The Battery Thread (Solar / Inverter)

[semaphore]

But being an ELCB, it could also be related to an earth issue. Was the inverter earthed? Panels earthed?

I believe the inverter was earthed to the house earth, he said he is going to change the earthing a bit tomorrow.

 

[RonSwanson]

I believe the inverter was earthed to the house earth, he said he is going to change the earthing a bit tomorrow.

And did he install an earth neutral bridge?

 

[thehuman]

Im no electrician, house are using that elcb as a main switch. I would do the following.
1 install separate isolator on incomming mains
2 install "line neutral" for inverters ac input
3 feed inverters output to the elcb input.

Another problem, if inverter is after that elcb you loose the elcb protection when loadsheding.

 

[semaphore]

And did he install an earth neutral bridge?

I got no idea i'll have to ask.

 

[Neuk_]

Heard?

Proof:
View attachment 1199122

Edit:

I see they now 18k so looks like I bought at the right time.

PylonTech US3000C 3.5kWh Lithium-ion Solar Battery | Buy Now

The new PylonTech US3000C lithium-ion battery is now available at SolarAdvice. A phenominal 6000 cycles at 95% DOD.

solaradvice.co.za

Since @Weable Technology has been posting on the forum I checked out their website, interesting...



From here...

Pylon Us3000C | 3.5Kwh | 48V | Li-Ion Solar Battery (Excl. Brackets)

Buy Pylontech Lithium Batteries | Model PYLON-US3000C | Last Price R23,799.95 | The US3000C is an HESS solar battery system provided by Pylontech,

weable.co.za

P.S. I have zero experience with weable.co.za.

 

[TedLasso]

If that's true obviously go for the LFP but from what I've seen they are closer to R16K+ which is a fair amount on a budget system. LA has been used for decades before lithium became common they don't all fail as much as its made out to be.

I disagree. Speaking from replacing small batteries in alarm, gate - literally everything in my house. . They were all installed in Feb21 and was expecting two years - even bought 9Ah over 7Ah . Eskom showed me whose boss.

Have had to replace them all. So now, if I had just bought the blue nova's originally, I would have been ok. Lesson learnt for that.

 

[Lupus]

I disagree. Speaking from replacing small batteries in alarm, gate - literally everything in my house. . They were all installed in Feb21 and was expecting two years - even bought 9Ah over 7Ah . Eskom showed me whose boss.

Have had to replace them all. So now, if I had just bought the blue nova's originally, I would have been ok. Lesson learnt for that.

Actually no, because the alarm charger might still not charge the blue nova properly

 

[wingnut771]

Actually no, because the alarm charger might still not charge the blue nova properly

How so? What's wrong with 13.8V?

 

[Lupus]

How so? What's wrong with 13.8V?

Alarms charges are normally like 300 to 500mah .

 

[wingnut771]

Alarms charges are normally like 300 to 500mah .

So, it will take a long time that's all.

 

[Lupus]

So, it will take a long time that's all.

Yup and with stage 4 it will just very really charge up, but at least you'll get more cycles

 

[Lupus]

If Budget is tight - you can add a small decent Lithium charger for around R1500-R2500 and charge them up very quickly when grid is on. Optimate is an ok brand - just make sure it's the correct model for Lithium - something that can charge around 5A or so should be more than enough for a small 11A 12V.

I used to have a smart charger

 

[wingnut771]

Yup and with stage 4 it will just very really charge up, but at least you'll get more cycles

I used to have a smart charger

If your alarm system has a lot of PIR's, maybe some elect. fencing, they use a lot of power - so in stages 4+ of loadshed you might not have enough time to recharge your battery - the main reason why your old LA fails - there is no protection against discharging too far, which damages them very quickly. Lithium would be fine, but you still need time to charge them up. See post above - a cheap Optimate charger for lithium will sort that out for you.

It doesn't have to be lithium, can be any LA "smart" charger. Get a crappy chinese one.

Just don't get one that "desulphates" or "pulses" or "repairs".

Something like this:

Takealot

www.takealot.com

or

Takealot

www.takealot.com

 

[wingnut771]

This is nice, says it does lithium:

Takealot

www.takealot.com

 

[Neuk_]

They have become expensive! See the 0.8A one is around R1200 (Model TM-470) - and the 5A one around R2200 (model TM-290)

Perhaps something in the CTek range? My father bought a CTek MXS 5 for under R2k in Durban last year sometime. I have a small Optimate 0.8A that I use on my MkI Golf and a Ferrari branded CTek MXS 3.8 that I use on my Toureg and wife’s Q3.

 

[wingnut771]

Perhaps something in the CTek range? My father bought a CTek MXS 5 for under R2k in Durban last year sometime. I have a small Optimate 0.8A that I use on my MkI Golf and a Ferrari branded CTek MXS 3.8 that I use on my Toureg and wife’s Q3.

 

[1am7h30n3]

How big is the box that it comes in? Could you fit it in the boot of a car easily? I want to order a 5kW Sunsynk but I'm not sure whether I need to get it delivered to my house and then have to take a day off work to accept the delivery or if I can get it delivered to work and put it in the boot.

5kW sunsynk comes packaged in a normal cardboard box, not a shipping crate. Largest dimension around 700mm, it fits in my car boot.

 

[Sayf777]

So I've been monitoring my usage on the meter over a period of days and it is consistently showing around 25% more then my sunsynk's inverter reading of energy purchased over the same period evaluated.

Is this normal?

 

[JamesBoy]

View attachment 1200704
View attachment 1200706

Is it possible to hook these up to each battery in a 24V system (so two batteries) without disconnecting the batteries (maybe just switch off the inverter)? I'm thinking about keeping the two batteries balanced and charged every few months without having to disconnect them - or maybe there is a better way.

 

[wingnut771]

Is it possible to hook these up to each battery in a 24V system (so two batteries) without disconnecting the batteries (maybe just switch off the inverter)? I'm thinking about keeping the two batteries balanced and charged every few months without having to disconnect them - or maybe there is a better way.

I don't see why not if you turn the inverter off so you don't have two things trying to charge one thing.