We finally want to pull the trigger & go Solar

[Lupus]

What are you even talking about? PV generation in JHB is great in winter.

It's not great, but it's not terrible either it's roughly the same as summer, but mainly as summer has clouds.

 

[B-1]

It's not great, but it's not terrible either it's roughly the same as summer, but mainly as summer has clouds.

Its great in the sense that its predictable except for the few cold fronts that move though. Yes you get slightly less but its nice and repeatable. With 16 panels there will be a healthy chunk of kwh.

 

[SauRoNZA]

What are you even talking about? PV generation in JHB is great in winter.

Aah yes it’s much better up there.

Still not quite the same as summer though.

 

[Lupus]

Its great in the sense that its predictable except for the few cold fronts that move though. Yes you get slightly less but its nice and repeatable. With 16 panels there will be a healthy chunk of kwh.

Yeah I only upgraded late into Winter so will see how it goes from here with 16 panels

 

[Lupus]

Aah yes it’s much better up there.

Still not quite the same as summer though.

Summer is generally terrible up here, it's our cloudy season. Spring is probably the best time where we can start seeing proper gains for a bit, but from around late October through to April it's bad, now it seems to be sneaking into May.

 

[Bruceg]

So I know I am harping on this for a bit but I really want to bite the bullet and do the Solar thing, what if we went this route, and they configure / wire it so that it is "battery ready" but usable in the day, & we purchase the battery/ies at a later stage? That way we have the foundation for a decent system and would afford the hardware and install (potentially)

View attachment 1905976

As far as I know the inverter will not switch on without a battery connected

 

[B-1]

As far as I know the inverter will not switch on without a battery connected

They run them like that in the first world where the grid is stable and you can backfeed. Not all models support it but the Deye does its just not common in SA.

 

[Tomtomtom]

what if we went this route, and they configure / wire it so that it is "battery ready" but usable in the day, & we purchase the battery/ies at a later stage?

Man I'm getting whiplash here. First you are thinking of starting with no panels, now with panels but no battery? That makes no sense. You need a battery to buffer the energy. Panels are optional. Storage is not. (In any reasonable scenario in SA.)

Work out what you're actually trying to do first. You can spend the budget on an inverter-battery system without panels and it will get you through long power cuts. But you will not save a cent in consumption because you will be recharging from the grid. Or, you can spend the same money on a solar-inverter-battery system. The battery will be smaller so perhaps you'll still need the generator for longer outages, but the system will displace grid consumption and will pay for itself over a few years.

I'll also harp on: a geyser is a thermal battery you already own, which is why you only need the "charger" (MPPT) for it to be put it on panels. A solar-MPPT-geyser system is ~1-2 kW power with 5-7 kWh storage capital outlay already in your roof.

 

[BLG]

Sorry for the whiplash Ttt - now imagine living with me, the poor wife can't keep up either

 

[Mista_Mobsta]

What's the opinion regarding having 2x5kw inverters rather than 1x8kw inverter?

Logic being that you can separate different rails + MPPT on inverter and not have the entire house out if some issues arise with one of the inverters.

 

[leon.davibe]

View attachment 1905805

There are some other but you need to read the fineprint, some are only for kwikhot geysers others element 3kw max
View attachment 1905807

Depends if going solar for backuo power too

Esspecially for budget systems with small battery bank

For most people generating enough load to fully utilise panels isn't possible , so putting a geyser on an island is silly imo

Ie if your base load is 300w
That is 3kwh for the solar period
Time shift geyser lets say another 6kwh
4kwh with n 20%soc battery
Total 13kwh even in winter small array can generate that and 17kwh with 2 batteries

So yes if you are never going solar for the rest yes, do this geysrr setup

Otherwise consolidate all the load on inverter, dump loads help reduce battery bank needed to have 100% panel usage

 

[leon.davibe]

So I know I am harping on this for a bit but I really want to bite the bullet and do the Solar thing, what if we went this route, and they configure / wire it so that it is "battery ready" but usable in the day, & we purchase the battery/ies at a later stage? That way we have the foundation for a decent system and would afford the hardware and install (potentially)

View attachment 1905976

Yes many inverters can work without batteries

The biggest savings come from the batteries naturally
To be able to capture excess solar above load

it can get you in the door cheaper

Having geyser on inverter/pushback function setup correctly is a must for any small system with smaller bsttery bank or zero bank

 

[leon.davibe]

As far as I know the inverter will not switch on without a battery connected

Even some growatts can do this
The high voktage mppt axperts too

Had a kodak that did

So if even the cheapest types can do it

Sure many good quality brands can too

 

[BLG]

So we have decided to pull the trigger on an 8Kw system (8kw inverter, 10Kw battery and 8 panels) we will be prioritizing addition of more panels as and when we can to get more load onto the Solar side but for now have decided everything will move onto the "Essential" load except Oven/Stove - it's gona be a learning curve for sure, but I think we going to manage.....I hope

 

[BLG]

What are your thoughts on the Inverter brands? We have a choice between Sunsynk and Deye - or is it much of a muchness?

 

[leon.davibe]

What are your thoughts on the Inverter brands? We have a choice between Sunsynk and Deye - or is it much of a muchness?

As far as i have it they are the same machine , come from the same factory , with different software

 

[B-1]

What are your thoughts on the Inverter brands? We have a choice between Sunsynk and Deye - or is it much of a muchness?

I have a sunsynk and there is nothing wrong with it but I would go Deye as they are the original manufacturer and a much bigger organisation.

 

[BLG]

So now that we been using the system for around 2 days we looking to "tweak" it, our installer used the below settings for the various time slots & SOC targets, might be more of a blanket approach or a general middle-ground for savings versus backup - What are you guys using for your different needs and scenarios?

 

[Hazy_Living@79]

So now that we been using the system for around 2 days we looking to "tweak" it, our installer used the below settings for the various time slots & SOC targets, might be more of a blanket approach or a general middle-ground for savings versus backup - What are you guys using for your different needs and scenarios? View attachment 1909823

Congrats on the new system.

Quite a bit I'd personally change on there, but what are your system specs first?

You're using the grid to force charge to certain battery levels when you shouldn't be, if your aim is cost savings.

 

[BLG]

Congrats on the new system.

Quite a bit I'd personally change on there, but what are your system specs first?

You're using the grid to force charge to certain battery levels when you shouldn't be, if your aim is cost savings.

Thanks, sorry I should have put some more info - we running a 8KW Deye, 10Kwh Volta battery and 8x 620 Watt Jinko Panels - we really wanted more panels but as it is had to "finance" some of the costs, we'll look at expansion a bit later down the line