Moffat

I've had a 3Kw 24v Hybrid system running since 2014 with 6 x 250w solar panels and 6 x 175ah Gel batteries. Now my batteries have reached End Of Life... forumites help to on the way forward. Being on a very tight budget at the moment and with load shedding, what do I do: 1. Buy a small battery bank - 2 x 200ah Gel batteries and reduce my load to bare-bones during load shedding; 2. Buy a 5Kw inverter and suffer through load shedding till I can buy a battery (100ah Lithium ion); 3. Buy the a 100ah 24v lithium battery and run it of my current system, off course without comms as my current inverter is a MPPSolar Chinese inverter, 24v?

Is there a way of knowing how many cycles the battery has done?

Good to hear, you went with the Sunsynk, I've also been thinking of pulling the plug on a Sunsynk 5Kw inverter as well, once funds permit and then grow the battery bank incrementally.

Many thanks @Tariq.

I agree with you @Tariq. The main issue is how to balance the Max. VoC, more so in winter. In summer, due to heat, the panels may be less efficient. I would say calculate your VoC with enough of a headroom of about minus 10-15%, depending on location. Places say in Limpopo will have different effects from CT more so in winter weather. Food for thought. By the way, has anyone had any experience with a Deye/Sunsynk inverter needing MPPTs replaced either one or both and how seamless or trouble-free was it getting parts?

May you kindly share the website please @Tariq

Thanks for the timeous response. Good to hear... clearly don't want to start another thread here about which inverter has more options and functionality at the best cost, so I won't. How long have you had your inverter for and if a layman was planning on purchasing would you recommend it? I know I do love tinkering and looking at stats and performance data, but for someone who wants a "install-and-forget" system, would Deye/Sunsynk be your recommendation? Of course I'm aware Deye and Sunsynk are the same except with regards to user and software interface at the moment.

Am looking to get the Sunsynk 5kW 48v Inverter with 1 x Hubble AM and build up my battery bank... how reliable is it for you experienced guys is it to always go on the Beta systems say for the Solar Assist? I know this helps the Inverter manufacturer make improvements, but what are the risk factors in the real world and does one also always need to make sure they are on the latest Inverter firmware?

To add my 2-cents, just make sure also that all your piping around the Jacuzzi are bonded and earthed to a earth rod in the ground outside. I'm not sure about the codes in SA, but here in Zimbabwe it's mandatory that all pipes are earthed and bonded, it's really a safety issue, not very sure how this would help with earth leakages, but it may save your life in the event of electrical faults, especially near a water body. You can get a copper strip from your local hardware as well as a 1metre earth rod and earth wire and a plumber will be able to make sure all your pipes are bonded, especially those on the hot water copper pipes. And yes I would agree with the comments about getting a good and high quality circuit breaker, it will definitely save you headaches and potentially is life-saving.

You may be fortunate on this forum, but then again, it'll be a hit and a miss and you need to weigh-up the risk and your risk tolerance levels. All the best.

To be fair, getting a warranty on any system, even if it's installed properly has always and likely will continue to be problematic with manufacturers not wanting to honour anything. Similarly one will find that in all truthfulness it's still expensive for the average man/woman to be able to put up a solar system with the optimum battery bank vs load vs pv. From personal experience, I have installers trying to push me to upgrade, at least my batteries to lithium even though my MPPsolar inverter will not be able to communicate with the lithium battery. It's tempting but the risk element is high. My best way for now is to replace my gel batteries that have reached end of life (EOL) with a similar pack, limp along for the next 5-6years whilst saving to upgrade to a 48v, 5Kva system with properly sized Lithium battery bank. You @Antonio de Sa are fortunate in that at least you have data you can refer to, in support of your case, most average "Joes" would not have this.

Anyone selling stuff may want to urgently convert their stuff to cash as quickly as possible and may be unaware that they have abused their batteries or conversely may choose to withhold that information. There's always that risk. I always prefer brand new and to start afresh on electronic equipment.

Out of interest @Gutty is your existing geyser in the ceiling? My set up was that I have decommissioned my existing geyser and it's just sitting in the ceiling. I should have added the solar with evacuated tubes to feed into the existing geyser, added insulation on the older plastic geyser meaning any hot water generated would remain hot in there. This way I would never have cold water mixing with my existing heated water... my installer was against this though because it meant he would gain on charging me for installing more piping, but I just think I should have stood my ground. Could still go that route when funds permit.

We seem to be in the very same boat in terms of size of battery bank and it having reached End of Life (EoL). I would say you and I need to look at a Lithium capacity of no less than 200ah, 24v battery bank. Now given your inverter type I would recommend you trying to get one battery at that size. If you are not particular about brands then the attached would be recommended. Alternatively I would recommend you go for Lead Acid/Gel batteries, limp along for the next 4-5years and then upgrade the Inverter to a 48v system and then go Lithium properly.

I hear you best of luck getting a used Pylon. If funds are not to much of a stretch, I would still recommend getting a new Pylon which you know has not been abused and is in good nick. https://www.pricecheck.co.za/offers/190287196/Pylontech+Pylon+UP2500+2.84KWH+Li-ion+Solar+Battery+24V+With+Can+Connection

I've not done a scientific ROI but I can tell you that switching off my electric geyser has saved me about 30% of my electricity bill costs. I installed a Solar tubular geyser in 2014 and when solar is low, it's augmented by manually hitting a switch to get it to heat water up to 50ºCelcius, otherwise out of winter, the 200litres retains heat overnight for a comfortable warm bath in the morning. The only issue I see you having is that you may have reduced heat as you bath in the evening which means your water would get cooled a little when the geyser tops up with cold water. With regards to other electrical gadgets, my solar system (3kva) runs most of my loads and my chest freezer is on an automatic timer so at 10pm it switches off the chest freezer and restarts it at 7am, also giving me a saving. For cooking, am looking at replacing my electric stove with a 2-plate Induction Cooktop, which is more efficient and can comfortable run off my solar system as well. My other load is a 0.5hp pump which has a 100litre booster tank to reduce the pump always running. All lights are Led and all else is essentially running of solar which is 12 x 250w panels so not much draw. The other draw would be an iron which can be done during the day when solar is at peak and I have no washing machine. The microwave is seldom used but this is another high electricity draw. Once I get the induction cooktop will also get an induction kettle and say goodbye to the electric kettle. Gas stove would be an option, which would also give you the option of an oven, whenever it's required. That's my 2 cents. If you can look at going solar and go for a 5kva 48v system with lithium batteries, I would recommend it.

May I suggest you explore the Hubble batteries as well. They seem to be rated much better than the Pylons. If you are in SA, Hubbles also seem to be better suited for the African market, being made in SA, though they come as new at about R15,000 to R16,000. Warranty seems to be much better with them as well, though I say that with a pinch of salt as all manufacturers have to be taken with a pinch of salt on warranty, if not a bag full of it.

Sadly... solar and more to the point batteries and their usage, always seems like going down a rabbit hole. Due to cost constraints, I have opted to go the Gel route and with a DOD of 40%. Eventually when I can afford it will then replace the Inverter with a 48v variant and go the lithium route. My current MPPT has a maximum draw of 60A, peak. I've only stressed it a couple of times when I had load shedding going for over 2days and needed to use and iron, otherwise my current battery bank of 100ah x 6 batteries for a 24v system has served me since 2014 till last year when they reached End of life and now no longer hold a charge.

Could @HubbleLithium at least dedicate someone on a bi-weekly or monthly basis to give answers on this forum thread, I think this would help. I'm looking at getting a HUBBLE AM-4 Battery 25.5v 2.6KWh to replace my current Sealed Gel batteries. On my Chinese MMPsolar inverter I can set four parameters (Maximum charge, Minimum charge, High voltage upper limit, Low voltage cut-off. All else am unable to set as this inverter cannot communicate with the battery. How does this affect my warranty?

Seems to be out of stock on the website. Did you ever try to compare with the HUBBLE AM-4 Battery 25.5v 2.6KWh or Hubble's S-series as an option?

If cost is a problem also look at the HUBBLE AM-4 Battery 25.5v 2.6KWh or the Hubble S-series.

Respectfully, I disagree. The battery manufacturer (Pylontech) is the one who gives and affords you the warranty and they have stated you can mix the batteries. Now it's up to the end-user to ask the manufacturer who their recommended installer is, in your area so you are certain you are covered under the warranty. At inception phase there was issues of which firmware all the batteries are running on which gave issues and many installers, work on small margins so they are not wholly interested in wasting time with one job. (Not all are like this though, to be fair).

I concur with @Gnome in respect of his explanation. My other 2-cents is you can even charge to a maximum of 95% SoC and even if it floats at that level, this means it's not "force-charging" your battery. Also, ideally the BMS will help if over-charging, but ideally don't let it float at 100%SoC (State of Charge).

Now that is quite worrying... which company is not giving you support, the seller or the battery manufacturer? I'm looking to make a battery purchase and such information is quite useful as this also means that chances of getting warranty issues dealt with become, in reality futile.

Many thanks for your swift response. I'm fully aware of that caveat on Acid/Gel batteries. It's just on face value, it makes sense to go the Gel/Acid route when simply looking at the capacity of 200ah on Gel/Acid vs Lithium at 90ah for 90% DoD, so why would an installer recommend lithium. My system is grid-tied with PV, so ideally at most times, I should be able to trickle charge the Gel/Acid at least 2-3 times a week to full capacity. However, because my load is significant, if I have a blackout, then lithium doesn't give me enough and I have to further reduce my non-essential loads.