Hi All,

Long time lurker...

I am in the process of planning a build of my new house where I want to include an Inverter and some batteries from the start. (solar to follow a bit later)

Looking at the SunSync 8KW and some Hubble batteries (As I want to support local), the idea is to run everything through the inverter. (Stove will be gas)

Electrical plan for the DB board location below.

 

So, from my point of view, the DB board and prepaid meter is in the wrong place as there won't be sufficient space.

Any suggestions for where to place it?

 

Edited November 2, 20223 yr by Diabolix

On my plans when I built, I made my garage 46m2 the architect normally allocate 36m2 and made the garage opening 2.4m . Worked well for putting inverter and batteries with a dedicated DB boards in if you got  the extra space on your plot. 

Edited November 3, 20223 yr by BryanOC6

I would make space to add it in the bottom left corner of the garage near the garage opening. 

The reason for this is fan noise from the inverter won't be as loud for people in the kitchen and the cabling for the solar will be easier because you can just drill through the left side wall of the garage. 

Edited November 3, 20223 yr by Milan188

Isn't the house a bit small?

Where will you sleep?

 

🤪

On 2022/11/03 at 7:47 AM, Milan188 said:

I would make space to add it in the bottom left corner of the garage near the garage opening. 

The reason for this is fan noise from the inverter won't be as loud for people in the kitchen and the cabling for the solar will be easier because you can just drill through the left side wall of the garage. 

The only problem with this is that it's the front door entrance, I am thinking about moving it to the right side wall of the garage in the middle. Good point on the fans on the 8kW.

@BryanOC6The garage is 47m2, which was weirdly big for me. Did you make like a corner in the garage and cornered it off?

@McGuywer Only part of the plan, didn't think the rest was relevant

My inverter & batteries are on the back wall of the garage.
The DB is in the house and I had to re-route grid cables to the garage and back.

Also suggest

• Splitting electrical wiring into essential (UPS) and non-essential workloads
• Adjust roof orientation (north facing) and slope for optimal solar gathering [east-west may be better]

Whatever DB size was specified, make it bigger! This is the new DB I installed in the garage and I completely filled it up with the various breakers/changeover switches.

 

 

Edited November 9, 20223 yr by Spidergear

On 2022/11/02 at 10:20 AM, Diabolix said:

Hi All,

Long time lurker...

I am in the process of planning a build of my new house where I want to include an Inverter and some batteries from the start. (solar to follow a bit later)

Looking at the SunSync 8KW and some Hubble batteries (As I want to support local), the idea is to run everything through the inverter. (Stove will be gas)

Electrical plan for the DB board location below.

 

So, from my point of view, the DB board and prepaid meter is in the wrong place as there won't be sufficient space.

Any suggestions for where to place it?

 

Remember the Inverter does not have to reside next to the DB board if you have the necessary ducting in place.  This is normally only done to avoid running cables through existing spaces.
Therefore your no1 priority is to ensure you have identified the Inverter location and provision the necessary ducting to;

• Main DB board,
• PV Roofing feeds to all arrays
• Earthing facilities (may be external spike)
• Possible Generator AUX feed (future)
• etc.

I have three DB boards in the house, yet installed Inverter and its own DB's in garage with underground feeds to main house DB.
Then some other criteria to manage are;

• Enough space for inverter and batteries (wall or cabinet) with sufficient ventilation (If on back wall of garage) two cars arrive home - hot engines - increases env temperature
• The noise of cooling fans (already mentioned by Milan188).
• Appearance - as you mention avoid using walls such as entrance for cable feeds
• Lastly ensure you have space for expansion - additional batteries, etc. You never have enough (overcast days) and if Eskom does not turn things around, you'll need the extra.

Good luck and enjoy!

 

On 2022/11/02 at 10:20 AM, Diabolix said:

Hi All,

Long time lurker...

I am in the process of planning a build of my new house where I want to include an Inverter and some batteries from the start. (solar to follow a bit later)

Looking at the SunSync 8KW and some Hubble batteries (As I want to support local), the idea is to run everything through the inverter. (Stove will be gas)

Electrical plan for the DB board location below.

 

So, from my point of view, the DB board and prepaid meter is in the wrong place as there won't be sufficient space.

Any suggestions for where to place it?

 

You’ll be surprised how little space it actually takes. My power station takes up 900mm by 2m and being Victron it’s quite bulky. I board-mounted it coz it’s a nice idea. Plenty space for more batteries and another MPPT also in that same area. Of space it right, why not raise it up, above head height. You don’t really need access. Wall hang the Sunsynk and Hubbles and MOU them either beneath or next to each other. Caution though, if you’re at all tight for space, always mount your equipment higher than the car boot/bonnet, in case there is a parking mishap. Further, think about human trafficking past your equipment, that it won’t get bashes or used as a “shelf”. If you do have floor space, you may also consider mounting everything into a 19” rack. Have a look at the Revov www to see what they do

Thanks all, I gave through the comments to the builders explicitly about the bigger DB board. I asked for the 3WAY unit.

They also made mention it would help if I plastered the back wall, as it would make things neater. Any comments on that?