January 16, 20224 yr Hi Been reading a ton on this forum! Super interesting. Where I live it's hot and we get a ton of sunshine so want to use that. Whats the best way to use solar to power the aircons (which we run during the day) and the geysers? So many of these installs have a really expensive battery. I might want to add it later to run aircons at night but I first want to allocate all of my budget to solar panels to power the aircons. What setup would you recommend? Do I even need a battery or could it go direct (since we only run the aircons when the sun is out)? I'm thinking of a sunsynk 5kva inverter and some panels but the battery part is confusing me since I don't want to storage! Thanks!
January 17, 20224 yr You do not need batteries, many get them because its a good way to store that excess PV and for load shedding - to have a backup and reduce reliance on the grid (ESKOM). Using just the inverter and panels you can power most of the house during the day using the sun (on good days)
January 17, 20224 yr Some inverters require batteries for startup so just double check the specs of the inverter.
January 17, 20224 yr As per mzezman's post if you get the correct inverter you do not need a battery, If you want to have redundancy when eksdom bombs out batteries must be included. or if you want to save money batteries can be used to reduce your utility bill. Adding a battery does however increase your ROI and it will take longer to recuperate by the time the system is paid you will probably need a new battery. The thing with any solar installation is that you do it to try and safe money but it does not guarantee that you will safe money. there is always maintenance that has to be done,
January 17, 20224 yr 1 hour ago, Krokkedil said: As per mzezman's post if you get the correct inverter you do not need a battery, If you want to have redundancy when eksdom bombs out batteries must be included. or if you want to save money batteries can be used to reduce your utility bill. Adding a battery does however increase your ROI and it will take longer to recuperate by the time the system is paid you will probably need a new battery. The thing with any solar installation is that you do it to try and safe money but it does not guarantee that you will safe money. there is always maintenance that has to be done, The last statement I cannot agree with. Some cheap inverters are very reliable and come with a 5 year warranty. My Solis has saved R12 000 and it only cost R5 000. This is in less than 2.5 years. It sits there without the need to ever press a button. Dead quiet with of an and only cools itself due to big heat sink. Yes the 4G mini cannot take batteries and super to use whatever sun is available. If using a 5kW Sunsynk with 6.4kW panels and if you can use the about 35kwh during the day you can save your whole cost of equipment in 2 years. Nothing prevents you from connecting a lithium battery and charging it. Disconnect it and run grid tied. During LS you can connect it for powering your essentials via settings. Although not a good way as lithiums are expensive and ROI calls for cycling it.
January 17, 20224 yr No, you are talking about a grid tied system which an ok option if you are not concerned about power outages.
January 17, 20224 yr 13 hours ago, Alexander-R said: Hi Been reading a ton on this forum! Super interesting. Where I live it's hot and we get a ton of sunshine so want to use that. Whats the best way to use solar to power the aircons (which we run during the day) and the geysers? So many of these installs have a really expensive battery. I might want to add it later to run aircons at night but I first want to allocate all of my budget to solar panels to power the aircons. What setup would you recommend? Do I even need a battery or could it go direct (since we only run the aircons when the sun is out)? I'm thinking of a sunsynk 5kva inverter and some panels but the battery part is confusing me since I don't want to storage! Thanks! You don't need a battery if grid is up with the SunSynk inverter. Did it for about a month before i bought a battery. Edited January 17, 20224 yr by phidz
January 17, 20224 yr The batteries are the balancing device over and above it's storage design. Solar is not constant so the battery balances the demand with the solar supply. Yes, you can run on only solar but you run the permanent risk that your solar supply is less than the demand at any time. If you are on the grid too, then no problem, you will get the required demand from the grid. For an off grid solution though it would mean the shutdown of the inverter every time your demand exceeds the supply.
January 17, 20224 yr 1 hour ago, zsde said: The batteries are the balancing device over and above it's storage design. Solar is not constant so the battery balances the demand with the solar supply. Yes, you can run on only solar but you run the permanent risk that your solar supply is less than the demand at any time. If you are on the grid too, then no problem, you will get the required demand from the grid. For an off grid solution though it would mean the shutdown of the inverter every time your demand exceeds the supply. Well said. The original post was from someone with grid so no problem shutting down. The need is to use the lots of sun available. Our average of LS during sunshine period is 2 hours per week measured over 28 months. We have more hours of little sun than periods without a grid to power grid tied inverters.
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