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What Inverter setups you running?

My setup:

8kw Magneto (Deye) inverter
2x 5.1Kw Magneto batts
18x 455w Longi panels

PV yield is based on what power is required on your load. Nominal usage is around 20kw daily. I usually just turn the AC on because free power.
I've set up the house to run on battery from 18:00 up to 70% remaining on batt. Then top up via grid (when available) between 23:30 and 01:30. That then gets us through on the remaining batt until 6:30 or so when PV starts to charge again. In the months we've had the system, our electrical usage bill has been between R30 and R300 down from ±R1000. That's oven and geyser NOT on the inverter, but I have an old-school solar panel geyser with a heat exchanger.
 
Adagio_Leopard said:
Friend of mine runs Solar-Assistant, and that appearently integrates well with HASS. I run HASS on a pi and made a little ESP Board to interface with my Axpert.
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Yep I know about Solar-Assistant but I'm not willing to pay R800(software only) R2899(with device) just to get live data on HA, I'm happy with the current +-1min updates :-D not like I sit and watch HA whole day LOL!!!
 
Been running the following for 3 years:

1x Goodwe 5048ES (4.6kW)
8x 365W panels
1x PowerBox F10 (9.6kWh)

Getting around 14-15kWh per day. Our usage is around 30kWh though, so some more work to be done.

1.png
 
Havoc said:
Yep I know about Solar-Assistant but I'm not willing to pay R800(software only) R2899(with device) just to get live data on HA, I'm happy with the current +-1min updates :-D not like I sit and watch HA whole day LOL!!!
Click to expand...
PFFFFF. I don't have a problem... ^_^'
 
heinreich said:
Luckily it's local and come with 3 year warranty.
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It's in no way "local", the only real locally produced inverters are from MLT.
But yes, you can get spares locally for them.

People typically don't want to spend a lot of money for what they think is the same thing, but you have to look at it over the lifetime of the product (Not to mention support, software and features)
If you buy a 5kVA Voltronic/Axpert/Kodak today for R12K it's warranted for 3 years and it lasts 5 well I guess you technically got your monies worth. You paid R12K / 5 years = R2.4K p.a for the inverter.

If you buy something like a 5kw Sunsync, it comes with a 5 year warranty (mind you all these DIY installers are going to get a surprise one day when they find out their warranty is only valid if the system was installed by a approved Sunsync installer) at say R24K and it lasts say 10 years.
You paid R24k / 10 years = still only R2.4K p.a for the inverter, even though it might be 2x the price if it lasts twice as long you aren't really paying a premium, and you get the better functionality for free.

I like taking this to the extreme and bought a LF Victron inverter, definitely not the cheapest way of doing it, but I have seen some that are already 13 years old and still going, so my math says:
R27k+R13k for a (5kVA Multiplus + 250/100 MPPT) / 15 years = R2.6K p.a so it's only a very slight premium to the rest over the expected lifetime of the product, and you will get much better software and support.

TLDR: Goedkoop koop is duur koop
 
PJtheKILL3R said:
mind you all these DIY installers are going to get a surprise one day when they find out their warranty is only valid if the system was installed by a approved Sunsync installer
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When I installed my system, this was not the case. Now that they have grown, they seem to look at any way to void a warranty and the support is a bit horrendous.

Pisses me off and if I need to change in the future, it will probably not be with sunsynk again. Friend of mine doing installs in CPT has switched to deye because there’s a local deye support there. With sunsynk, need to ship it to jhb. I’ve heard of people buying new inverters that were faulty and had to wait 2 months to get it repaired.

It’s always best to not get systems that tie the battery and inverter together. Example some brands sell batteries that only work with their inverters.
 
Nyt Ryda said:
That usage is close to what I use. I'd imagine that a setup like that would cost north of R200k these days ?

What are your experiences with overcast days? Looking on the web it says that typical solar production drops to almost 25%.
Is that true ? Do you just have to rely on the battery power and hope for a sunshine the next day ?
Click to expand...
For clearer context. It's cloudy as fark today. Sun isn't visible. Nothing but grey skies. Still generating a bit under 50% of array size.
 

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gavin286 said:
Sure, but the inconvenience and potential damage it can cause if it explodes...
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There's alot of confusion in the market because of the following
Voltronic make a range of inverters under the Axpert brand, which are then rebranded and sold worldwide
In SA, these are the known re-brands and their warranty/aftersales
Kodak, Segen Solar is the distributor. 2 Year Warranty,and they have a local repair center and carry spare parts, though they only supply those to installers who work with them AFAIK
They were rebranding another make of inverter that had either a 3 or 5 year warranty, not sure what happened with those
RCT, brought in by Rectron. 1 Year swap out only, no repair
MPPSolar, no idea about them
FiveStar, primarily being sold through the China Malls and websites of ill repute. No known aftersales or warranty
Mecer, also 1 year swap out only and limited warranty repair AFAIK
 
Blue Mountain Energy is the primary holder of the Kodak brand. Kodak rebrands/rebranded the Solis inverters. they also rebrand FoxESS and Tsingshan who is affiliated with BatteroTech and REPT BATTERO Energy.

They also added their own hardware to the Voltronic inverters. The original Voltronics did not have any Li-battery control. Kodak added inverter/battery comms to work with their Kodak batteries. So technically a little more than just yellow paint job.
 
aiccc said:
did they fix or repair it?

How long did it take?

Kodak is mecer /axpert/rct
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Im not sure tbh. I just heard via the family grapevine that a thing had happened with their inverter. I think they're getting it repaired by someone in CT.
 
el3venth said:
Blue Mountain Energy is the primary holder of the Kodak brand. Kodak rebrands/rebranded the Solis inverters. they also rebrand FoxESS and Tsingshan who is affiliated with BatteroTech and REPT BATTERO Energy.

They also added their own hardware to the Voltronic inverters. The original Voltronics did not have any Li-battery control. Kodak added inverter/battery comms to work with their Kodak batteries. So technically a little more than just yellow paint job.
Click to expand...
First time I'm, hearing about the custom hardware on the Kodak Axperts
 
gavin286 said:
Im not sure tbh. I just heard via the family grapevine that a thing had happened with their inverter. I think they're getting it repaired by someone in CT.
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gavin286 said:
Careful with the Kodak units. A family member had one that went bang after just over a year...
Click to expand...

Bud inverters break, it is the nature of things. You made it sound like their was a flaw in the inverter or bad after sales service
 
el3venth said:
Kodak added inverter/battery comms to work with their Kodak batteries.
Click to expand...
AFAIK Kodak along with all the other rebrands got that when the Voltronic VMIII / King II units were released.
el3venth said:
Kodak added inverter/battery comms to work with their Kodak batteries
Click to expand...
Not sure if they are legit making their own now but for the longest time they just rebranded a part of the Pylontech Force series as Kodak batteries.
 
I used to work for a South African inverter design/manufacturing company (sure you can figure out the one) for 16 years. Now in at a Swiss finance company doing large scale solar and backup.

@madness_inc I was in the office when Kodak came to show of the first version of the inverter and the hardware modifications that they made. That was for the original Voltronics. I believe they just added their own controller that changed the appropriate settings (via the RS232 iirc) depending on the SoC of the battery.
But now that you mention it, perhaps that never made it to production. This was a while back and I am sure that they now do it differently.

@PJtheKILL3R I believe, standing under correction, the reason they rebranded the Pylontech to Kodak, is that they rebranded the Solis Hybrid, and the Solis Hybrid had official compatibility with the Pylontech.
 
2 x 5kW Growatt SPF5000ES
18x Canadian Solar 455W panels (9 per string)
3x 4.8kW UP5000 Pylontech

Spent about R600 on prepaid electricity past 8 months which is generally used for stove and to top up batteries if it rains for 2-3 days straight
 
So for the past nearly 3 years i have had the following:

3kw RCT/Axpert 48v hybrid inverter with 4 x 100ah deep cycle's

The first set lasted 1 year to the month and they replaced it with 4 x 100ah Maxim deep cycle's. Just used for backup to keep lights on during loadshedding. Worked great until we had a Geyser issue and the power tripped every night for a week or 2. Then longer loadshedding stages followed so they are a little tired now.

Time for an upgrade and i decided on a 5kw Luxpower and 5.12kw CFE with 6 x 335w panels. My current electricity usage is R3500+ per month with 5 people in the house. The geyser and stove will not be connected to the solar stuff, so hopefully with our Upington sun, i can save a few hundred a month and later upgrade to another 6 x panels. We need power for our business and my eldest studies. Will update as soon as everything is installed and i can see all the stats. Can't wait.
 
Qui_Illustrati said:
You're exporting more than using. I'm guessing you're not getting reimbursed for that, correct?
Click to expand...
Nope. Just doing my bit to help you plebs with loadshedding :p

Btw my oven and geyser usage isn’t included here. I’m monitoring it closely to make sure I am pulling at least 10kWh a month otherwise the municipality will start asking questions
 
ovisser1 said:
What can they ask that can cause issues?
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Technically what im doing is wrong. If they find out about what im doing, they will start an audit and find out how much power I fed back into the grid and make me pay for that.
 
Phoenix Energy said:
Nope. Just doing my bit to help you plebs with loadshedding :p

Btw my oven and geyser usage isn’t included here. I’m monitoring it closely to make sure I am pulling at least 10kWh a month otherwise the municipality will start asking questions
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Good on you. 🙂
So, you have a municipality meter that can detect direction and not charge for export?
 
Phoenix Energy said:
Technically what im doing is wrong. If they find out about what im doing, they will start an audit and find out how much power I fed back into the grid and make me pay for that.
Click to expand...
Aren't they supposed to pay you for that?
 
Qui_Illustrati said:
Good on you. 🙂
So, you have a municipality meter that can detect direction and not charge for export?
Click to expand...
The old analogue meters can spin backwards and the numbers also roll backwards.

e.g the reading in the morning would be 478910, by the afternoon it will be 478900.
 
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