SauRoN's SomeWatt Solar Install

Snyper564 said:
Yes wireless but needs to be plugged in to "update l" Topped up amt etc
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Not according to the guy who installed mine.

He said I can top up even if my electricity has run out completely ie wireless update to the main control unit.

Hmm, maybe I'll test it the next time a top up is required ie unplug, switch to battery and see if it updates.
 
AfricanTech said:
Not according to the guy who installed mine.

He said I can top up even if my electricity has run out completely ie wireless update to the main control unit.

Hmm, maybe I'll test it the next time a top up is required ie unplug, switch to battery and see if it updates.
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Let me explain just how STUPID this batch is.

When it ran out pre- solar. I had to go plug it in by my neighbor to top up. Even with batteries etc it did not work :)

My unit is probably one of the OLD ones
 
AfricanTech said:
The 2nd component (per the installer) communicates wirelessly with the first
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Some meters use 2.4GHz wireless and do not use PLC to communicate with the user interface. You may not need it for your specific meter.

I find that a plug on the non-essential side is a useful thing though, for fiddling and experimentation, if that's what floats your boat.
 
Definitely manufacturer AND specific unit dependant. We were converted 3 weeks ago and also have the completely wireless unit inside the house...doesn't need to be plugged in. My neighbour converted to prepaid many years ago and has the unit that needs to be plugged in to a socket for it to recharge units
 
Mzezman said:
Definitely manufacturer AND specific unit dependant. We were converted 3 weeks ago and also have the completely wireless unit inside the house...doesn't need to be plugged in. My neighbour converted to prepaid many years ago and has the unit that needs to be plugged in to a socket for it to recharge units
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Well I'm very glad then that I beat them back for 3 years until they eventually threatened to cut me off about eight weeks ago if I don't install a pre-paid meter.
 
So back on topic after everyone else’s prepaid drama.

Happy to report the Geyser that Home Assistant turned off at sunset (17:50:33) was warm enough for me to have a perfectly normal shower after wife and two kids and been through a shower and shared bath.

Even had water hot enough to wash the dishes without an issue.

I do anticipate winter proper will be a bit of a different story, but we’ll see when we get there.

Mornings in winter will also be another matter as I’ve simply set it to turn back on when the sun comes up, it will eat some remaining battery and maybe switch to grid even if it’s too low but we’ll see in time.

Of course it being sun based means it will be dynamic but generally we don’t do crack of dawn showers and such anyway.

I have setup a delay timer to let it run for 1 1/2 hours if manually overridden at night, but as I type this I’m probably going to make than 1 hour.

Already pretty much decided downgrading from a 3kW element is just a waste of money. Maybe if it dies I’ll consider something more efficient and fancy.

21:15 now and battery at 38% which means 18% to go before grid pops in to help out. Obviously with PV only being turned on mid day and running it low last night on purpose this isn’t going to be the norm.

Of course it’s also not winter proper yet so no heaters and hence 500W-odd load I might make it through.

One thing that I do find annoying is that nowhere do you see your battery capacity as in kWh available, so I just work out my usage estimate by hand with calculations and that just seems daft.
 
SauRoNZA said:
One thing that I do find annoying is that nowhere do you see your battery capacity as in kWh available, so I just work out my usage estimate by hand with calculations and that just seems daft.
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Becomes second nature after a while once you have your W/% (144 in your case).

If your base load is 500W, you're using around 3.5% per hour. Helps when you just need a quick estimate in determining how many hours you have available.

Or at any point in time, just divide your load by 144 to determine how much % you're going to use in an hour...
 
SauRoNZA said:
One thing that I do find annoying is that nowhere do you see your battery capacity as in kWh available, so I just work out my usage estimate by hand with calculations and that just seems daft.
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No Sunsynk dongle / app?
 
Mike Hoxbig said:
Becomes second nature after a while once you have your W/% (144 in your case).

If your base load is 500W, you're using around 3.5% per hour. Helps when you just need a quick estimate in determining how many hours you have available.

Or at any point in time, just divide your load by 144 to determine how much % you're going to use in an hour...
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Yeah it’s not hard, just seems like a silly oversight and a simple thing to implement.
 
Mike Hoxbig said:
It depends on your meter and control unit. Mine looks like so...

View attachment 1315598
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I have the same unit and its happy to process credits over wireless/protocol other than plc. I have used it on a dedicated socket before the inverter as well as on one that's on the ups side with no issue. But as @RonSwanson said, it is interesting to have a dedicated plug - even if it's just for "experimental" use.

Nice system @SauRoNZA
 
SauRoNZA said:
I thought I was losing my mind.

Yeah it shouldn’t be too hard to just plug in I have X kWh somewhere and let it show you.

Even compensate for the reserve.
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How was the first full day with the system? performing as expected?
 
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