Delta9

I am interested in these cells; https://www.alibaba.com/product-detail/3-2v-271ah-lifepo4-battery-cell_1600109147409.html For a 16S string to get a nominal voltage of 51.2v the would cost would be $1343.68. 51.2v x 271 Ah = 13.87 kWh (3.2v x 271 Ah per cell x 16 cells = 13,875Wh). So at $1343.68 for 13.8kWh of power = $96.84 per kWh which is very cheap but where lithium is headed over the long term....downwards in price and we are already seeing this in the reduced cost of the Pylontechs. The thing is, these are on Alibaba and its FULL of scams. There must be some legitimate sellers as well - but how to find the good ones? There is the cost of freight to add to these cells - they are duty free and zero rated for VAT. So to this we need to add a BMS and i would use Battrium which is expensive for sure but also good. I am guessing this would all come out to around $150ish per kWh, so attractive. But how to find a good seller in China where you get the product you pay for with no scams or rip-offs? Any ideas? Anyone gone this route ?

Keith, I am far from an expert on this. I have the same sorts of concerns as you and my research says no. With a soft starter - possibly. Might need to go to a higher VA rated inverter such as the 8000VA or 10000 VA Quattro. That little bit of headroom makes all the difference on motor starts.

Not sure if I should be worried here or not 😉

Could you please tell us plebs more about this. Sounds very interesting. I have a single phase supply to the Stukki Plass but want to pump water from a 3 phase pump. I dont have the pump yet so this is wide open. I would like to design a system that takes all of this into account. Looking at a DAB pump with inverter (Dab lingo for VFD drive?) that would be a 3 phase pump. So if I could use 3 x Quattros to provide 3 phase to the pump while only having a single phase supply that would be handy indeed. Eventually I will be putting in my own 200 amp transformer but a long ways off that yet as there are so many higher priority things to get done. I am also going to put in PV arrays so ac coupling that to the Victron is probably the way to go, but still nice to be able to pump at night if its possible from a single phase supply to a 3 phase pump. Have I understood this all correctly or is this my wild wishful thinking out of control?

aint that the truth !

Is lunch over yet? I'd also like to take a peak at your latest pricing on things.

Are these available in South Africa ?

There's that for sure. But if you have been targeted, short of a double barrel shot gun (9mm has no stopping power) there is not much you can do.

You have no chance to survive make your time

and the funny thing is.....here i am tonight with no mains......so no way to charge my AGM's tonight. our transformer blew up around 4am this morning. How i wish i had of had some solar energy today !

https://www.pv-magazine.com/2020/05/11/500-w-plus-panel-race-intensifies-with-ja-solars-new-module-and-risens-first-shipment/ This article says the 525W panel is available from the second half of this year. Who is the JA agent in SA? I would like to find out when these will be available here.

when are these big boys going to be available in SA ? I am up for it/them

Loads of questions. Apologies in advance. If I have a 5Kva Quattro and add another to each phase so that I have a 3 phase Quattro setup...is that a 3 Phase 5Kva setup or a 3 phase 15Kva setup? Early days on this but the thinking on this is the original Quattro is 10 years old and we wonder what the actual life span of a quality Inverter actually is. If we bought 2 new 5Kva Quattro's and put one on each phase (of course would have to re-wire the DB to balance the loads) then when the original old Quattro lets go one day in the future there are still 2 phases UP for us to use ...its sort of a back up plan for inverters keeling over and dying on us (because you just know the inverter is going to die at 10PM on a Saturday night during a wild storm lashing the area in the middle of a very prolonged load shedding incident - and still have 2 phases up going strong...its a comforting thought). If one were to opt for a single 3 phase inverter (that is one box with all 3 phases on the one inverter box) and that inverter dies, then its light out. More expensive to go for 3 single phase inverters all joined together, but as the saying goes....2 is 1 , 1 is none (or in this case 3 is 1, 1 is none ??)

I have a 5Kva Quattro that has served me well for 10 years this year. Heavy load shedding over those years and on my second AGM bank. Cant complain, its all worked very well. Cant imagine life without it, the grid being what it is these days. I have used the Grid as the charging source for the batteries and the Quattro picks up the house load almost instantly when the grid goes down. However with the rising cost of energy and the uncertainty of just how far down things may go in the years ahead our thinking is to be energy self secure regardless of cost. Life is too short to let eskom dictate our lifestyle and when our life must go on hold because they cant manage things so well. So this means panels are now mandatory. The Quattro is 10 years old. Its not giving any sign or hint of a problem but its probably not a bad idea to renew so the next 10 years are trouble free. So now to figure out the way forward.

Thanks Stanely. Appreciate the guidance.

Hadn't considered that. Good to know. Thanks. I have a Victron Inverter with AGM's but no panels nor have ever had any hence not much of an idea about them. That seems to be the thing against Victron from what I can see. Their Mppt controllers are expensive and fairly low voltage forcing parallel strings which I dont like the idea of.

What is the highest wattage panel in SA at this time? Seems to be the 410W Canadian Solar from what I can see. Is Canadian Solar a good brand? The Trina Tallmax panel is 19.9% efficient. I would prefer to get the most efficient high wattage panels I can. What panel is favored by most here ? Is there any particular panel to avoid like the plague? Lots of questions I know. Still how else do we find these things out other then ask around from those who have already been down this road.

is my understanding correct that VOC only really comes into play in cold conditions in bright sunlight?

So Stanley, if you have been around that long then you most likely know a thing or two about solar panels. Will we ever hit a panels VOC in really hot parts of SA?

I also remember when solar panels were $900 ea! and batteries were cheap.....but then again racing was dangerous and sex was safe.. back then. Now racing is a safe past time, sex is dangerous, panels are cheap and we need to sell a kidney to have batteries. Ahhh, progress..... you gotta love it.

Indeed. Sad as it is, I know this from the time it actually happened. Just gave away my age 🙂

Solar panel newb here. Want to dive in and setup some test beds then eventually work things up to a larger scale. Looking at buying in some panels soon so been looking at whats available online in SA. Looks like the JA 405W, the Canadian Solar 410W, the Trina 405W Mono "Tallmax M" panels are about as big as we have here right now. Some things I am wondering about. The VOC. From what I have understood this is really only an issue in certain conditions...such as early morning when its cool with clear sky conditions and bright morning sun. What I am wondering is in the area I am in where its very very hot all the time (never below about 25 C and usually in the low to mid 30's) if realistically I will ever hit that VOC from a panel ? Trying to figure out how many panels I can safely put in a string for a given Mppt controller. Many of the newer inverters have Mppt onboard so lots to consider when selecting components for a new system from scratch.

Thank you for the welcome Chole. Its been fun tagging along here reading the many posts.

You get it 🙂 All your base are belong to us. Lets see if you get that one 😉

Hello world.