WJP

Hi Guys, 
Just put together a little cabinet to power my office and a couple other items during load shedding... We live in a rental so didn't want anything permanent, so hence going for the cabinet route. Another route could be to build a frame, did that at my In laws. (Pictures also attached) 
 
Used the Following incase anyone else wants to ever do the same; 
https://www.securityandmore.co.za/products/must-3kw-60amp-mppt-solar-hybrid-inverter?variant=44059073446120 https://www.securityandmore.co.za/products/esener-25-6v-100ah-lithium-battery?variant=43940424548584 https://www.securityandmore.co.za/products/must-wifi-dongle-for-must-and-esener-inverter?variant=44301294010600 https://www.securityandmore.co.za/products/battery-cable-35mm-1m-red-and-1m-black-with-lugs?variant=44308889075944 https://www.takealot.com/finen-6u-wall-mount-network-cabinet-600-x-600-mm/PLID73146830 https://www.takealot.com/linkbasic-300mm-front-mount-tray-for-19-inch-rack-mount-network-/PLID65844719 A plug, some caster wheels and good to go.  So as the picture show all is installed and working ran yesterday a load of around 200w for about 7 hours before i decided that was enough testing and plugged it in. So it works...
I have set the inverter to a user defined battery (Setting 14), Bulk to 28.4v (17), Float to 27.2v (18) and Cut off to 22.8v (19), as per recommendation from Esener, I see some sheet floating around with those numbers on, has anyone found other voltages to work better for this battery?
Now, what would be the best way for me to monitor the realtime SOC of the battery? Is my only option with what equipment i have a coulometer like below? (https://www.geewiz.co.za/batteries/193941-100a-coulometer-battery-capacity-tester-for-getting-accurate-reading-of-battery-percentages-with-shunt.html?sfdr_ptcid=2961_617_695133571&sfdr_hash=3022186506446a8f268ea0da84fdda22&gclid=CjwKCAjwhJukBhBPEiwAniIcNR7YiP8N_LNG0fT_4SwwbC5D9oK-A3c6Fn_31r3E5exKlwELcINbjxoC_xgQAvD_BwE)
Now with the inverter charging the battery the charging light flashes yellow while its charging, but I haven't seen it go off, will the setup constantly "charge" once it hits float? or should the charginig light stop or go solid? 
 
Thanks Guys

Hi Jay !!
And everybody that congratulated me on winning.
Jay thanks a lot for persisting in getting hold off me. I am in Northern Cape , 70km from Kuruman, and in over 2 weeks , if we had 5 full days off signal, that would be a lot...
I have never won anything in my life , this is the best news I have had in a very long time.
Thank you very much for a excellent forum !
 

Is it only me that shows meerkat was last online in 2020? I feel this is rigged 🤣

Hi Hendrik I'm in Brackenfell now . The Axpert is actually allowed . Its not on the list because its an off grid inverter and cant feed back into the grid . 

Download Victrons guide called "Wiring Unlimited". Its a good read. I think many people on this forum would benefit from it. In there they cover your question with diagrams.

Download Victrons guide called "Wiring Unlimited". Its a good read. I think many people on this forum would benefit from it. In there they cover your question with diagrams.

Hi all. Want to share my Sunsynk solar system recently installed in June. 

Specs: 
Sunsynk 12kw hybrid inverter x2 (24kw) 3 phase 14.3kwh SolarMD lithium batteries x3 (42.9kwh) 380w JA Solar black frame panels x40 (15.2kw PV) John Deere 40Kva generator linked to inverters as a last resort backup.


 


 

Thanks.
The guys from Cudub did a great job and sorted me out in a short time.  By day 2 I'd already missed a midday load-shedding slot completely. Really wish I'd woken up and had this done ages ago

dont do it

My installer did a great job on sizing this system. Looked at our peak power usage as well as average for the day. 

The highest peak I have seen was 12KW load, and what you need to remember is that even if it goes over 15KW it will then share the load between the panels and the batteries or grid through the inverter. Let's say it's 5pm and the solar generation sits at 4KW. If the yard is using 7KW at that time the other 3KW will then be supplied by the batteries or grid if batteries are empty. The system can handle 24KW total which will never happen.

Regarding the amount of panels. If our batteries are at 35-40% at 7am in the morning, which is where it usually sits on average, the panels are able to charge them to 100% at around 12:00. So currently I don't see the need to add more panels except if City of Cape Town starts giving me loads of cash for pushing power back into the grid

Agree 100% that is exactly what I see in my battery.

@Antonio de SaMy understanding is that it is also important to fully charge the batteries so as to ensure that the cells can be balanced by the BMS as the voltage differences in the middle of the SOC range are so small that they are almost impossible for the BMS to balance the cells. So if you only use your battery between 20 & 80% SOC for example, individual cells are more likely to get out of balance (depending on the BMS I would assume)
I think that the thing to remember is that not all battery BMS's are created equally.
The more expensive BMS's generally have better cell balancing and often use a shunt to determine the SOC rather than using individual cell voltages

Hi @Jay-Dee
The main reason for using an interface to the battery rather than just reading the battery voltage and working out the SOC from there is that it is not possible to get an accurate SOC in lithium batteries using the voltage because of the way that voltages rise in lithium batteries.  As you can see from this picture, the voltage difference between a 40% & 80% SOC on a lead acid is 6V, on a lithium is 0.5V. Voltages changes on lithium batteries is not linear the way it is with lead acids with big voltage changes only happening at the top and bottom of the SOC's.  

Most battery BMS's actually have a shunt in them that enables the BMS to know how much power has travelled through it in both directions and what the SOC is sitting at. Trying to get an accurate battery SOC from the voltage on a lithium battery is not possible. 

Hi, It is a awesome inverter and works great with powering none essential loads with spare PV. Lots of configurable power priorities and mode variations. Easy to configure diffrent modes.
Its been the best inverter that I have had so far. Definitely a good investment.

Hi all.
Competition entry link will come available today. Thanks sonoff this looks great!
Sincerely
Jason

It really is an awesome thing ! Basically wirelessly switch off appliances automatically when load shedding comes. This is great as if for example the washing machine is on a circuit that is essential, then you can make a box thing or I think even use the mini inside the socket to switch just that machine off automatically when loadshedinf hits. This then stops the washing machine running on inverter batteries.

Entry link as below. Thanks All.
https://app.viralsweep.com/sweeps/full/9e8ee5-124835?framed=1
Sincerely
Jason

Sonoff Africa Loadshedder Bundel
1 × Sonoff Africa Loadshedder  
1 x Sonoff Dual R3     
1 x Sonoff iFan
1 x Sonoff 4 CH 220V

Sonoff Africa Loadshedder
The Loadshedder is a smart power detector that turns off appliances such as pool pumps, Geysers, and anything else you would like to switch off when load shedding starts.
 
Sonoff Dual R3
Connect and independently control up to 2 devices with the Sonoff Dual R3 with. The Dual R3 is packed with features such as energy monitoring
 
Sonoff iFan
Wi-Fi ceiling fan and light controller which allows you to use your phone to control it from wherever you are.
 
Sonoff 4CH 220V
Sonoff 4CH R3 is a 4 channel device designed to control 220 volt lighting circuits to give you the ability to integrate smart control into your existing home.
The link to the Lucky Draw will be posted later.

Yes, I couldn't mount the new equipment on a wall looking like that! My OCD will drive me up the wall! 

This weekend was spent cleaning out the garage and prepping the wall for installation.
From this..


To this

You can see the space I left for the 3rd Multiplus. Now I have to hang the batteries and install the trunking. I also need to pull 2 x 25mm SWA cables tp pickup the feed coming from the DB in the street.

Just get an 8kW Sunsynk inverter & a supported LFP battery. Grow from there. I agree with the statement above regarding CAN compatibility between bands. It's something to be aware of.

50kw installed November last year, this now powers 60% of the Hydroponics farms total usage, we have an integrated generator controller installed to ensure minimal diesel usage during outages. Very happy customer. 

This thread reminds me of my solar journey.
I started with a small Ryobi Inverter generator which I'm glad broke down and I got a refund.
I considered a small inverter with a lithium battery to work as a UPS but I also wanted ROI. Once you start thinking about ROI you might as well go all in. Now I have a 5kw SunSynk, 5.1KwH lithium and solar panels and don't regret the decision, in fact it's one of the best financial decisions I have made.

I don't think they are - I believe they are imported as a complete unit.

No doubt that wouldn't go down well with the neighbours 😝 Thankfully I haven't noticed the house feeling any warmer from the previous lighter roof colour we had