2 x Laptops
2 x LED monitors
1 x 70" LED TV
1 x Soundbar
15 x LED down lights
1 x Alarm system
1 x Ajax Control unit for alarm
1 x Fibre box
1 x Wifi Router
3 x Wifi Mesh units
That will be at full tilt if we don't have power at night.
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The Battery Thread (Solar / Inverter)
- Thread starter RedViking
- Start date
2 x Laptops
2 x LED monitors
1 x 70" LED TV
1 x Soundbar
15 x LED down lights
1 x Alarm system
1 x Ajax Control unit for alarm
1 x Fibre box
1 x Wifi Router
3 x Wifi Mesh units
That will be at full tilt if we don't have power at night.
There shouldn't be one.
RonSwanson
Honorary Master
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It's how many of us started.
TheChamp
Honorary Master
How much solar in kW do you have?
wingnut771
Honorary Master
Are all these wired on their own circuit? Tell us more about your current pv, inverter and battery setup?
His budget is R30k.
ItherNiT
Expert Member
Anyone here heard about Vestwoods batteries?
TheChamp
Honorary Master
Who is selling them, that counts as well.
With full sun my panels will show up to 3.5kw being generated.
They are on different circuits throughout the house. I have a dedicated DB for the kitchen and upstairs office.
Currently no batteries and the inverter is a Thinkpower S4400TL that is grid tied. 16 panels. 8 facing north and 8 east.
If Eskom goes down then my solar does not power the house. I would like it to power the house during the day when load shedding is going on and at night some battery backup would be nice.
Photos to follow.
wingnut771
Honorary Master
Maybe the best solution is to get a 2nd inverter with battery backup to act like a grid so you can still use pv during the day? Or replace the grid tied inverter with a sunsynk and Hubble am-2?
My big worry here is.... the system feeds power back into the grid. We are on one of the old meters with the spinning wheel. Mostly it stands still or spins in reverse effectively storing our units in the grid. Then we get it back at night when the solar is off.
Highly illegal I would imagine.
If my solar can power my house during the day and especially when the power is off I'll be happy. Naturally our electricity bill will go up since we no longer store units in the grid.
I think a second inverter and battery backup like the Blue Nova CPS3000 will do the trick. At R28,000 it is inside my budget.
Hubble + matchin Sunsynk is R40,000
Highly illegal I would imagine.
If my solar can power my house during the day and especially when the power is off I'll be happy. Naturally our electricity bill will go up since we no longer store units in the grid.
I think a second inverter and battery backup like the Blue Nova CPS3000 will do the trick. At R28,000 it is inside my budget.
Hubble + matchin Sunsynk is R40,000
ItherNiT
Expert Member
Looks like they mostly supply telecoms.
Sunsynk can emulate a grid , but your grid tie unit need to be able to throttle back if Sunsynk indicates it cant take more juice.
Iy doing that by adjusting the "grid" frequency.
wingnut771
Honorary Master
The sunsynk feeds back aswell, then when the grid goes down it goes into anti-islanding mode and disconnects the grid but pv and battery still work. This is the most elegant solution, replace current inverter with sunsynk instead of running 2 systems. Yes its R10k out your budget, but you can still sell the grid tied to defray expenses.
TheChamp
Honorary Master
It doesn't have to be a Sunsynk, you already have a grid tied inverter that maximize the solar usage, any regular inverter would do for backup, I am mostly in favour of a a basic inverter and a bigger battery for backup.
But for a fully assembled plug n play unit there is nothing much wrong with the Blue Nova unit, we can talk about better pricing all day but that will always be at a compromise of assembling the unit yourself or paying to.
If you feel that the Blue Nova is what works for go for it, I would take two panels from the grid tied installation and repurpose them to charge the backup battery, you still reduce you consumption with the grid tied system and keep your backup charged.
wingnut771
Honorary Master
Now he must have extension cords all over the place when he's already got a fully integrated system?
RonSwanson
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You have a Grid-tied inverter, that what they do. The want that you are describing is a Hybrid inverter.
Thanks. That helps.
RonSwanson
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And if the separated circuits are somehow mixed up, and the power comes back on, there are two sources of 220VAC @ 50Hz that aren't in sync. Kaboom.
Too complex (and Frankenmonster) for my taste personally, and a lot of running around switching things on and off and then on again. Sunsynk do have a smaller 3.6K Hybrid that sells for 4-5 grand less than the 5.5K, but then again I gather that your needs are bigger than 3.6K.
If you are going to spend decent money, then it's advisable to get something that will at least meet your needs in the forseaable future, that's expandable and certified to international grid and safety standards. Otherwise you may as well make do with an axpert mounted on a trolley. At least it will retain its value on the secondhand market.
TheChamp
Honorary Master
Or he can get the unit integrated on the DB, his choice.
Unless if he lives in that dictatorship where the government insists on telling you which inverter you can install in your own home, that would be very sad.