Advice Please

[RiccoS]

I'm back  

So something happened and partly my own doing, Krugersdorp for 2 years in Covid did not have load shedding and I never cycled my 200Ah batteries and nor did I put an equalizer on.  I used to get really really good hours out of my batteries but about a week ago 1.5 hours into the scheduled 2.5 hours everything goes off, turns out I must have destroyed a battery with it just sitting on float for 2 years.  It was actually 2 batteries but one I could save with running a recon cycle on a proper charger on all my batteries. Fast forward a few days and found out my old Axpert type inverter cannot talk to a lithium so lithium not being an option I decided to start researching for a complete new setup, and not wanting to pay school fees again in 2 years I've decided on the bigger names out there and also full on hybrid, Sunsynk, Deye, Fusion etc.

Me being the DIY type I'm again planning on doing it myself and seeing that I already have a setup most is done in any case and I got a COC for it, but I have some questions.

With the above inverters and using the CT it seem like I need to worry about things like earth to neutral bonding etc when utility goes off and I'm feeding back into the DB, not feeding back into utility just DB.  Is this correct, if so does this mean I cannot feed back into the DB while I do not have utility if I do not add some sort of relay to do this?  To be honest I know nothing about earth to neutral bonding, I just know generators and inverters do it inside.

I also did not have solar on the Axpert and planning on adding as part of the new installation to make it well worth the cost of the inverter and not just use it as a UPS setup.  Adding panels I obviously need to stay under the 11A + 11A current draw limit, within the voltage range of 125-425V and the 6500W limit.  Solar advice recommend 455W Canadian Solar panels but in perfect conditions (STC) they are capable of 11.02A which is already higher than recommended.  I know perfect condition is out of the question as this is lab figures but I also heard they are under rated because of the 80% claim over x number of years due to the warranty.  What size panels do I go for and how many, I can fit around 10 on my garage roof but that is not perfectly North so I was thinking of putting 8 on the garage on one MPPT and another 6 on the lounge facing very West on the other MPPT.  BTW the garage still get sun around 16:00 in winter just not at the optimal angle.

Except for the solar, battery, inverter and all the normal compliance and fitment stuff what else do I need to really make it worth it, like monitoring software etc?

Comments and help would be appreciated.

[Steve87]

Hi Ricco, 

Sorry to hear that your old batteries are no more. I assume that they are Lead acids. The upgrade to bigger brands may be more of great marketing on behalf of those perceived better brands. Your older Axpert cannot communicate with a Lithium battery this is true. But the newer versions of the Axpert are able to communicate with a Lithium battery and even your older Axpert can have an enabler added like Solar Assistant or ICC to bridge the communication gap that your machine has. The enabler at a cost of R3k & provides you remote monitoring and control of the inverter. 

I'm by no means trying to say don't invest in a better inverter but do so for the right reasons and know what is out there on the market that makes your Axpert still a valuable piece of kit. 

Happy hunting, I hope you get sorted.