Hi All,

I'm new to the forum and must admit, have not yet attempted to read all posts.. however a search for 'Earthwise' did not yield any results, so perhaps this is useful info to somebody:

Does anybody else here use ordinary PV's + ordinary unmodified cheap geyser + an Earthwise controller? 

The controller:

- offers any and all available energy to the geysers, ie if right now the PV's produce 3,000W and the house's demand is 2,000W, then 1,000W is offered to the geyser.

- prevents grid power to be fed to the geysers - on heavily overcast days you need to push a button in order to activate grid power supply - for 90min. (During the 14 months I've been using this, we've not pushed the bottom more than 5 times since I have enough PV capacity.)

 

If this is old news let me know and I'll wipe the thread!

 

 

 

43 minutes ago, biltongvreter said:

offers any and all available energy to the geysers, ie if right now the PV's produce 3,000W and the house's demand is 2,000W, then 1,000W is offered to the geyser.

Unfortunately it does not work if the inverter is set up for zero grid feed in. Like all other power diverters (except the SolarEdge Smart Energy) it relies on the signal from a ct clamp measuring the power outflow to the grid.

Understood.. fortunately the estate where I live, procures from the grid on behalf of residents and then manage the 'local grid'.. so home owners do sell excess to the estate. I appreciate not everybody has this benefit.

Edited May 27, 20197 yr by biltongvreter
typo

3 hours ago, calypso said:

Is it legal to create a microgrid in an estate? I was looking into doing something similar but I was told that its not allowed. 

Its not a micro grid. The estate has a bulk connection to eskom and resells (not to be confused with the solar power generated) to the estate residents. 

Now unto the selling of pv power back to the estate. This in my mind is no different to selling back to eskom/CoCT etc. The bulk connection probably has a eddy current meter (spinning wheel type) so it will do feed in just fine. The estate is probably a net consumer so feed in will go unnoticed. I don't think it is legal to do so but I personally have no problem with them doing so due to the lack of proper regulation. Do I think its a bad idea for the estate to openly encourage this practice... yes. 

1 hour ago, root said:

Now unto the selling of pv power back to the estate. This in my mind is no different to selling back to eskom/CoCT etc.

Maybe it is an idea to check on the legalities of whom is allowed to sell power when you are not Eskom. Far as I have it, it is illegal.

CoCT is currently in court to have the law changed.

1 hour ago, root said:

I don't think it is legal to do so but I personally have no problem with them doing so due to the lack of proper regulation.

No it is not legal - it is seriously illegal as a matter of fact. 🙂 

And with all the is going on to register solar system in Cape Town ... lack of proper regulation ... ja right! 🤣

(Sorry, but this just screamed to have some tongue in the cheek responses.)

The estate is large (>1,000 stands), new (5 years), and has had this arrangement in place from day one. I will be very surprised if they did not obtain approval for this operation. As far as I know there's a dedicated substation to the estate, and all infrastructure on the demand side of it is owned by the estate. There is also a professional electrical engineering company managing reticulation and applying very strict standards to ensure safety etc. (eg, all inverters run on grid power, so in case of a grid outage our inverters trip and the grid remains safe.)

But I better not disclose my location then 🙃