viper_za

convenience

Awesome software Cef.

Been using it since earlier versions and now moving it to my new 24/7 low power PC for monitoring.
Looking forward to the next version too

Hi all
 
Let me just start with that my field that I work in is IT and for this I'm just trying to get an understanding of how things will fit together.
My goal is to get all the wiring and breakers etc installed before I get the electrician to do the main AC connections.
 
I have already purchased my first string of panels 3x 300W ReneSola Virtus II and the inverter itself.
 
First off my inverter will not be installed next to the current DB as this is located in my passage between 2 bedrooms.
This will be installed +-10-15m away with the battery bank next to it.
The DB will be split with the stove and geyser not going through the inverter.
 
Can you please have a look at my wiring diagram just to confirm that I am indeed on the right track with my planning.

You will see that I gave the existing Breakers and bus bars a grey background and the new ones a white one.
My current DB only has a E/L that functions as a main and I will be installing a new Mains breaker to be able to supply the inverter with "clean" power.
 
The thing I am really not 100% sure about is the neutral to earth bonding on the output side of the inverter.
I am also not sure about what size the cables should be running to and from the input and output of the inverter into the house.
The same goes for the earth cable size.
 
Any suggestions are welcome.
Thanks
Thys
 
 

Have only needed to use mine once in the last 5 years. No need to change it then for me I guess 🤣

Have only needed to use mine once in the last 5 years. No need to change it then for me I guess 🤣

Welcome to the forum RooiWillie
 
It sounds to me like you are feeding the inverter from behind your earth leakage.
The AC input needs to be supplied before your earth leakage.
Then your earth leakage should be on the AC output of the inverter. 
 
Thys

Rightly too! Do you know how much work this is for an introvert? :-P
(Funny how that works... you may be an introvert... but ask the right question and it opens up doors :-) ).

Think he might have meant capable of

Think he might have meant capable of

That one is on the list still...

There:

Something else to maybe start worrying about is what my company is now being asked to look into.
We work with couple of electricity suppliers data and the request we got last week is to build a system to see how many units of the prepaid meter get's carried over to the next month and with it for how many months it carries over in total before getting used.
This to me looks like they trying to close another loophole of buying the cheapest units even if you don't use them to carry over.
@plonkster I know you are also one taking advantage of this and so am I, on solar it just makes sense to have the cheap power when needed.
 
Let me head home, enjoy the weekend guys

If I remember correctly it will error if it detects the water temp does not rise by a certain predefined degree and time

We just need a "Camel" for Voltronic now

Talking about this
 

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Jason Back
 
https://www.linkedin.com/in/jason-back/

There you go. Put the inverter and batteries with the panels :-)

Haven't even touched my inverter since the last firmware update I did and that was 2 years ago and no it's not blue 

Haven't even touched my inverter since the last firmware update I did and that was 2 years ago and no it's not blue 

Now you're Talking @The Terrible Triplett language
At about R20 for a geyser + plumbing + controller,  it was cheaper to add more PV to my existing system and let it power the 2KW geyser element in the afternoons from 14:00, when we don't use as much PV energy anymore. And I don't have to worry about it boiling over in summer and wasting water unnecessarily. 

@The Terrible Triplett Ag nee TTT jy moet eers lees wat Plonkster se man

Here I go again, just like solar 5 years ago.....
I imported a 3000lt per day desalination unit leaves the East Tuesday, installed 3 x 2200lt JoJo's with booster pumps and all, just need to purchase a pool pump / Filter as a pre pre filter and do all the piping. Seeing that i do not stay on the waters edge, i have to "collect sea water" via water trailer at 2000lt at a time and water pump from our local harbour. We will see how i last doing this, might employ someone to do it for me every 2nd day.

After Installing 8kw gtrid tied inverter system with 6kw of solar panels I deceided to sink a bore hole because of all the water problems and I have a garden.
This is what I have done.
Sank a 50m bore hole in the middle of my driveway as this was the only place the truck could get in. No water diviner needed.
Casing was fitted to 45m as the ground was soft.
Found a good source of water.
Fitted a .75kw borehole motor and pump.
I had the  water tested and found a large amount of iron and manganese in the water. No other problems.
 
The irrigation system filters, tank system and electrical system was designed and fitted by myself.
Fitted two large high pressure filters to remove iron and manganese. (clinobrite and birm)
The water is now fed to my irrigation system and timer controls my bore hole.
The filtered water can also feed to my 2200L jojo tank after being filtered by a 4 stage filter including a UV light.
The jojo tank feeds a booster pump which feeds the main water supply to the house.
To save on the uv light time as it only lasts 10000hrs (about 1yr continuous use)  and expensive I connected it to the irrigation valve control so that it only switches on when the tank is filling.
The borehole water at present  is only used for irrigation as I do have to show some water use as other services are tied to the quantity of municipal water used.
The booster pump also helps when the municipal water pressure is low. It is connected in parallel with municipal water at present  but can be seperated if water quality is bad and needs to be totaly filtered.
The only thing that is missing is booster pump protection when the jojo tank runs empty for any reason and it has done this twice and have lost one booster pump. 
I have ordered a cheap (less than R100.00) electronic liquid level control on ebay from China and will fit this to protect the booster pump.This will be fitted in the new year.
This sytem will cost in the region of  > R100000.00 complete depending on the depth of the borehole and other filters needed.

Atteched are photos and diagrams of the system.
 
 
 
 

 









 

Glad it's in your book 
In my book where I am now running 80-90% of the time on solar/batteries with a small bank.
Adding more panels would mean I can run my loads later and keep the bank floating longer when the sun starts to set and the PV wattage of my current array size drops off too much to be really usable, where having more panels just gives me more wattage to start my dependence on the bank later giving me more usable power at night or lower SOC usage. I'm even thinking of adding a string on the other side of the roof to give me more usable solar power in summer times.
My end goal with the PV is to be able to run my base load (with me not at home)
The same with your logic of only running a small inverter.
We have explained a lot of times now that not everyone is happy with just powering the bare basics.
I'm happy with running heat(winter) during the day or an aircon and the kettle knowing it will be free and it won't trip because of a small sized inverter.
This kind of setup also covers me for future price hikes by Eskom making it too expensive to run all these "luxary/comfort" items.
When I eventually get more panels I will be able to have the maid do the ironing while the washing machine is working in the background.
And as stated earlier coming back from a week away to a rotten freezer is a big motivator for running a system like this.

My end goal with the PV is to be able to run my base load (with me not at home (30-250w at peaks) even when the weather is cloudy.
Currently this takes my SOC down to 80-85% during the night time giving me basically 3 nights of running with bad cloudy days before I reach 50% and then it can fall back to Eskom as a last resort

We have sort of come to the agreement that adding a few more panels works out cheaper and you don't have an extra point of failure as a tracker would need some sort of maintenance and mechanical parts that can fail.