HI, thanks for all the information - very informative!

I'm starting off too and was thinking about what would be more effective - installing a single large battery or getting a smaller one and adding more batteries later? Any advice, please

Regards

Ayub

Usually budgets drive the requirement - are you looking just for Loadshedding cover?

Yes, but will expand to include solar panels. If something goes wrong with one large battery then I’m stuck and have to replace it versus having a few smaller ones and if one of them faults then only that one needs to be repaired but the system can still operate.

Edited July 14, 20223 yr by Ayub
grammar and spelling

Generally batteries have good performance and uptime - so chances of something going wrong are rare. What brands were you looking at?

I was budget constrained so started with 1, added a second after 2 months and on track to add a 3rd in the next few months as well

Okay - glad to hear, so  that I'll also be going a 4.8kWh initially (there's such a range of batteries out there each with their different warranty periods - hence my concern).

Ito of brands, probably Dyness or Pylon.

But I see there's an 7.2 kWh LCB battery for about R15,000.

I'm in same boat. My concern is whether I will be able to find a battery in future (say 1 year down the line) that will be compatible with the first battery I buy now. If not the implication is either to live with small battery, or try to sell it and buy bigger one.

In my case, the concern is especially around the Sunsynk batteries I'm intending to buy now. There are about 3 different spec batteries around. Apart from the different specs, some also seem to use CATL cells, while some new model uses BYD cells. Nobody can confirm 100% which batteries are on order now, and which ones will be sold say 1 year from now. The BYD and CATL batteries cannot be used in same system.

25 minutes ago, Ayub said:

But I see there's an 7.2 kWh LCB battery for about R15,000.

Where did you see that? That sounds like one of those scam sites!

8 minutes ago, PowerUser said:

Where did you see that? That sounds like one of those scam sites!

On a SA solar website and hence my concern...

28 minutes ago, Leonb said:

I'm in same boat. My concern is whether I will be able to find a battery in future (say 1 year down the line) that will be compatible with the first battery I buy now. If not the implication is either to live with small battery, or try to sell it and buy bigger one.

In my case, the concern is especially around the Sunsynk batteries I'm intending to buy now. There are about 3 different spec batteries around. Apart from the different specs, some also seem to use CATL cells, while some new model uses BYD cells. Nobody can confirm 100% which batteries are on order now, and which ones will be sold say 1 year from now. The BYD and CATL batteries cannot be used in same system.

Yip, very confusing for newbies like me - lots of terminology and technology to contend with. Seems like the best to is to look at a paired solution that's on sale to see compatibility (for now)

3 minutes ago, Ayub said:

On a SA solar website and hence my concern...

Which SA solar website exactly?

16 minutes ago, PowerUser said:

Which SA solar website exactly?

solarbatteryexperts

1 minute ago, Ayub said:

solarbatteryexperts

That site doesn't even exist....

22 minutes ago, Ayub said:

solarbatteryexperts

thats a scam - nowhere you will get 7.2 for 15k

Thanks for the forewarning mzezmen & PowerUser - now to ponder on a bigger battery once off purchase, rather.

35 minutes ago, Ayub said:

Thanks for the forewarning mzezmen & PowerUser - now to ponder on a bigger battery once off purchase, rather.

I know pylontech allows one to mix and match sizes and models. Not sure how the other brands deal with this.