Hi everyone

I inherited a basic Kodak Solar Off Grid Inverter OG 1.24 and a Giter G2500-24

I asked the electricion if I could buy some extra batteries and throw up a few solar panels to power 3 gaming PCs and network equipment for 6 - 12 hours
I want a system where over time I can expand by adding betteries and pannels.
I asked my electricion about this and he said that the Kodak I have is a "kak" inverter and that I will need to get a proper invester.

He suggeted I buy a SUNSYNK 5KW Inverter

A.I says it should be able to power the above with this equipment.

Electrician said with the SUNSYNK 5KW Inverter and 4 panels I would be able to power the 3 PCs.

Will the Giter battery (that I read somewhere is also "kak")  work with the Sunsynk?
Will 5KW inverter work for 3 computers with high end GPUs and 3 roof fans and some lights?

Is the 5KW enough and what extra would I be able to power before running into issues?

 

Thanks
 

I think that electrician is trying to make a quick buck.

Yes, the sunsynk is an awesome inverter, but if you inherited something then I personally would 1st try it out and see what it can do for you

That inverter is definitely on the small range but not totally useless like that electrician is making it sound, also the battery is nicely matched to that inverter so not too bad for low end load-shedding assistance.

You say 3 gaming pc's, some lights and network equipment, and 6 - 8 hours run time.
That will definitely be close to the edge depending on how much power the gpus draw. And that battery will also not have enough energy for that duration.

 

The 3 Gaming PCs power draw will probably exceed that Inverters power output. Typical gaming PCs under load are 300 to 500W, dependent on the components used.
Scale down your expectations or scale up your Inverter, and no, you don't need a Sunsynk, just like you don't need a Mercedes S class to be able to drive to work.
Best thing to do is to get a Kill-A-Watt and measure your PCs power draw at the plug. Once you have all those power requirements, then you know the minimum output requirements of the inverter and then you can decide if you are happy to drive a Toyota to work or whether the Merc is in your budget.

 https://www.takealot.com/digital-plug-in-watt-meter-pmb-2/PLID92087882

Edited December 14, 20222 yr by zsde

Your Sparky might find with the wrong 4 panels the Sunsynk will just not even start. That inverter is fine for what you want to do. It is just the 6-8h which will be a problem running on batteries alone after sunset. 

The above is based on 400W per gaming PC. 

Edited December 14, 20222 yr by Scorp007

You won't be able to use the Giter battery with a Sunsynk, that's a 24V battery and a 48V inverter that are not matched.

Personal take, if you have +/- R70-R80K that you want to spend on a Sunsynk 5kW inverter, a new 5kWh 48V battery -  make that an extra R30K for a second battery to get closer to 6-12 hrs runtime - and installation (and panels further down the line), that will serve your needs better.

For your 1.5kW Kodak and 1200W-capable battery, you'd be probably okay to run one PC, router, and a couple of LED lights and one fan at a time, for around two hours max. Maybe that's the minimum you need at a time to get through a bout of loadshedding, but maybe you really want more. If you go this way of using the Kodak, I wouldn't invest too much in panels, just charge from grid, and save the money for if you later go big with a Sunsynk and get the right panels for that system.

Edited December 14, 20222 yr by GreenFields

Thanks for all the replies everybody.

So to give some more context.

Yes we have been running the Kodak and Giter for quite some time now.

For 2 hour load shedding it is fine but when stage 5 - 6 starts it becomes a problem.

Recenently to survive 4 hours stretches we could only run 2 computers with CPU set down to 5% and no use of the GPU (dim screens and turn of second monitor). 

(We also bought a generator recently when the power was down for days and according to electrician the Kodak is not good enough to charge the batteries with the generator)

The reason I asking here is

We need to improve the time we can survive as we work from home.

The power also often dies for an entire day.
If we buy another Giter that would solve the issue in the short term but it does not seem futureproof.

And when we start adding panels we need to be sure the inverter can handle it as we expand.

So do we bite the bullet and just buy a better inverter and start over with a new battery now or do we expand the Kodat + Giter?

22 hours ago, lavaland said:

Thanks for all the replies everybody.

So to give some more context.

Yes we have been running the Kodak and Giter for quite some time now.

For 2 hour load shedding it is fine but when stage 5 - 6 starts it becomes a problem.

Recenently to survive 4 hours stretches we could only run 2 computers with CPU set down to 5% and no use of the GPU (dim screens and turn of second monitor). 

(We also bought a generator recently when the power was down for days and according to electrician the Kodak is not good enough to charge the batteries with the generator)

The reason I asking here is

We need to improve the time we can survive as we work from home.

The power also often dies for an entire day.
If we buy another Giter that would solve the issue in the short term but it does not seem futureproof.

And when we start adding panels we need to be sure the inverter can handle it as we expand.

So do we bite the bullet and just buy a better inverter and start over with a new battery now or do we expand the Kodat + Giter?

You can add 2000W of panels to that inverter. That can on good sunshine days provide 4 times the power that you currently have stored in the battery. This works out at 10kWh of power from the sun. 

You can thus calculate how it would help. For those overcast days you have the generator to directly power your loads instead of through the inverter. 

Don't worry as quite a lot of people have found they cannot run their generators even on a Sunsynk. Perhaps a combination of applying the wrong settings and the generator itself. Sunsynk recommend a generator 2x the size of the inverter. Amagine you follow your Sparky and get a Sunsynk and your generator would not work with it? 

Edited December 16, 20222 yr by Scorp007

A cheaper upgrade path could be to go for a 3kVA 24V Kodak inverter and one or two more Giter batteries in parallel. That will immediately double the amount of instantaneous power give you further reserves to extend your current storage, without starting out completely fresh. To a degree it might still be throwing good money after bad, but it takes a 4000W PV input that could be more easily scalable to a larger Sunsynk 8kW for example at a later stages.

14 minutes ago, Superfly said:

24v is not a long term solution.. there are limitations in battery power -  I suggest get rid of the Kodak and Giters and get a 48V inverter -  altho' I'm keeping the 24v setup purely as auxiliary to the Multiplus 2 (may just sell the 24v inverter and batteries) - not sure if other inverters have power assist.

The solution over the long term for a daily use of 15kWh vs 35kWh is not the same. 

I run a 3kVa 24V and have no need to even think of a 48V system. Grid use only 50-100kWh a month and I have no intention to go off grid yet. 

I run 2 Inverters so we don't have to use only 1.