Bl4d3

Some updates on my system thats now 1 year and 6 months old. After adding in another battery, my yearly saving increased by roughly R2500 and my ROI decreased. Originally, my ROI was at 6.93 years, and has since decreased to 5.17. Total system cost - R77285.40 Saving over this 12 month period - R14931.14

Hi all I'd like to add another string of panels, and potentially another inverter at a later stage. With that, do I have to re-do the entire registration process on the following Scenarios: Keep existing inverter, but add additional panels to current strings (system can take it) Add inverter and run additional strings on this. In scenario 2, I understand a CoC would have to be re-done and the wiring between the Main DB and Inverter DB would need to be re-done to larger cable, currently 6mm2. And then lastly, would I have to redo the registration if I add an additional battery but system remains the same as it is currently?

My systems performance so far: Assuming I sale R1100 this month and R1100 next month, my average monthly saving would be at R930. I've since installed a 2nd battery in July which brought down my grid usage considerably. At this rate, ROI is 6.93 years. I have done some changes since my last posting here which has taken my final install cost to R77285.40incl for the inverter, 8 panels and 2 batteries, with hook up which I've already used

After my system was installed, the electrician ran the normal test reports and handed that with the CoC over to the engineer. The engineer then popped by, took a couple of photos of the install, and left, spent a total of 10 minutes at my place. A report of the install was submitted to CoCT but no schematic was submitted that I can see (I also thought one would be done), and I was not provided with one. Nevertheless, CoCT was happy with this and sent 2 guys out to change my prepaid meter, and that was that. No inspection of my system or anything. A day or 2 later, I received my commissioning approval. What likely is the cause of this ease is that the inverters have to pass certain standards which is then certified by CoCT, and added to their approved list of inverters. If the inverter installed is on this list, I assume they dont inspect the system

To be honest though, the standards arent that ridiculous. My CoCT approved system doesnt have anything majorly special for it to have been approved, but it was ridiculous that an Engineer had to come out to inspect the system as well, that was R5000 wasted in my opinion, because the gist of his report was "yeah, the electrician did a good job".

Has anyone noticed that after update cBaa-328E96, the 13A limit was reinstated?

Sadly not. But when it happens again, I will grab a screen shot. Good news is, today the batteries seem to have acted normal. Discharged down to 26% over night and voltage only dropped to 48.2v.

They actually behave exactly as you described, however I can confirm that the BMS is set to 100Ah as the TSP tech set all of them to 100Ah on the last update they did. They adjusted them down as each one was at roughly 105Ah

The packs all appear fine, voltage is actually not bad in this instance. While charging on Thursday, there was some bike imbalances though

Yes. Monitoring each battery, and all 4 fail simultaneously due to low voltage

They are charged fully most days. Would a single cell in 1 pack cause this problem across all packs? As all of them would suddenly drop in capacity. There was only 1 instance where 1 pack dropped a year ago, but since then, all 4 packs drop to 0% and shut down due to low voltage.

Needing some advice on a system a family member has installed. System is 2 x Sacolar 5kw inverters (Growatt SPF5000ES) with 4 x TheSunPays 4.8kw LiFePO4 batteries. Batteries were purchased in January 2023 with 750 cycles on them. For the last couple of months, the batteries have had sudden drops in SOC. In July 2024, one of the batteries suddenly dropped for 60% SOC to 15% SOC which can be seen here at the total SOC dropping from 59% to 47% just before 18:00 We contacted their support and upped the voltages which brought everything back into sync Since then, we continuously had problems of the batteries SOC dropping, again in July 2025 multiple times. Again, we contacted TSP and this time they connected remotely and updated the batteries firmware. Then in August, the system shut down entirely. Dropping from 21% SOC to 0%. Most notable the battery voltage was sitting at 45.3v at 20%. It would normally be at 48.8v at 20% SOC. Again, reported to TSP, they connected, and said everything on the batteries is fine. Again, it happened on 26 August 2025, except this time failing from 44% SOC to 0%. Voltage at 44% was 45.3% In this failure, the 1 inverter also failed. We sent it in, they charged us R3400 for a new main board even though I protested saying the failure was due to the continuous battery failures. Their response was that the inverter is out of warranty. Nevertheless, we paid and a week later we had the inverter installed. And yet again, 18 September, it happens again Batteries drop from 41% SOC to 0%, voltage 45.3v. Now considering these constant failures, and that we've reported it each time, and in each instance, their support cant see any issue with the batteries whatsoever, I'm strongly of the opinion that these batteries are duds. They seem to have a workable 55% SOH even though the reported is 100%. How should I proceed here? Should I send all 4 batteries in and insist on replacements or a refund? They have a 5 year or 3500 cycle warranty.

Sent up the drone to get a new image of the install: Sealed the previous holes with Sika, have had no leaks, but need to go over it with paint to match the rest of the roof. Extremely happy with this decision to shift the panels up, it has technically freed up space along the bottom for some additional panels mounted horizontally which I am considering adding. The performance has been phenomenal. By 9am, the panels output 2850w, and the 2 batteries are fully charged from 30% by 11:45. I am also able to run the my newly installed 18000BTU Inverter AC all day

I've never tried to be honest. I've only ever reached 5kw as I try to manage the loads as best as possible.

After the panel move and updating the inverter firmware, the system has been running at full tilt. Total my 8 x 600w panels exceeded 5kw output hitting a combined 5051w of solar power: