superdiy

No, unless they specify that the specific isolator may be used for DC. The DC rating would normally also be much less than the AC rating.

Hi Igubu Are you not perhaps talking about an energy monitor when you are referring to a smart meter. A smart meter is a type of KWh meter installed by some municipalities - not something you buy at Builders - you don't want to get even close to a smart meter or have it installed in your home - that thing is like a cell-tower in your home.

The last few clear days 20/21 June, which were the shortest days of the year, I got between 12 & 13 KWh per day - that is from a 3KWp system. Initially 11 panels (2750Wp) were installed in March and all 12 panels (3000Wp) were only installed somewhere towards the end of April - I'll have to wait and see how much I get on 21 December. In March, on the 2750Wp installation, I got between 19 & 20 KWh on a clear day and the reported peak at that stage with 11 panels were 3.06 KW (from a 2750Wp installation), but that happened when clouds moved inbetween the sun and the panels - apparently the edges of the clouds acts as magnifiers and you get more focused light on the panels.

Hi Chris I assume you are referring to what they call "Joint Utility and Solar Charging" current (page 30) when you mention 60A DC and 60A AC? That will not be an AC input current of 60A, but rather 60A DC from the Utility (60A DC output from the built-in AC charger) and 60A DC from Solar and that is why they have the value of 120A Max. If you were drawing 60A AC (@ say 220V), the current at 50V (48V) will be ((220 x 60) / 50) => 264Amp - Please note that this is just a sample calculation for illustrative purposes.

OK, seems that I misunderstood you. I thought you want to shutdown the inverter (output) when you reach a certain preset level, but reading your initial post again it seems that you want to control a relay at a certain level and I think what you want to achieve by that is to disconnect certain circuits with the relay, am I understanding it correctly now? OK, so why don't you use the on-board relay (Dry Contact Signal, page 10 in the manual) for that purpose? Since the relay can only handle 3A, you might want to use it to switch a standard contactor (or relay with 220V coil) which in turn can switch anything on or off (depending on the contact rating of the contactor). Then you don't have to buy a separate battery monitor/cut-off device.

The "Output source priority" setting on your inverter will determine the exact reason why BYPASS is displayed. If you look at Mode Operation Information in the manual you will see that BYPASS indicates that the load is supplied by utility power - that means that the inverter is not running at that moment, in other words, no battery power and no solar power is used to supply the load (all the appliances connected to the output of the inverter), but utility power (ESKOM) power supplies the load directly - power comes in from ESKOM, BYPASSES the inverter and supplies the LOAD. In other words, I cannot give you a straight answer why BYPASS is only visible at times - it all depends on the "Output source priority" setting on your inverter and the current state of the battery and PV availability. It is maybe a good idea to consult the person who did your installation - these inverters have so many configuration options and if you just install the system without configuring anything, the system should work, but usually not at optimum level.

Yes, for safety reasons you'll have to install a fuse or breaker in the PV line. I also had some trouble sourcing it since the suppliers didn't have stock when I tried to acquire the fuses and holders. I ended up buying the fuses from RS and the holders from a local ACDC Dynamics reseller.

Why don't you just set the "Low DC cut-off" value to a value of approximately 30%DOD?

The rails are called Unistrut or Cabstrut. (http://www.cabstrut.co.za/cabstrut_intro.html) Any electrical supplier should be able to supply it. I've used the 1.5mm P2000 channels, you also get them in 1mm thickness, but those are a bit flimsy. The connecting brackets I've used are not Unistrut/Cabstrut products - I designed my own brackets and they were lasercut. I also dipped all the cut ends of the channels in galvanised iron cleaner/etchant, then thouroughly rinsed them in clean water and coated them with "Hammerite Direct to Galvanised Metal Paint" to retard corrosion.

These are infinis.

I don't mind the mid-clamps, but to get the ball into the allen-cap - that was more of a struggle.

Very neat install!

Normal crimping tool works just fine - it might take you a few seconds longer per crimp, but for a once-off DIY job I guess a minute or two on the total job is not too bad. I crimped and then soldered mine for better reliability.

You will always get galvanic corrosion between dissimilar metals, just more between certain metals and less between others. The potential difference between zinc (plated) and aluminium is much lower than between copper and aluminium - if you would make use of the zinc plated clips or lugs the corrosion should be much less than between copper and aluminium. If you are inland you should also have less worries than if you are close to the sea. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galvanic_corrosion

Usually any metal component housing should be grounded and it should not cause any harm to any of the components if you do so using the recommended grounding points. All these grounding points should also be connected to the house ground / common ground in the AC DB (as you mentioned). Lightning (basically anything) will always take the path of least resistance. You can ground your PV panels (and frames) by means of a cable directly from the panels to an earth-rod to help when lightning strikes the panels, but you should also connect that to the normal house ground in order to eliminate possible potential differences between the separate grounds. I will not advise anybody to ground the batteries UNLESS your specific inverter installation documentation clearly states that you may ground e.g. the battery negative. If the installation instructions of the inverter does not clearly indicate that you may do this, you might damage your inverter.

T105-RE or maybe the Sonic AGM/GEL as cheap options. If you have lots of money you can go for the high A/H 2V cells.

That is very cheap!

Visit www.solarpaneltilt.com to get the formulas to calculate the optimum tilts for each season. 6A fuses will not work - they will blow all the time. I would suggest at least 12A fuses - from the "Littlefuse Fuse Selection Guide": NORMAL OPERATING CURRENT: The current rating of a fuse is typically derated 25% for operation at 25

Fair enough, BUT, always a but. These are worst case conditions - you will only get 514V if the panels are brand new, perfectly clean, the sun shines at 1000W/m2 or better and hits the panels @ 90

Hi Chris Everything sounds do-able. Just one suggestion from my side: Rather start with 3KW instead of starting with 2KW and adding 1KW later. Keep in mind that even with 3KW panels you would not neccessarily get 3KW unless the irradiance is 1000W/m2 and the sunlight is hitting the panels directly (not at an angle) - most of the time you will get much less than 3KW from panels totalling 3KW. Working on 3KW (12 x 250W panels) all connected in series (1 string), their MPP voltage is around 30V per panel x 12 which gives you 360V. The MPPT voltage range on the Imeon is between 120V and 450V. The MPP amps is around 8 amps which would is also lower than the Imeon's 18A limit. Open circuit voltage for the string would be about 12 x 38V => 456V which is also below the limit of 510V - thus according to me it should work perfectly.

Titanium elements are more efficient than normal elements. More info here: http://www.nu-inc.co.za/nuthermo/titanium-elements/

Delano (http://www.gumtree.co.za/u-seller-listings/v1u100261270p1) Small 1 or 2KW Axpert inverter panel and batteries.

www.batterypitstop.co.za - cheapest I could find. Unfortunately they can't supply the RE models. If you want the RE model, try Delano (http://www.gumtree.co.za/u-seller-listings/v1u100261270p1)