hoohloc Posted August 2, 2020 Share Posted August 2, 2020 Hi Guys, I'm new to the forum and I have just done my first back up installation. Initially my intentions was to do a back up installation just for loadshedding. But now I see that it will be a waste if I don't add solar panels to the system. I have installed 1xGrowatt SPF5000TL-HVM and 2x Pylontech US2000 2.4Kwh batteries. The plan is to add a second Inverter and at least 4 solar panels for now and increase the capacity when/if needed. I'm not a qualified Electrician nor an installer, but I have a solid Electrical engineering background. I'm not a specialist and I 'm new to solar installations, so I will be coming to you guys for some advice. I'm currently using 4mm2 wires to supply power to the inverter and from the inverter to supply load. The stove and geyser is not wired to the inverter, only lights and plugs are currently wired. With the addition of the second inverter, I'm going to wire the geyser and stove too. My question, will the 4mm2 wires used to supply my load, be ok to power everything including the geyser and stove? Or should I get a 6mm2? Once the installation is complete, I'm going to have to get an Electrician to come and inspect the whole house wiring and issue a CoC. Can you recommend a good electrician in Johannesburg, Randburg area? Gerrie, francois, Youda and 1 other 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Louisvdw Posted August 2, 2020 Share Posted August 2, 2020 5 hours ago, hoohloc said: 4mm2 wires I assume these are the AC wires (connecting your DB and your inverter), then the 4mm2 can handle up to 30A. Jaco has a very nice summary in this post. Or download the Aberdare Low Voltage Cable Range document. Now, as long as the breaker you use for the inverter is also for 30A or less you should be fine. If you can set the inverter to limit the usage for that AC in to 30A so much better (not sure if the Growatt can do that). The CB should always trip before the cable max is reached, which avoid an electrical fire. Your stove should be on a 32A or more breaker, so 6mm2 wire will be required for the stove. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hoohloc Posted August 2, 2020 Author Share Posted August 2, 2020 Thank you for the comment @Louisvdw, much appreciated. You are correct, the 4mm2 wires is the neutral and live wires connecting the DB to the inverter. The breakers are of the correct sizes but was worried about the size of the cable/wires, when powering the whole house after adding the second inverter. The wire must be able to carry supply for all the plugs, lights, geyser and stove. Looks like I will have to pull out the 4mm2 cable and replace it with a bigger one Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jykenmynie Posted August 2, 2020 Share Posted August 2, 2020 2 minutes ago, hoohloc said: Thank you for the comment @Louisvdw, much appreciated. You are correct, the 4mm2 wires is the neutral and live wires connecting the DB to the inverter. The breakers are of the correct sizes but was worried about the size of the cable/wires, when powering the whole house after adding the second inverter. The wire must be able to carry supply for all the plugs, lights, geyser and stove. Looks like I will have to pull out the 4mm2 cable and replace it with a bigger one Just pull 10mm to start with. Then you know you are covered. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
___ Posted August 2, 2020 Share Posted August 2, 2020 43 minutes ago, jykenmynie said: Just pull 10mm to start with. Then you know you are covered. And, being a Growatt, check that it bonds earth and neutral when the grid is disconnected... cause I'm still trying to figure out the pattern, whether all, none or some of them does it correctly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hoohloc Posted August 3, 2020 Author Share Posted August 3, 2020 11 hours ago, plonkster said: And, being a Growatt, check that it bonds earth and neutral when the grid is disconnected... cause I'm still trying to figure out the pattern, whether all, none or some of them does it correctly. Mine is OK, I think you need to enable setting 24 so that your neutral and grounding can be connected together. When the grid is disconnected, I get around zero volts between my neutral and earth, when I measure with a multimeter. That is good enough for me ___ 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hoohloc Posted August 3, 2020 Author Share Posted August 3, 2020 12 hours ago, jykenmynie said: Just pull 10mm to start with. Then you know you are covered. Thanks for the advice, will have to pull out the 4mm and replace it with 10mm. Alternatively, I can just use the second 4mm to power up the second inverter so that each inverter has its own 4mm cable supplying AC and then use the 10mm, bridged at the inverter output, to supply power to the DB from the inverters. In that way, it will be like having 8mm cable supplying the inverters Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hoohloc Posted August 3, 2020 Author Share Posted August 3, 2020 Busy installing a second inverter now, will upload photos asap Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hoohloc Posted August 6, 2020 Author Share Posted August 6, 2020 As promised, below are more photos of the installation. These Growatt inverters works like a charm Looks like I'm going to need more panels. I have used the 4 x 405w panels and selected SOL as priority. Now the issue is that, when solar power is not enough, it start using the batteries and only switch back to the grid when there is no solar or when the battery voltage is too low. Wish it could only switch to the batteries when there is no mains/grid swazz99jhb, francois, Clint and 1 other 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hoohloc Posted May 29, 2021 Author Share Posted May 29, 2021 Upgrading my installation, one step at a time. Excuse the mess, will tidy up when I'm done with the upgrade. The plan is to get more panels to cover the whole roof and then increase on the storage. For now, the two Pylons are more than enough Yellow Measure and Paul.Chari 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Singh GP Posted June 3, 2021 Share Posted June 3, 2021 Well done, hopefully i will have something similar in the next 2 months. If the renovations doesnt get to expensive i will have a couple of 10 000s. the 4x panels, how was it? does the growatt blend the inputs (PV/Bat/grid), did you manage to sort out the PV-grid-Bat Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hoohloc Posted July 14, 2021 Author Share Posted July 14, 2021 On 2021/06/03 at 11:02 AM, Singh GP said: Well done, hopefully i will have something similar in the next 2 months. If the renovations doesnt get to expensive i will have a couple of 10 000s. the 4x panels, how was it? does the growatt blend the inputs (PV/Bat/grid), did you manage to sort out the PV-grid-Bat Apologies for the late response, I don't know how I missed this post. The 4 x panels were not enough to charge my two batteries to 100% and still have some PV to supply the house. I have noticed that, to charge 1 x Battery to 100% before mid day, I need atleast four panels. Now with four batteries, I need a minimum of 16 x 400w panels. It doesn't exactly blend PV/Bat/grid but only uses all the three source together when the battery reaches the minimum set point. It uses the PV and grid to charge the battery, and at the same time the grid powers my load/house. If that is not blending then I don't know what to call it . when the battery reaches the set point, back to PV, the grid switches off and I use PV and battery again until the battery gets to minimum set point and then cycle starts again. one thing to note is that, when the battery gets to 100%, the inverter switches off the PV and I use only the battery until it gets to 95% and then it switches the PV back ON. Most people don't like this but I'm ok with it. Think of it this way, I use PV to charge the battery and supply my load, but if PV is not enough, it blends the PV with battery so that I can have enough to supply my load. It will only use the grid if the battery reaches the min set point and disconnect the grid once the battery has charged up to a certain set point, 60% in my case. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hoohloc Posted April 8, 2022 Author Share Posted April 8, 2022 Finally, added a UP5000 to my battery bank BryanOC6, MdF and Jacques Ester 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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