I am in need of a professional with expert knowledge of a Sunsynk 5kw Hybrid Inverter, 5.32kwh Sunsynk battery with 10 x 460W JA solar panels.

I reside in the east of Pretoria and require the services of someone with exceptional Sunsynk systems knowledge and sound commissioning skills that would setup my system optimally and professionally and show me the in and outs of my system.

No mounting of any hardware nor electrical work or solar installation is required.

If you are able to assist me here please send me a personal message as soon as possible.

Why get a professional when you can DIY?

22 hours ago, Gooney Bird said:

I am in need of a professional with expert knowledge of a Sunsynk 5kw Hybrid Inverter, 5.32kwh Sunsynk battery with 10 x 460W JA solar panels.

I reside in the east of Pretoria and require the services of someone with exceptional Sunsynk systems knowledge and sound commissioning skills that would setup my system optimally and professionally and show me the in and outs of my system.

No mounting of any hardware nor electrical work or solar installation is required.

If you are able to assist me here please send me a personal message as soon as possible.

I am assuming the system is already installed? So its just configuration based on your requirements? Ask here - there are lots of guys with good knowledge about SS setup and config - some installers on here as well that could chime in

On 2025/04/16 at 5:56 PM, frivan said:

Why get a professional when you can DIY?

You don't understand the level of bad luck I have experienced in the last couple of years so therefore I would not dare attempt to do anything myself despite the fact that I would love to DIY.

If it wasn't for bad luck I would not have any luck at all😢

Happy Easter to one and all

Last night I visited my neighbour who has two Sunsynk 5kw inverters connected to two freedom won 5kwh batteries and I then photographed his settings and different screen menus on his inverter when I noticed some key settings being different to mine although his setup is different to mine as he has two inverters and two batteries where I have one.

I am taking the liberty to post the current settings of my 5kw system that was "Started Up" Note I did not say "commissioned "as the Electrician that connected it has no clear idea of a Sunsynk system let alone solar.

My situation is that my wife and myself live in a 3bedroom house and we both are home allt of the time as she works from home hence the need for this 5kw solar system in times of loadshedding.

I have a CBI astute geyser smart timer connected to my 200l Kwikot Megaflow Geyser and I have a 19000L swimming pool with a 0.75kW Speck pump and motor.

My electricity usage is between 450 and 500kWh per month.(Solar has only been connected for 4 days now so nothing to share in terms of any savings or efficiencies)

I would like to use the sun to power most of our daily Electricity usage in order to SAVE Electricity costs but also have a system that is ready to go when loadshedding hits.

The current configuration is that my geyser is connected to essentials and my stove to non -essentials which is the way I understand it.(Reason being that the initial installer that never bothered to return to complete the installation was adamant the geyser should be on essentials as there is a timer and the geyser will be used sparingly and responsibly).

I am not so sure about my current settings being optimal nor correct, especially in my system mode and hence I would appreciate some solid feedback in order to correctly programme my Solar system if need be.

Any constructive feedback will be highly appreciated. and therefore I humbly thank you in advance.🙏

The system is setup and working as far as i can see. In terms of optimisation the only things I would consider changing are

1. Unticking the Grid checkboxes in the System mode screen for the daylight hours - and then

2. Change the SOC to be higher at the end of the day - this will charge your battery to that SOC for the evening shift so that you have more energy in the case of a power cut after dark

Just a personal opinion, somewhat based on personal experience with a similar-sized system. Just going out on a limb, gazing into my crystal ball.

I'm betting, that there WILL be days of loadshedding in our future, it WILL happen during the daytime when your wife needs to be working, it WILL happen on many days over time when the sun isn't shining, and on such days you WILL want your geyser and pool pump OFF from your essential loads, to avoid draining your 5kWh battery in no time.

If your CBI timer is intelligent enough to disconnect those loads as soon as there's loadshedding, with no human intervention, that's great (no idea, don't know its features), otherwise, you rather want them OFF your essential loads, either on AUX load with high battery reserve setting, or as non-essential loads. There is no amount of responsible setting of a normal timer that can compensate for heavy cloud cover when you're running off-grid.

Edited April 18, 20251 yr by GreenFields

6 hours ago, Gooney Bird said:

I would like to use the sun to power most of our daily Electricity usage in order to SAVE Electricity costs but also have a system that is ready to go when loadshedding hits.

OK. As far as I can tell you have a 5kWh battery. I think that's marginal for load shedding. Think of the early morning, that is when your battery is likely to be at its lowest. Load shedding at 8 or even 10 can be a problem.

My usage is in the same ballpark as yours. We have 10kWh of battery & we get through the night and if there's a load shed & not a lot of solar we will get through to probably 11 at least. And if the power is off then the pool pump won't run and we might go a bit longer.

The key to anything called "solar" is to align your routines with the sun. Do all the heavy lifting, so to speak, during the sunlit hours. After 18:00 we are usually pulling 200W to 400W and so we don't seriously test the battery until 6:00 when the heat pump (not geyser) turns on. After that we're usually about 50% SOC.

The battery can save money too, not just help you through an outage. If you can charge that battery from the sun & then go through the night on it then you are not troubling Eskom a lot.

Edited April 18, 20251 yr by Bobster.
Sppeling & that grammar stuff

All things considered, I'd suggest the following, all subject to tweaking and debate:

1. As before, try to get the pool pump and geyser onto non-essential loads.

2. Un-select the "Limit to Load" option. With that setting you're only allowing solar power to be used for your essential loads. And you want to be able to divert solar and battery power also to the non-essential loads like the oven (and geyser and poolpump in the ideal situation where these are non-essential).

3. Set the charge rate to 50A. Just to be able to charge a little faster to keep battery power available, but still within reasonable limits.

4. Try the time schedule below. All subject to tweaking and alternative opinions. It's a mix of having power available during the day, and using some battery power evenings and during peak periods.

5. 

6. Run your pool pump as from 09:00 in the morning to around 1pm. That's 4 hours of running a 750W pump on a 19kl pool volume. That should be enough to turn the pool over around 4 times per day, and all most days straight from solar. Check with your pool maintenance company to confirm. At the same time you should most of the time have plenty spare power to re-charge the battery.

7. Run the geyser from around 1pm to 5pm on a timer to be ready for the evening. Assuming it's a 3kW element.

Also, one thing to note in your system mode2 settings, make sure you untick Solar Export. Unless you want to export your Solar to grid when the battery is charged.

Edited April 19, 20251 yr by Chunks

1 hour ago, Chunks said:

Also, one thing to note in your system mode2 settings, make sure you untick Solar Export. Unless you want to export your Solar to grid when the battery is charged.

This is a very important point as it caught me out as well as I thought if zero export to CT is ticked it won't sell solar.

On 2025/04/18 at 7:10 PM, GreenFields said:

Un-select the "Limit to Load" option. With that setting you're only allowing solar power to be used for your essential loads. And you want to be able to divert solar and battery power also to the non-essential loads like the oven (and geyser and poolpump in the ideal situation where these are non-essential).

Check that the CT is installed just downstream from the Main breaker. You should be able to see when non-essentials loads are running (swipe from left to right on the dial screen).

@Gooney Bird system is sorted. Minor problems eg. Incorrect CT polarity and mostly settings. Never underestimate the importance of installing the CT coil correctly on bi-directional inverters. As for the geyser and pool pump on essential side will be managed by installing a double pole relay downstream from the smart timer where geyser and pump will be disconnected during power outages and automatically reinstated when utility returns. Also swapping the 3kw geyser element out for a 2kw element.

Before and after flow diagram from the inverter. Pushing the essential loads far beyond 5kw thanks to pass-through capability.

This data below corrupted due to CT polarity being incorrect.

Edited April 21, 20251 yr by TaliaB
Grammar error

I would really like to thank everyone for taking the time and making the effort replying and giving their input by posting on this thread as I genuinely have not felt so helpless in my entire life before.

I have never really paid attention to anything that has anything remotely to do with electricity and hence I do not understand much about electricity related topics let alone complicated electricity issues such as solar systems.

I am however now eager to learn and have now started to research everything about solar and electricity and hence all the input on this thread has been very rewarding and comforting for me to say the least.

I would however like to take this opportunity to wholeheartedly thank one specific person on this forum who unselfishly contacted me and offered to assist and stand by me until my system was fully commissioned no matter what problems lay ahead.

That Special Person needs no introduction on this forum and is none other than my friend Talia B who in my eyes is a genius and a remarkably Special Man with a Heart of Gold and a Wealth of invaluable experience and knowledge.

I do not say these things lightly as he was able to commission my solar system , identify serious issues and avoid potential pitfalls, fix them, test them, change them, tweak them, trouble shoot them and eliminate them completely and then also continuously follow up on them to see that my solar system was commissioned properly, all this when this man was thousands of miles away outside of our country without even having the opportunity to personally touch or see anything with his own eyes and hands as he would normally have done if he was doing the work himself.

He took it upon himself to help me through all of this although he was not at all able to be present to solve my issues personally, but he was determined to help me resolve these issues despite any challenges he may have come across remotely.

With his guidance and expert tutoring skills he successfully commissioned my solar system remotely by coaching me to make the necessary changes required in order to achieve complete success and for this I have the greatest eternal respect for this Humble Giant of a Man.👏

To TaliaB I thank you for not only your exceptional skills but also for your kind and gentle demeanour, your patience and respect for a human being in dire and desperate need of help,

You made the world of difference to my life and for that I will always remember this and never forget what you did for me.🙏

Thank You so much

God Bless You🙏

Just to add to what TaliaB posted in terms of the flow chart and issues encountered with my solar system, he found that the CT Coil was showing corrupt data on the system's flow chart due to it being incorrectly installed by the Electrician responsible for completing my solar electrical installation and who ultimately was responsible for final commissioning of my solar system, this despite him having been given a clear diagram of how the CT coil wires were to be joined to the CAT6E cable and exactly how they were to be connected to the Inverter.

What is also evident on the flow chart as pointed out by TaliaB where I pushed the essential load beyond 5kw momentarily resulting in the high wattage that was created momentarily was due to a communication problem with my wife as a result of her unknowingly switching the home kettle on whilst I unknowingly switched the geyser on as I was also testing the geyser at the same time that the kettle was boiling😌

As discussed by TaliaB in his post there will be further enhancements to come such as replacing my 4kw geyser element to a 2kw geyser element and also installing the double pole relay to protect my soalr battery.

There have been several issues that TaliaB has identified that had to be rectified in order for the system to be commissioned properly and for that I am eternally thankful.

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

system is sorted. Minor problems eg. Incorrect CT polarity and mostly settings. Never underestimate the importance of installing the CT coil correctly on bi-directional inverters. As for the geyser and pool pump on essential side will be managed by installing a double pole relay downstream from the smart timer where geyser and pump will be disconnected during power outages and automatically reinstated when utility returns. Also swapping the 3kw geyser element out for a 2kw element.

Before and after flow diagram from the inverter. Pushing the essential loads far beyond 5kw thanks to pass-through capability.