3KW or 5KW setup - please advise

Big thanks to everyone that chipped in on this thread. :thumbsup:

As with my initial solar thread I learned a lot and while I did not come here for a hard and fast "yes" or "no" I feel I was able to make the best choice based on what was shared here. My question was answered in that going 5KW would be the best idea. I thankfully found the roof space I needed for the 4th panel and after playing a bit of PV Tetris I now have a North facing roof maxed out in terms of its solar yield (4x545w mono JA panels and 2xgeyser panels). Plus, I did not have to get a divorce and new house to go 5KW - so that's a less admin bonus, I guess.

They finished on the roof minutes before it started to rain.
IMG_20230726_170344.jpg

The main DB of the house is in the kitchen adjacent to this sub-DB. Only 4 plug breakers and 2 light breakers are wired in. Stove, geyser and pool is excluded.
IMG_20230726_172258.jpg

The used Luxpower is still so new it has the screen protector on. Previous owner did unlink the dongle from the service, so I had no issues registering it.
IMG_20230726_172319.jpg

The installer said he will be able to source more nearly-new Luxpowers like these seeing as some people in Cape Town are upgrading beyond 5KW.

I can highly recommend this guy as not only was he the only solar installer that even responded to my initial tiny 1KW setup, but he also did a good job of that and the subsequent upgrade to 5KW. If you need contact details feel free to PM me, he trades as Tecmar Projects out of Bellville.
 
Nice clean setup inside, although can you store that battery on the floor
 
Rouxenator said:
Big thanks to everyone that chipped in on this thread. :thumbsup:

As with my initial solar thread I learned a lot and while I did not come here for a hard and fast "yes" or "no" I feel I was able to make the best choice based on what was shared here. My question was answered in that going 5KW would be the best idea. I thankfully found the roof space I needed for the 4th panel and after playing a bit of PV Tetris I now have a North facing roof maxed out in terms of its solar yield (4x545w mono JA panels and 2xgeyser panels). Plus, I did not have to get a divorce and new house to go 5KW - so that's a less admin bonus, I guess.

They finished on the roof minutes before it started to rain.
View attachment 1563680

The main DB of the house is in the kitchen adjacent to this sub-DB. Only 4 plug breakers and 2 light breakers are wired in. Stove, geyser and pool is excluded.
View attachment 1563686

The used Luxpower is still so new it has the screen protector on. Previous owner did unlink the dongle from the service, so I had no issues registering it.
View attachment 1563682

The installer said he will be able to source more nearly-new Luxpowers like these seeing as some people in Cape Town are upgrading beyond 5KW.

I can highly recommend this guy as not only was he the only solar installer that even responded to my initial tiny 1KW setup, but he also did a good job of that and the subsequent upgrade to 5KW. If you need contact details feel free to PM me, he trades as Tecmar Projects out of Bellville.
Click to expand...

Keen to see your first days of production and how the system is working
 
Pak Fa Fui said:
Nice clean setup inside, although can you store that battery on the floor
Click to expand...
It has wheels, so I am guessing it's fine that way. The installer did ask if I wanted it mounted and I said no. The mounting plate is still there, chucked it in behind the battery.
 
Very nice
Give us a rundown of total costs please
Bullet form
Thanx
 
Pineapple Smurf said:
Very nice
Give us a rundown of total costs please
Bullet form
Thanx
Click to expand...
It stayed the same as per my initial post, but if you factor in the extra panel and what I started out with it looks like this :
  • 5kw Hybrid Inverter Lux Power SNA5000 ( Used ): R8,000
  • 5Kw Battery ( Lithium ): R26,460
  • JA 545w solar panel x 2: R12,750
  • Sub D.B. Board: R1,800
  • Installation: R5,000
  • Existing JA panel: R4,250
  • Previous install: R3,000
Total cost: R61,260
 
COC as well? Did you send a copy to your insurance broker and confirm they're happy with everything?
In case of fire etc
 
Gordon_R said:
No sun in Cape Town until Tues 1st Aug. Ask again then...
Click to expand...
That's why I want a dual MPPT Inverter.
1 array of solar panels
And 1 array will be the VAWT
Vertical Axis Wind Turbine
Even a small one will do, 500 Watts
Better than nothing when we have a week of cloud like now
 
Pineapple Smurf said:
COC as well? Did you send a copy to your insurance broker and confirm they're happy with everything?
In case of fire etc
Click to expand...
No and No. Stellenbosch and I will not be telling them jack **** about it. I pay my rates, taxes, water, refuse - what I do on my roof is none of their business - they can get their ass back in the kitchen and knit me a sweater. Might see about the insurance part next week.
It is a dual MPPT so I can add panels on the south roof if I really want to.
 
Rouxenator said:
Big thanks to everyone that chipped in on this thread. :thumbsup:

As with my initial solar thread I learned a lot and while I did not come here for a hard and fast "yes" or "no" I feel I was able to make the best choice based on what was shared here. My question was answered in that going 5KW would be the best idea. I thankfully found the roof space I needed for the 4th panel and after playing a bit of PV Tetris I now have a North facing roof maxed out in terms of its solar yield (4x545w mono JA panels and 2xgeyser panels). Plus, I did not have to get a divorce and new house to go 5KW - so that's a less admin bonus, I guess.

They finished on the roof minutes before it started to rain.
View attachment 1563680

The main DB of the house is in the kitchen adjacent to this sub-DB. Only 4 plug breakers and 2 light breakers are wired in. Stove, geyser and pool is excluded.
View attachment 1563686

The used Luxpower is still so new it has the screen protector on. Previous owner did unlink the dongle from the service, so I had no issues registering it.
View attachment 1563682

The installer said he will be able to source more nearly-new Luxpowers like these seeing as some people in Cape Town are upgrading beyond 5KW.

I can highly recommend this guy as not only was he the only solar installer that even responded to my initial tiny 1KW setup, but he also did a good job of that and the subsequent upgrade to 5KW. If you need contact details feel free to PM me, he trades as Tecmar Projects out of Bellville.
Click to expand...
Would you mind dm'ing his contact details/website?

I'm looking at luxpower 5kw. Would def consider 'nearly new'.
 
Rouxenator said:
No and No. Stellenbosch and I will not be telling them jack **** about it. I pay my rates, taxes, water, refuse - what I do on my roof is none of their business - they can get their ass back in the kitchen and knit me a sweater. Might see about the insurance part next week.
It is a dual MPPT so I can add panels on the south roof if I really want to.
Click to expand...
So, if one of the two mppts sits idle, there is no harm to the system, is that right?
 
lexity said:
Would you mind dm'ing his contact details/website?

I'm looking at luxpower 5kw. Would def consider 'nearly new'.
Click to expand...
Luxpower is really good and the volta stage 1 batteries also. I had a 5kw luxpower and volta battery installed at another house of mine up the east coast last month. Works really well.
I have deye and sunsynk at my other homes and tbh I regret not getting 2 or 3x luxpowers instead. The luxpower community are quite supportive and they dont poop on each others head like the members on the sunsynk groups
 
eepr0m said:
Luxpower is really good and the volta stage 1 batteries also. I had a 5kw luxpower and volta battery installed at another house of mine up the east coast last month. Works really well.
I have deye and sunsynk at my other homes and tbh I regret not getting 2 or 3x luxpowers instead. The luxpower community are quite supportive and they dont poop on each others head like the members on the sunsynk groups
Click to expand...
I can attest to that, earlier this week I emailed luxpowertek.com asking if they mind giving me an admin logon for my dongle as I wanted to upgrade the firmware on my inverter. The next morning I saw the firmware was updated at 2am :thumbsup:
I still don't have an admin logon, but for now I don't need one really. With support as good as that, I'm happy with a normal user account.

On powerforum there seems to be a lot of people helping each other out with regards to Luxpower. I was sure to add my fix for the unit reporting batteries as 50AH.
 
eepr0m said:
Luxpower is really good and the volta stage 1 batteries also. I had a 5kw luxpower and volta battery installed at another house of mine up the east coast last month. Works really well.
I have deye and sunsynk at my other homes and tbh I regret not getting 2 or 3x luxpowers instead. The luxpower community are quite supportive and they dont poop on each others head like the members on the sunsynk groups
Click to expand...
Well, on my radar is specifically the 5kw off-grid version. Cheaper since we don't need to feed back into the grid.

I'm also wondering whether - being on the edge of an 8Kw inverter instead of a 5kw - opting for 2x 5kw luxpower OG inverters. This would be cheaper than an 8kw hybrid e.g. Axpert and it may - correct me if I'm wrong - get us 10kw instead of 8kw.

I know the DC/AC inverters operate from battery voltage spec e.g. 48v. So...

1) is this feasible, given a 2x hubble am2/equivalent battery bank, and

2) what would that do to the mppt side of things? Going from 2 mppts to 4.
 
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