19 minutes ago, Leonc said:

I need a COC for my pv system. I presume for insurance it would also be required. 

Then if all is ok, the CoC for the aC side, should take about 1-2 hours max.

Recently heard that in CoCT, one may need a CoC for the panels too. Busy checking that. 

Normally a Sparkie would nog give a CoC for the DC side, for that you need to up the price, and ask for a solar installer. 

You may find one here: https://www.pvgreencard.co.za/reg/installers/inst-directory.php

Insurance, o yes! Speak to your insurer / broker asking them what do they need to underwrite it properly, and under what section the cover would be placed. Can affect the premium and excesses. Make sure you see it reflected on your policy schedule, once deal is concluded.

Hi all ,  The installer did not install any back to grid switch on my solar system . Will the Hager SFT 240 change over switch  be the right switch for an off grid installation .

30 minutes ago, Chris Louw said:

Will the Hager SFT 240 change over switch

That's perfect for a bypass switch. I have one of those for my system (Disconnects the inverter out and connects the grid instead).

31 minutes ago, Chris Louw said:

for an off grid installation

Not 100% sure, but it is suitably interlocking and break before make so should be just fine.

23 hours ago, pilotfish said:

...and no AC feed to your inverter. The inverter system must be PV only, when batteries go low then the C/O switches the PV-DB to grid, and then back to PV when batteries have reached preset SOC.

I wonder if this still applies at night? OR if one could argue that at night the PV doesn't actually produce power.  Could one technically get past the legallities at night, since there's no PV to generate electricity?

 

Daily humor: I was at a large retailer's solar installation a while ago and just "looked around". They had 17x SolarEdge 27.5Kw grid tie inverters. So I ask one of the installers what batteries they're going to use. His answer to me was that the power is stored in the solar panels. I tried to explain to him that solar panels only produce energy, not store it. He was adamant that the solar panels store energy for night usage. Interestingly, a few weeks later I was at another of their sites and asked the manager there how their big solar plants were doing. Without thinging about it, he said "like shit. They never work".  

3 hours ago, SilverNodashi said:

I wonder if this still applies at night?

If I was a regulator, I'd simply point out that all we need to kill a line worker is for you to forget to unplug it one night. So I'm pretty sure it will apply at night :-)

4 minutes ago, plonkster said:

If I was a regulator, I'd simply point out that all we need to kill a line worker is for you to forget to unplug it one night. So I'm pretty sure it will apply at night :-)

but if the inverter is connected to the DB, without PV, it is legal? See where this is going? Yes, in circles, but there's not enough technical logic behind their reasoning. 

And as can be seen from someone else's experience, they actually don't want us to have solar energy. 

Just now, SilverNodashi said:

if the inverter is connected to the DB, without PV, it is legal?

I think the answer to that question is also no. By the letter of the law of SANS 10142-1, the changeover is not suitably interlocking and the contacts don't open far enough. It is not legal to be installed into a DB board.

But once you disconnect the PV panels it is no longer under the purview of NRS097-2-1, and since the regulators are rather a lot more relaxed and let way more stuff slide (or because it is difficult to enforce) you can probably get away with it as long as it doesn't burn down your house.

So no... it isn't necessarily legal. It just moves from breaking two laws to breaking only one: The one nobody enforces.

 

Interesting I'm in the process if switching to prepaid, because my power bill is R100 a month vs the +-R500 connection fee. I also have solar. Please just help me to understand the details of the no-prepaid rule. My DB is split and I have another DB for everything using the inverter.

So just to understand once you are on prepaid the inverter can never use AC to charge the batteries? Or are there some instances that it is allowed? Inverter is  NRS097-2-1 compliant  though. I've got a big lithium bank so I could technically just unplug my inverter from the AC as it's using those industrial grade high amp plugs to feed in AC.

Edited October 3, 20187 yr by Tersius

1 hour ago, Tersius said:

can never use AC to charge the batteries?

If the inverter is NRS097-2-1 certified then obviously you can charge batteries with it :-) And you will have to register it most likely, if not now then in the future. I don't know how the prepaid rule works where you live though.

Okay now have gone off grid with my 2nd DB board to be on the right side of COJ, the sparky has installed a manual change over switch, so now there is no connection from the grid to the inverter and here comes the questions.

My current setup.

1 X 5kv Axpert inverter

3 X Pylontech batteries

2 strings of 3 X 330w JA solar panels

Running ICC software

Question -

Being off grid now is there any settings that I must change on the inverter? 

 Is there a function in the ICC software that can alert me if my batteries gets to say 30 SOC if so how do I set it up?

After adding the 3rd battery must I change menu 2, currently on 50A

Thanks 

 

 

 

20 hours ago, Leonc said:

Being off grid now is there any settings that I must change on the inverter? 

Not so much the inverter settings but you should limit your inverter output to about 3.5kW continous draw. A 16A CB on the output would be good.

20 hours ago, Leonc said:

After adding the 3rd battery must I change menu 2, currently on 50A

Yes you could be charging at 75A but the Axpert does not go that high.

46 minutes ago, Chris Hobson said:

Not so much the inverter settings but you should limit your inverter output to about 3.5kW continous draw. A 16A CB on the output would be good.

Yes you could be charging at 75A but the Axpert does not go that high.

 

46 minutes ago, Chris Hobson said:

Not so much the inverter settings but you should limit your inverter output to about 3.5kW continous draw. A 16A CB on the output would be good.

Yes you could be charging at 75A but the Axpert does not go that high.

Thanks Chris

On 2018/09/19 at 8:58 AM, Antony said:

I have sent my local councilor an email to determine the regs for Ekurhuleni, hopefully he can assist or redirect.

@Antony, any feedback yet?

14 hours ago, d3nominat0r said:

@Antony, any feedback yet?

No real feedback, what I got was I just need to ensure the CoC is done legally. It seems Ekurhuleni don't have anything is place as yet, maybe they are waiting on JHB to implement, then they will follow.

Hi all,

I have two questions:

1. Has anyone successfully exported power from a residential PV installation to the City of Joburg and been paid for it?

2. Does the Blue Nova Impi comply with any regulations in place for a residential installation in the City of Joburg?

Thanks for the help.

Ryan

On 2018/09/18 at 8:06 PM, Leonc said:

Reading the post "planning new installation" got me wondering what is the rules for a hybrid system in COJ.

I am not registered and thought it will be NERSA that will give the rules. See in COC you must register by Feb 2019.

 

On 2019/07/21 at 12:17 PM, ryanhawthorne said:

Hi all,

I have two questions:

1. Has anyone successfully exported power from a residential PV installation to the City of Joburg and been paid for it?

2. Does the Blue Nova Impi comply with any regulations in place for a residential installation in the City of Joburg?

Thanks for the help.

Ryan

I would be keen to hear if anybody has feedback on your point 1 above.
I also trying to figure out what the regs and requirements in COJ are

On 2018/09/19 at 1:37 PM, Erastus said:

I have been through the complete process with NERSA.... They have send me a formal document the will inform me when they are ready to accept applications. If you ask me the do not have a database that can handle it (and no Gupta's that can supply it ).

When I get it it I will publish it on the forum.  I have done all 3.  Checked with those "creating the new laws",. NERSA and CoCT. Te current suggestion is out for comments. One gets the impression from the constitution that they can't do "anything" until the "law" is published ( condition of Const.). From what I understand after the cut of date they will do the agreed changes in the "new" law. Then they will have a very short request before getting it through parliament.
Then we all will have to do it.
The nice side is all will have the same base. The reason for this is there can not be a local law contradicting a national law.
Thus with all specs inplace and published and database operational we will then all find it very easy to do the rest.

This brings us to another topic (to stir). The electricity "specs" for SA does not address 48V and lower. One soon will see that Fridges TV's ... will be able to work on this. Stoves if you use a 110V element @ 55VDC you will get pretty much the same affect.

So why doe we need a full house to be approved and wired if all are < 50V.

In my case when I had to redo my house lights all are on 12V with 48V charger and 12V batt backup. DSTV ... you can get a "regulator 48V - 16V ..."
My koi pond I only use 90W.

I recon in 1 - 5 years wiring of houses is going to change completely and the law once again

Exiting times ahead.

Sorry for all the tjol 

Not at all. We must all comment to the new laws.:

It can be interesting in the near future.

1. Eskom is breaking into I think what will be 3 entities in the future. 1 Generation 2 Distribution 3 homes
2. When are the councilst going to follow suite? and if not
3. Shall we petition the powers to be to do the same.

This "ordering" of electricity from private suppliers could open the the future for we SSEG to sell our electricity to the likes of Eskom at a better price.  The price could be calculated at buying spinning reserve at night at a much lower price than the council's  inflated prices.

That will bring us to the interesting point of the Monthly fee's for having electricity at our door. If we then choose to sell and buy our electricity from Eskom that fee is that going to be the use of the councils network known as a "carry fee" in other parts of the world.

Therefore  the council then becomes a carrier and not a supplier.

This is something to think about because where one lives "close" to Eskom it will be in our interest to dump the council at these horrible prices and buy at a better price.

Maybe this is something that will be used against DA run councils and something that must be  highlighted to the investigation of the reserve bank.

Once the seed is sown it will only take time to bear fruit or others to follow suit.

Guess it is time to sow the seed so it can bear fruit soon. Something to start thinking about.

As why should I be locked into a supplier that is ripping us off with the cost.  What happened to Telkom surely can happen to places like the councils and where the ANC can make life difficult for the DA I am sure that will happen and we can only benefit from it.

This is really interesting, does anyone know how much is the fines if they catch you with the solar system and didn't register? 

1 hour ago, hoohloc said:

This is really interesting, does anyone know how much is the fines if they catch you with the solar system and didn't register? 

City Power came knocking at my door. They were curious because I hadn't bought pre-paid for some months. They know what I used to buy and that had suddenly plummeted to zero. So there were various possibilities.

They inspected my meter to be sure it wasn't bypassed. They noted my heat pump and solar installation. They left. I haven't heard a dickie bird from them. But I buy a few units each month to keep them happy (you can bank them anyway) and because I do need some when we have overcast weather.

 

21 hours ago, Erastus said:

Not at all. We must all comment to the new laws.:

It can be interesting in the near future.

1. Eskom is breaking into I think what will be 3 entities in the future. 1 Generation 2 Distribution 3 homes

I don't think that's a given yet. Certainly they are going to allow municipalities (who are not in debt to Eskom) to start buying from other suppliers.

21 hours ago, Erastus said:

1. When are the councilst going to follow suite? and if not
2. Shall we petition the powers to be to do the same.

This "ordering" of electricity from private suppliers could open the the future for we SSEG to sell our electricity to the likes of Eskom at a better price.  The price could be calculated at buying spinning reserve at night at a much lower price than the council's  inflated prices.

That will bring us to the interesting point of the Monthly fee's for having electricity at our door. If we then choose to sell and buy our electricity from Eskom that fee is that going to be the use of the councils network known as a "carry fee" in other parts of the world.

COJ already charge post-paid customers for that. There is a monthly flat fee for being connected to the network. Pre-paid customers are spared this at present though

1) They pay more per kw/h
2) Two financial years running the council has tried to implement a flat R200 a month levy per pre-paid meter. The first time the DA said that it had been added to the tariffs after council signed off (though they only said that after folks started complaining). The second time the ANC said that they had approved it but then changed their minds because of the financial stresses on the residents that lock down had bought about.

But it will come. COJ seem determined to close the gap between pre- and post-paid, which makes no sense to me because those of us who go pre-paid improve their cash flow, and that should be worth something. If they leave an incentive for switching to pre-paid, and if they spread the word, more people will convert to pre-paid and so the impact on their cash flow will be increased.

21 hours ago, Erastus said:

Therefore  the council then becomes a carrier and not a supplier.

This is something to think about because where one lives "close" to Eskom it will be in our interest to dump the council at these horrible prices and buy at a better price.

Maybe this is something that will be used against DA run councils and something that must be  highlighted to the investigation of the reserve bank.

Assuming councils get that level of autonomy. One way of looking at the current resell tariffs is that whichever municipality is calculating things so that in the long run, even though you are generating a good deal of your own power, you will remain a net purchaser and that meets the current laws around electricity supply. Besides, it requires one party to gain and then retain power. Look at Johannesburg's recent history, and bear in mind that right now no one party has a majority in that city and so whoever governs must constantly be cutting deals with other parties. My guess is that with Mashaba's new party entering the fray and seeming likely to take votes from the DA and from the ANC, we will have a hung council for a few more years.

 

2 hours ago, hoohloc said:

 

This is really interesting, does anyone know how much is the fines if they catch you with the solar system and didn't register? 

 

As long as you have a off-grid solar system they cannot fine you, if you have a grid tie that feeds into their meter they could possibly fine you.

19 minutes ago, Bobster said:

There is a monthly flat fee for being connected to the network. Pre-paid customers are spared this at present though

In Alberton we already pay a fee every month on pre-paid meters, they call it arrears that doesn’t make sense, but it gets deducted anyway. I loaded a R1000 and you can see only R980 went towards units.

59 minutes ago, Gerrie said:

In Alberton we already pay a fee every month on pre-paid meters, they call it arrears that doesn’t make sense, but it gets deducted anyway. I loaded a R1000 and you can see only R980 went towards units.

This doesn't make sense. If I were you, I would stop the transaction, reverse the amount and have the bank block it from ever going out again. They should bill on your rates and taxes statement, with a clear info on what that R20 is for 

38 minutes ago, hoohloc said:

This doesn't make sense. If I were you, I would stop the transaction, reverse the amount and have the bank block it from ever going out again. They should bill on your rates and taxes statement, with a clear info on what that R20 is for 

It's added at the point of purchase so not an FNB issue. It wouldn't matter where a bought the prepaid units from as its applied at the point of purchase.