Hi, I am new to solar and am in the process of obtaining quotes for a 3 kw system, I basically want to be prepared for long periods of load shedding(6 to 8 hours) and to reduce my electricity bill which is currently R1000 per month.

I am supplied by Eskom so I guess I do not need an inverter that is on the city of Cape Towns approved list

I have been quoted for the following:

Quote 1: Phocos 5 kw inverter, Hubble Lithium 5.5 kw battery and CanadianSolar panels

Quote 2: SunSynk 5 kw inverter, Shoto 5.1 kw Lithium battery and JA solar panels

Any advice on which is the better combination of products, there is a 24k difference in the quotes?

Thank you

Quantify your monthly usage in kw/h, not in Rands. This will give you a better basis for sizing the system. The rand price will vary according to Eskom's tariffs, but the kw/h should stay the same unless you add more load or change the way you use things.

You never know when Eskom or some pesky municipality is going to start taking an interest in inverters and how they are installed, so get one on the COCT list and have it installed properly with anti-islanding. Don't assume that you can reduce your bill by exporting excess power back to the grid. Some meters may not recognise the direction in which the electricity is flowing.

3Kw is a small amount to back up and very easy to exceed. You are being quoted on 5kw inverters. I don't think you will anything at 3kw. Even 5 can be easily exceeded depending on what you are backing up. So go for an 8kw if your budget can stretch that far - you will find the extra headroom useful in the future. Similarly either double up on the batteries (you don't have enough to support a 3kw load for 6 hours) if you can, or check that you will be able to double up in the future.

 

57 minutes ago, Bobster said:

Quantify your monthly usage in kw/h, not in Rands. This will give you a better basis for sizing the system. The rand price will vary according to Eskom's tariffs, but the kw/h should stay the same unless you add more load or change the way you use things.

You never know when Eskom or some pesky municipality is going to start taking an interest in inverters and how they are installed, so get one on the COCT list and have it installed properly with anti-islanding. Don't assume that you can reduce your bill by exporting excess power back to the grid. Some meters may not recognise the direction in which the electricity is flowing.

3Kw is a small amount to back up and very easy to exceed. You are being quoted on 5kw inverters. I don't think you will anything at 3kw. Even 5 can be easily exceeded depending on what you are backing up. So go for an 8kw if your budget can stretch that far - you will find the extra headroom useful in the future. Similarly either double up on the batteries (you don't have enough to support a 3kw load for 6 hours) if you can, or check that you will be able to double up in the future.

 

Thanks Bobster, I appreciate your input.

My monthly usage is 450kw/h, I was surprised to see that Phocos inverters were not included on the city's list, I wonder how often the city amends that list?

I don't plan to export anything back to the grid, but I will look at increasing the power of the system and adding another battery, any advice on which inverter is the quietest as I live in a terraced house and would like the system to be as quiet as possible?

Edited March 6, 20224 yr by SpeedSeeker

16 hours ago, SpeedSeeker said:

Thanks Bobster, I appreciate your input.

My monthly usage is 450kw/h, I was surprised to see that Phocos inverters were not included on the city's list, I wonder how often the city amends that list?

I don't plan to export anything back to the grid, but I will look at increasing the power of the system and adding another battery, any advice on which inverter is the quietest as I live in a terraced house and would like the system to be as quiet as possible?

You'll get other answers here. Consider them all. I have a Goodwe ES, it's the only inverter I have any experience with. It is very quiet, largely because it has a big ass heat sink and no fans. Some folks think the absence of fans is not a good thing. The Goodwe hums very slightly when it's heavily loaded (input or output side), and there's some clicking of relays if you restart it, but it's mostly unobtrusive.

My Goodwe is rated at 4.6kw, but can burst to 6.9 for 10 seconds. 

This brings us to another point. When people or adverts say "5 kw", find out what they mean. I just saw a Goodwe advertised as 5kw. A different model from mine, with a slightly higher rating. Interesting. Except read the fine print and it only backs up 2.3 kw, the 5 kw comes in somewhere else, I think on DC power from the PV panels converted to AC. So be sure that what you get will back up the load you need it to back up. 
 

Edited March 7, 20224 yr by Bobster

How many panels? The SS 5kw has a heatsink - no fan so its quiet, unless you have kid-like hearing. I have no experience of the Shoto batteries, i personally have Dyness and those work a treat - also able to add them after the fact. What is your peak usage vs base usage? that will give you the range of what you can backup for how long. 

On 2022/03/07 at 8:50 PM, mzezman said:

How many panels? The SS 5kw has a heatsink - no fan so its quiet, unless you have kid-like hearing. I have no experience of the Shoto batteries, i personally have Dyness and those work a treat - also able to add them after the fact. What is your peak usage vs base usage? that will give you the range of what you can backup for how long. 

Forums with it's people remain an interesting place.

Some people complain about the fan noise of 30dB and mount it away from the living space.

I don't have a Sunsynk but surely if the specs indicate a fan then there must be one.

 

On 2022/03/12 at 12:48 PM, Scorp007 said:

Forums with it's people remain an interesting place.

Some people complain about the fan noise of 30dB and mount it away from the living space.

I don't have a Sunsynk but surely if the specs indicate a fan then there must be one.

 

+1
The 5kW and 3.6kW SunSynk are Natural cooled.
The 8kW unit uses fans - not recommended for living area.

1 hour ago, system32 said:

The 5kW and 3.6kW SunSynk are Natural cooled.

Nope, wrong the 5kW Sunsynk has a fan and can be noisy, mine is in the garage which is disconnected from the house so, I only hear it when I go to the garage and here in the Kalahari, without any ceiling in the garage etc. during summer the fan runs plenty, since ambient temperature during the day is often above 40°C... which doesn't help keeping the garage cool (tin roof & no ceiling) and thus producing more than 3kW mostly during daylight hours keeps the fan spinning more often than not during summer days, even now, winter, the fan comes on at times during the day...

3 hours ago, system32 said:

+1
The 5kW and 3.6kW SunSynk are Natural cooled.
The 8kW unit uses fans - not recommended for living area.

Then Sunsynk must change their specs......

1 hour ago, Kalahari Meerkat said:

Nope, wrong the 5kW Sunsynk has a fan and can be noisy, mine is in the garage which is disconnected from the house so, I only hear it when I go to the garage and here in the Kalahari, without any ceiling in the garage etc. during summer the fan runs plenty, since ambient temperature during the day is often above 40°C... which doesn't help keeping the garage cool (tin roof & no ceiling) and thus producing more than 3kW mostly during daylight hours keeps the fan spinning more often than not during summer days, even now, winter, the fan comes on at times during the day...

You have an older model.
The latest models of the 5kW and 3.6kWh are "naturally cooled" - here are the specs from the online store:

I was working on the new Deye 5k and that's also "Natural Cooling" with a big ass heatsink on the rear.

Edited June 9, 20224 yr by system32

2 hours ago, system32 said:

You have an older model.
The latest models of the 5kW and 3.6kWh are "naturally cooled"

that may be ok, for countries that are a lot cooler on average than South Africa, but most of this country is rather warm for most of the year and having fan cooling in addition to a "big ass heatsink" would make sense to me.... hello Deye and Sunsynk... maybe consider that even the 3k6W model should really have some extra forced cooling controlled by the inverter in this country...