The Battery Thread (Solar / Inverter)

Speedster said:
How are you calculating the savings? Simple difference between historical and current electricity bill?
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My average cost from CoCT is R2.50/kWh. I plugged this figure into my setup and basically consuming all my pv production so just a matter of multiplying pv production by R2.50.

I am however actually using more electricity now than what I did before as I will run the aircon almost 24 hours without worrying about the bill at the end of the month. I have about 10kwh per day that I would not have used had I been using the grid. My daily average was ±45kWh while using CoCT whereas now I'm averaging ±55kWh.

Screenshot_20210128-170428_SOLARMAN%20Business.jpgScreenshot_20210128-170459_SOLARMAN%20Smart.jpg
 
jezzad said:
So for interest sake just had a quote from north face solar.

Guys seem super clued up and attached a device to measure my usage over a couple days. After that the provided the below costs.
  • 5kw inverter (sun sync) - R 24k
  • 10 panels - Canadian solar R1728
  • Installation - R18k
  • 102kw lithium battery - R 43k
Total with ancillaries - R160k

I use on average 16kwh daily but want additional headroom for the future (thus 5kw inverter)

Thoughts?
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It's a reasonable quote. Devil is in the details.
What are the panels' wattage and model numbers? And the batteries' specs?
What cabling are they going to use? Will it have capacity for an upgrade when you add more panels?
Does it include all the proper and required earthing of the panels, inverter and grid feed?
 
signates said:
Probably a typo but it would be 10.2kWh of batteries.

That's a decent quote. My mostly self install set me back R200k with 8kw sunsynk, 28 x 305w panels and 3 x 3.5kw pylontech batteries.
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Yup type on my side 10.2
 
RonSwanson said:
It's a reasonable quote. Devil is in the details.
What are the panels' wattage and model numbers? And the batteries' specs?
What cabling are they going to use? Will it have capacity for an upgrade when you add more panels?
Does it include all the proper and required earthing of the panels, inverter and grid feed?
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Quote breakdown attached (includes COC)
 

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Only comment I can make is to make sure that battery communicates properly with the inverter. There’s a few cases I’m aware of where this is not the case and the result isn’t optimal. I’ve never heard of that battery brand before, so my spidey senses gets tingly as far as battery/inverter compatibility is concerned.
 
jezzad said:
Quote breakdown attached (includes COC)
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Vat missing in your previous post was a bit misleading.

I decided to source my own equipment and then find a decent installer. Ended up getting far better pricing online than asking the installer to supply the kit. This was all the way down to the fuses and trunking. If there was anything needed he would give me a list and I would go to the nearest electrical wholesaler. These were mostly additional breakers, ferrules, screws and small odds and ends. They are more than likely adding a markup on all products they supply and then still making pure profit in installation.

Saw a quote today where the installer was charging R14k for design, project management and commissioning and then a further R16k just for installing the panels. WTF
 
The more Eskom raises their prices, the more people will go over to solar, leading to a loss for Eskom, requiring them to raise their prices to make up for the shortfall...

It will be interesting to see what small shops plan to do in this scenario when electricity pricing (and unreliability) start to mess with their overheads. Same goes for larger shops and malls not already on solar.

The entire TRAC N4 route is on solar during the day, and switches over to Eskom (or generator during loadshedding) at night. Perhaps the shops will follow the same route, and possibly get more efficient fridges and freezers.
 
jezzad said:
Quote breakdown attached (includes COC)
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I know from your previous post that these guys have impressed you with their knowledge, and have come out and done an inspection etc. so you may feel obliged to go with them, and if you do choose them, good luck. It is important that you trust the installer, that you have comfort in knowing that he is going to do it right first time. Request 3 contactable references from the installer, and at least one that you can physically visit if possible, call them up and ask questions, visit if at all possible to get a sense of the quality of the install, check on things like whether earthing was done correctly or not. Also important that you are happy with the second-life batteries. I am not sure why you would want to go for 2nd life batteries when there are better batteries available that are cheaper and slightly higher capacity (like the Hubble AM2s currently on special at the powerforumstore). If I were you, I would also ask some more pertinent questions regarding the specific lack of earthing materials in the quote, all the the cabling thicknesses, what brand of cabling specifically, and whether it will allow for future upgrades or not), and the warranty on the second life batteries. Ask them for an example of what the CoC looks like (if they can redact another client's CoC that would be great).
In parallel, I'd shop around a little more and get another two quotes at least, the prices are not the greatest once VAT is added, as pointed out by others.
 
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