Hi Eveyrone

1. I am a complete novice to solar. I have read some very useful information on the forum and it has been very enlightening. Thank very much. I want to get some advice because the load-shedding is really killing me and I need to get a solution rather quickly. I have saved about R85K. I can only break the bank if I must top this up. I want to work within this budget if possible.

2. I want to start with a 5kva inverter to to cover the essentials in my house that  From the information I have gathered so far, I am inclined to go with a 5kv SUNSYNK HYBRID INVERTER (R24 029) because it got better reviews than the Axpert rivals- better features and a 5y warranty vs 3y warranty for the Axperts. However, its double the price of the Axpert rival. I did not get the specific brand of the Axpert which can give the Sunsynk some serious competition. Maybe someone can help me with that. 

3. Which battery is better the Hubble 5.5KWH battery (R29 466) with about 3 500 cycles vs Pylontech UP5000 4,8KWH ( R26 766) with 6 000 cycles? A friend of mine thinks that the Hubble is better than the Pylontech. Is that true?

4. 6 Haital 545W Half-cell monocrystalline solar panels @ R3 619/ piece will cost me R21 717. Is this a good brand? Is there different  brand that is competitive both on quality and  price to the Haital?

5 The electrician will charge me on average R10K.  All the necessary cabling is not included. Can get my starter solar kit with my budet?

6. Can you please advise me on doing the decent installation for a tight budget of R85K including installation costs?

Please help me simplify my task and get me onto a decent escape plan from load-shedding. I live in JOHANNESBURG SOUTH, 2190.

Your assistance is greatly appreciated. 

Looking forward to your considered expert advice.

Deon

 

2 minutes ago, Deon00 said:

However, its double the price of the Axpert rival.

That double price is worth every cent over and over 😉

welcome @Deon00

Yours is a challenge many on this site have had to work through - unfortunately prices HAVE gone higher lately - but you SHOULD be able to get something decent for that price.

Sunsynk is the popular inverter and does provide a number of advantages - you could also look at Luxpower which also has a hybrid version and users seem happy with it as well.

In terms of batteries - the Hubbles will allow you to draw up to 5kw (when there is no grid [loadshedding]) while the Pylon will only allow you to draw 2.4kw - this may or not be a deal breaker for you

A similar system priced on solaradvice comes to about 87k without installation - have you tried other sources e.g. powerforum-store?

25 minutes ago, Deon00 said:

Hi Eveyrone

1. I am a complete novice to solar. I have read some very useful information on the forum and it has been very enlightening. Thank very much. I want to get some advice because the load-shedding is really killing me and I need to get a solution rather quickly. I have saved about R85K. I can only break the bank if I must top this up. I want to work within this budget if possible.

2. I want to start with a 5kva inverter to to cover the essentials in my house that  From the information I have gathered so far, I am inclined to go with a 5kv SUNSYNK HYBRID INVERTER (R24 029) because it got better reviews than the Axpert rivals- better features and a 5y warranty vs 3y warranty for the Axperts. However, its double the price of the Axpert rival. I did not get the specific brand of the Axpert which can give the Sunsynk some serious competition. Maybe someone can help me with that. 

3. Which battery is better the Hubble 5.5KWH battery (R29 466) with about 3 500 cycles vs Pylontech UP5000 4,8KWH ( R26 766) with 6 000 cycles? A friend of mine thinks that the Hubble is better than the Pylontech. Is that true?

4. 6 Haital 545W Half-cell monocrystalline solar panels @ R3 619/ piece will cost me R21 717. Is this a good brand? Is there different  brand that is competitive both on quality and  price to the Haital?

5 The electrician will charge me on average R10K.  All the necessary cabling is not included. Can get my starter solar kit with my budet?

6. Can you please advise me on doing the decent installation for a tight budget of R85K including installation costs?

Please help me simplify my task and get me onto a decent escape plan from load-shedding. I live in JOHANNESBURG SOUTH, 2190.

Your assistance is greatly appreciated. 

Looking forward to your considered expert advice.

Deon

 

Consider the Growatt 5 Kw inverter at +_ 13.000, I have two running in parallel for just over a year, no hassles so far.

1 minute ago, Antonio de Sa said:

Consider the Growatt 5 Kw inverter at +_ 13.000, I have two running in parallel for just over a year, no hassles so far.

Oh, just you wait and see. They will fail and when they do they will fail in a spectacular fashion

Was a champion of the brand because it was running flawlessly for me for months, till one sad and sorry day out the blue with not even a whimper it threw out an Error 09. Spoke to a few 'repairers' and got the same message from all of them. It's a common issue with Growatts and of course Axperts and Growatts essentially being a fork of Axperts its all one and the same I reckon.

Sunsynk is double the price but quadruple the inverter in my opinion. 

Also OP, perhaps check out the Solis Hybrids. I moved to one of those and I'm thoroughly impressed with it.

On 2022/09/28 at 4:51 PM, WannabeSolarSparky said:

That double price is worth every cent over and over 😉

Thank very much WannabeSolarSparky. I'll go with Sunsynk! 

On 2022/09/28 at 4:58 PM, mzezman said:

welcome @Deon00

Yours is a challenge many on this site have had to work through - unfortunately prices HAVE gone higher lately - but you SHOULD be able to get something decent for that price.

Sunsynk is the popular inverter and does provide a number of advantages - you could also look at Luxpower which also has a hybrid version and users seem happy with it as well.

In terms of batteries - the Hubbles will allow you to draw up to 5kw (when there is no grid [loadshedding]) while the Pylon will only allow you to draw 2.4kw - this may or not be a deal breaker for you

A similar system priced on solaradvice comes to about 87k without installation - have you tried other sources e.g. powerforum-store?

Thank you Mzezman. I'll go with Sunsynk inverter and Hubble battery. At least I have a base to start from now.  I'll check the solar advice offer and check out the powerforum store. 

On 2022/09/28 at 4:51 PM, WannabeSolarSparky said:

That double price is worth every cent over and over 😉

It looks like the solar kit at the bottom of your message something I must consider. Are the Narada batteries good batteries too that can compete with the Hubble battery? Can you please give more information and the pricing if possible?

14 minutes ago, Deon00 said:

Are the Narada batteries good batteries

The Narada batteries are great, their bms's suck though Some of the newer Narada's support sunsynk/deye and solis, not sure if they are available in SA yet.

I am in the process of retrofitting my one Narada with a JK BMS, have started a post to document how that works out.

On 2022/09/28 at 5:18 PM, Antonio de Sa said:

Consider the Growatt 5 Kw inverter at +_ 13.000, I have two running in parallel for just over a year, no hassles so far.

Thank you Antonio.  I was considering a Growatt before but I more inclined to go with a Sunsynk. I'll keep the Growatt in mind though. 

On 2022/09/28 at 5:24 PM, LumexClipsal said:

Oh, just you wait and see. They will fail and when they do they will fail in a spectacular fashion

Was a champion of the brand because it was running flawlessly for me for months, till one sad and sorry day out the blue with not even a whimper it threw out an Error 09. Spoke to a few 'repairers' and got the same message from all of them. It's a common issue with Growatts and of course Axperts and Growatts essentially being a fork of Axperts its all one and the same I reckon.

Sunsynk is double the price but quadruple the inverter in my opinion. 

Also OP, perhaps check out the Solis Hybrids. I moved to one of those and I'm thoroughly impressed with it.

Than you LumexClipsal. Another plus for the Sunsynk and a minus for the Growatt. I will research more on the Solis.

 

11 minutes ago, WannabeSolarSparky said:

The Narada batteries are great, their bms's suck though Some of the newer Narada's support sunsynk/deye and solis, not sure if they are available in SA yet.

I am in the process of retrofitting my one Narada with a JK BMS, have started a post to document how that works out.

So, as a novice, I will the Narada and go with the tried and tested Hubble.

You might want to read up more about that battery ,what chemistry it uses and how its BMS counts cycles. I would recommend you go with a LiFePo4 battery instead.