Gerrie

I remember way back when I worked for Eskom when we still switched 22KV lines back manually we would monitor the amp, volt and kvar meters as customers, loads came back on, and had to sometimes quickly switch off the breaker as those big industrial loads and pumps caused haywire on those meters and you could hear the stain on transformers and switching of capacitor banks to try and cope with loads. We had the old experts (oomies in khakie)who timed things and switch on-off up to about four times by the fourth time those pumps starting currents were little less as motors started getting motion and it could be seen on the amp meters. These days I think it all works on auto from the control room and if the protection settings were not set correct we see things blow up.

I was also wondering what are they actually saving. Is Eskom actually trying to save their own cash flow from buying less Diesel. Especially if you buy diesel for customers who do not pay for the use of this service. It might make political correct sense to implement load-shedding and stay away from power cuts.

I had a silly idea the other day. I use gel batteries 4 x 12V(120AH) so I have a 125A circuit breaker to disconnect my batteries from inverter. (I don’t have those nice fuse link disconnector yet). But if I add a extra inline fuse of about 100A dc in between my battery bank say between battery 2 and 3 to cause a open circuit should one of my batteries decide to go south, would that add extra protection against battery boom’s?

@Saint, I am no expert with plumbing but have installed my own evt geyser. What I used was the diagram that comes with the pressure regulator, that shows all the pipework and safety for geysers. All geyser are basically the same except for the over temperature valve that has to be added for solar geysers. Than you just add shut-off valves at own discretion for maintenance. In the box when purchasing the geyser there should also be a manual indicating all the parts like inlet, outlet, element, thermo-couple and all the different threaded ports on your specific geyser.

Do these inverters have any noisy warning alarms, and if so can they be set to silent?

Axperts are also noisy, I ended up moving mine to the garage now everybody is happy.

Yes, that is correct you will loose only the string that has the shadow, your other strings will still be generating power as normal. I use a Axpert 5KVA so I don’t know if other inverters will have the same effect.

Rough estimate, your total load is about 4000W per hour that you want to draw for 2hours on batteries. 4000W per Hr x 2 = 8000Wh required I would go for 400AH x 48V = 19200Wh This should be ok if you don’t want to discharge batteries more than 50%. Anybody please rectify me if this does not look right.

I got the answer after doing a little test with a blanket over the panels. I installed two new panels as a string on its own. I through a blanket over them and there pv power output fell away completely, but it did not effect my other two strings pv output as the old ones were still generating power as normal. I also pulled the fuses on the new string, it has the same effect as throwing a blanket over that string. So my conclusion is don’t put pv panels in the shade unless you have another plan. Now I just need to convince my wife I want to borough her dressing table mirror for a while and fit it on the chimney for my final test as Deepbass9 allegedly suggests

These cable ties should make about 2 to 3 years, they are not UV protected. You do get the stainless steel straps that would be a better option, but you need a tool to fit them.

Interesting topic, just out of interest a while back I done some welding in the garage, I used my old oil bath welder and not my inverter welder because the oil bath was closer to the job, My home were running off grid at the time. I got a nice surprise when I realised my welds where as smooth with the oil bath welder as like when using my inverter welder. Even the sound was similar to that of my inverter welder, which has that distinct inverter welding sound. So I guess you can turn a old school oil bath welder into a inverter welder.

I doubt there is anybody in South Africa using the gse roofing system, I have seen tesla also using similar roofing system. I think it’s just a matter of time before these will become more popular especially with architectural designs.

What about SMA compared to Victron ?

What Bobster said is so true and one thing not to forget is the fact that most of us on this forum live in S.A. These problems we are seeing is probably just the beginning of what lies ahead. It’s also a matter of trying to be pro-active now and not to be sorry later. It is difficult to justify the purchase of expensive solar system, but the positives still outnumber the negatives. If you invest say R50k on a system, it’s not money gone down the drain, that system could still have a value of at least say 50% or more after ROI. By the time ROI occurs that systems will cost more than double it is now. So the sooner you start the more you will benefit. Battery replacement will have to be done at some stage, but that you need to make provision for. It’s like replacing an old car. Positives to consider. 1. Solar gives you piece of mind, your fridges and deep freezers won’t easily defrost. (You can now buy that hind quarter without worries) 2. You can use that air-con during the day without worrying what the bill will be like. 3. If lights are left on during the day there is no worry of extra payment on bills. 4. Hot water is not a problem during Eskom load shedding anymore. 5. Alarms, cctv, gate motors will not bail on you with flat batteries. 6. Eskom yearly increase will not have a big effect on your pocket. 7. When the neighbours phone you if your power is on and you have to tell them you don’t know, that’s when you realize how lucky you are.

I would think the installers are in some cases buying equipment on overdraft moneys from banks, this costs money, plus the risk of a customer not paying, In my opinion it is just fair for installer to have a mark up on goods. Otherwise the customer should rather supply the goods if he want to save that mark up.