GrootBaas' Solar

DX'er said:
Thanks for the info. The 8kW inverter would have been the correct choice. I did a lot of research in the beginning, however I must admit that I overlooked the current limitations of the MPPT of the 5kW unit.
My current task is to add a cooling fan to the inverter, as running at close to 13A greates lots of heat. Will use a simple PTC circuit to put the fan on at around 35 to 40 degrees C. Will keep you posted.
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My inverters are in a storeroom,so I have a 220v fan switch on from 10am to 3pm which is expected peak sun on most days to keep them cooler
 
GrootVoet said:
I bought a 120mm AC fan and wedged it in between the wall and inverter.

Used a Sonoff Basic to run it from 10h00 till 16h00. Before the inverter AC temp peaked between 50 and 60 C, now its between 35 and 45 C.

View attachment 1578408
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Whats the optimal temp for these inverters?
My LXP5K also doesn't have fans, heatsinks only.
I've monitored the temps, seems to only get mildly warm (especially after load shedding when it's charging the battery from the grid).
Have thought about doing a similar setup.
 
Interesting. This was actually one of my concerns with the installation as my garage gets very hot in summer time. Installers weren't concerned when I raised this, but it may be a good idea to monitor the temperature then.
 
Tradezzz said:
I can vouch for JCSolarPanels, and they have the 8kw Deye and Volta Stage 3 for cheaper than RightAir.
What I have noticed is that when one price moves, the rest slowly follow, so no rush but also R130k for your system fully installed is a great price and payback can easily be around 6yrs (if that's even what you're looking at, over and above the joys of solar).
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Hi there, I'm the director at DigiGo. And our fantastic price is legit :-) Have a nice day!
 
GrootBaas said:
They advertised the Deye 8kw + Volta 10kwh battery at a much lower price than what I was quoted.

I now found another questionable website (Digigo) advertising that bundle at an even better price.

The reason I'm looking at that combo is because that the first quote I got indicated an 11 year warranty with that combo. However, I now found this thread which speculates that that 11 or 10 year warranty claim is BS. https://powerforum.co.za/topic/20602-deye-10-year-warranty-with-volta-myth-debunked/

Waiting on my logins for powerforum to be activated so that I can view the attachments.

But have to say, the fact that I am now questioning what I'm being quoted does not help.


For sure! Busy reading through some other members' threads now as well.
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Hello! I'm the director at DigiGo and our fantastic price for this combo is legit :-) Have a nice day! :)
 
All 8 my panels are on 1 string it seems. Have 6 mounted vertically and 2 horizontally. I would've thought that the two that are horizontal should've been on a seperate string, but the installer assured me it's fine on one string.

I'm finding that my panels are peaking at about 80% of max theoretical generation today here in Bellville. 3.4kW of a max 4.3kW.

Does 80% sound right, I have no idea? Or is there a chance that the panels as a group are not functioning like it should?

I also see a small voltage reading on a second string which I don't understand.
99c5cf66c6c6e4f07a1924973d50b858.jpg
 
GrootBaas said:
All 8 my panels are on 1 string it seems. Have 6 mounted vertically and 2 horizontally. I would've thought that the two that are horizontal should've been on a seperate string, but the installer assured me it's fine on one string.

I'm finding that my panels are peaking at about 80% of max theoretical generation today here in Bellville. 3.4kW of a max 4.3kW.

Does 80% sound right, I have no idea? Or is there a chance that the panels as a group are not functioning like it should?

I also see a small voltage reading on a second string which I don't understand.
99c5cf66c6c6e4f07a1924973d50b858.jpg
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Sounds right.

If they all receive the same sun (i.e angle and aren't shaded etc) then it makes no difference how they are positioned or scattered.
 
On the Solarman app, my peak today was 3.22kW production (of the 8x455W panels). Was really hoping for it to be more but at least at this stage it's enough to run the pool pump during the day and recharge the battery.

I was a bit quiet for a few weeks as shortly after the installation, we moved out of my place as we were doing some renovations. Have been back for about a month and still constantly on the Solarman app, crazy addiction.

My grid consumption so far this month is approx 100 Eskom units. Normally it probably would've been 500 by now. So yeah, big savings.

I have had some rain damage and still need to resolve that with the installer as they cracked way too many tiles and didn't fix them all up properly. Haven't prioritized that, bit of a mission.
 
GrootBaas said:
Thanks for asking
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For an array producing 3.2 at peak that's really good imo, I haven't been following too closely but I think you have 10kwh battery? You must be running an SBU configuration and also have quite a high average load during the day?

You are basically running full tilt of the solar capacity for all of the sun hours?
 
Steamy Tom said:
For an array producing 3.2 at peak that's really good imo, I haven't been following too closely but I think you have 10kwh battery? You must be running an SBU configuration and also have quite a high average load during the day?

You are basically running full tilt of the solar capacity for all of the sun hours?
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Yeah that's a decent return. An average day for me is about 30 kWh with twice the amount of batteries and panels...
 
Yes, 10kwh battery (Volta with Deye inverter). Still very actively managing it to tap as much out of the solar as possible. Keeping an eye on the loadshedding schedule and while there is none, I allow the battery to discharge overnight to 21%. Switching the pool pump on/off to use excess or save on cloudy days. So yeah, a bit of a game at the moment. Should I set and forget, the generation and savings will be less.

Seems like my saving is approx 75%, which is roughly what I expected.

To save an additional 20% it will require another battery and more panels. Those savings become incrementally less but arguably already worth it.
 
My 5.52 kWp array here in Boston is only reaching 4.6 kWp at the moment. That is with 6 panels facing east and another 6 panels facing north (2 strings). The performance should be getting better as the sun's angle changes with summer heading our way. I am happy with that performance as at 12:00 my two 5.32 kWh batteries are fully charged, and my two geysers are at max temp.
 
I may be under a misperception. Will the peak generation be when the sun hits the panels at 90 degrees? So if the sun has gone over the 90 degree angle, then you are over your peak and the angle will get worse (although it's summer and thus the duration is much longer).

If I look back at the graphs, it seems like I peaked higher a few weeks ago unless there are other factors.

Giving my system a run for its money again today. Pool pump is not running but have an aircon going and the domestic using vacuum etc. Have only recharged the battery to 68% now (13:30). May need to switch off the aircon to get to 100%
 
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