). That's R471.00 eskom is NOT getting from me🙂. Great forum as always. Thanks to Coulomb, SilverNodashi, The TerribleTriplet. (en die oom met die groot baard) Much appreciated.

Thank you very much. I have family living in Brisbane. The prices are ridiculous where I live. That's why I couldn't get anything better. Lesson well learnt.

Sorry how this looks, It's in the garage. What I meant was, I can't get a screwdriver in there to open it up. I'm renting, but moving very soon. End of April. I have already disconnected everything. Just wanted to see if everything works before I move to a new house that's more permanent so it can be installed properly. And a very big "thank you" to the salesman which I will not name. (maar die wiel draai) Thank you (no really) for the help. With your help I am ready to make more informed choices in future

Hi, where did you find the software?

Good day to all. I have installed my system on Friday 19th of April which is the following; 1x MKS 5KVA (looks like not branded) 4x 6-CNFJ-100 Allgrand GEL-VRLA-BATTERY 3x 400w Canadian solar panels Model type CS3W-400P This was the absolute maximum my budget would allow. Now I have a few questions if you don't mind. 1. The image attached shows a menu on the inverter I can not find in any manual. (The other one on the right says ALL, but it was flashing). Does anybody know what this is for? Also menu #16 on the inverter do not match. Inverter shows SnU, oSo, Uti, Sol and the manual shows CSO, CUt, SNU, OSO. 2. Specs indicate that the 5kva needs 200ah batteries, but the salesman said 100ah would work, which it does, so I think I'm getting half the battery run time. (100ah 48v compared to 200ah 48v). This was another budget restriction. (CRAP!) 3. Googled the batteries and found only good reviews about them. Says it's Lead Crystal (sound very grand) Are they as good as they say, like they could totally discharge to 0 without damage? which I would never do. My back to grid voltage is set to 51V. Still wondering if 48V (default) would be better, but if Eskom load-sheds at night, I have less run time? 4. This happens constantly. Watchpower lose and establishes communication about five times a minute, but only at night when I'm not on solar. I found that this is very crappy software. 5. The inverter is connected to a wall socket using 2.5mm 3 core, so I limited the charging from utility to 10Amps. Is this ok? I live in a small (ish) house so I can not hook up to the db. It's one of those crappy sealed db boards. 6. Stuff hooked up to the inverter is, Fridge 120w Freezer 240w Laptop about 20w inc. all the internet equipment TV+Android box 150w Amplifier About 100w LED tube lights 18w x2 It was a cloudy few days, But once I managed to generate 1.2kw out of the panels. (is that even possible, or is the display wrong on the inverter?) During the day I use about 630w, but varies as the appliances switch on and off. I would like to know if it is at all possible when solar goes below the load, say 400w that utility helps the load, the other 230w and not go to battery, so as my batteries are topped up if load-shedding occurs during the night. I found that late afternoon when it starts getting dark, it uses battery power and when its dark the utility starts charging the batteries. What settings on the inverter do I need to change and to what?. Maybe battery (FULL)? or higher back to grid voltage? Thank you for a great forum. I have found many answers that could relate to my questions, but I'm not sure they relate to my setup.