Solar Power System by proxy

Crusader said:
That would be an option, but thankfully we decided to add another battery. With 30 kWh storage we should be fine now in almost any circumstances.
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Okay that's 3 times my battery storage
 
So based on actual grid usage so far this month it looks like we'll only be using around 60 - 70 units compared to the normal 1200 units on the municipal bill. At around R3 a unit that's quite an impressive monthly saving.

Now we need to get the municipality to install a prepaid meter to get rid of the exorbitant basic monthly fees.
 
We made the switch over to prepaid electricity as the saving on the basic fee we are currently paying would be more than enough to make up for the increased per unit cost.

The municipality installed the prepaid meter yesterday. It's a Conlog unit which looks very different from the prepaid meters I'm used to. There's a base unit installed in the main DB which doesn't have a screen or any buttons. Then you get a portable unit with a screen and keypad which seems to be connected to the based unit through RF (wifi?). Ironically the portable unit is powered by AA batteries. :)
 
Still trying to sort out the SOC spikes. Installer swapped around the battery dip switches on 1 Feb so the 1 older battery is still the master, new battery is now slave 1 and the other older battery is slave 2.

Can't say that it's made much of a difference. Will have to give it some time to see. Who knew getting the batteries balanced properly would be this hard? With only 2 batteries it wasn't an issue, but suddenly with 3 it is.

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Looks like our system is going to be tested to the max. Power went out just before 20:00 last night and never came back. Apparently 7 high voltage power pylons got damaged/blown over so repairs will take between 3 to 5 or even possibly 7 days.

We also lost internet connection (fibre, all cell towers) for the entire town at 05:00/ The fibre just came back online but everything else is still dead.

This is going to be a fun week...
 
Crusader said:
Still trying to sort out the SOC spikes. Installer swapped around the battery dip switches on 1 Feb so the 1 older battery is still the master, new battery is now slave 1 and the other older battery is slave 2.

Can't say that it's made much of a difference. Will have to give it some time to see. Who knew getting the batteries balanced properly would be this hard? With only 2 batteries it wasn't an issue, but suddenly with 3 it is.

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Setting it to 100% and leaving it for a few hours sorted mine out and never had an issue again.
 
SauRoNZA said:
Setting it to 100% and leaving it for a few hours sorted mine out and never had an issue again.
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Can you elaborate a bit?

Do you set the time of use slot to 100% and leave it like that for a couple of hours? Our batteries only stay at 100% for about an hour or so and then go to 99% with a trickle charge.

Longest I've seen it stay at 100% was for 2 hours.

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Crusader said:
Can you elaborate a bit?

Do you set the time of use slot to 100% and leave it like that for a couple of hours? Our batteries only stay at 100% for about an hour or so and then go to 99% with a trickle charge.

Longest I've seen it stay at 100% was for 2 hours.

View attachment 1656648
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Yes set your time slot to 100% so it can’t dip below it and let it full charge properly.

When all the batteries maxed out fully they’ll be balanced.
 
SauRoNZA said:
Yes set your time slot to 100% so it can’t dip below it and let it full charge properly.

When all the batteries maxed out fully they’ll be balanced.
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Thanks. will have installer try that once the grid power issues have been sorted. Guessing best time slot would be 13:00 until 17:00 for this.
 
SauRoNZA said:
You can’t set it yourself?
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I could theoretically, but want to run everything past him in order to prevent any warranty issues or blame should anything go wrong. It's a new(ish) install. He also has remote access to the inverter to change settings so should be easy enough for him to do.
 
Day 2 of the great power outage and our system is ticking along nicely. Runs everything we want (including geysers) and battery was at 38% this morning. Fully charged again at 13:00. Only real impact is not using aircons during the night to conserve the batteries other than it's life as usual.

Boy, am I glad we installed the system when we did. These 3-5 days would have been hell without it since the temps are consistently hitting 37 - 40° C.
 
Just got official word that the ESKOM pylons which were damaged will take 10 days at a minimum to be repaired so our town will be without power for the duration.
 
Crusader said:
Just got official word that the ESKOM pylons which were damaged will take 10 days at a minimum to be repaired so our town will be without power for the duration.
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Yikes…. It’s good that you’ve got enough backup for the night and generation for the day
 
Mzezman said:
Yikes…. It’s good that you’ve got enough backup for the night and generation for the day
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Indeed. Me deciding to fund that 3rd battery was the best decision I could've have taken. Otherwise this whole thing would have sucked big time.

Now my only real concern is that the internet goes down again.
 
Day 3: System is going strong without any issues. Started the morning with 44% battery left and was fully charged by 13:00. Thankfully no clouds to have to contend with so far. Only regret is that I'm not at home during the day to make full use of the glorious electricity.

We've charged many a device (power banks, fans etc.) for work colleagues and assisted with unused freezer space to keep their food from spoiling.

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Heard rumour that ETA for grid restoration has been pushed back to 19 February. Which is going to suck since we don't have power at work and temps remain extremely high.
 
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