Chris Kitson

Hi Arandoza. I cant use the controller as an output as its completely powered by the panels. Sun up, power on, sun down power off. So the best solution would be a stand alone power setup. Panel, controller and battery.

Hi Tim. It powers the panels for our borehole. Im wanting to put a security camera there that we can view from the house through wifi.

Thanks for the feedback. Will look at the various options.

Hi Kyuubi. Thanks for the reply. Can I confirm a few things related to the attached pic. As a first option could I install a Ubiquiti at the house (blue dot) and see if I will get wifi coverege at the panels 250m away? Is it that simple? If this doesnt work then I would add another unit attached to a power box as mentioned above?

Hi there. We are an offgrid farm and I have solar panels around 250m away from the house. The house has wifi. There is no power at the panels. I am looking to create a stand alone solar powered power box to power the wifi. My 2 questions would be.. 1. How could I extend our house wifi the 250m or more to cover the solar panels. I would install a 3-5m pole at the panels to extend above any trees to improve signal. 2. What would the outdoor solar power box be made up off to power the wifi receiver. Thanks

Thanks Scoobs

Thanks all for the replies. Helps a lot. We have a good electrician in the town and will get him out to decipher the info and can perhaps set something up based on the above. We are looking into extended wifi used on farms where a wifi signal is triangulated over a distance of 300 to 800m. That may not only give us more possibilities but we could set up wifi cameras for safety too.

Scorp have 24/7 wifi at home but no signal at pump.

I opened this topic a while ago and since then, we are now living on the farm so would like to raise the subject again as I have had no progress. We have 9 solar panels that run a 220v 1.1kw submersible pump run through an inverter and capacitor ( see pic ). There is no power. It's in the bush and 300m away from the house. When the sun comes up, the pump runs and when the sun sets, the water stops. The pumped water is emptied into 2 x 5000l tanks each with a non powered overflow. When the water overflows one tank, I switch to the next one manually or let it run down a small stream. I am ( simply? ) wanting to control the pump times so that I don't waste water. Have tried countless geyser timers but they just pop when the power comes on. Too many amps I think. Would love a switch at the house ( 300m ) to turn it on and off manually but I guess the cabling would be too long and expensive. The geyser timer doesn't work. I have asked a number of solar guys in the area but it just seems so complicated and they don't seem willing. Any thoughts or suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Complete electrical novice but youtube friendly...

Eurard, thanks once again for your help...

Its a 1000w inverter, not 1500w.

Good morning clever people. We got my (old) parents a simple load-shedding kit in a box that consisted of a 1000w inverter and a 105ah deep cycle battery just to operate their tv and decoder. We are swopping the 105ah deep cycle for a 200ah gel to allow for longer viewing. Im petrified of over charging and there is no alarm to say when the battery is full or getting empty other than the small screen on the inverter. My question, is there a small and simple bms, charge controller or alarm that I can easily add to assist with the management of the battery?

Perfect thanks

Thanks Gmac. The gels arent even 6 months old.

Thanks so much. Very helpful. Ive heard a shock by solar is not pleasant. Will up life insurance. Didnt think of keeping gels for future options. Good idea

Good morning. I have posted on here before about the capacity of my battery system and how to improve it and had useful responses. I took that info to the guy who installed my system for a quote to upgrade. No response. Forwarded to another contractor in our area (Montagu). Nothing. Clearly everyone is making lots of money. I have attached pics of my system. My questions.. 1. Can I do the swop from gel to lithium myself? 2. The suggestion was a Greenrich 5kwh lithium battery. Where is the best place to get this? So many suppliers. 3. Is there a market for my 4x gels and suggested selling price to offset lithium battery cost? Thanks

Thank you for all the helpful replies. One last question. I cant add another 1 or 2 gels to the current system? Would be ideal. My understanding is the system is 48v.

Bob thank you very much for your replies. Much appreciated. I think the solution may be a single 5kwh lithium for the cottage..

Bob thanks for the replies. The cottage is offgrid so no issue with charge time. What Im getting is that our capacity os too little. Next quick question, we have 3 x 3.3kwh lithium batteries at our house. We can survive off 2 so can we take 1 and place it in the cottage?

Hi all. We are battling with the capacity of our guest cottage solar system. System is.. 4 x 200ah Ritar gel batteries 5 kva Riosun 48v inverter charger 6 x 420w poly canadian solar panels It was installed last year October with guests staying from late December. It started fine but seems to have lost capacity. Its a basic cottage that had a kettle, toaster, microwave, 2x gas electric geysers (70w when engaged ), led lighting, 2 ceiling fans ( 70w at max ) and wifi. We have since removed the kettle. Problem is the batteries will be fully charged ( 57v ) quickly but then come 5pm theres a quick drop to around 52v if something is used like the microwave for a short period. Then its a steady decline from there even if theres an average of 50 to 100w usage from lights or a ceiling fan. Then usually by 4am the system is depleted and trips. My questions... Are there enough batteries to keep the house powered through the night? Why is there such a quick drop early evening? Is there possibly a weak battery? What can we do to resolve? We have been told to increase the battery capacity we would need to add 4 batteries because its a 48v setup. I have added photos that show consumption and battery between 5pm and 6pm and 4am and 7am. Thanks

Hi there. We have a gas geyser on our renovated container. The water supply is a tank about 40m away around 2m above the geyser. I dont have an issue with pressure as it starts up the geyser flame and we get piping hot water. We are able to regulate the hot-cold mix of water through the kitchen and bathroom taps. However, the shower is an issue. The hot water fluctuates from off to extreme heat and we cant get an even temperature no matter how much we adjust the cold tap. Is it something to do with the fact that the shower outlet is a similar height or higher than the gas geyser or is there another issue? Thanks

Thanks guys for the assistance. Has helped a lot.

Hi there We have a small container home ( 6m ) and are looking for a basic solar system. The wiring has been done in the cabin through a DB box and there are 3 LED lights installed inside and 4 LEDs outside. I am basically wanting a system that can charge 2 mobile phones, a laptop, 2 tablets and 60W camping fridge ( doesn't run all day ) during the day through the panels and then have ( minimal ) storage at night to run the 3 LEDs, the fridge and perhaps a mobile phone and tablet. I assume this will require a deep cycle battery. My understanding would be that I need maybe a 360W solar panel, a charge controller, an inverter ( not sure of W ) and perhaps 1 or 2 105AH deep cycle batteries. Any suggestions?

Thanks Stoic

Hi Stoic Thanks for the info. Is it still possible with this controller ( see attached ) that's been installed?