starmage

Agreed the app and portal are fantastic. The actual hardware support however not so much - had an incident 2 years ago - my Multiplus inverter blew all its caps -- the result from the "support" team was that it was dust related (the inverter was only installed for 2 yrs at that time inside the house...) and that dust isnt covered by their warranty -- ended up going with Sunsynk - very happy with the inverter but they do have a lot of issues with their portal/app data updates.

And just my luck - the noise stopped. All is now quiet - and that was before the installer was here Looks like some weird combination of things (PV starting up (the sound started +-just after 6 and was basically gone when we checked now @ 9), Eskom online (LS ended @ 6), low load (+- 400w)) WIll keep my eye (or ear ) on it - installer had a check and all looks good (he had to add some surge protection device to the PV strings). So yea this is just weird

Ok....but then why did it not make any noise in the 1st 24 hours and it only started after our last round of load-shedding ended - I did more than 13kWh yesterday and didnt hear anything throughout the day

mm not sure - but it did start just after our load-shedding ended this morning. I have contacted my installer and he will be sending someone to have a look All looks OK and I don't see any faults on the inverter, just the annoying buzz/hum Have attached the sound WhatsApp Ptt 2023-03-09 at 06.29.05.ogg

Just had a 5kw Subsynk installed. 1st 24 hours it ran without any noise. Woken up this morning and it was buzzing. Is this normal ? How do I get it back to being quiet ? Or why did it not make a noise in the 1st 24 hours ?

Good points - and isnt the unit supposed to switch off when it gets too hot ? I didnt receive any alarms - I was looking at the console about that time (LS ended about 30 minutes earlier) and saw that it was pulling from grid and not solar - I was still investigating when I heard the noise. Thereafter I switched it off and contacted the installer. From what I can see its not Victron directly (but not the installer either). I'll see what I can do to get a 2nd report. But for info: attached is the report I got: InverterReport-BT Konsult-dust(1).docx

Friday the 17th Feb I heard a loud noise (like a machine gun going off) and my inverter stopped inverting (Victron Multiplus II GX 48/3000) - passthrough was till working, it was just not inverting from batteries/solar anymore Unit was installed and worked perfectly for 2.5 years. Just got the "report" from my installer - apparently the unit had too much dust and overheated (also some MOSFETs are damaged)- I mean how can it get too much dust - it was installed inside the house and is only 2.5 yrs old. Apparently Victron warranty does not cover dust - but how can this be prevented in the 1st place ? What is gonna stop this from happening again in 2.5 years ? Now apparently this cannot be fixed as the board is no longer available - and this for a unit that was manufactured in 2019 ? Does this sound plausible ? Or is someone trying to scam me into getting a new unit ? Overall I am very disappointed in the support I received. And to add to that it seems that insurance may also be reluctant to payout as this is not loadshedding/lightning related

48v - grid tied - average grid usage in winter = +-150 units/month - in summer its about 60. This does include both geyser(I had a geyserwise timer installed + fitted a smaller 2kw element as well) and stove usage. This is in a houshold of 2. The whole system cost about R200 000 System has been running now for year and a half - i am really impressed with it and quite happy.

Hi there - I bought through my installer - so I cant really say anything about how to order. As far as I am aware the EasySolar is just a Multiplus ii packaged with a MPPT and a CGX (I dont have experience with the EasySolar, but I do have a Multiplus ii 3000) The following is my obeservations on the Multiplus: Noice levels under load while not excessive it is definitely noticable. In standby it is very quiet. My normal usage (between 300-1000 w/hr) it is mostly quiet and I basically am not aware of it. The temperature of the unit does also impact at what load level the fans will kick in. As far as I am aware anti-islanding is build into the Multiplus and you do not require a CT clamp.

You can also try Riaan Barkhuizen from BTKonsult. Not the cheapest but I had a very good experience with him. Excellent service and after sales support. Riaan Barkhuizen [email protected] +27 84 691 9405

Using different panels with different electrical charcteristics on the same MPPT is not really recommended as the overall wil only perform as well as the weakest. You can get around this by using multiple MPPTs (just make sure that the inverter is capable of handling multiple MPPTs)

I would also add if using the CANBus for communication (e.g. for Victron inverters) - the cable has changed from a TypeB to a TypeA. https://www.victronenergy.com/live/battery_compatibility:can-bus_bms-cable

Is it possible you have the correct cable to connect ICC to the US3000C ? I do know that when I added a US3000C to my 2 US3000B I had to get a new CANBus cable to connect the Victron to the BMS - apparently the pinouts have changed - the Victron picked up the battery fine with the old cable, but there were some funnies (e.g negative temerature and random battery disconnects). Replacing my old CANBus cable with the new one for the US3000C sorted all my issues. see also https://powerforum.co.za/topic/7901-pylontech-us3000c/

Also if you already have the B and get a new C, the cable that connects the BMS to the inverter (in the case of Victron specifically) has also changed - the CAN-bus port seems to have a slightly different pin-out between the B and C models.

Technically you can just use 1 MPPT -- BUT this is not recomended as you will loose efficiency. Also consider if your panels are not identical, and you connect them to the same MPPT, the panels will basically only produce as much power as the lowest panel.

Yea, my 1st quote actually included the JA Solars and there was only about a R25 difference. From what I can see from the datasheets it almost looks like the Peimar might be "better" Peimar 20yr product warrant, JA Solar 12yr Peimar 30yr linear power warrant, JA Solar 25yr

I got quoted 2,416.03 (excl) each - its part of a larger quote to upgrade my existing system.

Cant seem to edit existing post. Here is a link to the datasheet. : https://www.peimar.com/datasheet/Peimar_EN_OR6H450M.pdf

Anyone have experience with Peimar 450W solar panels ? The brand does not seem to be very common in South Africa. How do they compare to e.g. Canadian Solar/JA Solar panels ?

Forgot too add - its a flat IBR roof, so there is only 1 direction 😁 (direction and pitch is excellend for summer >85% efficientcy, where as in winter the efficiency drops to about 60%)

I have 6x355 panels and a Victron BlueSolar 150/45 MPPT (max 2600w input from panels). Although my summer production is basically enough most days(basically +- 13kW production), my winter production is almost half that at arounf 7.5kW. I now want to add an additional 6 panels to specifically increase my winter production. What is best : 1. add another 150/45 MPPT or 2. Replace the current MPPT with a larger model e.g. 150/70 (max 4000w)

As far as I understand it the ESS software (runs on the GX device) will do this if you select " Keep Batteries Charged" option. Other options are optimize for battery life , optimized and external control -- the optimized settings will use the battery and PV to try and reduce grid usage as much as possible.

lol and then you get the following product specs on their website (http://www.pylontech.com.cn/pro_detail.aspx?id=121&cid=23) - that only speaks to >4500 cyles. But even the worst numbers will give you more than 10years of daily cycle use. Personally mine is set to only discharge to 40% on daily use - the rest is left for possible loadshedding (Tshwane only have 2hr load shedding slots)

As far as I am aware the BMS will shutdown at 10%SoC (state of charge) - hence 90% available for use. However the 6000 cycles is based on not going below 20%SoC. So the Us3000 is nominally 3.5kw but useable is 3,2kw.And if you want the >6000 cycles, dont drain the batteries below 20%SoC. If you do drain it regulalrly so that the BMS shutsdown, the rated cycles drop to something like 4500

I have 6x355w panels and midday I get around 1300w - on average I get total about 7.7kW per day. Location Centurion