What Inverter setups you running?

[Zyetta]

People here have bought more battery capacity than what Eskom has. Where's the budget-friendly bachalor options?

 

[Phoenix Energy]

Aren't they supposed to pay you for that?

In a perfect world yes. By midday im probably making enough power to power half of my street.

But again. This is south africa, a country run by clowns.
I maintain that if the municipality pays me over R2 per kWh exported, ill add another 5kW array to my house and collect a mini salary off that to help pay it off quicker

 

[Phoenix Energy]

People here have bought more battery capacity than what Eskom has. Where's the budget-friendly bachalor options?

Depends on your budget. You can PM me your budget and what you want running, I can then see what I can do to help you out

 

[YugiBoy]

I'm getting the following installed this weekend, cannot wait, so gatvol WFH with loadshedding.

1x Sunsynk 8kW hybrid
1x Sunsynk 5kW LiFePO4 battery
10x Canadian Solar 545w panels

Then add more panels and batteries later. Gonna try and run 2 geysers, pool pump, and 2 small aircons off this and automate the shit out of it using HomeAssistant. Already installed all the smart switches and stuffies needed so the house can run itself depending on generation and usage. Wish me luck with the wife raging about cold water in the morning

That Sunsynk battery is 0.5C so be careful paring it with a 8kw inverter

 

[YugiBoy]

5kw Sunynk Inverter
2 X 5kw Sunsynk batteries
8 X 460W JA Panels (planning on adding 6 more)

anybody has any alternatives to the Sunsynk app?

 

[RIK]

That Sunsynk battery is 0.5C so be careful paring it with a 8kw inverter

you think he will consume 5-8kw of power for an hour?

 

[Qui_Illustrati]

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.

Ah. Yes. Of course. Wish I had one of those

 

[Phoenix Energy]

That Sunsynk battery is 0.5C so be careful paring it with a 8kw inverter

Its a 1C battery. The new model is rated for 100 amp max discharge, with a peak of 150 amps for 2 mins. So i think he is good.

EDIT:

I believe he is getting the new sunsynk battery as Heroldts no longer stock the older variant.

The 5.3kw varient is also rated for 100 amps discharge

 

[Phoenix Energy]

Ah. Yes. Of course. Wish I had one of those

Those meters are like having gold!

you would be crazy to choose another inverter besides a sunsynk or infinisolar if you have that meter on your property

 

[Qui_Illustrati]

Those meters are like having gold!

you would be crazy to choose another inverter besides a sunsynk or infinisolar if you have that meter on your property

Or Solis 🙂
Infinisolar is garbage I reckon. Out the Voltronic pile. Just my opinion. I'd choose Goodwe, Solax even a few other obscure but far superior hybrids first.

 

[Phoenix Energy]

Or Solis 🙂
Infinisolar is garbage I reckon. Out the Voltronic pile. Just my opinion. I'd choose Goodwe, Solax even a few other obscure but far superior hybrids first.

I actually forgot about Solis. Maybe because they finally released their new 6kW inverter in SA after the previous version was missing for 2 years or so in SA

 

[MrPrisoner]

Its a 1C battery. The new model is rated for 100 amp max discharge, with a peak of 150 amps for 2 mins. So i think he is good.

EDIT:

I believe he is getting the new sunsynk battery as Heroldts no longer stock the older variant.

The 5.3kw varient is also rated for 100 amps discharge

Thanks, will definitely not be hitting the battery that hard. Gonna setup automations to for example only run the pool pump during the day when usage is low and batteries are charged. Maximize consumption while there is sun, minimise when on batteries. That's the plan at least.

 

[gavin286]

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

Agreed, but generally speaking, if you pay more you get a higher quality thing as we all know.

 

[Zyetta]

Depends on your budget. You can PM me your budget and what you want running, I can then see what I can do to help you out

Thanks man. I'll post here, so someone can also get some shared info

But I'm looking to just run my PC and monitors at the moment for a max of 4hr intervals, so an upper load of 350-400W.

I've been having a look at this option here: Geewiz 1200VA Inverter + 100AH LITHIUM Battery (6 HOUR BATTERY LIFE) KIT - 720W With LITHIUM Battery (+-3000 cycles)

So on an upper bound, a budget of 12k. But I have a strong feeling that I'd be able to get it for cheaper if I buy a 2nd-hand inverter and exclude the case. What's your thoughts of the whole approach?

 

[Phoenix Energy]

Thanks man. I'll post here, so someone can also get some shared info

But I'm looking to just run my PC and monitors at the moment for a max of 4hr intervals, so an upper load of 350-400W.

I've been having a look at this option here: Geewiz 1200VA Inverter + 100AH LITHIUM Battery (6 HOUR BATTERY LIFE) KIT - 720W With LITHIUM Battery (+-3000 cycles)

So on an upper bound, a budget of 12k. But I have a strong feeling that I'd be able to get it for cheaper if I buy a 2nd-hand inverter and exclude the case. What's your thoughts of the whole approach?

Id be honest and suggest you dont look at any of the inverters that dont allow you to change voltage settings. Those inverters will either end up voiding your expensive lithium battery warranties or in the case of the mecer IVR units, not charge them to 100%.

My suggestion is to look at something is like this https://carbonite.co.za/index.php?t...-100ah-lithium-batteries.467143/#post-3029955

Another suggestion is get the same system but with lead acid batteries (which will die in 3-6 months with the stage 4-6 loadshedding we currently have)

And when the time comes you can upgrade to lithium batteries

 

[DW_za]

Careful with the Kodak units. A family member had one that went bang after just over a year...

Missed an entire thread I see after this comment haha, anyhow, got it for free from my father in law, he upgraded to a 7.2kw which he repaired.

He's fixed quite a few different Voltronic based inverters due to mostly installers causing issues, for example shorting the positive and negative terminals on the PV whilst the inverter is on lol. So not worried about reliability at all. All the AC and DC protection is in place so worst case scenario the inverter pops and I just replace it or better yet let my father in law repair it.

 

[247LFC]

Running the following for the last 6 months, greatly helped with not feeling loadshedding and outages.

Mecer 5kw Inverter
8 x 100ah Solar Gel Batteries
8 x CS 365w panels

Running essential loads on the above with a split DB, geysers, stove and aircons which are on Eskom

Will upgrade eventually to Lithium.

 

[Count_Grishnackh]

Please Help.... Im currrently looking for a trolley Inverter for my PC only .
Does any one have any experience or can offfer some insight on this: Kool Energy- Mobile Inverter Trolley - 1KW- 50Ah Lithium Battery

This should be more than capable of lasting 2-3 hours pulling around 300W.... (a friend has a gaming PC and this is what he measured with blender and unity running)
Also, some confirmation.. lithium batteries are better cause last much longer obviously (more charges) and have no issues being drained to 90% unlike lead/gel

Thanks

 

[Petester]

This looks promising for us Capetonians. Not me personalty, but for all your sexy solar setups.

Cape Town to pay cash for electricity – with aim to cut load shedding by 4 stages | Business

The City of Cape Town says it will pay cash to anyone who can sell it electricity from their own generation. The aim is to reduce load shedding by four stages through this and other initiatives.

www.news24.com

 

[Petester]

Please Help.... Im currrently looking for a trolley Inverter for my PC only .
Does any one have any experience or can offfer some insight on this: Kool Energy- Mobile Inverter Trolley - 1KW- 50Ah Lithium Battery

This should be more than capable of lasting 2-3 hours pulling around 300W.... (a friend has a gaming PC and this is what he measured with blender and unity running)
Also, some confirmation.. lithium batteries are better cause last much longer obviously (more charges) and have no issues being drained to 90% unlike lead/gel

Thanks

I bought this but from Getpower for R 13k. Same unit without the Mecer rebadging and price hike. Very happy with it so far although only pulling about 150W. (running my TV, Laptop , 40cm Desk Fan and light)After 2 hours or so it used about 24% battery. Also its a LifeP04 battery with 5 year shelf life and 2000 cycles at 80%. Its very good build quality and for the price ( R 13k ) it can't be beat.

Edit: It also charges very fast.

 

[Confucius]

should be more than capable of lasting 2-3 hours pulling around 300W

Ehhhhh NO.

24 x 50Ah is 1280wh. That’s absolutely max without taking into account losses / dod.

Edit: seeing it’s lithium, you can probably get 80% capacity

Double edit: 1280 wh so you should be fine

 

[Petester]

Ehhhhh NO.

12V x 50Ah is 600wh. That’s absolutely max without taking into account losses / lead acid battery dod.

its a 24V 50ah LIfeP04 battery. It's 1280whr

 

[goldfritter]

This looks promising for us Capetonians. Not me personalty, but for all your sexy solar setups.

Cape Town to pay cash for electricity – with aim to cut load shedding by 4 stages | Business

The City of Cape Town says it will pay cash to anyone who can sell it electricity from their own generation. The aim is to reduce load shedding by four stages through this and other initiatives.

www.news24.com

This will have a knock-on effect for the city (and country) as a whole too. If more people are convinced to switch to solar, more electricity will be available for the rest of the grid, so the pressure on Eskom is less. It won't be much but every little bit helps.

 

[PilgrimToHyperion]

anybody has any alternatives to the Sunsynk app?

If you're running Home Assistant and have the RS-485 adaptor. GitHub - kellerza/sunsynk: Sunsynk Inverter Python library and Home Assistant OS Addon

 

[Confucius]

This will have a knock-on effect for the city (and country) as a whole too. If more people are convinced to switch to solar, more electricity will be available for the rest of the grid, so the pressure on Eskom is less. It won't be much but every little bit helps.

Wonder if they are going to waive the 10k bidirectional meter cost or at least reduce it, else it takes a long time to ROI on that cost. 10MW time.

 

[goldfritter]

I bought this but from Getpower for R 13k. Same unit without the Mecer rebadging and price hike. Very happy with it so far although only pulling about 150W. (running my TV, Laptop , 40cm Desk Fan and light)After 2 hours or so it used about 24% battery. Also its a LifeP04 battery with 5 year shelf life and 2000 cycles at 80%. Its very good build quality and for the price ( R 13k ) it can't be beat.

Edit: It also charges very fast.

How loud is it? Fans/capacitor whine/transformer buzz wise.

 

[Petester]

How loud is it? Fans/capacitor whine/transformer buzz wise.

So far very quiet. Sounds like a 12cm case fan in a PC. I'm not sure under heavy load how loud it will get but I haven't pulled more than 200 Watts so far. Also very hot in the room it's in and so far hasn't budged off its default speed. (the room is hot not the unit)
It's very well made. Handle and wheels make it easy to move around at 31KG's

 

[goldfritter]

So far very quiet. Sounds like a 12cm case fan in a PC. I'm not sure under heavy load how loud it will get but I haven't pulled more than 200 Watts so far. Also very hot in the room it's in and so far hasn't budged off its default speed. (the room is hot not the unit)
It's very well made. Handle and wheels make it easy to move around at 31KG's

Fan is on 24/7? Or only when on battery/charging?

 

[Petester]

Fan is on 24/7? Or only when on battery/charging?

24/7. its not annoying at all. Quite soothing actually, when I can hear it over the others sounds

 

[Switch]

24/7. its not annoying at all. Quite soothing actually, when I can hear it over the others sounds

For now, all fans eventually get clogged in the bearings until you clean or replace.