My build has kicked off today after weeks of trying to get a reputable installer for my panels a good friend came to the rescue and helped me with the installer he used for his system. Here are the first Pics

12 JA Panels, will update once the inverter is installed and supercap arrives 

Edited April 25, 20197 yr by Treschen

Nice. Whereabouts are you based?

Keep the pics coming!

3 hours ago, Minerva10210 said:

Nice. Whereabouts are you based?

Keep the pics coming!

I am based in Centurion, inverter is going up this weekend. Will post Pics as I install

Edited April 25, 20197 yr by Treschen

 

Growatt is up on the wall and PV Cables have been run to the wall. DC Breakers installed as well they 1pole for now. Will get 2 pole later on.

I need to find an auto electrician to crimp the 35mm cable lugs for the supercap... Will see during the week who can do it.

Still need to obtain flat twin + earth cable 10mm (So FREAKING hard to find this). Then electrician to will need to move stuff around in DB phase 1 of the DB board is almost perfect with exception of the 40Amp CB for the oven and stove. Otherwise perfect

I would say 80% done

 

 

I don't think that flat twin and earth comes in 10mm, the largest I have use is 4mm.

Why not get 10mm GP (general purpose) wire and put it inside conduit/trunking? 

The earth cable for this 10mm cable in conduit should be 6mm diameter (the earth cable must be at least half the size of the largest current carrying conductor)

I’m watching with interest, especially curious about the "supercap".

 

1 hour ago, Noobie said:

I don't think that flat twin and earth comes in 10mm, the largest I have use is 4mm.

Why not get 10mm GP (general purpose) wire and put it inside conduit/trunking? 

The earth cable for this 10mm cable in conduit should be 6mm diameter (the earth cable must be at least half the size of the largest current carrying conductor)

Thanks that will be my second option. I went to a few shops max they have is 6mm flat in stock. Called Rubicon for 10mm now they out of stock but said they can order so waiting for pricing. The rating on 10mm is 65amp or around there 

Have you tried ARB Electrical Wholesalers? They appear to have branch in Pretoria East.

I purchased a roll of 10mm^2 from their Cape Town branch.  Just be aware that this cable is quite heavy and tough to work with, especially if you are trying to route it through narrow conduit! 

You can buy 10mm per meter. Smaller only in 100m rolls in my town.

5 hours ago, Elbow said:

I’m watching with interest, especially curious about the "supercap"

Me too, @Treschen please give us feedback on this. 

On the one hand there has been some negativity, but on the other hand there has been very little to go on in terms of personal experiences.

The numbers seem very good, in fact so good, that they are too good. Please let us know one way or the other.

You should be able to get the 10mm cable from Voltex as well. 

6 hours ago, SilverNodashi said:

You should be able to get the 10mm cable from Voltex as well. 

Many thanks picked up some from Voltex today 

7 hours ago, NigelL said:

Have you tried ARB Electrical Wholesalers? They appear to have branch in Pretoria East.

I purchased a roll of 10mm^2 from their Cape Town branch.  Just be aware that this cable is quite heavy and tough to work with, especially if you are trying to route it through narrow conduit! 

Thanks sir. I can see this cable is going to be a challenge to work with good thing my trunking is big enough. When they brought it around didn't think it was for me... My eyes popped out when the sales guy said this is yours sir 

6 hours ago, phil.g00 said:

Me too, @Treschen please give us feedback on this. 

On the one hand there has been some negativity, but on the other hand there has been very little to go on in terms of personal experiences.

The numbers seem very good, in fact so good, that they are too good. Please let us know one way or the other.

Will be providing feedback once install is done. I am also a reseller but will give you unbiased opinion regarding the supercap. I know my friend is running his for about 8 months. A lot has changed since the initial release of the first caps... They now come with Anderson plugs into the front as well as circuit breakers to disconnect the terminals. The form and shape has also changed... New software, password protection can be enabled to prevent theft. But really this thing took 3 to 4 guys to load and offload. I was initially going to get a Pylontech bank but the growatt guys said they have no support for Pylontech for the inverter I have only newer models and I didn't want gel or lead batteries so just bit the bullet and bought a Sirius energy module 

 

The is a lot of negativity yes... But for me the 20 year warranty says it all. Time will tell. The batch that landed recently is all sold out. I will cycle the hell out of this thing. Let's see how it goes. 

1 hour ago, Treschen said:

Sirius energy module 

So 20 year warranty. What are the claimed cycles?

30 minutes ago, The Terrible Triplett said:

What are the claimed cycles?

1000000 , Yes, 6 zeros.

https://kilowattlabs.com/product/sirius

Edited May 6, 20197 yr by phil.g00

3 minutes ago, phil.g00 said:

1000000 , Yes, 6 zeros.

Yip

21 minutes ago, phil.g00 said:

1000000 , Yes, 6 zeros.

So then it is still as before:

1 000 000 / 365 days = 2739 years ... so my kids kids great grand kids will inherit my batteries if I cycle them once a day, no?

But hold on. They only give a 20 year warranty, whats with that ... Sacrilege I say. 

And less I forget ... Eureka moment!!! We don't need Eskom anymore if we can have 1 000 000 cycles! JAY!

🤣

@Treschen - sorry, but I just could not resist. Peace brother. 🙂 

Edited May 6, 20197 yr by Guest

13 minutes ago, The Terrible Triplett said:

So then it is still as before:

1 000 000 / 365 days = 2739 years ... so my kids kids great grand kids will inherit my batteries if I cycle them once a day, no?

But hold on. They only give a 20 year warranty, whats with that ... Sacrilege I say. 

And less I forget ... Eureka moment!!! We don't need Eskom anymore if we can have 1 000 000 cycles! JAY!

🤣

@Treschen - sorry, but I just could not resist. Peace brother. 🙂 

All good. 

16 hours ago, The Terrible Triplett said:

So 20 year warranty. What are the claimed cycles?

I seriously doubt it's going to get anywhere near that. If it is LTO, as a lot of suspect, then cycle life will be between 3000 and 20 000 cycles depending on who you believe. If it is 20k cycles... that is nothing to sneeze at... it's still a good 20 years at two cycles a day... but it remains concerning that it has to be hyped this much.

I won't say I am negative. I am definitely distrustful though :-)

The stats are against companies lasting more than 1 year, 10 years is respect and more than 10 years, you are good!

So after my fiasco with warranties on Tenesol panels, bleh I say to warranties from new suppliers whom have not been around for longer than their offered warranties. 😉 

And yes, there are exceptions. 

1 hour ago, The Terrible Triplett said:

The stats are against companies lasting more than 1 year, 10 years is respect and more than 10 years, you are good!

So after my fiasco with warranties on Tenesol panels, bleh I say to warranties from new suppliers whom have not been around for longer than their offered warranties. 😉 

And yes, there are exceptions. 

Hands up! Who's Yingli solar panels are still working?

33 minutes ago, SilverNodashi said:

Hands up! Who's Yingli solar panels are still working?

O, not that. 😜

it is If that panels stop working and you cannot get the 20 year warranty replacement. Like my old Tenesols - when I needed parts, sorry, no can do, buy a new one.Warranty, sorry, not our problem.

Our like my Duratherm geyser, 8 years old, 10 year warranty - no sorry, that Co does not exisit anymore.

Warranties are largely marketing tools. The best example I heard of this is paint. Paint with a 7 year warranty (typical Dulux). Read the small print. Must be applied by a professional painter. And you must fill in the warranty card and send it off.

How many people do either of those?

Paint companies know this. This means claim levels are acceptably low without having to put to much extra into the quality 🙂