NEW O

[LPG]

Hi Guys

Thanks for a great forum.  I have been reading it with interest and learned a lot.   I am in the Boksburg/Benoni area, and am just starting to look at Solar.  My objective is save on my power bill, not get irritated when the tariffs go up,  and have backup power when Esshcom  goes down.

I have a solar geyser, energy efficient lights and a closed cycle wood burning heater for winter.   There are only 2 people in the house.

My average monthly consumption is around 435 KWA/month.   10.3 KWH day usage,  4.2KWH night usage = Total average usage per day 14.5KWH.

So far I'm thinking:-   A 5KVA 48V Grid tied Hybrid system.   I could probably get away with 3KVA but think that's cutting it a bit fine and don't want to regret going too small.

10 Panels of 330W  should give me usable power of around  330 X 10 x 80 % = 2649W .       2649 x 6 hrs per day = 15.9 KWH per day  to feed my  14.5 demand.  Could add 8 more panels if req.

Battery backup 1 Pylon 2.4 KW.  Hopefully only needed occasionally at night when we have a cloudy day.    I am not sure what the KWA rating is of these batteries !

The controller I have been looking at is the Goodwe GW 3648D-ES   4.6 / 4.6 .   Just one problem it is a bit expensive.

Does anyone know of a good, more cost effective Grid tied Hybrid controller ?  

Does Aspert have a Grid tied Controller?

Would it be better to go for the new 400W panels ? 

Will I get away with only one Pylon battery, I see many people use two?

Does anyone have experience with Ekurhuleni Municipal approvals ? 

I would appreciate your comments and advice.

All The Best

LPG

 

 

 

[DeepBass9]

Your system sizing looks about right for your usage. Panels are relatively cheap so you can add more later if required.

Have a look at some of the threads about sorting out your DB board as a first step, with essential loads and nice to haves on separate circuits so you can isolate the power suckers when Eskom goes down.

 

[PaBz0r]

57 minutes ago, LPG said:

Pylon 2.4 KW.  Hopefully only needed occasionally at night when we have a cloudy day.    I am not sure what the KWA rating is of these batteries !

 

I think they say work on 90%.

You would most likely require more batteries to match the Inverter potential draw, this again all depends on what you actually want to power during a grid failure..  The US2000 is happy at 25A X 48V, thus 1200kW. You could consider going the US3000 route, which is happy at 37A, which gives you 1776kW per battery.

 

 

 

[DeepBass9]

From what I have experienced with my install , and vicarously reading about other's. Scale into it. If you are grid tie you can do it one step at a time and feel out what works for you. everyone's usage is different and there is no one size fits all so if I think about it these would be the logical steps;

1. Figure out your usage and what you want to achieve. This you seem to have figured out.

2. Look at your DB board and make sure that everything is in order for a start, and then try and split your essential and non essential loads.

3. Decide which inverter you are going to use, and think about spares support and so on.

4. Start with inverter and batteries and get that up and working to solve the load shedding problem.

5. Look at solar panels and charger controllers and so on to reduce your electricity bill.  

It is a process and there are a number of examples you can read about on this forum where a lot of money is spent and the desired results not achieved.

R0.02c contributed...