So a few months ago just before the first rounds of stage 6 loadshedding we(wife and I) installed an inverter and a single battery.

Our main issue was costs and needed to keep it low. We opted for a Giter 24v lithium battery (Giter G2500-24) and they only work with Kodak inverters, so that is what we got (Kodak VMIII OG3.24). One of the reasons we also opted for this is that the inverter is strong enough to also run out pool pump, 0.75kw, directly from solar panels during the day. We don't have panels yet but will get in the near future.

We did purchase from sustainable who I know is not the cheapest, but figured it was one of the safest in that I would actually get my items.

An electrician friend helped me with the install. We decided to split up our DB board and run certain items permanently from the inverter. These include all the lights which are LED, the 1 fridge, tv, media box, fibre router, alarm, garage motor, gate motor and a few extra plugs for the office and charging of phones, laptops and tablets.



So how does it work? Brilliantly. Alot of the times I wouldn't even realize we are having loadshedding until I hear the microwave powers back on and beeps.

How long does it last? We only experienced a major power failure once where the battery switched itself off to not drain completely, but that happened after about 10 hours of use.

How does it handle stage 6 loadshedding? Very well. It takes about 30-45min for the battery to recharge for every 2,5 hours of loadshedding. So with stage 6 at 5 hours the battery is recharged within 2 hours.

Would I do it again? Yes and no. Even though we are happy with this system and it meets our needs, it doesn't quite do with our wants. If we want to add more appliances i.e. dishwasher and washing machine, it gets too close to max power usage to do it comfortably. We already have a gas stove/hob so cooking isn't an issue during loadshedding. At the time of writing the 5kW Kodak inverter, my inverters big brother, is about R2000 more, however the 48v Giter battery is cheaper than mine, but is sold out. Price wise in total R1000 more, however I am not sure if this was the case when I purchased as I didn't check on such a large system. Other items e.g. second DB box, breakers and cables would be the same as I ended up installing cables for a 5kW inverter. Maybe subconsciously I was future proofing.

What was our total cost? All in running as it is now, R33000

So what is next: Solar panels. I can add 4kW of panels. After that would probably be a solar conversion to our geyser.

Keep the inverter for loadshedding and maybe the pool pump during the day, add a small grid tie for solar, they are "cheap" in the greater scheme. @Scorp007 is an expert here from what I know and use that for geyser [drop your element size], dishwasher, washing machine [feed them with hot water from the geyser, consider a cold wash for the washing machine]. Schedule your loads with a timer 

I would do that long before I did a solar geyser given the price of one

Edited October 7, 20223 yr by Lee2

19 minutes ago, Lee2 said:

Keep the inverter for loadshedding and maybe the pool pump during the day, add a small grid tie for solar, they are "cheap" in the greater scheme. @Scorp007 is an expert here from what I know and use that for geyser [drop your element size], dishwasher, washing machine [feed them with hot water from the geyser, consider a cold wash for the washing machine]. Schedule your loads with a timer 

I would do that long before I did a solar geyser given the price of one

Currently considering a retrofit to our existing geyser like the geyser robot system, but still in the research stage. If I go the grid tie route I will probably upgrade our inverter to a 5kw and larger battery, and sell this to try and recover some costs. But that will only be to run the washing machine extra, dishwasher and tumble dryer I don't view as a necessity so can go without during loadshedding. Thanks for the input

4 hours ago, sjp100 said:

Currently considering a retrofit to our existing geyser like the geyser robot system, but still in the research stage. If I go the grid tie route I will probably upgrade our inverter to a 5kw and larger battery, and sell this to try and recover some costs. But that will only be to run the washing machine extra, dishwasher and tumble dryer I don't view as a necessity so can go without during loadshedding. Thanks for the input

You have a neat install, well done.

A 5K inverter will do all of that, and yes, you can always sell your old kit to a grateful buyer, at a discount obviously. But I am impressed with your start, your positivity and your optimism. Most of all your desire to do things properly. It proves that everyone's solar  alternative energy journey is their own. Nobody can dictate one's needs, but we all can predict (with astonishing accuracy) what the wants are / could be.

I wish you the best with your system, thank you for sharing. And please keep us all updated on your (inevitable) upgrade journey, particularly the watershed point when you start with some solar panels! And then in 3 years' time when you reflect on the journey with hindsight, always very interesting.

     

The 48v 50ah Giter battery has a discharge recommendation of max 1200w, so you would need four for a 48v system?

7 hours ago, Lee2 said:

The 48v 50ah Giter battery has a discharge recommendation of max 1200w, so you would need four for a 48v system?

Yes they pegged it at this value to be 0.5C. Thus to be able to use 100A to get 5kW load you need 4.

On 2022/10/07 at 3:19 PM, Lee2 said:

Keep the inverter for loadshedding and maybe the pool pump during the day, add a small grid tie for solar, they are "cheap" in the greater scheme. @Scorp007 is an expert here from what I know and use that for geyser [drop your element size], dishwasher, washing machine [feed them with hot water from the geyser, consider a cold wash for the washing machine]. Schedule your loads with a timer 

I would do that long before I did a solar geyser given the price of one

If one can use the power in day time then I suppose one might as well blend when panels are fitted to the Kodak instead of the need for a grid tied. The grid tied is just great as you can save on any load on the install as it just adds the power to your AC from the grid.

Just looking back at my Solis grid tied and Axpert 3kVA for back up I can just say in nearly 4 years I have never had the need to press a button on the Solis apart from when I want to see how much power it is currently generating or to get other stats like monthly total or the previous month total. It took 3 years to pay back in savings.

Agreed get max power out of your solar day as you can, try automate a bit and try run big loads before low light. A few habit changes and using sun power is fun as long as its got a bit of planning. If you need any Sonoff's to monitor give me a shout I can help with that.

Edited October 10, 20223 yr by Sonoff Africa
Apologies, removing promotional material

To state what is perhaps obvious, it is not just a case of R2000 more for a 5000w inverter and R1000more for the 48v battery, but tens of thousands more as you need multiple batteries to supply the loads, ie. a 48v system is much more expensive than a 24v system. 

 

As you already have a great solution for loadshedding that is why I reckon it makes sense if you need more solar to just get a second 2000w grid tie inverter that can work without a battery to power your extra loads on solar. Drop the geyser element to 1000 or 1500w and run it on solar for a few hours

6 hours ago, Sonoff Africa said:

Agreed get max power out of your solar day as you can, try automate a bit and try run big loads before low light. A few habit changed and using sun power is fun as long as it got a bit of planing. If you need any Sonoff to monitor give me a shout and I can proably give you 30% of for the project.

Sent a DM, I will happily take 30% off if on the cards 😀

11 hours ago, Lee2 said:

To state what is perhaps obvious, it is not just a case of R2000 more for a 5000w inverter and R1000more for the 48v battery, but tens of thousands more as you need multiple batteries to supply the loads, ie. a 48v system is much more expensive than a 24v system. 

 

As you already have a great solution for loadshedding that is why I reckon it makes sense if you need more solar to just get a second 2000w grid tie inverter that can work without a battery to power your extra loads on solar. Drop the geyser element to 1000 or 1500w and run it on solar for a few hours

That is true. But the plan was always to add more batteries and panels as funds are available. A 48v, 5kW system just makes adding more items easier as it takes the fine tuning out of the equation. Only pointed it out so people don't go into the buying process with the same mindset I had of "5kW is too expensive"

Hi All. Thought I would share some updates of our small 3kw system.

First of I separated AC and DC wires from original install. Also added mains and EL breaker plus a watt meter to my essentials DB. Top DB is PV combiner.

The panels we added was 4 off Canadian solar 550w panels. They are weighed down with cement blocks as we cannot fasten them to the roof due to the waterproofing.

Performance is good, can carry load from solar, but there are some issues being discussed here If it ever gets solved it will be updated on that post.

Whats Next: Waiting for some parts from Geewiz and takealot too add geyser to system aswell. Will be a separate post but linked here. Then finish up and neaten the conduit.

Edited August 31, 20232 yr by sjp100
Added info

I'd put some large dollops of adhesive under those cement block.

They may be heavy, but the wind can be stronger.

3 minutes ago, Crankshaft said:

I'd put some large dollops of adhesive under those cement block.

They may be heavy, but the wind can be stronger.

Unfortunately we can't. The blocks need to be moved for the waterproofing maintenance.

According to my calculations we will need a wind of over 60km/h to move the panels. The highest wind speed recorded in our area was 26km/h.

So 1 final mod to our system. I derated the geyser element to run at around 1 kw via the inverter, and with an automatic changeover switch I can run it at 2kw from Eskom power. Everything is controlled via eWelink so I can manage it from my phone. Here is a sketch of the circuit. I will be adding a Sonoff loadshedding detector at a later stage to switch geyser and pool pump off when mains aren't available. This will save strain on my battery. Reason being can be found here

3 capacitors in 3D printed housing, I know it doesn't look pretty but it will be in the roof and no one will see it. Unfortunately I ran out of red insulation tape and heat shrink, otherwise I would have used that instead of the black and yellow. i did add a little solder to each terminal to ensure solid connection between wire and capacitor. Extra piece of insulation between the capacitor poles for added protection.

Install in roof.

Geyser running via Eskom

Geyser running via inverter

 

Amazing innovation and great results. I feel compelled to ask though, do those capacitors gets extremely hot? Did a thermal check? 

For some reason, and likely extremely unwarranted, I just can't shake the sense that you've just amplified your risk for a house fire

 

Amazing innovation and great results. I feel compelled to ask though, do those capacitors gets extremely hot? Did a thermal check? 

For some reason, and likely extremely unwarranted, I just can't shake the sense that you've just amplified your risk for a house fire

Not at all. They have been running now for a solid hour and still cool to the touch. They are quite beefy so not worried. 

 

So 1 final mod to our system. I derated the geyser element to run at around 1 kw via the inverter, and with an automatic changeover switch I can run it at 2kw from Eskom power. Everything is controlled via eWelink so I can manage it from my phone. Here is a sketch of the circuit. I will be adding a Sonoff loadshedding detector at a later stage to switch geyser and pool pump off when mains aren't available. This will save strain on my battery. Reason being can be found here

Well done! When the geyser runs off the inverter, do you notice any change in power factor?

On 2023/09/12 at 9:16 AM, frivan said:

Well done! When the geyser runs off the inverter, do you notice any change in power factor?

Will have a look a little later, I do have a wattmeter that measures power factor aswell.

Edited March 7, 20242 yr by sjp100
Removed redundant info

 

Will have a look a little later, I do have a wattmeter that measures power factor aswell. Currently its measuring on my PC and 3D printer with a power factor of 0,65 and we are experiencing loadshedding. It will probably be the same for the geyser but will double check

I got too lazy to do the math but I would expect a slightly leading power factor for the geyser.