Elro

Thanks for the advice everyone. Have a clearer picture of what I should do. My main aim was to have power for son and wife during outages, that was achieved but then the solar bug bit(I should have known). It will take awhile but my path will be to install a larger 48v system seperately and go from there. It will take awhile as I am a pensioner and have to count the pennies LOL

The manufacturer of the batteries warns not to try and connect in series to convert them to 48v, so I agree will have to go your route Denns and get another inverter and have a separate circuit for the kitchen appliances, looks like the easiest route.

I would like to ask the forum what 24v hybrid inverter would you recommend, to replace my existing, one that can be paralleled with a second one. I would like to start budgeting as the idea of been self sufficient is really appealing. Had no idea a year ago that I would be so far down this road

My road to the system I have now has a few kinks, son works from home and where we live power outages are a way of life so bought a system to keep him going, 3.5kw inverter/ 6 x 460w panels/ 1 x 100a/h battery, it was just not enough to keep him going overnight, he has a pc that needs a nuclear power station to run. Realised we were actually saving on electricity. First mistake, no stock in SA to add to this battery, sold it for the same price I bought and decided lets get 4 x 200a/h batteries and also install the geyser system and upgrade the solar panels, sold the old ones(6 months old) what a rabbit hole. I was enjoying myself until I slipped on the coated IBR roof and cracked my coccyx on the ridge and in slow motion proceeded to slide down, fortunately thru the tears was able to hook my heels in the gutter to stop from going splatt. Mistake 2 and 3, realised I could not upgrade the 24v 3.5kw inverter to 5kw( maybe you can explain the problem?) and to make things worse my inverter cannot be paralleled with another. The reason I only have 5 of the 6 panels up is there is no stock of the low mounting steel brackets for the steel rails I used. so have made my own now and will install the 6th panel this coming week.

Thank you Denns, was told by a solar installer that the 6 panels (have 5 currently installed) I want to install would create at least a burnt inverter and at most a mini chernobyl disaster. I have 4 x 200a/h (+-20kwh) batteries and a Inge geyser solar system with 4 x 460w panels and fortunately a gas stove, everything in the house runs of solar/batteries except kitchen appliances which are connected directly to grid. My power consumption from grid averaged 35 units per day and has dropped to an average of 8.9units per day. A large saving and couldn't be happier, I installed everything myself and had a COC done. The story concerning installation from beginning to end is a story for another day. LOL

Sorry forgot to mention, I have the 3.5KVA inverter

How many solar panels can I safely connect to my inverter,below is the spec sheets for both, I have been given different answers? ecco specs

Journey of a newbie, live on a smallholding northeast of Pretoria. Electricity supply is spotty at best, my son and wife work from home most of the time, so decided to buy a small system to keep them up, especially my son as he only works at night. We can have 2 to 3 outages per week of at least 24hrs. Bought a 3.5kw 24v inverter with a 100ah battery and 6 x 360w solar. Should have known better. Installed myself and had the CoC done. My son bought a power pc that guzzles and slurps electricity like a V8 on steroids. The battery does not last over night. Mistake no.1 Additional battery cannot be found in SA. No stock available???? Found a 200ah battery at reasonable price. Installed and working. Sold the old (6months old) 100ah. In the meantime had a look at our stats and realised we were saving money. Our average consumption before solar was 35 units/day, suddenly it was down to 25 units/day on average. The bug starts biting. Decided to add another 3x 200ah batteries for a total of around 20kwh. Then had a purely solar geyser heater system installed. Things are looking up. Also 5 x 560w panels as replacement. Our usage dropped further to an average now of 8 units per day, a major saving. Mistake no 2. Why does 24v even exist, cannot get a 5kw inverter in 24v, get conflicting explanations, and to add to my woes cannot parallel my inverter, so i am stuck. Installer of my geyser solar system had a look at my system and threw his hands up, telling me that the system should explode any day in a mushroom cloud reminiscent of chernobyl. I have too many panels up and the inverter is the worst, let him grumble ad nauseam and pulled out the specs whereupon he walked away shaking his head. havent seen or heard from him again. Getting long winded and have questions for a later date. Keep solaring