hoohloc

If you want to use the USxxxxC you can but you can only use 7 of the old type. You can have up to 16 batteries in total then without a hub.
To get 9 working he's part way there.

Is it true that Us5000 version can support up to 16 batteries without the need of a hub? Not sure if I get i tright from their manual, here attachef.
Pylontech_us5000_series.pdf

We don't. I know because my system is registered, I've got the certificate to prove it, and I didn't pay City Power a cent. 
This has been clumsily handled by the media and by CP themselves, but the regulations say that the feasibility study is only required for systems 350kVa and up. Most domestic installations are nowhere near that size. 

But earthing is there to protect people, not circuits. So the explanation is perfectly plausible.

Over the weekend Solar
Over the weekend https://solarwarehousesa.com/ showed some Jinko that would have been a close match looking at the current which is perhaps where you want to try to find panels even if they are not 405-410W but they are no longer listed. I think they had 27.

Pylontech you can mix the different size batteries. I have 3 Us3000 and 2 UP 5000 connected together. Newest always the master battery. For software just search on the forum. It is available

@Lourens1975 ,
It would be great to know what model of 6kW Inverters you have, in case someone else runs into the same problem.

Did you use 96kg of gas for water heating in four months?
Running the geyser off battery is probably not worth it. However, excess solar in the middle of a sunny day is free. Gas is not. I would install a 2kW element, connect it to the Aux (if your inverter has one) and put the geyser in series with your gas geyser.

Every time l/s gets announced my one neighbor phone me and ask the same questions about solar panels & batteries .... maybe one day he will pull the trigger 😂

So what is next?

are they going to force everyone with a backup water tank to register it as well just in case you pump your water back in to their system?

🥴

Get another Electrician. They should check compliance of your electrical system and inverter installation against SANS10142-1. You could get a ECSA registered person to sign off on NRS097-2-1 compliance. 

Lol ya - the water coming from the roof will have difficulty to run uphill from that crooked, clearly leaking left hand "45 degree"
Some builders must stay at clay modelling 🤨

My cycle count is 1360, but I'm not worried much about that as this is just a temporary replacement. The plan is to upgrade from Pylontech in the near future 🙂

A single 16kw inverter might not cover the 4000kwh per month. 6 x 5kw full hybrids are now so cheap that as you suggested one just use the grid tied function with no batteries and provide the best ROI. 
@cp69 I think your budget of R100k for 30 panels and enough inverter power to cover the 4000kwh a month is too low even at current low prices. 

Thanks bro, I dropped him a text 

check these out
 

Pics?

PBMS is for Pace BMS - for Pylontech use BatteryView. (available in the download section)

Hi.
 
You sound like you would like to take things totally offgrid.
In that case, my opinion, and I could be wrong, is why are you limitting yourself to Sunsync/Deye. You could go for the Voltronix stuff (Kodak/Mecer). those inverters are much much cheaper, and can take a good bit of abuse also.
 
Going for the fancy bidirectional inverters with CT's are very nice, but if you're going totally offgrid, maybe consider the cheaper inverters that are also fairly robust.
 
 

Maybe a little harsh: they did replace 2 batteries under warranty, despite them being installed incorrectly.

This is how it should be connected on the BAT side, according to the Axpert Paralleling Guide:
 
But maybe that it IS connected like this in reality, and @JT1 just don't know it, since he was not the one who did all the DC wiring.
Anyway, batteries went belly-up, Pylontech's legendary 10-years warranty proved itself being non-existent => time to rip it off and replace with something better. 😕
 

Is that a fact? or hearsay? 

The inverter is an Sunsynk 8kw.
Battery comms via CAN.
I cant adjust the voltage with Comms in place.

Sad to hear what happened to you and thanks for the heads up. I'm also on pre-paid with city power and stay in the Randburg area. I have been buying R200 units,  sometimes R300 and they keep accumulating, just to show them that I still exist. I suspected that something like this would happen when I realized that my breaker on the street was marked, showing that someone came to inspect to see if we had bridged the supply. Sad that they would disconnect without a warning or asking you to explain why you are not buying units. 
R12000 is too extreme, I think you should go to their offices and explain that you did not bridge the supply and that you are using solar. Hopefully they will reconnect with a lesser fine 

@Deeos you have, I believe NMC based Lithium batteries, these can and do potentially start a fire, see various scenarios where Electric cars burnt out. Most stationary energy storage based Lithium batteries use LiFePO4 cells, no Cobalt or Manganese and I have yet to come across a report where these caught alight for whatever reason, but the NMC types, plenty of examples out there.
@madness_za the battery involved in the fire, any idea what it was? and curious where this happened?