Hi Everyone

 

I am new to this forum and platform and looking for some advice with regards to a solution for loadshedding.

 

Almost 10yrs back i purchased a 7kva petrol generator, gas heaters and gas stove and had an electrician wire the generator up to my db board. The only issue i have with this setup is the unpleasant noise and the rough cost of running my generator of +- R100 an hour. 

 

Fast forward to today, a family member of mines recently imported a container of MUST inverters and batteries and TW solar panels and he agreed to provide me with his products at a reduced price. i am not sure if i should run two 5kva MUST PV1800 inverters and save almost R8000 on the cost of getting a 10kva MUST  PV1800 VHM inverter. Also i am not sure if i should get a 10kw battery ( 51.2v/200ah )or two 5kw batteries. The cost of two 5kw batteries from my cousin is the same as the 10kw battery. i am not sure if either of these batteries are 1C rated and i even mailed MUST technolgies to enquire directly, but have not heard back from them.  I have attached the battery specs below.

 

Would anyone on here be able to advise what is the cost of a 5kva installation versus the cost of a 10kva option?  I am really clueless with these things and would appreciate any help or guidance you could extend to me.

Can anyone offer any advice? 

1 hour ago, boost3d said:

Can anyone offer any advice? 

If you have to use MUST: use one 5kW inverter and two 5kWh batteries.

The MUST inverter uses Pulse Width Modulation for solar charging. This is not an efficient way of getting energy out of solar panels. Rather get an inverter with two MPPT inputs and it would be best to get a hybrid inverter.

On 2023/05/29 at 2:43 PM, boost3d said:

Hi Everyone

 

I am new to this forum and platform and looking for some advice with regards to a solution for loadshedding.

 

Almost 10yrs back i purchased a 7kva petrol generator, gas heaters and gas stove and had an electrician wire the generator up to my db board. The only issue i have with this setup is the unpleasant noise and the rough cost of running my generator of +- R100 an hour. 

 

Fast forward to today, a family member of mines recently imported a container of MUST inverters and batteries and TW solar panels and he agreed to provide me with his products at a reduced price. i am not sure if i should run two 5kva MUST PV1800 inverters and save almost R8000 on the cost of getting a 10kva MUST  PV1800 VHM inverter. Also i am not sure if i should get a 10kw battery ( 51.2v/200ah )or two 5kw batteries. The cost of two 5kw batteries from my cousin is the same as the 10kw battery. i am not sure if either of these batteries are 1C rated and i even mailed MUST technolgies to enquire directly, but have not heard back from them.  I have attached the battery specs below.

 

Would anyone on here be able to advise what is the cost of a 5kva installation versus the cost of a 10kva option?  I am really clueless with these things and would appreciate any help or guidance you could extend to me.

Refer to the discharge rate  of the batteries. The 200Ah can only be discharged at 100A thus is is a 0.5C battery. 

2 hours ago, boost3d said:

Can anyone offer any advice? 

According to your attached sheets the 200ah is 0.5C lfp that means for the 200ah your max discharged will be 100A. It will limit your output to 4300 watts.

Compare the MUST 200ah to the FW 200ah huge diffrence in discharge/charge current.

Freedom-Won-Spec-sheet_LiTE-Home-10_8 (1).pdf

Thank you so much for the insights. Its making me reconsider the approach of using these products in entirety. It doesn't make sense to me to save a little but then be compromised down the road especially with the low C rating and 4000 cycles versus other similar priced items .

 

 

 

Edited May 31, 20233 yr by boost3d

17 hours ago, frivan said:

If you have to use MUST: use one 5kW inverter and two 5kWh batteries.

The MUST inverter uses Pulse Width Modulation for solar charging. This is not an efficient way of getting energy out of solar panels. Rather get an inverter with two MPPT inputs and it would be best to get a hybrid inverter.

thank you for this info.

 

I could be mistaken but the specs do say it has a 160amp MPPT controller but i honestly dont know what it means with regards to how many inputs or if its hybrid ( i am assuming the hybrid part means it can either be adapted to receive power from eskom or a generator or pv panels, right)? 

Would it also be safe to say, that one should try to budget for a bigger inverter from the onset as this component is where the biggest limitation is because one can try to add multiple batteries in different configurations etc etc?

 

46 minutes ago, boost3d said:

thank you for this info.

 

46 minutes ago, boost3d said:

I could be mistaken but the specs do say it has a 160amp MPPT controller

but the specs do say it has a 160amp MPPT controller but i honestly dont know what it means with regards to how many inputs or if its hybrid ( i am assuming the hybrid part means it can either be adapted to receive power from eskom or a generator or pv panels, right)? 

Would it also be safe to say, that one should try to budget for a bigger inverter from the onset as this component is where the biggest limitation is because one can try to add multiple batteries in different configurations etc etc?

 

MUST inverters doesn't leave you with much expandable options! The MPPT is low voltage so solar panels needs to be paralleled as the MPPT input voltage VOC( panel open curcuit voltage) is 60-130v for 8- 10kw inverter😏?

46 minutes ago, boost3d said:

could be mistaken but the specs do say it has a 160amp MPPT controller

That is only part of the equation, low voltage high current means you must use much thicker (more copper) cables pushing up your costs. My 2c concerning inverters 1. Sunsynk or Deye 2.Growatt or Luxpower 3. Kodak or Voltronic equivalent i will personally not install MUST brands not inverters nor batteries.

Edited May 31, 20233 yr by TaliaB
Spelling

2 hours ago, TaliaB said:

MUST inverters doesn't leave you with much expandable options! The MPPT is low voltage so solar panels needs to be paralleled as the MPPT input voltage VOC( panel open curcuit voltage) is 60-130v for 8- 10kw inverter😏?

That is only part of the equation, low voltage high current means you must use much thicker (more copper) cables pushing up your costs. My 2c concerning inverters 1. Sunsynk or Deye 2.Growatt or Luxpower 3. Kodak or Voltronic equivalent i will personally not install MUST brands not inverters nor batteries.

Honestly it would not be my first choice either... but you know what they say, when something appears to good to be true, it usually is. The only reason why i even contemplated these products as that there was some type of discount/price relief involved. I am however thankful that you and other forum members have provided me with some much needed insight and now i can make a more informed decision .

 

i appreciate it 🙂 

6 hours ago, boost3d said:

( i am assuming the hybrid part means it can either be adapted to receive power from eskom or a generator or pv panels, right)? 

Would it also be safe to say, that one should try to budget for a bigger inverter from the onset as this component is where the biggest limitation is because one can try to add multiple batteries in different configurations etc etc?

When I say hybrid, I refer to an inverter that can operate both as an off-grid inverter and a grid-tie inverter (export).

A larger inverter for expansion in future is a good idea. Practically the battery cost kills you and you struggle to get exactly the same equipment that you installed previously.

13 hours ago, frivan said:

When I say hybrid, I refer to an inverter that can operate both as an off-grid inverter and a grid-tie inverter (export).

A larger inverter for expansion in future is a good idea. Practically the battery cost kills you and you struggle to get exactly the same equipment that you installed previously.

Thank you for the explanation. 

 

Definitely agree that the price of the battery is large but sadly things arent getting better in our country so this has become more a required grudge purchase versus just a luxury item that's a nice to have.

So i begin my solar journey this week, a friend of mines has a small business so will be installing

1x luxpower hybrid 5kva inverter

1x solarwise 5.8kw battery

6x 450w panels

 

ideally i wouldve liked to have gone bigger on everything but the above just about squeezed all the budget i had .

34 minutes ago, boost3d said:

So i begin my solar journey this week, a friend of mines has a small business so will be installing

1x luxpower hybrid 5kva inverter

1x solarwise 5.8kw battery

6x 450w panels

 

ideally i wouldve liked to have gone bigger on everything but the above just about squeezed all the budget i had .

Starting is the most important - the good thing is as your needs change and budget becomes available you can always expand - that's how i started. Goodluck and welcome to loadshed-free days 

15 minutes ago, mzezman said:

Starting is the most important - the good thing is as your needs change and budget becomes available you can always expand - that's how i started. Goodluck and welcome to loadshed-free days 

thank you so much and it helped to get some very useful insight and advice from the guys on the forum

Good day. We have just bought a 5 kva Luxpower tek off grid invertor.  Having 6 440 and 6 330 panels on the roof . I need to get a bigger battery because the House is completely off the Grid. Any recommendations.  Thanks