Hi Forum,

I'm new to this forum and to the world of solar, inverters and batteries.

At the moment I have two UPS's protecting my servers by shutting them down during loadshedding.

Is there a checklist / shopping list available of everything required for a complete installation? Everything from cabling, to fuses, switches, distribution board, etc.

In other words, If I want to buy everything required to go solar, what is on that list?

I did some searches on the forum but couldn't find exactly what I was looking for.

Let's say I want to buy a Sunsynk 5kW Single Phase Hybrid Inverter with Dyness Lithium Ion Battery 4.8 kWh and 6 x 455w Canadian Solar Panels fitted to a corrugated roof.

What would my shopping list look like, what size battery cables, what size protection box, combiner box, fuses, DB, etc. 

Apologies if this was discussed before, like I say, I couldn't find anything like on the forum.

Regards,

Marlin

 

 

To many variables in there to be a standard shopping list. I.E inverter size, battery size, charge/discharge rates, exposed/hidden in walls and distance required will determine your battery cable size. Same goes with panels for cable sizes. each has to be worked out based off real data for your intended setup. Plenty of people start with cables that are two small for the loads they actually use. in the short term it works in the long term though this is how fires start.

For me i always look at the highest figure so your 5kw inverter might be able to handle 8kw for 5-10 seconds. This 8kw is what i would use to base my cables off and then add 15% extra. Yeah it costs more up front but it means as the cables degrade with time I'm not having to worry about replacing them or a fire starting out in one.

Distribution boards are sized according to how many circuits you want in them. Once again i do things the expensive way and have way more circuits then most homes the same size. To me this is making the home future proof as homes built even 50 years ago didn't have the power loads we have today so more circuits gives me more options in the future. Easier to add the power lines at the one time rather than adding them years down the track kind of mentality. But that said I'm building my own place and not retrofitting so more options open to me than most.

Real world data is the most important information you require. Buy a power meter that you can plug in and start looking at what loads your devices actually use and when they are all used. Then start working out what inverter size you need, as a 5kw inverter is useless if a peak load of 9kw is happening even for a few seconds. Best money is spent on the cheap meter to get the right system rather than spending thousands on a setup you think will do what you want and find it was all to small from the get go.

Once you have all that work out what you think and then post it on here and plenty of people will be able to check your maths and give you feedback that's actually going to work. We all look at things in different ways so also knowing where your planing on going helps. ie starting with 1 inverter but plan to add a second later when funds are available will change the size of cables i would be working on from the start rather than having to upgrade the cables when you add the second inverter and throwing away the old cables.

Hope this helps you get started

Webbie

 

Quite a bit of information in this thread relating to what is required.

 

Maybe an idea to benchmark against a pre-assembled kit, but expect there to be more specifics of your installation that could affect what you need.

https://www.sustainable.co.za/collections/solar-power-kits/products/sunsynk-5kw-51-2v-5-32kwh-self-consumption-kit

Thanks @GreenFields & @spotity

I managed o find the information I was looking for from the links you provided and have a comprehensive list now of items required.