So the time has come for our solar install but I have a few questions.

We have 3 phase power coming in from the municipality.

1 phase - House

1 phase - Duplex flat on the property

1 phase - Front gate (for some reason)

The plan is to combine the three phases into one DB with a single phase from the incoming DB for the inverts if/when we don't have sufficient battery charge.

What we are planning on getting

2 x 8KW inverters

6 x 5KW batteries

28 x 550W solar panels

Any advise, hardware specials etc. would be appreciated.

6 minutes ago, Crowley said:

So the time has come for our solar install but I have a few questions.

We have 3 phase power coming in from the municipality.

1 phase - House

1 phase - Duplex flat on the property

1 phase - Front gate (for some reason)

The plan is to combine the three phases into one DB with a single phase from the incoming DB for the inverts if/when we don't have sufficient battery charge.

What we are planning on getting

2 x 8KW inverters

6 x 5KW batteries

28 x 550W solar panels

Any advise, hardware specials etc. would be appreciated.

What size MCB do you have from Munic or what is the size of the supply in kVA?

10 minutes ago, Scorp007 said:

What size MCB do you have from Munic or what is the size of the supply in kVA?

Not sure about the supply but we have 2 x 60A and 1 x 30A breakers.

11 minutes ago, Crowley said:

Not sure about the supply but we have 2 x 60A and 1 x 30A breakers.

Do you plan to power all the loads from a single phase from the 2x8kW inverters?

Currently it seems like you thus have 3 x 60A available. If you are a high power user the 1 x 60A from grid might be too little.

More info is needed like what is the peak load you have from the 3 phase supply to work out if you can run on single phase.

Do you have any 3 ph loads like pumps or other equipment?

54 minutes ago, Crowley said:

6 x 5KW batteries

3*10 of whatever brand you are considering will be cheaper. 6*5 will give you more redundancy.

Edited May 19, 20251 yr by Bobster.
Formattting

15 minutes ago, Scorp007 said:

Do you plan to power all the loads from a single phase from the 2x8kW inverters?

Currently it seems like you thus have 3 x 60A available. If you are a high power user the 1 x 60A from grid might be too little.

More info is needed like what is the peak load you have from the 3 phase supply to work out if you can run on single phase.

Do you have any 3 ph loads like pumps or other equipment?

No 3 phase loads at all. Besides the stove/oven we only have 3 gaming computers that uses most of the power. We use on average 50 units (prepaid) of power a day.

56 minutes ago, Crowley said:

The plan is to combine the three phases into one DB with a single phase from the incoming DB for the inverts if/when we don't have sufficient battery charge.

I would leave the flat with it's own DB. Make it a feed from the main DB. So if something trips in the flat and you're not around then they have a chance at resetting.

Also consider the load the flat might place on your system. Appliances, stove, geyser might push you close to the inverter's limit, could be a big draw from the battery. Loadshedding is not done yet. Depends on who is in the flat - if it's tenants they might not be sympathetic to your need to be careful with electricity once the sun is down.

5 minutes ago, Crowley said:

We use on average 50 units (prepaid) of power a day.

The maximum momentary draw is important. If that the draw on an inverter exceeds it's maximum, even if only occasionally and for a few seconds, then you will likely trip the inverter. Batteries also have a limit as to the maximum that they can deliver in any given moment. This is why installers often exclude the geyser and the stove from the backed up circuits.

2 minutes ago, Bobster. said:

I would leave the flat with it's own DB. Make it a feed from the main DB. So if something trips in the flat and you're not around then they have a chance at resetting.

Also consider the load the flat might place on your system. Appliances, stove, geyser might push you close to the inverter's limit, could be a big draw from the battery. Loadshedding is not done yet. Depends on who is in the flat - if it's tenants they might not be sympathetic to your need to be careful with electricity once the sun is down.

It is my brother and his wife and we are working together on this so it shouldn't be a problem

3 minutes ago, Bobster. said:

The maximum momentary draw is important. If that the draw on an inverter exceeds it's maximum, even if only occasionally and for a few seconds, then you will likely trip the inverter. Batteries also have a limit as to the maximum that they can deliver in any given moment. This is why installers often exclude the geyser and the stove from the backed up circuits.

That makes sense. Not sure how much the draw of two stovetops will be though.

50 minutes ago, Crowley said:

That makes sense. Not sure how much the draw of two stovetops will be though.

If a normal freestanding using 4 plates and oven it could get to about 35A.

Its essential to know what loads can be on at the same time or one need to disable then when on battery power as to not exceed the inverter size.

Another question.

Thoughts on Revov batteries?

3 minutes ago, Crowley said:

Another question.

Thoughts on Revov batteries?

From the forum it seems members are happy with them.

1 hour ago, Crowley said:

Another question.

Thoughts on Revov batteries?

I think you have to look at batteries and inverter as a combination. You need to make sure the two can "talk" to each other. Not all batteries communicate with all inverters, and vice versa.

I have a Goodwe inverter and once had Revov batteries. They didn't talk so well and there were intermittent problems until the installer bought back the Revovs and I paid the balance for a Freedom Won. Suddenly it was a different world. The Freedom Won could talk to the Goodwe and tell it what it wanted, what the settings should be and so on, and all the intermittent problems went away.

I would say that if your chosen inverter is not a Sunsynk or a Victron you should consider a different battery or a different inverter.

19 minutes ago, Bobster. said:

I think you have to look at batteries and inverter as a combination. You need to make sure the two can "talk" to each other. Not all batteries communicate with all inverters, and vice versa.

I have a Goodwe inverter and once had Revov batteries. They didn't talk so well and there were intermittent problems until the installer bought back the Revovs and I paid the balance for a Freedom Won. Suddenly it was a different world. The Freedom Won could talk to the Goodwe and tell it what it wanted, what the settings should be and so on, and all the intermittent problems went away.

I would say that if your chosen inverter is not a Sunsynk or a Victron you should consider a different battery or a different inverter.

We are looking at the Deye inverters and the Revov 100 is on the approved list.

I am open to any other suggestions though.

7 hours ago, Crowley said:

So the time has come for our solar install but I have a few questions.

We have 3 phase power coming in from the municipality.

1 phase - House

1 phase - Duplex flat on the property

1 phase - Front gate (for some reason)

The plan is to combine the three phases into one DB with a single phase from the incoming DB for the inverts if/when we don't have sufficient battery charge.

What we are planning on getting

2 x 8KW inverters

6 x 5KW batteries

28 x 550W solar panels

Any advise, hardware specials etc. would be appreciated.

Are you planning on splitting it up between the 2 houses? Or will both inverters be running in parallel and feeding them?

Inverter I would suggest is

Power Forum Renewable Energy Sto...

Solis S6 Pro 8kW Advanced Hybrid Inverter

Shop highly efficient Solis S6 Pro 8kW Advanced Hybrid Inverter that allows the user to hit those ‘parity’ targets by managing power coming from multiple sources such as solar. Request a Quote now!

Their support is just amazing.

I would then also chatting to wimpie and ask for battery suggestions, they also have specials on the 600w panels. Batteries are only as good as their local support, or your technical knowledge.

Just a note of caution. There are a lot of scam websites floating around, do not try and find too good to be true deals, as it might bite you.

Edited May 19, 20251 yr by Pho3niX90

Thanks for all the input, greatly appreciated.

We are leaning towards 3 of these

Ecohub

Has anybody dealt with Ecohub before?

26 minutes ago, Crowley said:

Thanks for all the input, greatly appreciated.

We are leaning towards 3 of these

Ecohub

Has anybody dealt with Ecohub before?

I haven't dealt with Ecohub, but be very very careful that what you think you're buying is in fact what you're getting.

I say this because even though they call it a 6kW inverter in the linked webpage, the technical specifications are in fact for the 3.6kW Sunsynk hybrid.

Note the Three-Comma-Six kiloWatt (3.6kW), and not Six kiloWatt (6kW).

The Ecohub web page is inaccurate in matching the product description to the specs, which can be misleading, but I cannot say whether that is accidental or intentional.

Technical Specifications:

Product Type: Hybrid Inverter
Enclosure: IP65
Ambient Temperature: 45ºC ~ 60ºC (>45ºC derating)
Protection Level: Class I
Battery Voltage: 48Vd.c (40Vd.c ~ 60Vd.c)
Battery Current: 90Ad.c (max.)
AC Input Voltage: L/N/PE 220/230Va.c
AC Input Frequency: 50/60Hz
AC Input Rated Current: 16.4Aa.c
Max. AC Input Power 3960W
Max. Apparent Output Power: 3960VA
Max. PV Input Power: 4680W

Adding the link here to a different supplier that gives the specs of the 3.6kW Sunsynk on their wegpage, just as a comparative reference.

Sunsynk 3.6kW 1P Hybrid PV inverter 48v C/W Wifi Dongle IP65 for Sale Online

Edited May 23, 20251 yr by GreenFields
Link added

5 hours ago, Crowley said:

Thanks for all the input, greatly appreciated.

We are leaning towards 3 of these

Ecohub

Has anybody dealt with Ecohub before?

Please read the details they give you for pairing the Revovs to the inverter. It is not simple plug and play.

On 2025/05/23 at 5:05 PM, Bobster. said:

Please read the details they give you for pairing the Revovs to the inverter. It is not simple plug and play.

To be clear, I am not saying that Deye & Revov can't communicate with each other. But in this case you are being asked to check firmware versions etc. So this is not like having somebody install for you & then manage the system until it's working properly. A lot more is being left for you to do, and the components may not work as you need them to out of the box.

I would suggest The Powerforum Store https://powerforum-store.co.za/

I am very wary of websites which does not list a physical address or websites where you google the address and there are several different business names linked to the same address or websites which only lists cellphone numbers and when you google the cellphone numbers there are several different business names linked to the same cellphone numbers and one fo the business names has bad reviews.

They list the 8kW Deye inverter at R 27715 and paired with either 2 of Freedom Won eTower LiFePO4 Batteries at R 16962.50 each or 2 of U-P5000 Greenrich at R 15525.00 each

Both the Freedom Won and Greenrich batteries are listed on the Deye approved battery list.

Have a look at the JA or the Jinko solar panels on their website, I would suggest 8 of those panels connected in series per input.

On 2025/05/19 at 11:57 AM, Crowley said:

The plan is to combine the three phases into one DB with a single phase from the incoming DB for the inverts if/when we don't have sufficient battery charge.

What we are planning on getting

2 x 8KW inverters

6 x 5KW batteries

28 x 550W solar panels

Would it not make sense to maintain two "phases" given that you plan to use two inverters? Perhaps a 12kW unit for the main house, and the proposed 8kW for the second dwelling (assuming the flat would use less power than the house...)? If consumption is about the same, then stick to the two 8kW units...

Thanks for all the replies. We ended up going with 28 x 550w Canadian Solar panels, 3 x Luxpower SNA-6000 inverters and 6 x 5KW Revov batteries that the installer supplied at the same price as Ecohub. I bought a second hand 36U cabinet that we put on it's back for the batteries.

We did have some issues with the installation, some code on the inverters was wrong so it couldn't communicate with the batteries. Turns out Luxpower changed the code from their manual to the actual inverters for some reason. Then the system kept on tripping the earth breaker, turns out the previous owner of the house had a 20A earth breaker installed so when the inverters were pulling power from Eskom it tripped the whole system. Installed a 63A earth breaker and now it is humming along very nicely. Today will be the first time we have it running 100% so will see how it goes.

On 2025/05/23 at 11:59 AM, GreenFields said:

I haven't dealt with Ecohub, but be very very careful that what you think you're buying is in fact what you're getting.

I say this because even though they call it a 6kW inverter in the linked webpage, the technical specifications are in fact for the 3.6kW Sunsynk hybrid.

Note the Three-Comma-Six kiloWatt (3.6kW), and not Six kiloWatt (6kW).

The Ecohub web page is inaccurate in matching the product description to the specs, which can be misleading, but I cannot say whether that is accidental or intentional.

Technical Specifications:

Product Type: Hybrid Inverter
Enclosure: IP65
Ambient Temperature: 45ºC ~ 60ºC (>45ºC derating)
Protection Level: Class I
Battery Voltage: 48Vd.c (40Vd.c ~ 60Vd.c)
Battery Current: 90Ad.c (max.)
AC Input Voltage: L/N/PE 220/230Va.c
AC Input Frequency: 50/60Hz
AC Input Rated Current: 16.4Aa.c
Max. AC Input Power 3960W
Max. Apparent Output Power: 3960VA
Max. PV Input Power: 4680W

Adding the link here to a different supplier that gives the specs of the 3.6kW Sunsynk on their wegpage, just as a comparative reference.

Sunsynk 3.6kW 1P Hybrid PV inverter 48v C/W Wifi Dongle IP65 for Sale Online

On 2025/05/23 at 11:59 AM, GreenFields said:

I haven't dealt with Ecohub, but be very very careful that what you think you're buying is in fact what you're getting.

I say this because even though they call it a 6kW inverter in the linked webpage, the technical specifications are in fact for the 3.6kW Sunsynk hybrid.

Note the Three-Comma-Six kiloWatt (3.6kW), and not Six kiloWatt (6kW).

The Ecohub web page is inaccurate in matching the product description to the specs, which can be misleading, but I cannot say whether that is accidental or intentional.

Technical Specifications:

Product Type: Hybrid Inverter
Enclosure: IP65
Ambient Temperature: 45ºC ~ 60ºC (>45ºC derating)
Protection Level: Class I
Battery Voltage: 48Vd.c (40Vd.c ~ 60Vd.c)
Battery Current: 90Ad.c (max.)
AC Input Voltage: L/N/PE 220/230Va.c
AC Input Frequency: 50/60Hz
AC Input Rated Current: 16.4Aa.c
Max. AC Input Power 3960W
Max. Apparent Output Power: 3960VA
Max. PV Input Power: 4680W

Adding the link here to a different supplier that gives the specs of the 3.6kW Sunsynk on their wegpage, just as a comparative reference.

Sunsynk 3.6kW 1P Hybrid PV inverter 48v C/W Wifi Dongle IP65 for Sale Online

Hi.

Dylan here, owner of EcoHub, mentioned above. Just came across this thread.

The 3.6kw Sunsynk which we sell is an All in One system, not a standalone inverter.

The system has a 3.6kw inverter and 3.8kwh battery built in. This is a small system suited to student accommodation / small apartments.

The 6kw inverter is the SUNSYNK Powerlynk Lynks 6kw Hybrid Inverter. These were introduced late 2024 if I remember correctly and replaced the popular 5kw Sunsynk inverters.

I've noticed that customers are often confused - I believe there is also a 6kw all in one system (includes battery), and a 3.6kw hybrid (inverter only). We have not stocked these two items in the past.