I recently finished a major upgrade to my solar setup in mostly sunny Abuja Nigeria. Previously I was running a 10 kW PV array with:

• 2 × Victron Smart MPPT 250/100

• 10 kVA Multiplus II

• 28 kWh LiFePO₄ storage

I’ve now expanded to a 20 kW hybrid setup:

PV Generation

DC Coupled

• 5.4 kW Canadian Solar → Victron Smart MPPT 150/100

• 5.2 kW Jinko → Victron Smart MPPT 250/100

• 3.5 kW Jinko → Victron Multi RS (MPPT1)

• 4 kW Jinko → Victron Multi RS (MPPT2)

AC Coupled

• 2.5 kW Longi → Deye SUN-M220/225G4 Micro Inverter (AC coupled to heavy load inverter output)

Inverters & Loads

• Victron Multiplus II 10 kVA → Dedicated to heavy appliances (3 × 1.5 HP AC, 2 × 2 HP AC, 3.7 kW induction cooker, 3 kW oven, multiple water heaters).

  • AC-coupled to the Deye Micro Inverter, which steps in during the day to share load.

• Victron Multi RS 6000 VA → Handles lighter loads (lighting, TV, sockets, etc).

• Both run on separate house circuits (wired this way from the start).

Battery Storage

• 14.7 kWh × 4 (≈ 56 kWh total) LiFePO₄ banks

• JK Inverter BMS (4 units, parallel linked via CAN)

• Integrated with GX device via CAN

GX Device

• Raspberry Pi Compute Module 4 (eMMC) + dual CAN hat + cooling fan in DIN-rail case

• Running Venus OS Large

• Chose this route to leverage Node-RED automation & extra compute power (also had spare Pis).

• DIY GX solution was more cost-effective and very flexible.

DIY & Cost-Saving Hacks

• Built my own “poor man’s Lynx distributor” using a SmartShunt + busbars — works perfectly.

AC Coupling Behavior

The Deye Micro Inverter impressed me: it reacts quickly to frequency shifts from the Multiplus.

• At absorption (55.2 V), the system smoothly adjusts as the Deye ramps down.

• The Multiplus manages frequency shifts to keep balance without issue.

I’ll post a more detailed review of the Deye soon, since there’s very little info here about its performance in AC-coupled mode.

Automation & Monitoring

• Heavy use of Node-RED for smart automation.

• Example: weather forecast automation (via Solcast) predicts next-day solar yield and adjusts grid-input allowance automatically.

• Monitoring migrated to Grafana (self-hosted) → richer metrics than VRM and full data ownership.

👉 Live Dashboard:
https://helio.openculture.org.ng/public-dashboards/867d6afd562543508eaf080533e7b652

How much runtime are you able to get on those batteries alone? I am assuming you are completely off-grid?

25 minutes ago, mzezman said:

How much runtime are you able to get on those batteries alone? I am assuming you are completely off-grid?

Yes the system is completely off grid (although there is a grid option, it is turned off) The battery can give 2 days of electricity if we don't change anything on how we use power. and close to 5 days if we switch to essential appliances.

7 minutes ago, bigbrovar said:

Yes the system is completely off grid (although there is a grid option, it is turned off) The battery can give 2 days of electricity if we don't change anything on how we use power. and close to 5 days if we switch to essential appliances.