Sc00bs

Ok, suspected something along those lines, thanks for the link @YellowTapemeasure, going to check out my earth as well @branderplank. Will check my generator frequency and report back 🙂

@stoneyc113 You could run single phase from your 8kw Sunsynk to a single phase to 3 phase VSD to drive the pump. Speak to Neels at CFP Technologies and see if he can advise on the cable length issue, he does have a 2.2kw VSD with single phase input. https://cfptechnologies.co.za/product-category/variable-frequency-drives/

Hi Guys, I have a question regarding the functioning of my Sunsynk 8kw inverter with my 5.5kw petrol generator. The Inverter is connected to a Eskom/Generator change over switch that I can use to select my source power. If I switch from Eskom to Generator, the AC light on the inverter lights up but I cannot get any power from the generator. If have a look on my laptop the inverter is not seeing any grid frequency, it obviously sees 50hz when running on Eskom power. If I bypass the inverter totally I can run my house from the generator directly, I would however prefer to be able to charge up my batteries using my generator which I currently cannot do. I was thinking that the power from the generator is perhaps not living up to what the inverter is expecting for some reason. Any idea what could be causing the problem?

@Robbo I think it may have something to do with the PGM Limits settings in the configuration file in the PAI addon

Would suggest having a look on the Github page for PAI or their Gitter page and see if they have any suggestions there https://gitter.im/paradox-alarm-interface

Hey @Robbo, Yes, I do use the Paradox Alarm Interface but to be honest I haven't spent any time using it as I have been more focussed on the power management stuff. Sry, I can't even begin to suggest the best way to proceed.

@Kalahari Meerkat I think you could be right on the rain front, seems there is a La Nina cycle running which is causing the drought in California but will bring us good rain for us this season. https://www.weathersa.co.za/images/data/longrange/gfcsa/scw.pdf

I have a 3Kw Microcare Grid-Tie Inverter for sale that I purchased before I worked out that I could just add extra panels to my existing inverter 🤔 Is in excellent condition & includes a wall mount bracket and connector. I am in Kyalami Midrand area. R4500.00 Willing to ship via courier if necessary at your cost. Whatsapp or call me on 083 309 4066 if you are interested

Kyalami Area in Johannesburg

https://github.com/tuya/tuya-home-assistant Tuya V2 looks pretty cool and allows for LAN control of your Tuya Switches so response is much better than via the cloud

I think that the CBI Astute stuff is all TUYA compatible. There is a nice new integration in Home Assistant for TUYA so they should be able to hook right in. Not sure if they can be reflashed with ESPHome or Tasmota.

I use these eWelink compatible boxes to control my geysers, pool, borehole etc. They work using the Sonoff integration on Home Assistant and allow you to set the OPS settings to whatever you want as long as it is lower than 63A Settings for Max Power, Min Power, Voltage & Current. Also has power usage which seems to be pretty accurate Unfortunately they aren't flashable with Tasmota as far as I know. There is also a double pole version available on Bangood and pricing on BG is a lot better than locally. I have mine installed in a separate box to my DB and had no issues getting my COC.

As far as I know you can't back feed into the other phases unless you have a 3-phase inverter. I suspect that the easiest would be just to convert your house to all run on one phase (is relatively simple to do as long as you don't have anything that needs 3-phase supply) and then just back feed to the non-essential items. Just check that you are never going to need more than your 3-phase can supply on 1-phase, usually 60a or 80a.

@EuginhoYes you can run on a Raspberry Pi although there are some advantages to using an Intel NUC, speed, storage space etc

Sunsynk Inverters have essential and non-essential connections on the inverter. Power will get fed to the non-essential side when user programable requirements are met, battery SOC etc so you can power the non-essential circuit with excess solar power but won't run it with battery power in the event of power failure

Intel NUC i3 - R3900.00 4Gb ram & 512Gb Hard Drive Including USB-RS485 Converter with cable to connect to Sunsynk 8kw & 5kw inverters Configured with Home Assistant/Node Red/ Influx DB/Grafana & Node Red Sunsynk connectivity Flows Home Assistant addons available for control of Smart Breaker Switches for load cycling on inverter (included Node Red Flow) Grafana Solar Dashboard with live data from the Sunsynk Inverter

The question is, if I connect the CTs again while my house (essential and non) is drawing less than the panels produce, will it feed into the other 2 phases or do I need some sort of phase correction device to do so and does such a thing exist and are they available in SA? No, you just get your single phase inverter connected to one of the phase of your 3-phase supply, will not imbalance the supply, you will just be limited to whatever the amperage limit is off one of the phases of the supply, usually 60A or 80A for residential I think. If your house is wired up for 3 phase supply, it is pretty easy for the electrician to just bridge the 3 phases in the house so they all run of a single phase.

Sorry, thought you had a Sunsynk, see you have a Mecer, not sure on overwatting a Mecer

You can exceed the PV Array power on the Sunsynk's (not sure how much is safe, I ma sure there is a limit somewhere) , it will however clip the power at the max power so you will never be able to make more than 6500W. It does this by increasing the resistance in the inverter which reduces the amount of power it absorbs. The inverter does the same thing when your battery is full and the power being produced drops. You must not however exceed the combined Max Voltage of the panels as voltage cannot be reduced by resistance in the inverter and will result in smoke and fire!! Max voltage on the 5KW - Max V DC input – 370V (100V~500V) It has two MPPT's so you could do 2 strings of JA Solar Mono's 535W 6-8 per string, max amperage on the panels is 13.79 but the inverter will stop them from producing over 11A so the panels would never be able to produce more than 456W of power per panel and the whole inverter will cap out at 6500W. If you can do an East/West split you could have great power for a large portion of the day and start of with 6 panels per string and maybe leave some extra space to slot on 1 or 2 more depending on whether you need it or not

Thanks for sharing @Bloubul7 greatly appreciated

Sorry, is a Victron Easysolar 3000, not a Phoenix, not sure if that affects the DC Voltage

Hi Looking for some advice on a Victron System. A friend of mine has 4 x LG Chem Lithium-Ion 60.8V 16S 2.6kw/hr batteries, that come from an EV car project. He would like to use them with his Victron Phoenix 48V 3000W inverter if possible. The batteries don't have any BMS and we have been looking at using a Daly 60A Smart BMS with CANBUS connection. Has anyone had any experience with using a DALY BMS with Victron, not sure if I need to be aware of anything? Also, any issues with using the Lithium Ion 60.8V batteries with the Victron? https://www.banggood.com/DALY-BMS-16S-60V-30A-40A-50A-60A-3_7V-18650-Li-ion-Lithium-Protection-Board-with-Balance-bluetooth-APP-PC-Software-R485-p-1826838.html

Have a look at these threads Tony

He has his geysers on the Aux port at the moment, that's why there are some questions as to how to do this.

Ok, so the main advantage if I have the grid-tie connected to the Aux port on the Sunsynk , the Sunsynk can disconnect the grid tie if the batteries are fully charged which it can't do if it is just running on the load side Disadvantages I suppose are that you are limited to 5kw on the 8kw inverter and 3kw on the 5kw and that you loose the ability to use your Aux port for non-essential loads etc. Does anyone know if the grid tie Aux input become part of the 8kw inverter max or does it come out of the 12kw from the grid max or is it on top of both of those numbers perhaps? Trying to work out the best way for a friend of mine to connect up his Solis 4kw inverter to his Sunsynk 5kw. The Sunsynk is basically to take the house through load shedding and to offset Eskom power purchases during the day. Solis is so that he can put up some extra panels as the Sunsynk isn't generating enough power at the moment.