Just choose 1

[GeorgeS]

Firstly hello to everyone on the forum i'm really glad to have found a lot of oke's willing to share their knowledge with everyone. I have been looking into doing my own solar setup for some time now for even though the diy route seems daunting . I'm looking into a system to firstly help me combat load shedding and run as an UPS. I do not want to feed power into the grid or go full off grid. For now i only want to power an essential load of a 1000w that needs to run for 4-5 hours in the event of grid failure. The initial system will be without solar only drawing power from the grid. I will install solar at a later date.

I've made the jump from buying an growatt inverter to rather getting a hybrid inverter as well as  choosing Li-on batteries instead of AGM and because of this my budget is wrecked!

My first choice is the Deye 5kw inverter but after reading very good reviews of the Goodwe ES 4.6kw inverter i'm wondering if it is not worth the extra cost? What are the main differences between the 2 and is the Goodwe the more reliable inverter at the end of the day? Can either inverter when solar is installed be set to switch from the solar directly to grid and not use the battery except when the grid is down?

My second conundrum is choosing between the Dyness 3.6kwh and the Pylon tech us3000 3.5kwh. I see most forum members use the pylon tech and that the dyness is a newly established company (2017) So i guess the pylon is the best choice? Will 2 of these be enough for at least 4 hours at a 1000w draw?

Thanks 

George 

 

 

     

[SYC]

6 hours ago, GeorgeS said:

Will 2 of these be enough for at least 4 hours at a 1000w draw?

Welcome

I can only comment on batteries for I installed Victron and Axpert.

Yes they should give about 5.6hours at a DOD of 80%

Edited September 1, 2020 by Quwatush Shams (Suly)

[Achmat]

Another sunsynk and pylontech user here with my system running for a month now. 

They just work brilliantly together. Reading some of the other posts on getting inverters to talk to Lithium bms I'm glad i went with the sunsynk and pylontech combination. 

The added advantage of being able to parallel and use the aux for micro inverter input makes it so much easier to eventually be completely self sufficient. 

 

 

[mojive]

Hi Guys,

Just did an install for a friend with a Sunsynk 5kW for UPS only with 1 Pylontech US3000. Used the RJ485 cable provided with the battery for communication. If I go by the info on UI -> Li-BMS icon and section 4.13 of the install manual,  the screen shows all 0 values. I take it  that the communication is faulty.

Did u guys use a CAN cable for the Inverter-Battery communication?

If so is it a generic CAN cable?

Will need to get one to sort out the  comms.

[Achmat]

4 minutes ago, mojive said:

Hi Guys,

Just did an install for a friend with a Sunsynk 5kW for UPS only with 1 Pylontech US3000. Used the RJ485 cable provided with the battery for communication. If I go by the info on UI -> Li-BMS icon and section 4.13 of the install manual,  the screen shows all 0 values. I take it  that the communication is faulty.

Did u guys use a CAN cable for the Inverter-Battery communication?

If so is it a generic CAN cable?

Will need to get one to sort out the  comms.

Use the can connection and change the settings to CAN. I have the 8kw inverter and had the same issue. 

Edited September 1, 2020 by Achmat

[mojive]

Hi Achmat,

Thanks for that.

Did u use the same  cable but in the CAN port? Or is a CAN cable different?

 

[Achmat]

11 minutes ago, mojive said:

Hi Achmat,

Thanks for that.

Did u use the same  cable but in the CAN port? Or is a CAN cable different?

 

I used the same cable on the CAN port. The one that came with the pylontech inverter cable pack. 

[mojive]

Cool will try it tomorrow! Thanks for the response.

 

[mojive]

4 minutes ago, Vassen said:

Yeah, same cable works for CAN or RS485. The cable shows 1 end to battery and the other to the inverter. Not sure if it makes a difference. 

Thanks Vassen.

Also on the single battery dip switch settings i have 1 0 0 0. set . Is this correct?

[GeorgeS]

Thanks for the response guys. I think i will go with the pylon tech and deye combo. It seems we are in for another series of load shedding and eskom is also busy working on the powerlines here where we will have an outage from 8 till 4 tomorrow. Yeah...just ***** great!

Initially i plan on just connecting power to the deye via wall socket to charge the batteries then remove all power and use the the system as needed as a generator. I read somewhere Lithium-ion batteries can hold their charge up to a year....not that i am planning to do this long term (2-3 weeks)

Following that i will install a db board with the K&N Single Phase AC Switch Disconnector 25A that comes with the kit and also include a breaker, surge protector and over and under voltage relay switch that goes from the db board to the inverter. I will get an qualified electrician to do the connection from the mainboard and to check connections. 

Between the battery and inverter the kit includes a KETO Battery Disconnector with 125A Fuses. Is it necessary to include a breaker here as well?

Between the inverter and essential loads i already have a db box with breaker and surge protector. 

Any suggestions?

[SYC]

3 hours ago, GeorgeS said:

Initially i plan on just connecting power to the deye via wall socket to charge the batteries then remove all power and use the the system as needed as a generator. I read somewhere Lithium-ion batteries can hold their charge up to a year....not that i am planning to do this long term (2-3 weeks)

FYI Problem with this is it might void the warranty on the battery,stand to be corrected on discharge but min +-20% discharge needed daily to show usage (on Pylontech)

[Plaashaas]

49 minutes ago, Vassen said:

All dip switches should be 0 if you have 1 battery BANK

In a bank master is 1 0 0 0 and slaves 0 0 0 0

That is how mine is and it works

[mojive]

Hi guys,

Changed the comm cable this morning to the CAN ports and the inverter is now showing the Battery stats. dip switch are all on 0(down). Battery charges at 37A (Pylon recommended charge rate) which is not the setting on the inverter (70A).

Does the inverter Or the Li BMS control the charging?  The battery now seems to be stuck on 88% SOC (on inverter UI) and 5 leds on battery SOC for the last 2 hours.

No clue why that is.  Any ideas guys.

Thanks again for all the tips.

[Hagu13]

I'm running my whole house on a 5kVA hybrid inverter. Also started as a load shedding solution and added solar later. My average usage is just under 500w/h

It's waaaaay cheaper to save power than store it. Start by trimming the fat and reducing reliance on electricity.

Heat water with solar or gas or a combination. Or just a timer for bang for buck.

Cook on gas, and get a stove top kettle

Heat the house with gas or wood.

All lighting changed to LED

Then go smart. Monitor consumption and figure out what is drawing power with no real benefit. Your AV equipment on standby and garage/gate motor chargers are big culprits. Switch those off to bring your usage down. Without solar you want these off during load shedding. With solar you want them off at night. Most of my 400w/h is 2 big side by side fridge freezers. One from the 20th century and one about 13 years old. Most people have smaller newer fridges which are more economical

If you do all this you might decide not to even back up more than lighting which you can do for really cheap. 

 

[Achmat]

18 minutes ago, mojive said:

Hi guys,

Changed the comm cable this morning to the CAN ports and the inverter is now showing the Battery stats. dip switch are all on 0(down). Battery charges at 37A (Pylon recommended charge rate) which is not the setting on the inverter (70A).

Does the inverter Or the Li BMS control the charging?  The battery now seems to be stuck on 88% SOC (on inverter UI) and 5 leds on battery SOC for the last 2 hours.

No clue why that is.  Any ideas guys.

Thanks again for all the tips.

Is it still charging the batteries? It might just need some time. 

The BMS overrides the inverter charge and discharge rates so it will always charge and discharge at the max of 37A(1 776w) for a single battery. You need a minimum of 3 batteries to be able to run the inverter at its full capacity from batteries alone. 

I have 3 x 3.5kw pylontech batteries on my 8kw inverter and I cannot run loads from batteries alone that draws more than 111A(37A x 3)

[mojive]

7 minutes ago, Achmat said:

Is it still charging the batteries? It might just need some time. 

The BMS overrides the inverter charge and discharge rates so it will always charge and discharge at the max of 37A(1 776w) for a single battery. You need a minimum of 3 batteries to be able to run the inverter at its full capacity from batteries alone. 

I have 3 x 3.5kw pylontech batteries on my 8kw inverter and I cannot run loads from batteries alone that draws more than 111A(37A x 3)

It started charging after the comms was changed. That was at around 14:17pm and it was on 49%. At around 17:18 it was 88% and 17:57 it was still 88% and at 6pm was load shedding.  So will get a reading at 8pm. Will take a reading in the morning when it should be 100%. 

The plan is now to install PV panels in a week or two. A second battery may be on the cards.

The Inverter is a Sunsynk 5.5kw.

[Achmat]

1 minute ago, mojive said:

It started charging after the comms was changed. That was at around 14:17pm and it was on 49%. At around 17:18 it was 88% and 17:57 it was still 88% and at 6pm was load shedding.  So will get a reading at 8pm. Will take a reading in the morning when it should be 100%. 

The plan is now to install PV panels in a week or two. A second battery may be on the cards.

The Inverter is a Sunsynk 5.5kw.

Just make sure that during load shedding you do not switch on to many appliances. Even though the inverter can provide 5.5kw, with one battery you are limited to 37A. If you exceed this for too long the BMS will disconnect the battery from the inverter for a few minutes and restart in order to protect the battery. You might also void the warrantee of the battery. 

You need to size your battery bank to the inverter and its easy to think you'll only need one battery. 

[mojive]

48 minutes ago, Vassen said:

is the LIBMS screen showing similar to the one I attached fee posts ago. 

 

[mojive]

1 hour ago, Vassen said:

you should also probably request a firmware update so that you are on the latest if you haven’t done so already. 

Need to check the versions. What would the newest version be. Is it easy to update?

 

1 hour ago, Vassen said:

How have you configured the time of use settings. 

The use timer is not checked, presuming it will not follow the time of use schedule and would at all times charge battery from grid if need be.

The system is just battery backup for now, with solar and a 2nd bat down the line.

 

[mojive]

2 minutes ago, mojive said:

1 hour ago, Vassen said:

you should also probably request a firmware update so that you are on the latest if you haven’t done so already. 

Need to check the versions. What would the newest version be. Is it easy to update?

Whats the procedure for the FirmWare update?

Appreciate the support from u all here thanks.

[mojive]

4 minutes ago, Vassen said:

Do you have the wifi dongle? You need to request the update from sunsynk and they will send it through remotely. 
 

Latest version Is e410 and MCU 2137 I think. 

No wifi dongle yet. Did the installation for a friend. So will probably check the version tomorrow.

[mojive]

This morning the battery is still on 88% and 5 lights on the battery green.

17 hours ago, Achmat said:

Is it still charging the batteries? It might just need some time. 

Seems to be stuck on 88%. Will look at FW versions today and get the wifi dongle.

[Calvin]

27 minutes ago, mojive said:

Seems to be stuck on 88%. Will look at FW versions today and get the wifi dongle.

Pylons have a well known "feature" that during charging the SOC stays on 89% until it is almost full, and the very quickly jumps to 100%.  Not sure where the 88% comes from, but perhaps it is related.

[mojive]

3 hours ago, Calvin said:

Pylons have a well known "feature" that during charging the SOC stays on 89% until it is almost full, and the very quickly jumps to 100%.  Not sure where the 88% comes from, but perhaps it is related.

Well it was on 88% all night and up to around 3pm this afternoon. The system is initially setup as a backup ups mode. Thought the same as you but still waiting for the jump to 100%.

[Calvin]

Have you checked the voltage?  Perhaps it is set a bit low...