Hi Everyone,

 

With the increased frequency of loadshedding, it's time for me to take the journey into the light. Looking forward to learning from you all!

👍🏾

Welcome enjoy 😉 there are some brilliant minds here that you can learn from.

Welcome to the forum, and the enjoyable journey you are about to embark on.

Are you thinking of jumping in the deep end, with full house inverter, lithium batteries, and solar panels, or just want to get through load-shedding?

 

Figured I would update this.

Went with an Axper mks4 5kw + livoltek battery, just to get throught the load shedding. System has performed well and my installer has done some interesting stuff getting the livoltek to talk to the axpert

Next is to save up for some panels, additional battery and inverter to try and get as close to "off grid" as possible

System has weathered the recent bout of loadshedding quite well

Managed to get 14 hours off the livoltek, unfortunately I will be without power for another 48 hours because the loadshedding has broken something expensive in our suburb, and citypower don't know what to do. I was hoping to wait another year before getting panels, but with current loadshedding, looks like I'll have to bite the bullet sooner rather than later

Screenshot from the custom dashboard we have running for the livoltek and axpert

This weekend has seen the addition of PV to  my setup. @Steve87 sourced some 350w CanadianSolar Panels, so now I have 5 of them on the roof.

Updated Dashboard

Man, time flies. It seems like just yesterday @Steve87 and his team commissioned my humble backup solution of an MKS4 and Livoltek 5KW Battery.

 

Some thoughts on the MKS4

For most people, this is all you need. An inverter that can accept a modest number of panels and batteries, and operates in "Dumb" Modes like SUB or SBU. No work timers, no CT Coil. I understand QC on the Axperts are hit and miss, but from the anecdotal evidence of other Axpert owners (not the clones), we're all happy that the inverter does what it says on the box. The only real issue I can fault the MKS4 on is how *noisy* it is, ramping up and down depending on input or output loads. The slow steady whine was a comfort, it got to the point that I could guess what load was coming in or going out based on how loud it was

 

Which brings me to.... The Battery. We really went through some pain getting the Livoltek to play nice. It requires a "hearbeat" to stay online, which required some custom software on a pi, but eventually the system was stable. I pulled close to 80% peak loads out of it repeatedly, including one cold winter night during loadshedding when 2 heaters were running and no issue. There were some nuisance trips, but besides the heartbeat above, solid battery. No SOC drop shenanigans.

Livoltek support however... that's another story. We needed to update the firmware on my existing battery and an additional one I had purchased, and @Steve87 did not have a fun time with them. I think I won't even bother with any kind of warranty claims with them in future

Which brings me to monitoring and aftermarket support

Your choice of installer will make all the difference in the world. I have bugged Steve at odd hours on WhatsApp, and he's always been able to assist. This is why I entrusted him with all of the upgrades since, the PV install, and now most recently the replacement of the MKS4 with the Sunsynk and additional battery and panel swap

Monitoring: I initially balked at the cost of Solar Assistant. Having had it for a few days now, I'm glad I made the purchase. It. Just. Works. I never want to have to try using WatchPower again, and the SunSynk connect App is just blegh. Completely user un-friendly.

 

My old panels and MKS4 will live on at my parents place. It's perfect for their requirements, and I'll be purchasing an additional SA for remote monitoring.

@madness_za Why did you not just connect the Sunsynk to Home assistant instead of going the Solar Assistant route?

Just now, PsyCLown said:

@madness_za Why did you not just connect the Sunsynk to Home assistant instead of going the Solar Assistant route?

I work in IT. For anything at home, I am willing to pay for a solution that works out the box without needing me to fiddle with it in any way, shape or form.

I may in future look at HA for automation, but for now, I'm happy

2 minutes ago, madness_za said:

I work in IT. For anything at home, I am willing to pay for a solution that works out the box without needing me to fiddle with it in any way, shape or form.

I may in future look at HA for automation, but for now, I'm happy

I stand to be correct, however I believe with Solar Assistant you can only view the info and not make changes to the inverter.

With the direct integration of the Sunsynk with Home Assistant you can then make changes to the inverter settings as well - it's free, just gotta buy a RPI (same as with Solar Assistant) although would require a bit of setup from your side.

 

Once it's setup and done, then it should be pretty smooth sailing. If you do a bit of coding, you're unlikely to struggle with the setup much.

If coding isn't your thing, like in my case, then it will likely take you a bit longer and YAML will teach you about indentation. lol

Just now, PsyCLown said:

I stand to be correct, however I believe with Solar Assistant you can only view the info and not make changes to the inverter.

With the direct integration of the Sunsynk with Home Assistant you can then make changes to the inverter settings as well - it's free, just gotta buy a RPI (same as with Solar Assistant) although would require a bit of setup from your side.

 

Once it's setup and done, then it should be pretty smooth sailing. If you do a bit of coding, you're unlikely to struggle with the setup much.

If coding isn't your thing, like in my case, then it will likely take you a bit longer and YAML will teach you about indentation. lol

SA allows you to make inverter setting changes on the SunSynks/Deyes (and the interface is superior to the native interface), which is part of why I chose it.

Again, I work in IT. YAML, JSON, Python etc  is absolutely the last thing I want to work on when I am at home, off the clock, and I'm willing to pay for the convenience.

36 minutes ago, madness_za said:

SA allows you to make inverter setting changes on the SunSynks/Deyes (and the interface is superior to the native interface), which is part of why I chose it.

Again, I work in IT. YAML, JSON, Python etc  is absolutely the last thing I want to work on when I am at home, off the clock, and I'm willing to pay for the convenience.

Ahh ok, never knew one could make changes to the inverter settings with Solar Assistant.

 

Then it is a nice out of the box solution for those not wanting to have the hassle of setting up Home Assistant etc.

Heard a lot of ppl saying they can make changes on SA with the Sunsynk & Deye inverter. I must admit from day 1 installing these machines it has worked. I have, however, never bought the SA RS485 to usb cables. I have from day 1 crimped my own cables. I use the Meter port or BMS port & use Pins 1 & 2 which are B & A respectively RS485. 

There is also Pins 7 & 8 available but I've never had to use them. Not sure if this helps someone, but in my opinion the cables on the SA are priced for the European & US markets. 

2 hours ago, Steve87 said:

Heard a lot of ppl saying they can make changes on SA with the Sunsynk & Deye inverter. I must admit from day 1 installing these machines it has worked. I have, however, never bought the SA RS485 to usb cables. I have from day 1 crimped my own cables. I use the Meter port or BMS port & use Pins 1 & 2 which are B & A respectively RS485. 

There is also Pins 7 & 8 available but I've never had to use them. Not sure if this helps someone, but in my opinion the cables on the SA are priced for the European & US markets. 

R100k+ for the installation, how much do you save? SA cables works, costs either R299 or R499, yes it is probably hell expensive, but in the grand scheme of things very affordable.

22 minutes ago, CyberJoe said:

R100k+ for the installation, how much do you save? SA cables works, costs either R299 or R499, yes it is probably hell expensive, but in the grand scheme of things very affordable.

500 for a cable that can be made up in 5 minutes with less than R100 in material. Nah. That's taking the piss and clearly aimed at a different market (USD/EUR)