Moffat

@Scorp007 kindly define "bypass", my hope and faith is that when I say "bypass", I would be intending on the DB to mean if the inverter ever packs up, I "bypass" the inverter and I am now back onto the grid till my inverter is either fixed or replaced and nothing is going through the inverter or from batteries to my load. Are we of the same understanding? Reason I'm asking is, my whole household except Solar geyser and Stove is on "essentials".

Am planning on buying a Sunysnk 5kW inverter, however am a bit curious about Sunsynk's conditions for claiming warranty where they speak about the product needing to be "serviced", "maintained" by an Sunsynk Authorized agent. If there's anyone who has had or is currently running a Sunsynk Inverter, what maintenance does this inverter require? I've had a PIP 2424MSX Inverter and the only service I have done myself is to open the casing and to blow out dust annually, nothing else over the last 9years. Now does this infers that am not authorised to do the same on the Sunsynk. Is there anyone who knows of any mandatory maintenance that has to be done on Sunsynk Inverters? You'll also note that most installers are generally reluctant to install Inverters bought by end-user not through them as they lose out on extra charges and margins. The difference in margin from buying from my installer and buying from the Powerforumstore is about R9,400.00 which is a huge amount for me and that excludes installation, other materials and batteries. Any ideas and advice would be most appreciated.

That’s a bit sad considering Sunsynk and most inverters tout fast switching in the event of grid outage and also that “Essential Loads”, shouldn’t suffer from this issue. Other less renowned brands have their own gremlins, as no product is perfect but don’t seem to suffer from this particular issue.

@FrankcF how did you manage to get the "dip" issue sorted?

You’re right about the speed of a battery gassing & then going into a thermal runaway… the worry is that most of these batteries are encased in steel & if BMS fails, there’s hardly enough time or warning. The other challenge is location of batteries. They don’t do well with high humidity or high outdoor temperatures or in some locations, worse still freezing temperatures yet regulators just want to saddle users with unrealistic regulations, which become costly. Solar is costly enough, outside of having to comply with certification & safety rules.

True, but if one a gas detector and you could pick up a battery issue before you actually have the thermal runaway and if you had a pool at your residence plus nerves of titanium or steel who knows?😆

Insurance Ts&Cs are, in my book, just a method for manufacturers and most entities ways to "sneak out" of some regulatory laws and throw the responsibility all onto the end-user, yet without fail, they are like bird chicks with mouths open, wanting to be paid their premiums.🤦‍♂️

Has anybody ever considered home battery safety in relation to where they place their Energy Solar System (ESS) backup and how quickly they are able to: Evacuate a battery experiencing thermal runaway? Physical access to safety in the event of a fire? Ever-changing regulation and being pre-emptive in terms of safety? Here's an article of what is happening in some parts of Australia I thought would be useful to the forum. https://www.solarquotes.com.au/blog/home-battery-safety-plan/

Do you have panels on your 24v Axpert clone? Reason I ask is because am sure if you put enough panels you could be running off the panels during the load shedding times.

Yes the Axpert Inverter would be something equivalent, but am trying to get you to think about not just running only the pump alone, but also add other components and reduce your time on return on investment. Because once you have panels and in time you add more, upgrade inverter and eventually Eskom and yourself are "part-time" acquaintances😁😁

I have a cheap Chinese knock-off inverter with specs below and my thinking is, you really don't need a generator if it's just for load shedding but you can also take advantage of the same inverter to power household loads, which then reduces your overall reliance as well as consumption with Eskom. Problem with generator is: fuel will go up, generator will need to be serviced, generator will need to be turned on and off generator comes with noise You could get a very cheap Inverter, not necessarily any high-end brand & it'll do the trick very nicely and serve you well enough for years to come as well as the household. Increase battery size and you could literary be semi-off-grid for most days. Even in days when I have cloud cover, the inverter works and I've always had water as my tank is on the ground supplying water to the house. Without the inverter power, I don't have water to the household. A smaller inverter means it may be dedicated only to pumping water which in my humble view becomes a wasted investment where's a 3kVa can double up with household loads. My inverter also at times when I have load shedding I use and induction cooktop with 1600w and can cook and make a cup of tea... so am happier. Just want to go to 5kva so I can have a 48v system which improves efficiency. The important thing is having enough panels which allow you to run directly off solar and not necessarily your battery, hence my suggesting 3000w total panel array. For a battery am using also a Chinese brand called Bluecarbon, meaning I keep investments costs low and get immediate benefits. Hope that helps.

Please can you give more info on the water pump, it's pumping water to where and do you have a pressure tank on the system? Is it filling for example a Jojo tank and how many litres is this Jojo tank? ...maybe let me as you answer let me add my 2-cents: I have a 3kVa Inverter which MAXs out at 2400w continuous power is running my whole household, a 2-bed flat, 2 x Tvs, 1 -upright fridge, 1-Chest fridge/freezer and also a 0.75hp DAB water pump that pumps water into the house. Now on the pump side, I also have a 100litre pressure tank and on the PV side (Solar Panels) I have 3000w (12 x 250w) solar panels and can run my whole household off solar, and charging a 100ah lithium battery off-grid during the day (running off panels) The battery runs lights, water pump all the above mentioned stuff up to about 12pm after dark if Utility power isn't back. The inverter is 24v and that's the minimum I would recommend you go for: 24 V Inverter 3000w - total panels Pressure tank on the pump 100ah Lithium Battery (Minimum) ... this system has served me well since 2014.

Because Contactor is in Open Mode, I would advise just maybe changing the inverter to a Sunsynk or Deye if you can. Also please ensure you document in writing your issues because "word of mouth" from Utility may not help you if they saddle you with a lawsuit for meter tampering. Better safe, than sorry.

Your suggestion is a good one to have a "drop-in" LiFePO4 but beware of the type of drop-in battery you put in. I bought a Bluenova MPS BN13v battery which was touted to be a direct drop-in replacement especially for electric gate motors which was meant to give me about 2years. After about 7months it became swollen in my UPS. When trying to get the warranty sorted, the reseller was ducking and diving and refused saying the battery must have been damaged due to continuous undercharging. So I ended up throwing it out with frustration and vowed not to touch any Bluenova batteries coming through this reseller and so I lost money essentially.

Sorry @Walnut, welcome to the Solar "rabbit hole". I'm also experiencing the same with my meter now showing "bypass". My utility has so far said as long as the "contactor" is not open, you shouldn't worry about it, only issue is that you may also experience an increase in usage from the grid because of the error on your meter. What error do you get? Apparently on my side the issue is related to the meter being installed incorrectly, resulting in the earth and grounding being shared or mixed somewhere and unfortunately, your electrician cannot "tamper" with the utility meter. As for the upcoming holidays I don't anticipate you losing power, but hopefully other forumites can also chime in.

Thanks for that idea of starting with the small Pylontech us2000c, because it then means effectively with my 24v 100ah older battery I have 2400w + may 2400w (-about 10-25% of that older battery pack) seeing as it is some "Chinese knock off" which has been with for almost a year now.

True, it does mean I still have some headroom to play around with and am well under 50%. It's the maximum achieved value of 1.2kw was concerned about as per screenshot (battery side).

You're right there, only downside to this battery is that if I use my induction cooktop which pulls 1800w, the immediate draw on the battery will be quite high. Currently my "knock-off" Chinese inverter delivers maximum 2400w at 1800w it's quite strained and fans go off like crazy and am almost maxing it out so I have to reduce my power to 1600w which then measures about 80% on the inverter side. Was looking for a datasheet for this battery you've recommended so I can see the C-rating, didn't find it.

I have 12 x 250w panels. True, there's no way panels cannot be connected to the Sunsynk, otherwise I'd have to wait on hooking up the Sunsynk till am able to do that, though I know Sunsynk can work without panels and connected to AC, problem is with current loadshedding and AC drop, Sunsynk also switches off.

I would rather have your installer come and have the whole generator come through the Sunysnk as well for purposes mentioned above (stability), but also involving your installer would be an added measure of peace of mind should anything go wrong as s/he is then liable (hopefully) and also ensure that your generator settings on the Sunsynk are set correctly.

Maximum Voc on the 3kW is 115volts, Sunsynk needs minimum 150volts. No am not wiring myself but will direct "my guy" how I want things wired and test. Your idea makes sense to wire panels to Sunsynk.

Yes am aware of that hence why it’ll be feeding the 3Kva system which then charges and discharges loads. So the load on Sunsynk will be the 3KVa. Just trying to figure a way to retrofit a Y-junction on panels in case Solar is low or we have cloud cover so I can turn off Pv to Sunsynk but have same low-end PV going to smaller 3Kva system. Gymnastics in my mind at the moment… oops just realised it won’t work because Pv to Sunsynk will be paired to ensure higher voltage, which lower 3Kva won’t take as it’ll create an overload🤦🏽‍♂️ Still it’s mind-stimulating simulations going on. 🤣😂 Other option is to look for the smallest 48v battery to handle those issues, am wondering where I could get a 50ah battery or thereabouts. Just got another thought: I have a 600va UPS, which I could also use on between the Utility and Sunsynk, wonder if that would at least handle short-term fast changing load, hopefully it may... who knows hehehehe.

Thanks, will try that.

I have an older 24v 3kW inverter running off a 24v 100ah lithium battery. Am thinking of getting a 5kw Sunsynk inverter, hook it up to the panels & utility & get it to feed my current inverter via the A/C input. Reason is Sunsynk is 48v so it won’t charge my 24v battery pack & discharge from it. Once my battery reaches end-of-life, hopefully by then can afford a 48v battery to match with the Sunsynk & decommission it. Anyone with advise & thoughts on this?

On the Inhemeter when units are now low, how do I turn off the beeping alarm, anyone know? The utility still hasn’t credited me with my old units from previous meter so buying new token would be a travesty & robbing me, yet they already owe me well over 400units.