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Very handy desktop app for real-time information in a single view. There is no PV master app for the desktop. The only option for the desktop is the SEMS portal, where the interface requires navigation and feels delayed. This is not a replacement for SEMS but a welcome addition. One could consider it the PV master option for desktop use.

Same conclusion here. Opted to spend a much smaller portion of the initial battery budget, to add more solar panels instead, then shifted high energy loads (like cleaning appliances) to sun hours where possible. Batteries are dimensioned to be sufficient for stage 8 load shedding. Any remaining budget, allocate to debt (like a bond, calculate the interest saving over the same time as recovering cost on the batteries) or investment.

Same conclusion here. Opted to spend a much smaller portion of the initial battery budget, to add more solar panels instead, then shifted high energy loads (like cleaning appliances) to sun hours where possible. Batteries are dimensioned to be sufficient for stage 8 load shedding. Any remaining budget, allocate to debt (like a bond, calculate the interest saving over the same time as recovering cost on the batteries) or investment.

Calculate what the batteries will cost you per kWh over their life. Don't be overly optimistic when estimating their life - they have multiple modes of failures, so work on the warranty or less. Then calculate what the electricity will cost you. Then calculate what interest you can make on the cash (or in another investment). When I ran the numbers it made no sense to add more battery, if I have loadshedding covered I am optimized.

Well well well, I was looking at  "upgrading"to a Sunsynk Inverter but if they not going to give support or even reply to emails, then maybe just stick to what I have, very silly of them.

Congrats on the install Gambit! This happened to me as well in 2020, got the system commissioned as the load shedding reduced.
There is always that Eskom mains breaker in your DB that can be flicked to the off position in order to simulate load shedding. Pick a stage as per the known schedule and imitate the Eskom incompetence by switching off your utility feed, did that a couple of times myself 😄 It actually ended up helping with a bit of troubleshooting and optimisation before the actual load shedding kicked in again 😉

I actually try and do stage 4 loadshedding everyday now, I noticed during stage 4 loadshedding I was saving quite a bit of cash. My averqage units bought came down from average 15 per day to below 10 per day.

I would not worry too much about that. You should be able to do a proper test very shortly.

Was sick and tired of load shedding and finally had the following installed. Just my luck that load shedding has ended without being able to do a proper test but super stoked, panels generated 21kW hours yesterday (mid July) and the batteries lasted throughout the night.
Sunsynk 8kW Inverter
2 x Sunsynk 5kW batteries
12 x 450W Canadian solar panels
 

Thanks for sharing TimCam. Having resellers provide sufficient after-sale service would be ideal, as that is in essence part of why they add their markup, but it's far from reality in my experience and looking at sites like Hello Peter, for many people across most industries.
In the following instances my reseller/installer couldn't help me and I ended up having to deal with the manufacturer to prevent matters getting lost in translation and spending much unnecessary time due to the middle man:

1. Vehicle purchased from a large independent car sales company (team who was servicing the extended warranty maintained a recurring problem was normal behaviour, I took direct contact with the manufacturer, who eventually managed to resolve)
2. Solar inverter (local team was helpful, but pointed to wiring problem when fix required a firmware update which I pinpointed with the manufacturer's tech support, saved the re-wiring effort) and batteries (multiple local resellers said Pylontech US3000 and UP5000 were the same apart from capacity, which was incorrect, contacted Pylontech themselves who provided confirmation of the differences in design and thus warranty)
3. Smart plugs that couldn't connect to my WiFi network, resellers blamed the wifi, then I contacted the manufacturer who confirmed Asus Smart Connect not supported by the plugs
4. Replacement projector lamp where resellers maintained the replacement bulb used was of the same specifications as the OEM. Manufacturer confirmed otherwise and bulb had to be swapped.
5. Hard drive compatibility in a surveillance DVR, which the resellers maintained would be fine, yet the drive purchased after checking with them, didn't work. Confirmed by the manufacturer not to be supported.
The good manufacturers, resellers and installers that I've dealt with, have welcomed my contact with the manufacturers for joint troubleshooting and learning between all parties. The potential of wasted time and added frustration introduced by not having direct contact with the manufacturer, is not an option for me. As it stands, this unfortunately rules out Sunsynk.

I can also add in on Tomzn as I still have the two change-over contactors in my DB. They don't do allot of switching these days I just leave them permanently energized, I upgraded to Sunsynk inverter and Sunsynk don't really need this functionality but it’s still nice to have. Only problem now is the prices have gone crazy to ship things into the country.

Also, referring to the heading in the wiring diagram, 'DO-IT-YOURSELF BY YOURSELF' is a massive selling point  

Just an update on my Tomzn change over contactors. They switch on and off every day controlled by a timer sonoff switch.
Its been about two months now since I installed it and am happy with it. These units are quite decent and the terminal screws looks quite solid. On the weekend I used a welding machine and there were a bit of heat on the 63A contractor but it looks like it will survive. I will definitely suggest these as a cheaper option.

Hey. They are still going strong after more than a year. I don't use them to switch daily though, but they do cycle whenever loadshedding hits. Haven't had any issues. Only thing I have noticed is that the green LED isn't as bright as the red one, but that's about it. Otherwise I would recommend them. 

So far so good. Eskom (after EL) is connected a Side-A/primary side. Inverter load (after EL) is connected as Side-B/secondary side to both units. The output of the first is used for my essential loads (lights and one plugs circuit that all my computers and wifi runs off). The second output is used for my non-essential loads (all other plugs circuits). My stove and geyser are left on only Eskom EL power. The non-essential ATS (automatic transfer switch) is set to manual so that I can make sure all power-heavy appliances are shutdown before switching over. The essential ATS is left on auto. The build quality of the product is really not bad, nice and weighty. I wouldn't feel comfortable pulling 100A through one, but in my current arrangement the most they will see is about 30A. I haven't noticed it getting hot at all, but the area where the relays are housed (not the contactor terminals) do get lukewarm.
The transfer time is sufficient that my PC, router and fibre ONT don't restart, but there is sometimes a visible flash on the lights. Automatic switching does make quite a loud noise, understandable given the heavy terminals they use inside and the fast switching time. 
Pro's:
Build quality is better than I expected at this price. Terminals are solid, nice and large, although a cage terminal would have been better instead of a washer terminal. Price can't be beat, and I really couldn't find anything locally that does the same with the same transfer time. The unit is IEC/EN60947-6-1 certified. No SABS stamp obviously, but none of my other MCBs have SABS stamp either.  Switching time is fast enough to keep everything powered without restarting.  The integrated LEDs are very handy and actually suffice the SANS requirement for visual indicators to be used when alternative power is present. ( I actually bought 2x CHINT DIN Rail dual indicators for this, but they will now be repurposed). Con's:

The highlighted part of the unit stand out further (distance from yellow plane to back of unit) than my other MCBs and my specific DB board cover got pushed out of little. A made the flap on the DB board cover that obscured the highlighted part a little bit more flexible to fix the issue. But still, not the same as other MCBs. The width of the unit isn't an exact multiple of 18mm (the width of a DIN "way", so fitting way covers/db blanks means there is a slight gap) Not available locally. Shipping to SA wasn't extremely expensive, but still a three week wait. Some photos of the installation attached.
 
 

As far as customer service goes, poor start with Sunsynk unfortunately.
I emailed them on two email addresses ([email protected] & [email protected]) with some questions regarding their 8KW inverter, initial mail sent on 18 June with a reminder on 29 June.
More than two weeks later, no response... This isn't even for a problem experienced, but for a prospective buyer instead, hence a reply would be much easier to provide.

It is concerning to see SunSynk limiting the response to certified installers, as mentioned, they do not always see installations through to the end and thus missing the finer details required in many aspects.  They will definitely learn a great deal from listening to some high end self installers, who assess the units on an ongoing basis.
As for the noise on the SunSynk fan noise - expect this depends on the model, as I see many models and even versions thereof have changed the layout (fans and heatsinks).
I am running the latest 12kW 3P unit and runs majority of the time with no Fan, however the minute the load suddenly increases (>4.5kW), the low speed fans kick in, which are not to loud.  However once charging from PV at anywhere above 80A, the second level (High speed AC Temp >51deg) fans kickin and these would be quite load in an enclosed area/room (Battery Bank of 4 x Hubble AM2).
See it has specifications as Cooling: Smart cooling  Noise: <30dB on local provider data sheets.
 

The extra cost puts you in the position that if 1 fails you can still have a working system at 8kw. Having only 1 you are stuck while it is being repaired. 😊

Pricing is/has been released if you haven’t seen.
2x8KW is more expensive so I don’t know if it’s worth it.
 
8KW is like R29K ex and the 16KW is R53.5K ex
So you would save like R5K ex going with a 16Kw but one would also save on cabling, isolators, busbars, battery cables and labour etc by going with one inverter instead of 2.
Personal preference I guess. 

It's an absolute monster of a unit. Two battery inputs, 18000w solar input, 3 MPPTs, and 200A passthrough current. Can have the entire home on the essential load. 

🤩 Looks like a beast - can only imagine the specifications and weight associated to this inverter.
Really glad to see SunSynk extending the options for single phase capacity.

I have a 5KW Sunsynk and am very happy with the unit, the only problem I have is if you do need assistance from Sunsynk they only want to assist approved Sunsynk installers. I found this out when I installed s 8 KW unit and just wanted to confirm string voltage with Sunsynk. I was than advised to contact my installer but I am the installer.

Sunsynk ticks a lot of the checkboxes and in my book offers a very good "design for longevity"/cost balance. There is really very little that competes with Sunsynk in the 8-16kW market.

Just one reason: longevity of the battery. Two things shorten battery life (all battery types): temperature, and high cell voltage. One is kinetic energy of particles, the other is potential energy to enable them to overcome chemical barriers. You keep your cells as cool as practical; no direct sunlight for example. The other thing is to keep the cell voltage low.
LFP has a relatively flat voltage characteristic, but with two hockey sticks at either end, i.e. at very high and very low states of charge. You have to charge up to about 55.2 V to fully charge the battery; there  is no working around that. You can charge it to higher voltage, but that reduces life for very little extra energy stored. Once it's fully charged, you can let the battery relax to a lower voltage. This will lose a little state of charge, about 1%. That's not wasted; you can power loads with that 1%. But then you keep it at that level (think of it as 99% of usable SoC), and the lower voltage (bottom end of the hockey stick) means that the particles don't have as much potential energy to enable the bad, irreversible reactions that reduce capacity.
I don't know if you can achieve float voltage without using the battery for loads. Mine power loads almost all the time, so it's no problem to achieve float voltage. It happens automatically for me. You can probably figure out a way to achieve it and get maximum battery life. Probably SUB output source priority or the like would do it. My system is old and doesn't have SUB output source priority.
Yes, your battery won't last quite as long. How much life is affected depends on how long the battery stays at that voltage.

While maximum charge current per battery module is 50 A, recommended seems to be half that, so I'd use 25 A x 2 = 50 A for setting 02, maximum charge current. The x2 is because you have two battery modules in parallel, so each would get a maximum of about 25 A.
Manufacturers continue to recommend far too high voltages for bulk/absorb and float. The forum has settled on 52.5 V and 51.8 V respectively, but that's for 15S, and you have 16S. So I'd use 52.5 x 16/15 = 56.0 V and 51.8 * 16/15 = 55.3 V. (Personally I use 55.2 and 53.7 for my 16S LFP home-made system). For back to utility, I'd use 51 V; I recommend a fairly high voltage for South Africa with the frequent load shedding. 53 or 54 V for back to battery. Low DC cutoff you might need to fiddle with; 46 V x 16/15 = 49.1 V should work OK. This will actually make the effective back to grid voltage 49.1 + 2.0 = 51.1 V, which is fine. Battery equalisation voltage should be whatever you use in your bulk/absorb setting. This is only needed to work around the premature float bug. If you have timed absorb, you a\may find that slightly easier to use than equalisation. To make equalisation work, you need a bunch of other settings (e.g. eq enable, equalise every day or 2 days, eq time about an hour or 1.5 h). With timed absorb, you can just set it to 60-90 minutes and that's it. Leave equalisation off if using timed absorb.