Neuk_'s Home ESS - Round Two

Congrats. Looks nice. Lovely to get a second chance at this kind of thing.
 
Mike Hoxbig said:
I'd do it the other way around. Fans at the bottom and vents on top. Hot air already rises. Otherwise you're making the fans work harder to get the hot air out...
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If the air is moving up, how do they fans work harder if the air is moving out of them already?
 
Mike Hoxbig said:
I'd do it the other way around. Fans at the bottom and vents on top. Hot air already rises. Otherwise you're making the fans work harder to get the hot air out...
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Those types of fans are usually designed as extractor fans.
 
Mike Hoxbig said:
That's what I said, hence the otherwise?
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I meant with the fans at the top blowing out, the air is moving out naturally already so how can it be working harder? Same with the bottom, if the fans are blowing in, the air is naturally moving in so also wouldn't be working harder. The advantage of having them at the top, you can put filters on the bottom vents keeping dust out.
 
I thought it time for a bit of an update, the system has been running for a little over a month, 3 weeks of which we were on holiday so not home at all. Other than what I have planned to get done in the near future, the system has handled everything well thus far, besides the electric geysers, electric ovens and underfloor heating it powers everything in the house. So, future plans...

  • Move CT coil/clamp to proper position;
  • Install cooling fans to direct airflow away from inverter;
  • Put vents in cupboard doors and reinstall;
  • Additional PylonTech UP5000 before winter.

Related future plans...

  • Change geyser elements from 3kW to 2kW;
  • Remove geyser timer and load control relays;
  • Smart CB or similar solution to manage geysers.

I will then monitor to see how the system does and go from there.
 
Neuk_ said:
I thought it time for a bit of an update, the system has been running for a little over a month, 3 weeks of which we were on holiday so not home at all. Other than what I have planned to get done in the near future, the system has handled everything well thus far, besides the electric geysers, electric ovens and underfloor heating it powers everything in the house. So, future plans...

  • Move CT coil/clamp to proper position;
  • Install cooling fans to direct airflow away from inverter;
  • Put vents in cupboard doors and reinstall;
  • Additional PylonTech UP5000 before winter.

Related future plans...

  • Change geyser elements from 3kW to 2kW;
  • Remove geyser timer and load control relays;
  • Smart CB or similar solution to manage geysers.

I will then monitor to see how the system does and go from there.
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The tinkering never stops... I know...
 
Best solar production today thus far…

b08a747bd1a1ddbc8d826e736505ddbd.jpg
 
Thanks for the info. Can I ask a couple of questions?

What’s the comparison between SunSync and Victron? Do you notice any improvements, better user interface etc? Which do you prefer?

Any tips / tricks you learn along the way for first time installers? More panels etc? Build for scale?

Any overall advice?
 
Ask away, I will answer as best I can but am no expert...

Victron versus Sunsynk

In the most basic terms, SunSynk offers better value for money than Victron partly due to pricing and partly due to their inverters being everything that you need, there are a few 'all in' Victron inverters but by and large the bulk of Victron's range the inverter is simply and inverter and charger. If you want solar you need to add at least one MPPT as well as a control unit, which increases the capital and installation cost and the complexity but one benefit is scalability if in the future you need to add more solar panels for instance, you add another MPPT. The user interface is very different between the two, I am still getting used to and learning the SunSynk interface but it seems easier to get to grips with for a layman than the Victron interface, which can be very confusing at times and is more suited to someone who has undergone training and has more experience. From what I remember though, Victron is a lot more configurable than SunSynk although I can't give many details as we had a basic setup which served our purposes well. As for preference, for the layman SunSynk does everything that you would want and coupled with the cost it would be my choice for the average house hold but for much larger and complicated needs it is tough to beat Victron due it's scalability and list of features.

As for learnings, one of the biggest from having two systems in two different house holds, is even if you don't buy all you need up front is to plan for it in the future. Our Victron system was small because my wife lost her **** and ordered the inverter and batteries with only load shedding in mind and not thinking about adding solar or moving off grid as far as possible. We should have gone for at least a 5kVa inverter and skipped the LA batteries altogether, so when I was looking at what to install in our current house I went for the 8.8kw SunSynk as it could handle the entire house with minimal changes. Another learning is to over spec your solar so that cloudy days affect you less, you can run the house and charge batteries with a bit of management of heavy loads, meaning that you use as little grid as possible. That is all I can think of for now without getting in to battery and inverter brand fights along with pricing, all of which depends on what you want, who you know, etc, etc.
 
Neuk_ said:
Moved in on the 26th November, installation started on the 6th December and finished on the 7th December.
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Wow ok time flies, feels like it was only like last week :-)
 
Neuk_ said:
Yep, need to get Home Assistant up and running again as well, but we are in a new house with a ton of stuff to do that my wife wants done yesterday :ROFL:
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Just don't install out on a Pi, this time. :D
 
I have heard good things about those Longi panels.. apparently they are world #1 manufacturer ?
 
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