Bl4d3

Paying R3.37kw/h in Cape Town with a monthly R340 connection charge

Some feedback on this. Looks like the inverter is taking the SOC of both batteries and reporting the average between them, which in my mind means that the Inverter is getting individual battery data. Still no detailed battery info on other than the new included SOH, however, this is still averaged and not detailed per battery:

Better day on this Drop off happened the moment the battery hit 100%

That drop in current was actually because my battery reached 100%. I will search for a better example in the morning, but from what I can see, the voltage is clipped to maintain the 13A limit. Interested to see what next summer will look like with the higher 17A limit with the latest firmware.

After doing some digging online, I came across a firmware release where Luxpower now allows theres inverters to take up to 17A per MPPT. Did the update last night from the app (need to be connected to the dongle itself). Wont see above 13A until summer though

Figured it out, was being an idiot. Can be updated in the app when connected to the dongle directly. Looks like I now have 17A MMPT input as well

Just saw it Now to find an installer that would update the firmware.

Also enjoying the sun Loosing power on PV 2 because I positioned that string like an idiot and now a shadow is casting on the bottom of 2 panels

I'm running the same inverter with panels that have a 14.08A short Circuit Amps without issue. The inverter starts clipping when it hits 13A to protect itself. I've only seen clipping happen on cloudy days as my batteries weren't charged and when the sun shun, it maxed out. With that, it has never been a problem as the inverter clips the input.

So the purpose of the Isolator in the combiner box is to safely isolate rather than act as a traditional breaker in an AC board. The fuses are what acts as your protection for your wiring, which I assume is 6mm. 6mm PV cable is typically rated to 50 - 60A. 16A fuses should be perfectly safe. My system is 2 x Strings of 4 x 600w panels with 14.08A short circuit amps and I have 25A fuses installed. Well beyond what will actually pass through them

I've also emailed the team at Luxpower a couple days ago but got no response

Several broken backs. Carried my 2 batteries from my car to my garage by myself, plus mounted myself. Needless to say, my back was stuffed for a week.

Solarway has a similar unit called the Cyclone F15 with 280Ah of capacity. If its anything like their F5, then its good quality with phenomenal aftersales support.

460w Canadian Solar panels are R1240 new You'd likely get max R500 per panel

Had a similar problem at my parents house Front row was casting a shadow on the 2nd road, the solution was to lower the angle massively and slide the panels forward. As you can see in the above, it over hangs the IBR roof slightly which isnt ideal, and at the lower angle, there is some lost efficiency, however, this is made up by the considerable increase in performance from not having shading on the rear 5 panels.

Hi all Is there a way to pull detailed battery info through the comms sent to the inverter? Battery is a Cyclone F5 connected via the CAN port, however the only info seen is total combined capacity: I'd like to see individual battery info such as the below: The 2nd set of metrics is with a comms cable connected directly to the Pi and master battery. Inverters are then controlled via Solar Assistant. However, in my instance with the Luxpower and Cyclone batteries, I need to have the batteries talking directly to the inverter to achieve the best efficiency.

Just the bank. I've wired mine like the below diagram. Positive coming from Pack 1 and Negative from Pack 2, this ensures equal balancing when charging. Blue line is the battery comms between the 2 batteries connected using the RS485 ports. Green line is the comms to the inverter connected via the CAN port.

System Update: Generator input added. This was done with 6mm cable, a dual pole 25A isolator, and a 32A CEE plug on the outside wall. Added an additional battery and neatened up the battery cable from the fuse holder to the inverter. Next item on the to-do list is the route the battery cables between the batteries a bit neater and to cover the earth and comms cables on the left battery with conduit.:

Yes. Running comms with the battery. Battery is set to Lithium and setting is option 2, same for Pylon. I have also added another battery last week

This is the result of the anticipated shadowing: I believe the only viable solution to this is to shift the panels upwards to the next beam as shown below: Does anyone have any recommendations on an efficient way to do this? Or would the safest way be to take the panels off entirely, shift the rails, and then bring the panels back up?

I'm in the market for a cheapie generator (Ryobi RG-6900 or RG-7900) as we have extremely erratic power supply in my suburb in Cape Town. Due to this, we often have power outages, sometimes lasting upwards of 48 hours, and no less than 4 hours, due to the dated infrastructure in the area. The city is extremely quick to react to these problems, but in the last 4 months, we have been left 3 times with a system that's had to power down as the battery dropped to 10%. Murphy's law, these outages happened on overcast days I have a generator input installed and a small briefcase generator thats able to keep the lights on for a couple hours, but this cant be run for extended periods of time as its not suited for this. Anything more than 2 hours, and the generator gets quite unhappy. Looking at the Ryobi models, they will work for my use case, as well as to charge the batteries up while powering the house and maintaining comfort, however, they are all fitted with 2 x 16A outlets. We have tested the theory with a neighbours Ryobi, who were gracious enough to throw us a lead in the latest outage last weekend. The 2 x 16A outlets limits my input to 1 of those, maxing out at 3680w at 230v, making the size of the generator in this case, pointless. Is there a way to safely wire these generator outputs to carry 1 x 32A socket such as the below CEE 32A socket? I've considered the idea of linking 2 x plugs to 1 socket and immediately dismissed this as it would effectively create a suicide plug. How have others solved for this problem?

Got a response the next day telling me to be patient. Got a mail yesterday asking if they can come through on Friday, and I just loaded units

To pull things back on topic. Inverters: Sunsynk and Deye are pretty much the same, however local support for Deye is horrible should anything go wrong. These inverters do offer some extra features that you may like. However they are relatively expensive with 5kw versions starting at R16000 A 12kw Deye will set you back about R35000 with a 12kw Sunsynk at R43000 Luxpower has entered the space to offer better features and better reliability than the Axpert type inverters, while conforming to NRS standards They have managed to do this while maintaining a low price point. There is a local Luxpower agent however support it best through the store you buy it from, best look into who offers the best support. Pricing starts at R8500 for a 5.5kw however there is the more recently released SNA12000 12kw for R20000. This SNA12000 has not yet made it on approved inverter lists but likely will. Growatt, Axpert, Mecers TheSunPays, I recommend avoiding these as they are relatively basic, don't conform to standards, and have a high failure rate, mainly with the MOSFETs failing. Inverters can normally be paralleled together to increase capacity. Batteries: Steer clear of new / unknown brands and stick with known brands that are supported locally. Brands to consider are Dyness, Deye, Sunsynk, Freedom Won, Cyclone, Hubble. Some important factors when looking at batteries: Output rating - You will want at least a 1C rated battery when looking at 5kw units. This ensures you will be able to output at least 5kw. Some larger 10kw batteries might be rated to 0.75C, allowing you to output 7.5kw. Warranty - Some brands only offer 5 years, most 10 years, some only 2 years. You'll want to see who offers the longest warranty, but also more importantly, will that support still be there in 10 years. This is why its critical to go with one of the main brands who have a strong following, to ensure you will have support down the line. Price - Price is coming down rapidly. You can now pickup a 5kw battery for R13000, compared to R26000 a year or 2 ago. Solar Panels: Only buy from reputable sellers. There are lots of fly-by-night sellers advertising 600w panels, only to deliver 300w units which have been relabeled as 600w. Well known and good brands are Canadian Solar and JA Solar. Both offer similar pricing, similar warranty, and similar guarantees, and both brands have a very good following in South Africa. Nowadays, you can pickup a 600w panel for R1500 new. Insanely cheaper than a couple years ago. Personally, what I would do is the following: 3 x Luxpower SNA5000's - R25500 3 x Cyclone F5 5kw batteries - R42000 18 x JA Solar 600w - R27000 This would give you considerable room for expansion while giving you some extra storage.

Perhaps increase your on grid cut off state of charge: This would then at least give some cover if theres loadshedding in the middle of the night

From the City of Cape Town approved inverter list that was last updated on 1 April 2025: https://resource.capetown.gov.za/documentcentre/Documents/Forms%2C%20notices%2C%20tariffs%20and%20lists/Approved%20Photovoltaic%20%28PV%29%20Inverter%20List.pdf Additionally, I have a SNA5000 installed which was just approved by CoCT