SauRoN's SomeWatt Solar Install

SauRoNZA said:
No the warranty spec is up to 90% so no concern there.

As I recall 20% is their longest life recommendation.

I did actually see those guys on Powerforum just didn’t feel the urgency to register just for this issue as of yet.
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Only other guy that I know went Dyness with Sunsynk is JP Van Riel, he is on the Sunsynk forum. Excellent technical dude.
 
Yeah all I read there now as well is

Discharging
c) The long-term continuous discharge current of thebattery should be ≤0.5C
d) The recommend maximum depth of discharge(DOD)of Battery PACK is no more than 90%.

A “recommendation” is very odd in a warranty document.

Must go see if there is a newer revised version on their own website which wasn’t working for me earlier today.

But it’s enough to have a legal argument over should you ever need to have one I reckon.

Thinking about it now I’m pretty sure I read it on the locks Dyness website and or the supplier in Montague Gardens comes to mind.
 
Mzezman said:
If you have Solar Assistant then you don't need the github code. Solar Assistant allows direct into Home Assistant via mqtt.

If you don't have Solar Assistant then there are other integrations that can pull info from the inverter, some of which require github code.
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So if I already have the Sunsynk dongle, then which integration will I need exactly?

Is it possible to pull the data into HA without having to plug any additional hardware into the inverter?
 
feo said:
So if I already have the Sunsynk dongle, then which integration will I need exactly?

Is it possible to pull the data into HA without having to plug any additional hardware into the inverter?
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If you have the old Sunsynk dongle that used Solarman you can do that, but with the new one nothing exists yet that I’m aware of.

It also takes forever to update, but that may just be the app as I need to always force refresh it and even then the data doesn’t compare to HA half the time.
 
SauRoNZA said:
If you have the old Sunsynk dongle that used Solarman you can do that, but with the new one nothing exists yet that I’m aware of.

It also takes forever to update, but that may just be the app as I need to always force refresh it and even then the data doesn’t compare to HA half the time.
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Any idea how I can tell which one I have?
 
feo said:
Any idea how I can tell which one I have?
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Do you use the Solarman app or the Sunsynk app to view your production etc?

If Solarman then you have the old dongle.
 
feo said:
I use the official Sunsynk app.

So with this newer dongle, there's no way to integrate into HA?
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Not without additional hardware im afraid

Solar Assistant using a Pi or a USB-RS485 converter + additional software
 
Mzezman said:
Not without additional hardware im afraid

Solar Assistant using a Pi or a USB-RS485 converter + additional software
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Solar Assistant with Pi I'm assuming it'll communicate to HA via WiFi? There's no way I'm gonna run an ethernet cable from where my inverter is to where my network switch is.
 
feo said:
Solar Assistant with Pi I'm assuming it'll communicate to HA via WiFi? There's no way I'm gonna run an ethernet cable from where my inverter is to where my network switch is.
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Yes, mine runs over wifi and I'm able to get up to date stats .. approx 2 seconds delay so its great for automations
 
Went through two load sheds yesterday and forgot the aircon in the lounge on overnight and still hardly used Eskom.

If I didn’t leave the aircon on it probably would have been none at all.

Very surprised to find my tumble dryer only draws 1300W at peak. Sure it eats 2.63kWh for an entire cycle but that’s easy to absorb if timed for daylight.
 
SauRoNZA said:
Went through two load sheds yesterday and forgot the aircon in the lounge on overnight and still hardly used Eskom.

If I didn’t leave the aircon on it probably would have been none at all.

Very surprised to find my tumble dryer only draws 1300W at peak. Sure it eats 2.63kWh for an entire cycle but that’s easy to absorb if timed for daylight.
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Same same. Loadshedding about to start here but it glorious sunshine right now so we're running around turning things on rather than odd, using the peak sunlight hours :)
 
Some good boobage but hell load shedding makes a mess of things.

Geyser went on super early because my automation says when grid comes back online and it’s daylight turn on geyser.


97b52a2846a476d5c2dd42de6cb86b6e.jpg
 
June 2022 Stats

Solar Capacity - 6.3 kWp

Total Solar Production - 691 kWh / R 1,658.40 / 62.94%

Total Grid Usage - 318.3 kWh / R 763.92 / 32.64%

Total Home Consumption - 975.2 kWh / R 2,340.48

Best Day - 26th - 28.9 kWh

Worst Day - 13th - 2.5 kWh

Average - 23.03 kWh

Appliances

Geyser - 248.52 kWh
Tumble Dryer - 15.89 kWh (only wired up end of month)
Air Fryer - 13.21 kWh
Dishwasher - 11.7 kWh (only wired up end of month)
Induction Cooker - 10.08 kWh
Washing Machine - 7.75 kWh
 
One full month on solar update.

Having installed only at the end of May I finally got my first full month of stats out and to say I'm very impressed is an understatement.

My estimation going into it was about R1500 average in value from production and R500 to Eskom every month to level out with the R2000 I was paying the City of Cape Town on average and also for the system to basically pay for itself over a 10 year period with no loss to me.

I got R1658 of solar production against the baseline price I'm now paying Eskom in the middle of winter so I'm well beyond my baseline expectation. I did spend more with Eskom (R763) than the anticipated R500 but I think this will average out over the year and also there is an element of going absolutely nuts considering never in my life did I ever spend almost a thousand kilowatts a month. Load shedding topups from grid to maintain minimum battery likely also pushed that up a bit more.

I had two entirely off grid days in the month and I expect in summer this might increase quite a bit, but then again I also anticipate I'll be running the aircon a lot more.

Old habits meant I didn't really use the aircon all that much for heating, but it's also been a pretty mild winter so far, but mid month I started putting it on every day when there was production and I was working in my office and I'll probably start doing that going forward.

Apart from the problem with the batteries not going below 14% even when told to do so, which I suspect I've resolved but need to just find a time to run so low and to test which doesn't involve load shedding or people being inconvenienced the system has been absolutely bullet proof.

I already have notions to add another battery and "re-balance" the panels to essentially put 5 panels East + 5 panel North on one MPTT and then 5 panels West + 5 panels North on the other MPTT which should see me pretty much have solar power from 9-6 in winter and 7-7 in summer.
 
@SauRoNZA keen to get another opinion on the fan noise of the 8KW Sunsynk, how are you finding it? I may have the 8KW Deye installed in my entranceway close to the lounge, in a (ventilated) cupboard/enclosure, but a bit worried about fan noise.
 
Elev8r said:
@SauRoNZA keen to get another opinion on the fan noise of the 8KW Sunsynk, how are you finding it? I may have the 8KW Deye installed in my entranceway close to the lounge, in a (ventilated) cupboard/enclosure, but a bit worried about fan noise.
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So mine is installed in the garage just off the kitchen and bearing in mind it’s a solid fire door between the two I don’t hear it coming on with the door closed even in the quiet of night.

When the door is open it’s pretty obvious when it turns on initially as it kind of winds up and then settles down but it’s always been very short bursts and I would question if it’s even on for fifteen minutes a day without timing it.

Granted things may change in summer, my garage does a pretty good job of keeping it cool I’m sure and there’s constant ventilation from garage door gap.

I’ll be honest and say I wouldn’t want it inside the house, but at the very same time I don’t think I would want any of them inside the house so probably doesn’t help you much.

Comparable to say a fridge which makes a constant noise I think the main issue for me would be the inconsistency.

If you are venting the cupboard upwards and out into the ceiling that may be a winner especially if you can surround it with some foam sound proofing.

When I catch it turning on again I’ll try to take a video recording.
 
Elev8r said:
@SauRoNZA keen to get another opinion on the fan noise of the 8KW Sunsynk, how are you finding it? I may have the 8KW Deye installed in my entranceway close to the lounge, in a (ventilated) cupboard/enclosure, but a bit worried about fan noise.
Click to expand...
What about the 5kW? I think that has no fans.
 
SauRoNZA said:
One full month on solar update.

Having installed only at the end of May I finally got my first full month of stats out and to say I'm very impressed is an understatement.

My estimation going into it was about R1500 average in value from production and R500 to Eskom every month to level out with the R2000 I was paying the City of Cape Town on average and also for the system to basically pay for itself over a 10 year period with no loss to me.

I got R1658 of solar production against the baseline price I'm now paying Eskom in the middle of winter so I'm well beyond my baseline expectation. I did spend more with Eskom (R763) than the anticipated R500 but I think this will average out over the year and also there is an element of going absolutely nuts considering never in my life did I ever spend almost a thousand kilowatts a month. Load shedding topups from grid to maintain minimum battery likely also pushed that up a bit more.

I had two entirely off grid days in the month and I expect in summer this might increase quite a bit, but then again I also anticipate I'll be running the aircon a lot more.

Old habits meant I didn't really use the aircon all that much for heating, but it's also been a pretty mild winter so far, but mid month I started putting it on every day when there was production and I was working in my office and I'll probably start doing that going forward.

Apart from the problem with the batteries not going below 14% even when told to do so, which I suspect I've resolved but need to just find a time to run so low and to test which doesn't involve load shedding or people being inconvenienced the system has been absolutely bullet proof.

I already have notions to add another battery and "re-balance" the panels to essentially put 5 panels East + 5 panel North on one MPTT and then 5 panels West + 5 panels North on the other MPTT which should see me pretty much have solar power from 9-6 in winter and 7-7 in summer.
Click to expand...
Excellent results, you have summarized it pretty well.

On the panels, placing East/West and North on the same MPPT will not have the greatest outcome. You may want to consider a baby (2- 3.6K max) Solis on the Aux to provide another 2 MPPTs. It's cheap, and you can have East and West on the Sunsynk, and one of the Solis MPPTs facing North. And another MPPT spare to play around with :giggle:
I have considered this with my 5K Sunsynk, and would probably have done it already if I weren't seriously considering relocation.
 
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