Is R73 000 a reasonable quote for:

Sunsynk battery 5,12KWH 51,2V

Sunsynk hybrid inverter 5KW

Installation & transportation 

Electrical accessories 

I got a quote for R60,000 excl VAT for that exact setup a few weeks ago, i.e.R69,000 including VAT, and I think prices have gone up a bit due to demand. If you price the parts at around R23000 for the inverter and R30,000 for the battery, maybe ask for an itemised quote to explain the last R20,000 in terms of materials and labour.

Thank you. The amount I was quoted includes VAT, so we were quoted in the same ballpark. 

Installation and transportation was R9000.

Electrical accessories R8400.

Feeling despondent 😥

The hybrid inverters on Takealot seem so reasonably priced. I suppose one has to add battery, installation and electrical accessory costs over and above the inverter cost. I thought you order an inverter from takealot, plug it in and there you go! 😆

I was hoping to get started for around R20 000 for inverter plus battery, and then add solar panels later on. 😬

Are Hubble batteries any cheaper than Sunsynk batteries?

 

 

Install and Transport @ R9k

Electrical Accessories @ R8k

Maybe you need a breakdown for the above, it also all depends on the type of installation, where is the DB, where must the unit be fitted, how much cabling is involved etc. 

IF you unit will be fitted next to or close to your DB then there is minimal wiring involved, and those accessories at R8k sounds rough, but without seeing the actual list it is impossible to say. (You need a feed from the DB mains to the inverter via a breaker, you need a return from the inverter to DB with a cut over switch, not sure what else is included in your case.) Battery is probably wall mount, that should not take more than 20mins to do, with a feed from the battery to the inverter, again with a breaker/switch/isolator. 

Inverter is probably R20k, if you go with a "unit with less features" like the Kodak or Kodak King then that cost goes down to R12k, but keep in mind the loss of functionality (which without panels does not really matter?)

5kw Battery ball park is R25-R30k, and that is if you can get stock right now. 

I may be very wrong, but that quote seems a tad much.

Thank you for this detailed answer. Much appreciated!

The idea is to add panels later. So maybe I should stick to the Sunsynk inverter?
 

 

9 hours ago, Overwhelmed said:

The hybrid inverters on Takealot seem so reasonably priced. I suppose one has to add battery, installation and electrical accessory costs over and above the inverter cost. I thought you order an inverter from takealot, plug it in and there you go! 😆

Are Hubble batteries any cheaper than Sunsynk batteries?

 

Hi Overwhelmed

If you intend on adding panels you would not regret getting a Sunsynk. 

The cheap "Hybrid" inverters on takealot should rather be called "Switching" inverters. They are not capable of mixing Eskom power with Solar Power and switch between the two.

This happens when:

- Your system cannot generate enough power to run the load - 5kw load & 3kw inverter for example, will pull 5kw from the grid

- You don't have enough battery power, will switch totally to grid and charge battery with solar.

 

The Sunsynk inverters are true hybrid inverters and will blend the power from Eskom with the solar power they generate. 

- If you have a 6kw load and a 5kw inverter it will pull 5kw from the inverter and the balance from Eskom. 

- You can specify in your inverter settings if you want to offset load or charge the battery as a priority.

 

Not sure about pricing of Hubble vs Sunsynk but if you use a Sunsynk battery you increase your inverters warranty to 10 years over the standard 5 years.  

Now I have learnt some more. Thank you so much!

2 hours ago, Sc00bs said:

The cheap "Hybrid" inverters on takealot should rather be called "Switching" inverters. They are not capable of mixing Eskom power with Solar Power and switch between the two. 

This happens when:

- Your system cannot generate enough power to run the load - 5kw load & 3kw inverter for example, will pull 5kw from the grid

- You don't have enough battery power, will switch totally to grid and charge battery with solar.

This is factually incorrect. Looking at the King range of the Voltronic inverters they most definitely can blend solar and grid. 

You can use SOLAR - UTILITY - BATTERY or SOLAR - BATTERY - UTILITY, and you can also schedule the inverter to automatically switch between the two at given times daily. 

When your system does not generate enough solar for the load, and you do not want to use battery power (to preserve for load shedding for example) then you just blend grid and PV. 

For charging you have the options:

• Utility first
• Solar first
• Solar and Utility Simultaneously 
• Solar Only

Thank you, CyberJoe. Very interesting and insightful.
 

The inverters I was looking at on Takealot were not Voltronic,  though. 
They are Fivestar,  Axpert Max and Growatt. I noticed that Axpert Max and Growatt 5KW is now unavailable on Takealot, probably because they are the better choices. 
 

I have however decided to bite the bullet and go for Sunsynk. Also, I will have to work with an installer; DIY is not an option for me or my husband. 
 

Are there any installers on this group who might be interested in giving me a quote? I live in Greenside, Jhb. 
 

The quote would be for:

Sunsynk battery 5,12 KWH

Sunsynk hybrid inverter 5KW

Installation and electrical accessories 

2 hours ago, Overwhelmed said:

Now I have learnt some more. Thank you so much!

Have a look at Luxpower LXP 5k too, it is also a true hybrid and cheaper than sunsynk 

16 hours ago, Overwhelmed said:

Is R73 000 a reasonable quote for:

Sunsynk battery 5,12KWH 51,2V

Sunsynk hybrid inverter 5KW

Installation & transportation 

Electrical accessories 

Prices have gone up considerably due to demand. Max should be around R70K depending how far the DB is from where the inverter is. 

I've just got a Fivestar 5kW "wifi" inverter for R14500 (the wifi means it comes with an ability to track your usage), and a Pylontech US2000C battery for R16000. My electrician installed it, not sure exactly what he will be charging for installation but it won't be that much.

It works like a dream to power 2 desktops, 3 laptops, all our lights, fridge and a small (100 litre) chest freezer. We didn't even change our bulbs yet for LEDs but are going to. I know that I have too few batteries for the inverter, but the price between the 5kW and 3kW inverter wasn't much, and I can grow my system later. I'm intending to buy solar panels first, electrician advised to get about 12. 

Thank you, Becket!

I picked up one of the thesunpays 4KW inverter from a fellow forum member for R4k then purchased the US3000C for about R19K, I decided to return it and purchase a Hubble AM2 (about R28K now) as the pylon's are .5C this mean they can at max only output half their rated power. A pylon US3000C is 3.5kwh therefore it can only about about +-1800w. Too low for my 4kw inverter.

We run two laptops, TV, desktop pc, wifi, lights and as long I don't run two elements at the same time (kettle and dishwasher) we don't go near the 4KW limit and only use +- 20 % during loadshedding.

I also have a ICM raspberry pie for monitoring (also purchased second hand from a forum member). So all in about R37K, please note that it has NOT been installed in my db yet. Below is a screen of my current status 45 mins into loadshedding.

Edited August 5, 20223 yr by uDuWaR

17 hours ago, uDuWaR said:

I picked up one of the thesunpays 4KW inverter from a fellow forum member for R4k then purchased the US3000C for about R19K, I decided to return it and purchase a Hubble AM2 (about R28K now) as the pylon's are .5C this mean they can at max only output half their rated power. A pylon US3000C is 3.5kwh therefore it can only about about +-1800w. Too low for my 4kw inverter.

We run two laptops, TV, desktop pc, wifi, lights and as long I don't run two elements at the same time (kettle and dishwasher) we don't go near the 4KW limit and only use +- 20 % during loadshedding.

I also have a ICM raspberry pie for monitoring (also purchased second hand from a forum member). So all in about R37K, please note that it has NOT been installed in my db yet. Below is a screen of my current status 45 mins into loadshedding.

I'm curious as to the logistics of it, how are you wired to run all those devices\appliances without DB integration?

On 2022/08/06 at 10:33 AM, JoeyhZA said:

I'm curious as to the logistics of it, how are you wired to run all those devices\appliances without DB integration?

Lolz messy extension cords 😕 until I can get it installed into the DB

Good day I need a quote on installation/labor for 5kva inverter located in Pretoria