Hello all, glad to be joining the forum!

Apologies upfront for the negative nature of the post, I'm just lost as to what to do to resolve my issues.

I've recently had a solar installation (8kw Deye inverter, 2x 4.8kw Dyness batteries and 10x 545w Canadian Solar panels), but unfortunately once the installer was paid, they skipped out without honouring the rest of the installation needs.

I'm looking for advice on how to go about solving each of the items listed below:

NOTE: I have raised the issue with the Consumer Protector, SESSA ombudsman and ECASA, but I'm not sure what good that will do (just hoping it will).

1. The system wiring is not correct. Both the aircon and geyser have been left out of the system and do not register any power draw through the inverter when switched on (i.e. they are both not on the essential or non-essential load, they are not on the system at all).
2. The City Of Cape Town registration is outstanding as a paid for item on the invoice/sales contract. While that process may take time on the City's side, my concern is that the application is not lodged yet and this introduces risk to myself in terms of fines from the city.
3. The configuration and commissioning of the system is sub-optimal and needs to be set up to maximise its potential (I have given them the details of what I'd like to achieve on the last phone call they accepted from me in October 22 and via whatsapp).
4. The unscrupulous installer still has access to my system via Solarman Business and I do not (I only have Solarman Smart so can't change any settings if needs be). How do I get control of it and remove their control?
5. The Dyness batteries where sold to me with a stated 10 year warranty as part of the purchase. It turns out that the batteries only carry a maximum 5 year warranty with Dyness (even when registered). This is a material difference.
6. Even though a major selling point for choosing them as the installer was the high level of responsiveness and dedication promised regarding after-sales service, based on the extremely difficult and frustrating time I have had getting any response from them since their bill was settled, I have concerns about whether they will honour the support agreed to during the warranty periods for the various installed components.
7. Recently we heard a loud pop from the DB board and one of the plug breakers tripped. I was concerned and tried to contact the installer, but was ignored, even though there was a health and safety concern raised on the work he and his crew did at my home.

Lastly, I would love to know if there is a way to hold the installer to their contractual obligations somehow (force their hand).

Edited November 12, 20223 yr by Glenn
Left out a question

Hi Glenn, 

So sorry to hear of the bad experience that you have had with this installation. I'm sorry to say that it's becoming common place these days to receive such shoddy after sales support. The hard part is trying to get the said installer to come back & connect your outstanding circuits. 

The good news is that the connection of the last few circuits like the Aircon & geyser can be handled by any Electrician. Unfortunately, in SA today you can go the legal route but given the stress & expense I dunno if it's worth the trouble. 

Tips to avoid this type of scenario: 

1) Get the installer to send you traceable references of installations he has done. Verify with these customers the level of service. Unfortunately with Poppy & all these red tape acts today this can be difficult. But worth a try. 

2) I would say name & shame but again this is not allowed in these modern times of acts etc. 

3) Insist on a Installation agreement in writing. I once did an installation for a lawyer & we entered into such & she was extremely kind enough to supply me with this said document in Word format. Must admit this will be more binding after such a poor experience. 

I will try to share this in the downloads section. 

As an installer, I am coming across more & more of these types of stories. Shame that you in Cape Town, I would have assisted you. 

Once again, sorry for this poor show...We need more success stories in the solar world.

1 hour ago, Glenn said:

The system wiring is not correct. Both the aircon and geyser have been left out of the system and do not register any power draw through the inverter when switched on (i.e. they are both not on the essential or non-essential load, they are not on the system at all).

Sounds like it could be the CT coil that has to be installed and/or set up correctly. As a sanity check, is your system work mode set up for "Zero Export to CT from the settings?" Can you make out whether the CT coil with the twisted pair of wires is at least present in the installation or has it been left off entirely?

1 hour ago, Steve87 said:

Hi Glenn, 

So sorry to hear of the bad experience that you have had with this installation. I'm sorry to say that it's becoming common place these days to receive such shoddy after sales support. The hard part is trying to get the said installer to come back & connect your outstanding circuits. 

The good news is that the connection of the last few circuits like the Aircon & geyser can be handled by any Electrician. Unfortunately, in SA today you can go the legal route but given the stress & expense I dunno if it's worth the trouble. 

Tips to avoid this type of scenario: 

1) Get the installer to send you traceable references of installations he has done. Verify with these customers the level of service. Unfortunately with Poppy & all these red tape acts today this can be difficult. But worth a try. 

2) I would say name & shame but again this is not allowed in these modern times of acts etc. 

3) Insist on a Installation agreement in writing. I once did an installation for a lawyer & we entered into such & she was extremely kind enough to supply me with this said document in Word format. Must admit this will be more binding after such a poor experience. 

I will try to share this in the downloads section. 

As an installer, I am coming across more & more of these types of stories. Shame that you in Cape Town, I would have assisted you. 

Once again, sorry for this poor show...We need more success stories in the solar world.

Thanks @Steve87 for the reply. All good advice!

Coincidently I did insist on a reference (only one) and it was very positive. It is a real person they installed for, but I believe this installer maintains a good relationship with a few clients just for this purpose (references).

I did get them to agree to all of the responsibilities in writing as well so there was nothing left to the imagination, but they have literally just ignored all forms of contact and so I haven't been able to get anywhere.

I don't want to break any forum rules, but I have no issue naming them, it is a company called Renegade Energy. The owner Juan worked with his father, Jonathan, before this in a company called OWR Solar (now called Sunsynk Solar), but it sounds like he left his dad high and dry as well. Very sad listening to that story (I got in touch with Jonathan after his son skipped out on me).

It's a real pity you're not in CT, that help would have been awesome. Is there anyone this side you would trust to help with the wiring, commissioning/system setup amd maybe even city registration?

51 minutes ago, GreenFields said:

Sounds like it could be the CT coil that has to be installed and/or set up correctly. As a sanity check, is your system work mode set up for "Zero Export to CT from the settings?" Can you make out whether the CT coil with the twisted pair of wires is at least present in the installation or has it been left off entirely?

Hi @GreenFields, I saw the setting "Zero Export to CT" is checked, but I don't know about the CT coil at all, a bit more technical that I'm aware how to check, what does it look like?

@Glennunfortunately, I don't know of any installation team in CPT. I am very familiar with the CPT setup & how to register however, that requires an installer to be present & to take care of the submission on your behalf. 

This is a pic of the CT coil. It must point towards the inverter. Given your explanation. The Aircon & geyser are just not functioning at all or just not through the inverters metrics? 

The CT coil comes with twisted pair black & white cable that is placed around the main Incoming Eskom Live cable. It's arrow faces as depicted below towards the inverter. This is a vital piece of equipment for proper use of the Deye/ Sunsynk inverter. 

Edited November 12, 20223 yr by Steve87

27 minutes ago, Glenn said:

Hi @GreenFields, I saw the setting "Zero Export to CT" is checked, but I don't know about the CT coil at all, a bit more technical that I'm aware how to check, what does it look like?

The white device with black and white cable coming from it. it clips around your incoming mains feed, between the mains board and the municipal meter. And then the  black and white cables coming from it must go into your inverter. If you can't see this inside your DB board, maybe you can confirm at least whether the cables on the inverter's side are fitted.

The non-essential loads like the geyser and aircons are not "on" the inverter, they don't strictly speaking form part of the inverter's wiring setup, but should run from the main board like they always did, just like the inverter should be connected to take power from the main board. This CT coil will measure incoming electricity from the municipality, and it will give feedback to the inverter to produce power to send back upstream to the non-essentials, but not enough to export back up to Eskom. Hope this makes sense.

 

 

Edited November 12, 20223 yr by GreenFields

14 minutes ago, Steve87 said:

@Glennunfortunately, I don't know of any installation team in CPT. I am very familiar with the CPT setup & how to register however, that requires an installer to be present & to take care of the submission on your behalf. 

This is a pic of the CT coil. It must point towards the inverter. Given your explanation. The Aircon & geyser are just not functioning at all or just not through the inverters metrics? 

The CT coil comes with twisted pair black & white cable that is placed around the main Incoming Eskom Live cable. It's arrow faces as depicted below towards the inverter. This is a vital piece of equipment for proper use of the Deye/ Sunsynk inverter. 

@Steve87. Ok, so I need to find someone who will help with the COCT registration, I'll look into that, hopefully someone here can assist me. 

The geyser and aircon work, they are just not part of the solar installation at all so don't show up on the metrics and don't seem to get powered by the solar panels (i.e. outside of the solar system).

@Steve87 / @GreenFields In terms of the CT coil, here are a few pics of and around the DB board (I took the cover off).

It might be my untrained eye, but I don't see anything that looks like it there. Am I missing something or could it be somewhere else perhaps that I should look?

4 hours ago, Glenn said:

It might be my untrained eye, but I don't see anything that looks like it there. Am I missing something or could it be somewhere else perhaps that I should look?

Don't see it either on these images. As I said, must be somewhere between the meter and the mains. It comes supplied in a small carton within the inverter's box. Check if there are any pieces left behind. Else check the underside of the inverter for any signs of the black & white cables coming in on one the COM ports (could be extended with other coloured wire). Not so much for naming & shaming, but would be good to be able to know factually what your installer either did or did not do.

7 hours ago, GreenFields said:

Don't see it either on these images. As I said, must be somewhere between the meter and the mains. It comes supplied in a small carton within the inverter's box. Check if there are any pieces left behind. Else check the underside of the inverter for any signs of the black & white cables coming in on one the COM ports (could be extended with other coloured wire). Not so much for naming & shaming, but would be good to be able to know factually what your installer either did or did not do.

As far as what the installer did and didn't do: As an untrained person re: eletrical installs, I only know the installer has fallen short of their responsibility on what I've listed in the 7 points at the top of the post. It might take a qualified person to understand whether more technical elements were done or weren't done for the install. I started another thread to get advice on who I can get in CT to help me out with these issues here: 

 

Edited November 13, 20223 yr by Glenn

Hey @Steve87 and @GreenFields, I noticed this also on the Deye inverter screens and it got me worried. Shouldn't the BMS data be populating?

6 minutes ago, Glenn said:

Hey @Steve87 and @GreenFields, I noticed this also on the Deye inverter screens and it got me worried. Shouldn't the BMS data be populating?

Looks like the battery and the inverter are not communicating - can you share the Battery Type screen

Yep nada going through there at all...Do you have the Dyness cable for the Comms connected? If so these are the settings required provided the correct cable is plugged in. Share your battery Li ion Battery screen. 

20 hours ago, Glenn said:

Hello all, glad to be joining the forum!

Apologies upfront for the negative nature of the post, I'm just lost as to what to do to resolve my issues.

I've recently had a solar installation (8kw Deye inverter, 2x 4.8kw Dyness batteries and 10x 545w Canadian Solar panels), but unfortunately once the installer was paid, they skipped out without honouring the rest of the installation needs.

I'm looking for advice on how to go about solving each of the items listed below:

NOTE: I have raised the issue with the Consumer Protector, SESSA ombudsman and ECASA, but I'm not sure what good that will do (just hoping it will).

1. The system wiring is not correct. Both the aircon and geyser have been left out of the system and do not register any power draw through the inverter when switched on (i.e. they are both not on the essential or non-essential load, they are not on the system at all).
2. The City Of Cape Town registration is outstanding as a paid for item on the invoice/sales contract. While that process may take time on the City's side, my concern is that the application is not lodged yet and this introduces risk to myself in terms of fines from the city.
3. The configuration and commissioning of the system is sub-optimal and needs to be set up to maximise its potential (I have given them the details of what I'd like to achieve on the last phone call they accepted from me in October 22 and via whatsapp).
4. The unscrupulous installer still has access to my system via Solarman Business and I do not (I only have Solarman Smart so can't change any settings if needs be). How do I get control of it and remove their control?
5. The Dyness batteries where sold to me with a stated 10 year warranty as part of the purchase. It turns out that the batteries only carry a maximum 5 year warranty with Dyness (even when registered). This is a material difference.
6. Even though a major selling point for choosing them as the installer was the high level of responsiveness and dedication promised regarding after-sales service, based on the extremely difficult and frustrating time I have had getting any response from them since their bill was settled, I have concerns about whether they will honour the support agreed to during the warranty periods for the various installed components.
7. Recently we heard a loud pop from the DB board and one of the plug breakers tripped. I was concerned and tried to contact the installer, but was ignored, even though there was a health and safety concern raised on the work he and his crew did at my home.

Lastly, I would love to know if there is a way to hold the installer to their contractual obligations somehow (force their hand).

Just on the bolded point - here is the official Dyness warranty for that battery module

 

Ive attached the document

21022605a1efaa6cf6a1ab2c0ae34662.pdf

1 hour ago, mzezman said:

Just on the bolded point - here is the official Dyness warranty for that battery module

 

Ive attached the document

21022605a1efaa6cf6a1ab2c0ae34662.pdf 298.92 kB · 0 downloads

Thanks for the reply. The model number of my batteries is Dyness A48100. They only come with a 5 year warranty unfortunately (extended from 4 years to 5 years when registered).

2 hours ago, Steve87 said:

Yep nada going through there at all...Do you have the Dyness cable for the Comms connected? If so these are the settings required provided the correct cable is plugged in. Share your battery Li ion Battery screen. 

Here are all the screens I could find that were battery related. The batteries are the Dyness A48100.

What do you see?

 

Edited November 13, 20223 yr by Glenn

Comms are definitely not working. The last page would have had useful values. Not just a bunch of zeros. 

2 minutes ago, Steve87 said:

Comms are definitely not working. The last page would have had useful values. Not just a bunch of zeros. 

So it's something I should get someone knowledgable to come out and look at right?

7 minutes ago, Glenn said:

So it's something I should get someone knowledgable to come out and look at right?

Without inverter/battery communications the inverter won't know the charge parameters / SoC of the battery and will rely on voltages.
LiBMS shows the battery values - if get the below, then communications is not working:


You need a "canbus" cable to connect the Canbus port on the Inverter to the canbus port on the first battery
A normally a Ethernet RJ45 cable should do the trick.
Ensure the batteries are linked to each other and battery ID's are correctly set.
You should be able to see the LiBMS screen show the battery status.

Edited November 13, 20223 yr by system32

There should be a standard cable that came with the battery that will work 100% with the deye inverter. It might have been plugged into the wrong port on the inverter, should be in the CAN port 

1 hour ago, Glenn said:

Thanks for the reply. The model number of my batteries is Dyness A48100. They only come with a 5 year warranty unfortunately (extended from 4 years to 5 years when registered).

The A48100 and BX48100 are the same battery, same nunber of cells and dame general makeup, only the form factor differs so you should be covered there. I have 1 48100 and 1 bx48100 in my set

Thanks @system32 and @mzezman. I'm going to hope against hope that the cable was used and simply put into the wrong port, as appose to not used at all (anything would be possible with this installer unfortunately).

I'm not comfortable opening up any of the wiring housing to check at this stage. Maybe I should learn some more and do it, but I've got no clue how to at this point so I think maybe getting someone out to have a look is best.

The install looks like the pictures attached so not sure how to check or change any cables or how things were set up. 

Can you guys make out anything from the pictures?

As a long shot, do you know anyone in CT that you'd trust to look at/fix/commission a solar system?

Unfortunately cant see anything from the pics that could help. If i were in CPT id come out and check settings and cables for you - thats simple enough to do

@Leshen would you have any installer comtacts that could assist in CPT

https://www.sunsynk.org/approvedinstallers

 

Search that for 'master' and see which of them are in Cape Town. Are a few. 

Deye and sunsynk are almost the same, so they'll be able to help you out. 

My suggestion is to get a professional involved ASAP, they'll sort it out hopefully in a few hours. 

https://www.google.com/maps/place/Unit+3,+Urban+Eden+Solar+Energy,+Glenkey+Place,+49+Aviation+Cres,+Airport+City,+Cape+Town,+7525/@-33.9808546,18.5900783,16z/data=!4m6!3m5!1s0x1dcc5ea65c0540df:0x1bbf3cb2d5ac3ecf!8m2!3d-33.9808546!4d18.5900783!16s%2Fg%2F1tgw797h

 

 

https://urbaneden.co.za/

 

 

They look good 

Master installers 

Good reviews on Google maps