zathras

A cautionary for coj residents- TLDR: don't save extra units in your prepaid meter. Citypower in Joburg recently changed my Landis gyr prepaid meter, 6 months after I added solar. I have limit to load and zero export set on my inverter. The Citypower subcontractor arrived without notice stating they had to change to a more sensitive itron meter which detects tampering. I had built up over 1000kwh over many months in anticipation of higher winter demand even though we only use a trickle feed on sunny days. Despite the subcontractor promising a next day refund voucher, and being sent picture evidence of solar backup and meter LCD display showing 1000kwh, all I have received is a WhatsApp message from Citypower stating my requested refund doesn't match my recent buying pattern. No amount of fault logging or mailing regional revenue department has helped.

Congratulations on your installation sir! You may want to confirm with your installer if 10 panels on one mppt could exceed the max voltage on a cold sunny day.

Hope this helps:From your phone log into the wifi network created by your data logger. Then go to the following address from your phone browser and setup the logger to login to your home WiFi from there: 10.10.10.1

Withdrawn returned to retailer

I bought a Mecer 200Ah 12V LiFePO4 Battery from them 2years ago. All was in order back then. The person that helped me was Philip Hampton.

Hi @Reapr, I've been running a drop in replacement as a load shedding backup for over a year now with no hassles. Mecer 200ah 2nd life lithium. Cheapie ceil inverter sees it as a lead acid battery. Since July, the battery has been connected to an epever mppt solar charge controller, on AGM setting {was close to the upper and lower voltage cutoffs I wanted to use}, so it also sees it as a lead acid battery. Think the BMS in the battery should handle everything for you. In my setup, I've never let the voltage go below 13.1v, so I can't speak to longevity with deep discharge.

Thanks for the feedback Peter😀

Perfect thank you Sarel

@Calvin very curious as to the impact of tilt on the north facing configuration? Say 0 or 2 degrees tilt. I have a single panel installed on an almost flat kliplok roof facing north in Johannesburg. But happy to use cpt for ballpark impact

Thanks all. Paid the local solar shop a small fee and they crimped the connectors on for me.

Goodday, I am doing a DIY solar install with 1 panel. Is anyone able to do 6 crimps with an mc4 crimping tool for me? Johannesburg area (near Norwood). The store I bought the PV cable from did not have the crimping tool. Thanks

The design the installer showed me had 14 panels. Should have rather said hybrid above as system would have a battery and there isn't net metering in Joburg I believe. Installer has gone quiet after I showed him comparative prices for the sunsynk and asked him to quote on pylontech batteries instead of Revov 2nd life. In the meantime I've decided to continue my solar learning journey. Bought a small mppt from a forum member 2nd hand. Also have a single panel on order and some rail less clamps. Will try a DIY install to my existing inverter and battery if I can figure out the earthing. Hopefully have my work laptop running off-grid soon

Thanks Johan. Interested. No worries, I think the gel setting will work with the mecer. The tracer is rated to 780w at 24v. Just confirming that the panels you had connected to it was under this?

Hi Johan. Interested in trying out an off grid setup with this. Still available? Anywhere near jhb? What configuration of panels was it previously connected to? Would you be able to program user settings for mecer 200ah drop in lead acid replacement lithium battery? as i heard it's difficult without the mt50 screen

Good question, hadn't thought that much about all the implications of cycling. I would probably set it to a more conservative depth of discharge, e.g 30%, even if it meant switching back to grid at some point in the night. We'll see when the city of Joburg solar tariffs kick in. Installer should be coming out soon for site visit then will discussed installation locations with him. For now, the rooms I've earmarked as possibilities don't have extreme temperatures where the battery would be charging or discharging below zero or greater than 25 to 30 degree Celsius. But they aren't temperature controlled. The house is north facing with pink aerolite, so temperature doesn't get too extreme. No aircons needed in summer.