May 22, 20197 yr HI Guys Good platform for knowledge here. Needed some advise on below before I decide which system to go with I currently have a smart meter and Eskom want to put in a prepaid in each home in the complex. I am in JHB with Eskom direct supply. I am looking at the solis 4G 4.6, 16 x JA 330 panels Grid tie 1. what effect will the prepaid have on the system, should I get solar first then prepaid or the prepaid first ? 2. If I decide to go battery backup later on, will it be advisable to get a hybrid and small battery now, or get another inverter like Axpert later on with pylontechs. 3. what's the difference between JA solar 330W vs Canadian solar 335W, besides the 5W per panel. Thanks in advance.
May 22, 20197 yr Welcome Poobear. I will reply on what I read on this forum over time. 1 hour ago, Poobear said: 1. what effect will the prepaid have on the system, should I get solar first then prepaid or the prepaid first ? 2. If I decide to go battery backup later on, will it be advisable to get a hybrid and small battery now, or get another inverter like Axpert later on with pylontechs. 3. what's the difference between JA solar 330W vs Canadian solar 335W, besides the 5W per panel. 1. Prepaid meters can trip if they sense power being sent back. I Cape Town, if you want to go grid tied, you must have a prepaid meter. In Jhb you need to remove it and get a meter that they want you to put in. Eskom does not allow grid tied connections. In other words, do your research for the area you are in. 2. Hybrid with a small battery bank is a good idea, as it is all in one unit and IF it is a Victron kit, it has ESS that further adds value. 3. 5w per panel. 🙂
May 22, 20197 yr Author Thank you, good advise assumed it was allowed, let me research a bit in this area. Any one with Eskom direct distribution that has successfully applied or got around this to install a grid tie.
May 22, 20197 yr 27 minutes ago, Poobear said: Any one with Eskom direct distribution that has successfully applied or got around this to install a grid tie. Eskom said yonks ago they cannot focus on that now, don't have the resources nor systems to deal with it. So the question is: Do you care what Eskom can and cannot do? I won't. 🙂 CoCT on the other hand has the resources to ensure it is done correctly. So here is my suggestion: 1) See what is said in your area on what you can or cannot do. 2) If there are no factual information, or it is Eskom, follow the NRS / SANS regulations. OR, to make it simpler and easier, just follow the CoCT rules and regs using their free list of all NRS approved inverters in SA. That is the best you can do in lieu of good governance on the part of official and / or unenforced regulations. Edited May 22, 20197 yr by Guest
May 22, 20197 yr Author Thanks TTT; let me check with some solar installers and get some experiences installing in the area, I do see a lot of posts on my area facebook page about grid tie. Edited May 22, 20197 yr by Poobear
May 22, 20197 yr Author 9 minutes ago, Ronnie_V said: Stay away from grid tie at this stage if you have pre paid meter! cool, so will delay them in installing, they waiting for me to fetch from their offices.
May 22, 20197 yr 16 minutes ago, Poobear said: cool, so will delay them in installing, they waiting for me to fetch from their offices. If you have to collect it now, it will probably be a smart meter, One of those you just plug into a socket outlet. If it is, It will not be a problem with grid tie. 2 hours ago, Poobear said: will it be advisable to get a hybrid and small battery now, I would recommend this option.
May 23, 20197 yr Sorry to jump in, I am also looking at putting in a grid tie system at home in Durban ( am looking at Micro inverters as starting small and growing). Has anybody in Ethekwini installed a grid tie system and did you have to apply to the municipality to install the system. I don't want to export to the grid at all.
May 23, 20197 yr 3 hours ago, Greglsh said: Micro inverters 3 hours ago, Greglsh said: I don't want to export to the grid at all. Last time I checked those two things are mutually exclusive. Grid limiting/power control is not common on the microinverters I've looked at, they don't even support power reduction via frequency shifting. Of course this might have changed, but not that I heard of.
May 23, 20197 yr Hi Plonkster The ones I was looking at is called Hoymiles, you buy a DTU (Data Transfer Unit) with a current clamp that measures the load and stops the exporting. Have a guy in the area who has this setup and he says it works well. You can add panels and inverters as you need or have funds for.
June 25, 20196 yr Author On 2019/05/22 at 10:47 AM, Jaco de Jongh said: If you have to collect it now, it will probably be a smart meter, One of those you just plug into a socket outlet. If it is, It will not be a problem with grid tie. I would recommend this option. A big Thank you to @Jaco de Jongh for arranging all the components needed to make this solar project happen, and always going that extra mile. Brilliant service.
June 25, 20196 yr 4 minutes ago, Poobear said: Thank you Glad I could be of service. Hope your system keeps the lights on for many years to come!!
July 11, 20196 yr As an installer i can say that the Solis grid tie inverter is the best option for any setup If you have a prepaid meter installed there is a function on the inverter to stop the feeding of power to the grid and does not trip your prepaid meter on tamper protection I have installed alot of these grid tie inverters in Johannesburg ,Durban and Mpumalanga without any complaints
July 11, 20196 yr On 2019/05/23 at 4:40 PM, plonkster said: Last time I checked those two things are mutually exclusive. Grid limiting/power control is not common on the microinverters I've looked at, they don't even support power reduction via frequency shifting. Of course this might have changed, but not that I heard of. The Hoymiles microinverters can change their output based on frequency shifting. We have used them with the attached VDE standard on a Victron inverter - works perfectly. They are also able to throttle production to match consumption. The unique thing is that they throttle production on each phase to match consumption on each phase; unlike string inverters which throttle to the average or minimum phase consumption. From our experience, these microinverters have a much lower failure rate than other MLPE solutions we've used. To date, we haven't experienced a failure. 0FBIAM3RS (2).pdf0FBIADTUARG (1).pdfVDE-AR-N_4105_active power feed-in overfrequency.pdf
March 6, 20206 yr Morning Zialmen How do you know when the Hoymiles microinverters are throttling production to match consumption? If you look at the images below, there is only 1 time where the Generation DTU level is lower than Consumption P-total? I would like to turn on more geysers and use the power if it is there. So should my consumption exceed / match the generation to prevent the Hoymiles microinverters throttling production? is there any way to see a graph of the P-total VS the consumption? I only have 8 panels, so am a little surprise that generation is exceeding consumption? Thanks for your help Barry
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