PhireSide

Thanks for all the sage advice thus far! I really appreciate it. @Kalahari Meerkat I may have to perhaps look at a 24v inverter for now, and keep my batteries as-is (I don't have the cashflow at the moment to get a 48v inverter and new batteries in one fell swoop), and then when I decide to scale up, look at replacing the inverter with a 48v unit and do the batteries at the same time. Not sure what your thoughts on this would be? My batteries are still good so it would make sense to use them while I still can? With my base load I could even get away with a 1kva inverter as I rarely push 450w, but figured that the price difference between a small 1kva/1.5kva and larger 3kva is not really at all large so I may as well get something with a bit more headroom just in case? Regarding the solar MPPT charger, I did also ponder this, but my current inverter isn't long for this world as it's already been in for a warranty job twice and I had had to hard reset it once or twice this year already due to a fault. Sadly, I think the inverter would be the first thing to be replaced as I don't trust the reliability thereof and it's a few years old at this stage. But I do like the idea and I can see how it can save some dosh down the line! On the topic of a donkey, I had the best shower of my life with one a few moons ago when I was canoeing up the Fish River. We stopped at a cabin for the night, and there was gravity-fed water that we heated up with a donkey. The showers were rudimentary, but in the middle of the brush they had made a cordoned off area with some droppers as 'walls' and a soakaway for the waste water. I am not sure if it was just the desperation for a nice warm shower after the morning and afternoon's rowing, but I swear that water heated up by a donkey is just far superior🙂 @Scorp007 thank you so much, that is definitely within budget, and seems like a really decent brand as I've heard the name mentioned here before. I'll do some more research into them. I don't see any 24v inverters from them on that site that I could use for the time being, but they seem like a decent deal when I eventually expand. @GreenFields definitely a plan if I could get the batteries and inverter at the same time, sadly budget isn't allowing for this at this point in time so I will probably have to do it bit by bit. I'd have loved for my current Mecer to hold on for just a few more months, maybe a year at most, then I could maybe get the batteries and an inverter as a bulk buy and then add solar the year after. Sadly it seems to be dying and forcing my hand sooner than anticipated, and I am a bit reluctant to get another one of the same type as they don't seem to be all that reliable for long-term operation. Appreciate all the responses, thanks all!

Hi all, I've been lurking here a while and absorbing all the information possible, of which there is tons. I currently have a very small backup system that I'd like to expand in a modular sense and keeping costs in mind. I am presently running a 720w Mecer 12V inverter that powers a basic lights circuit and keeps my internet going during power outages and load shedding. I currently run 2x 12v260Ah batteries in parallel which gives me decent runtime, provided I keep the essentials on. I would like to upgrade to something a bit bigger so that I can add another circuit or two, but I would like to try and keep it modular so that I can expand upon it when the need arises. My plan is to upgrade to a 3kva 24v inverter that has MPPT charging so that I can slot it into my existing system and add solar at a later stage, and use my existing batteries until I can save up enough for a proper LiFePo4 battery. [R10k] Upgrade to 3kva inverter that has hybrid support with MPPT charging functionality. If possible, parallel capability so that I can add another 3kva unit at a later stage. [R30k] Upgrade to 24v LiFePo4 battery system (51v seems more popular but hopefully there are some 24v units that would work) [R40k] Add solar - perhaps 6x 395w panels which should be well sized for my needs. [R15k]At a later stage, convert existing geyser to either evacuated tube or PV collector design. Happy to run this off municipal supply for now. I use around 380 units of prepaid electricity per month, but I am not intending on feeding back into the grid (I believe being prepaid makes this a pain anyway). I can swap #2 and #3 around as needed, but I figured since I already have batteries that I can use, maybe I can move this down the list of priorities. Finally, budget. I was looking to see if I could keep the inverter under R10k, the batteries around R30k, and solar seems to vary wildly so I am not 100% sure on what my budget would be here. Perhaps around R40k. In short, I can possibly look at spending R40k within the next 12 months, and thereafter maybe another R40k for panels and getting some solar production introduced. I also want to convert my geyser so I've added that above with an estimated budget. Is my plan sound and doable, or are there aspects that I should look at changing/avoiding? Been reading up on the Synapse inverters and their float bug, and with all the clones out there, it's a bit hard to discern which models are decent and which ones to avoid. Thanks to all for reading!