Travis Posted May 15, 2016 Share Posted May 15, 2016 I am in the final stages of designing a system but cannot decide on Inverter. I thought the Infinisolar 3K Plus was the one for me at R15,000, but now I am having doubts as to the quality and only 1-2 year warranty. I have found the Replus-5048 for R41,000, it has 2 MPPTs, 50 amp charger and 5 Year warranty. Basically a Rebranded Goodwe 5048D-ES 5kW Hybrid Inverter. - http://www.thepowerstore.co.za/pIH-R5048ME/Replus-5KW-48V-Hybrid-Inverter.aspx Does anyone have experience with the Replus-5048? I like that it is fanless, but at the same time I can buy 3 infinisolar's for the same money. I really like that the Infini has a pass though power feature if the grid is available. Maybe I should consider a Imeon instead? So confused. The rest of my systems will be; 20x 170W Solar frontier panels ( 10 to start) 8x Omnipower 100ah or 8x Discovery Tubular 100Ah batteries. (4 to start) So far, it looks like system will cost R112,000 with the infinisolar, 16 panels, 4 batteries, DC geyser element+MPPT, Battery monitor and install. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Posted May 15, 2016 Share Posted May 15, 2016 my backups are : 2 x 5048d -ES Goodwe units, split my DB kitchen lounge 4.6kw, rest of house 4.6kw. they great because they are fanless. The infini is great as it is 5kw, can parallel but the fan issue on them and the Imeon scare the shite out of me as the Infini is R40k plus and only 1 year warranty, the Rena / goodwe 5years. Philip and the powerstore is a good chap, good service. i used to get a lot from him.... shout if you want to talk... here is a pic of my garage wall live as from today... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Travis Posted May 15, 2016 Author Share Posted May 15, 2016 Thanx Mike, your setup looks nice. I don't think I will need 2x5kw, I was willing to settle for 1x3Kw, I have converted the whole house to LED, We don't have a pool pump, moving the 4kw 200L geyser to DC/PV, will leave the 2KW 100L geyser on inverter and set to run in the day. I have moved to a gas stove. We have an A+ Fridge, so the only thing that uses a lot of power is 2KW geyser, Oven and Dishwasher. We currenty use between 10 and 25KwH per day with both geysers still connected to mains. I guess it comes down to is the fanless design and 5 year warranty worth R26000. Plus the 2kw extra capacity, but you may consider that cancelled out as the infini can draw extra load from the grid. What is the surge capacity on the Goodwe? I prefer buying quality components, but also like a bargain. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cvzyl Posted May 15, 2016 Share Posted May 15, 2016 Travis My only comment on your proposed setup is that it would not be a good idea to start with a "partial" bank. Adding batteries to an existing system later on is not advisable. Depending on what you want to achieve going with a good true hybrid inverter can save you a lot on batteries. You could get a much smaller battery bank and only use it for power interruptions rather than daily cycling. That is what I would do from the start if I had to do it all over. But of course if you want to go off grid you really need a lot of good quality batteries. I now have an Infini 3kW+ and couldn't be happier with it. Btw, on the Infini you can start without a battery bank if you prefer and first check the system out. You would not have load shedding protection but since our president has declared that there won't be any more load shedding you are safe. Point is that you can first see how the system works, make up your mind on how big a bank you require, save up enough money and then buy the whole bank at once. That would avoid adding new batteries to a used bank. My 2c Cobus Chris Hobson, Barezzi, Mike and 1 other 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Travis Posted May 16, 2016 Author Share Posted May 16, 2016 Thanx 19 hours ago, cvzyl said: Travis My only comment on your proposed setup is that it would not be a good idea to start with a "partial" bank. Adding batteries to an existing system later on is not advisable. Depending on what you want to achieve going with a good true hybrid inverter can save you a lot on batteries. You could get a much smaller battery bank and only use it for power interruptions rather than daily cycling. That is what I would do from the start if I had to do it all over. But of course if you want to go off grid you really need a lot of good quality batteries. I now have an Infini 3kW+ and couldn't be happier with it. Btw, on the Infini you can start without a battery bank if you prefer and first check the system out. You would not have load shedding protection but since our president has declared that there won't be any more load shedding you are safe. Point is that you can first see how the system works, make up your mind on how big a bank you require, save up enough money and then buy the whole bank at once. That would avoid adding new batteries to a used bank. My 2c Cobus Thanx Cobus, You have given me something to think about. I collected 16x 170 Panels today+4x150Ah Omnipower batteries. I will have stuff delivered next time.. Unloading one by one by myself was not fun! I have found the Replus 3kw infini has a 2 year warranty, I think I will go with that and clean the fans often.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Travis Posted May 31, 2016 Author Share Posted May 31, 2016 My system is installed So far I have Renasola Sineon 3Kw+ (infinisolar) + SNMP card 12x170W SolarFrontier Panels connected to Inverter (3x 4 panels is series) 4x180Ah Omnipower GEL AGM 12V Bateries BMV702 Battery Monitor+Temp monitor 6x170W panels connected to DC element in 200L Geyser (element to be installed still, panels mounted) I am most impressed by the power production of these SolarFrontier panels, 10.2Kw today, 1.8kw max, starts producing at 6am, 0.5kw at 7am-8am, 0.925kw at 8am-9am, peaked at 1,5kw for 11am-12 then down to 0.6kw at 3pm, 0.2kw at 4pm and last production between 5-6pm I need to do some fine tuning, Like house is running on mains at night, even though I have set battery 1st when PV is unavailable Also need to get factory password to change grid frequency threshold to 50.5hz viper_za and francois 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cvzyl Posted June 1, 2016 Share Posted June 1, 2016 Hi Travis Why do you have the panels in strings of 4? I have 12 panels and they are all in series. The MPPT on the Infini starts at 115V and goes up to 500V mas. Optimal range is 250V - 450V. Is your voltage not too low? I would love to hear (and see) more about your PV to geyser installation. Cobus Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
superdiy Posted June 2, 2016 Share Posted June 2, 2016 As Cobus said, your panels should definitely be connected as only one serial string - not serial / parallel combinations, otherwise you will loose a lot on PV generation since the MPPT will never work properly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Travis Posted June 6, 2016 Author Share Posted June 6, 2016 On 01 June 2016 at 0:03 PM, cvzyl said: Hi Travis Why do you have the panels in strings of 4? I have 12 panels and they are all in series. The MPPT on the Infini starts at 115V and goes up to 500V mas. Optimal range is 250V - 450V. Is your voltage not too low? I would love to hear (and see) more about your PV to geyser installation. Cobus Hi Cobus, I have them done that way as the Solar Frontier panels operate at about 107VOc and 85Vnp with1.55A, my voltage sits around 370V under load and 430V with no load. Connecting them in Series would send the inverter to the moon at light speed with over 1200V, I think I'll skip that advise.. These Solar frontier panels are different from most and produce some really nice power. I am getting up to 150V at around 6:20 AM and stop producing close to 6pm. On my 2040W array, 1512W NOCT I have seen max 1785w, so they are exceeding their real world specs and in the laps they get 185W. All the solar irradiance calculators say I should be getting 6KW per day this time of year (1512*3.96) and I haven't had a day under 9.5KW so far. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted June 6, 2016 Share Posted June 6, 2016 Hi Travis, where did you get them from? Sounds like my Tenesol panels, just different, sadly I cannot get more of them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cvzyl Posted June 6, 2016 Share Posted June 6, 2016 Hi Travis Thanks for the reply. Did not know those panels run such high voltages. How does you geyser installation work? C Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Travis Posted June 7, 2016 Author Share Posted June 7, 2016 10 hours ago, The Terrible Triplett said: Hi Travis, where did you get them from? Sounds like my Tenesol panels, just different, sadly I cannot get more of them. I got mine from Sinetech. I see GW Store in CT keeps them for R2100 each GW Store CPT Cape Town Yes Yes Yes Yes 071 148 7206 [email protected] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Travis Posted June 7, 2016 Author Share Posted June 7, 2016 9 hours ago, cvzyl said: Hi Travis Thanks for the reply. Did not know those panels run such high voltages. How does you geyser installation work? C Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk Hi Cobus, No problem, I assumed so . For 2 people 1KW system is enough as mine is producing 4.5KW per day in winter. So I can heat 80L (40L of pure hot per shower. Average shower uses 60L total) of water to 55 degrees, assuming 15 degree ambient in JHB day, that needs 3.7KW, I have a geyser blanket which reducing loss to less than 1KW and I have not accounted for residual heat in 200L geyser. There are a few ways to approach the DC geyser that I have seen 1. Run 48-100VDC straight into the geyser with a geyserwise to show temperature. The element is a big resistor so doesn't care about AC or DC as long as there is enough energy to overcome losses water will heat up (2kw per day). Cost is just the panels you choose + Geyserwise. It takes 8KW to heat 100L of water to 80 degrees assuming 30 degree ambient (100*50*1.16) so provided you have a 1KW system, and you disconnect it when you are away, you should never boil. Cost will just be your solar panels. You could add a DC thermostat for R2000 2. Buy a 48V 1000W DC/2000W AC Combo element plus DC thermostat. This will run on DC in the day and if temp does not get to desired level then AC comes on. Cost R3300 for Element, DC Thermostat and Flange 3. Complete Geyser wise system with MPPT. This uses a Fancy AC/DC solid state element, a MPPT, a control box to divert solar enery when geyser is hot to charge batteries etc, and a geyserwise dual. Many people I speak to argue that you don't need a MPPT with a element as it will take all the volts and amps that the panel can supply, so no need to lower the voltage and up the amps or anything like that. This system costs R12000 excl panels I am yet to choose one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
superdiy Posted June 7, 2016 Share Posted June 7, 2016 51 minutes ago, Travis said: You could add a DC thermostat for R2000 Are you joking? You can achieve the same for R100 worth of components (or less) Or this for R45 and maybe just replace the relay. Add a power supply and you are still under R100. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Travis Posted June 7, 2016 Author Share Posted June 7, 2016 13 minutes ago, superdiy said: Are you joking? You can achieve the same for R100 worth of components (or less) Or this for R45 and maybe just replace the relay. Add a power supply and you are still under R100. Im just going on what I have been quoted on.. I should add that the DC thermostat I am referring to is more of a control box that also manages when the AC comes on etc, though this would not be used in scenario 1. I guess that eBay component with a 100V 20A DC relay would also work. Has anyone else done this? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
___ Posted June 7, 2016 Share Posted June 7, 2016 17 minutes ago, superdiy said: Are you joking? You can achieve the same for R100 worth of components (or less) I'm actually wondering why you cannot use an AC thermostat. As far as I know, most of them just use a bi-metal spring for the switch anyway, and that will continue to operate in the usual fashion. Now of course there's the usual arcing problem with DC, so some derating will be required, but that can be solved by switching a lower current with the thermostat and using an external relay (or even better, a MOSFET aka solid state relay) to carry the main current. I'm not quite sure you can fit that into R100, but you could certainly do it quite neatly (extra expensive for nice packaging, as DIY people tend to skip over that bit) for under R500. superdiy 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
___ Posted June 7, 2016 Share Posted June 7, 2016 Re the Solar Frontier panels. I've looked at them before. I'm impressed by their ability to make lots of power at lower light levels, and the price isn't bad either. What bothered me the last time I looked at them, is their much lower life expectancy. That's what I recall, if someone could tell me that I am wrong about that, it might be something to look at the next time a special comes by... :-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Travis Posted June 7, 2016 Author Share Posted June 7, 2016 2 minutes ago, plonkster said: I'm actually wondering why you cannot use an AC thermostat. As far as I know, most of them just use a bi-metal spring for the switch anyway, and that will continue to operate in the usual fashion. Now of course there's the usual arcing problem with DC, so some derating will be required, but that can be solved by switching a lower current with the thermostat and using an external relay (or even better, a MOSFET aka solid state relay) to carry the main current. I'm not quite sure you can fit that into R100, but you could certainly do it quite neatly (extra expensive for nice packaging, as DIY people tend to skip over that bit) for under R500. I had the same thought re using the AC thermostat and arrived at the same conclusion regarding the arcing. I have read about the solid state relays on other forums. Would appreciate any guidance on getting this thing working for R500 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Travis Posted June 7, 2016 Author Share Posted June 7, 2016 6 minutes ago, plonkster said: Re the Solar Frontier panels. I've looked at them before. I'm impressed by their ability to make lots of power at lower light levels, and the price isn't bad either. What bothered me the last time I looked at them, is their much lower life expectancy. That's what I recall, if someone could tell me that I am wrong about that, it might be something to look at the next time a special comes by... :-) I haven't heard anything bad regarding the lifespan. They come with a 5 year warranty, but they made in Japan. Specs quote the following All new product classes are subject to immediate certification Product guarantee: 5 years (extended garantee upon request) Power output guarantee: 90 % for 10 years, 80 % for 25 years ___ 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
___ Posted June 7, 2016 Share Posted June 7, 2016 2 minutes ago, Travis said: Would appreciate any guidance on getting this thing working for R500 Use the AC thermostat with a suitably rated contactor. To be honest though, I always tend to underestimate the cost of components. I walk into AC-DC looking for a plastic box to put a transformer in... and like the cheapest option is R200 or more... We have a local demolition company (Doempie in Strand) that has loads and loads of old electrical stuff that came from buildings they demolished. Some pretty heavy contactors and stuff there. That might be an option, if you can find a place like that :-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
___ Posted June 7, 2016 Share Posted June 7, 2016 1 minute ago, Travis said: Power output guarantee: 90 % for 10 years, 80 % for 25 years Okay, that's actually on par with Mono/Polycrystaline panels. I'll keep that in mind. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
superdiy Posted June 7, 2016 Share Posted June 7, 2016 18 minutes ago, plonkster said: I'm actually wondering why you cannot use an AC thermostat. As far as I know, most of them just use a bi-metal spring for the switch anyway, and that will continue to operate in the usual fashion. Now of course there's the usual arcing problem with DC, so some derating will be required, but that can be solved by switching a lower current with the thermostat and using an external relay (or even better, a MOSFET aka solid state relay) to carry the main current. I'm not quite sure you can fit that into R100, but you could certainly do it quite neatly (extra expensive for nice packaging, as DIY people tend to skip over that bit) for under R500. Yes, simply add a relay or solid state relay - I didn't even think about that option. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
superdiy Posted June 7, 2016 Share Posted June 7, 2016 8 minutes ago, plonkster said: I walk into AC-DC looking for a plastic box to put a transformer in... and like the cheapest option is R200 or more... That's the problem. AC-DC has a huge variety of products, but their prices are not always good. If you are in a big city you have a choice of suppliers, but you and I sometimes have to rely on the local shops who easily charge you 5 x the price you will pay at a similar supplier in the city. ___ 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
___ Posted June 7, 2016 Share Posted June 7, 2016 4 minutes ago, superdiy said: That's the problem. AC-DC has a huge variety of products, but their prices are not always good. I tend to come up with interesting solutions to that. I'll go to builders warehouse, find a small plastic locking container for under R50, drill some holes in it and use that instead. Or find one of those plastic outdoor light containers... those go quite cheaply too, makes a good box for putting stuff into, and you can see it from the outside. Look on BidorBuy though. There's a dude there under the name 'led select' that I've ordered from before. Ships very fast (like literally next day, as he's in Cape Town), and he has quite a selection of plastic enclosures. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Travis Posted June 7, 2016 Author Share Posted June 7, 2016 2 hours ago, plonkster said: I tend to come up with interesting solutions to that. I'll go to builders warehouse, find a small plastic locking container for under R50, drill some holes in it and use that instead. Or find one of those plastic outdoor light containers... those go quite cheaply too, makes a good box for putting stuff into, and you can see it from the outside. Look on BidorBuy though. There's a dude there under the name 'led select' that I've ordered from before. Ships very fast (like literally next day, as he's in Cape Town), and he has quite a selection of plastic enclosures. I will have a look. I have found this on eBay so long http://www.ebay.com/itm/Solid-State-Relay-DC-DC-SSR-25DD-5-250VDC-25A-3-32V-DC-New-/311625286739?hash=item488e508453:g:cf4AAOSwrhlXT6Wh Could work in I run the AC from the thermostat into a cheap 12VDC PSU. Will the geyserwise dual give an error if it doesn't detect a element? IE the thermostat switch just power a DC PSU to trigger the SSR? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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