ClintonDBN

Hi, do you have any idea what price you would be looking at for shipping to Hillcrest, KZN?

I'm upgrading from lead acid to lithium, as a result I'll have 8 rather large lead acid batteries to dispose of. Does anyone know of scrap dealers, or the like, in KZN who pay for old batteries? I've seen talk previously of a price per kg.

One further thing re HinaESS. The Hi-5 has a C rate of 1, the Hi-11.8 has a C rate of 0.43. Why would I choose the Hi-11.8 over 2x Hi-5? Would the 2x in parallel still give you 1C?

I'm currently using deep cycle gel on my offgrid system. 6 years down the line, daily cycle and I'm starting to get issues in the morning with the inverter switching off due to low battery voltage. Clearly we're approaching EOL. So I'm looking at going Lithium. I started doing some reading this week but already have a few questions. We currently use very little, at around 3kWh per day. We have a Victron MultiPlus-II 48/3000/35-32. Based on this, I presume I could actually get away with a 5kWh LFP with a 1c rating, but I'd prefer to allow some expansion room later, so thinking 10kWh. I'm seeing the HinaESS HI5 is 1c rated and comes in very cost effective per cycle and kWh. Would this work well with the Multiplus? And what is the quality and service like? I love Freedom Won but the price is much higher! What should I be looking for and should I just pay more

I'm driving myself crazy looking, relooking, thinking and rethinking how, or if, to connect the second Aux connector from the BMV-712 to my battery bank. I have read all the manuals but none mimic my system, so I'm battling to work out which +ves to connect to. Sorry for the crude image but this is my set up. 8 x 12v 100ah batteries in series / parallel giving 2 x 48v 200ah. The pink lines are the positive and negative outputs to busbars. The black rectangle at the top is the shunt placed on the negative output and connected to the BMV-712. The shunt has B1 and B2 terminals. Where do these connect? If I understand it correctly, B1 is connected to the +ve of same battery the -ve connects to the shunt. Shown by the orange line. Is this correct? If not, which positive should this be connected to? And then where would the midpoint be to connect B2? Or do I need B2 connected? Thank you!

Thanks, TaliaB, I'll take a closer look. I might just replace all the MC4 connectors to ensure they are properly crimped.

Talia, thanks so much for your assistance. I disconnected and tested each panel. They all looked fine, which concerned me as I felt I had my resolved the issue. However, it did resolve it! My assumption is that it was indeed one of the connections and by disconnecting, testing and reconnecting, I resolved it.

Thanks, I'll need to get on the roof and check each panel. I assume one would need full sun to check VOC on the panels, or not?

Simple newbie query: Multimeter voltage directly on cable from panels 119v Multimeter voltage on MPPT inputs with above cables plugged in 53v Is this normal?

I'm hoping someone can help. I have two strings of series panels connected to their own MPPT as below: String 1 :4 x Sunmodule as per specs below, connected to Victron SmartSolar MPPT 150/85. Settings Rotary 2 for Gel battery. Victron Connect readings: String 2 : 3 x ArtSolar as per the specs below, connected to Victron SmartSolar MPPT 150/35. Settings Rotary 2 for Gel battery. Victron Connect readings: Both connected via busbar to 48v Gel Lead Acid battery. The issue is the one MPPT is flashing the blue light. I am lead to believe this may mean the voltage from the panels is too low to charge. Yes, it is overcast today so output not great, but string 2 not charging even when brighter. Some points: 1. Both strings of panels are next to each other, with no shading at all. 2. I cleaned all panels to eliminate that being the issue. 3. Multimeter reading at the PV input on the MPPTs obviously confirms the Victron Connect solar voltage readings. 4. String 2 has been flashing for a while but still charging until yesterday. That's what is strange. 5. If one panel in string 2 is faulty, which I'm hoping is not the case as they are only two years old, how do I test? Can I check voltage with a multimeter across the MC4 connectors? 6. Why would the MPPT blue light flash even when voltage high enough to charge previously? 7. Could it be a faulty Victron MPPT? Any ideas of what else it could be as testing each panels is something I'd prefer to do as a last resort (it will mean unmountimg them)? Edit: I was just thinking, if it is a panel fault in series, would there be any voltage at all?

Thank you. 1. Yes, battery balancing is something I had pondered from the start. This system is slowly being built up. At the time I attempted to use best practice (cable lengths and connections) to assist with balancing the load. Looking to get lithium soon so want to prioritise the most important things. 2. I've read that with series panels a fuse is not a priority. Explorist delved into this: 3. Yip, everyone needs their pound of flesh 😜

Thanks. Surge protectors? Is this an electrical requirement or a nice to have? I am near Durban so, as far as I'm aware, lightning strikes are rare. I also live in a faraday cage (ibr sheet structure), so not sure if that makes a difference. I see they're expensive too! Solar is a bottomless money pit. This is an offgrid system so I'm not connected to the grid?

Thanks for spotting the solarworld string issue. I had picked that up, which is why I highlighted it. I asked this question on a thread specific to my entire set up. Your opinion?

Okay, the subject was a little dramatic but I am needing some eyes on this system plan to advise what looks wrong, and help with a few queries. Anything that immediately jumps out as an issue? Yes, I am using a fuse holder as a busbar as it works out cheaper (strangely!). Batteries are lead acid, 200ah at 48v. Eventually they'll be replaced with lithium. Questions: 1. Given the output of the panels, do I even need fuses between the MPPT and battery busbar? My (perhaps mistaken) understanding is that the fuse protects the cable. A 6mm PV cable has a rating of 60+a, which those panel strings won't push out, even in perfect conditions (from what I can tell). 2. The fuse holder/busbar is 250a rated which should be fine for three MPPTs of 60,85 and 35a attaching to, and then off to the 200Ah 48v battery? 3. I've highlighted the Solarworld panels as I realised 150.4 VOC means too much for the 150/85 MPPT. It has been like that for over 5 years now, so, I know it should be rewired to parallel/series, but can I assume it is unlikely to be an issue? I want to avoid parallel. I presume over that time components had deteriorated so things would have decreased further. 4. What is generally, and cost effectively, used as an isolator switch between the panels and the MPPT? I am considering two of these. That'll allow a 4th string if needed but it works out cheaper that 3 x 2p isolators anyway.

I have found mouser and digikey that offer smaller littelfuse mega fuses but cost is high after delivery - R1316 for three fuses!