W@P's Solar System

Koosvanwyk said:
System is about 1 year old, main components are

1. 8kW Sunsynk inverter,

2. 10x 455w Canadian Solar Mono perc panels (plan is to add 6 more at the end of 2022)

3. 10.8kWh LFP in battery storage (4x Rentech batteries). The BMS on one of them recently started giving issues (it would not accept a charge and would only discharge at a high current draw), fortunately it is being replaced at no cost to me but there is no stock.

Total cost was about R155k. The shape of house roof made the install rather challenging (if you could look down onto the roof from above it looks like a staircase veiwed from the side). So we ended up with 5 batches of 2 panels on separate pieces of the roof. The panels face magetic North (within 3 to 4 degrees) and are at a 28 degree angle (the angle impacts Summar production but makes up during Winter time).

We are also gradually replacing the old appliances in the house to more energy efficient alternatives (this was the Carrot to convince the "boss with long hair" that solar was a good idea).

So far we have managed to reduce our summer consumption from 25kw per day to about 16kw per day. The largest contributors here were the

1. Heat pump tumble dryer. At R13k it was expensive but it is an amazing piece of technology. It uses between 300w to 550w depending on the program ( compared to about 2200w to what we had before) plus it converts all the moisture to water so no more hot and humid air being blown out. We use this every evening (when no solar is available) often for 2 full cycles, meaning it is on for 2 odd hours and we still make it through the evening on the batteries (even with the reduced capacity due to the one broken battery)

2. 5.4 kWh ITS Heat pump, again at almost R30k (incl installation) it was expensive. We still have the 3.5kWh element in the geyser should the heatpump fail. It draws between 1400w and 1900w depending on where it is in the heating cycle (compared to the consistent 3500w draw of the element). It takes about 60 to 70 minutes to warm the water to 60 degrees Celsius in Summar, compared to 70 to 80 minutes for the element (I have done a number of tests on this, the 10 minutes difference is an average, sometimes it is more and sometimes less as the heating time is impacted by the starting water temperature).

3. We also replaced the washing machine, saving here was marginal (550w for old machine vs 420w for new one)

Next up for replacement is the fridge freezer. Current one draws 180W and will be replaced with a 90W or 100W alternative, likey a Bosch. I have been monitoring my current fridge with a smart wifi plug, I was surprised to see that it never turns off during warm evenings meaning it draws 180W on a constant basis.
Click to expand...
Sweet!

Is that the Samsung heat pump tumble dryer? That's the one I'm looking at.

Siemens also super power efficient on the fridge side ours pulls around 30w or so.

Getting that overall power low makes a world of difference.
 
Snyper564 said:
Sweet!

Is that the Samsung heat pump tumble dryer? That's the one I'm looking at.

Siemens also super power efficient on the fridge side ours pulls around 30w or so.

Getting that overall power low makes a world of difference.
Click to expand...
Yes, it is the 9kg Samsung. This one, the price on takealot seems incorrect.

Takealot.com: Online Shopping | SA's leading online store

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Koosvanwyk said:
Yes, it is the 9kg Samsung. This one, the price on takealot seems incorrect.

Takealot.com: Online Shopping | SA's leading online store

South Africa's leading online store. Fast, reliable delivery to your door. Many ways to pay. Shop anything you can imagine: TVs, laptops, cellphones, kitchen appliances, toys, books, beauty & more. Shop the mobile app anytime, anywhere.
www.takealot.com www.takealot.com
Click to expand...
Thanks! Also it's takelot pushing up before dropping it
 
Koosvanwyk said:
System is about 1 year old, main components are

1. 8kW Sunsynk inverter,

2. 10x 455w Canadian Solar Mono perc panels (plan is to add 6 more at the end of 2022)

3. 10.8kWh LFP in battery storage (4x Rentech batteries). The BMS on one of them recently started giving issues (it would not accept a charge and would only discharge at a high current draw), fortunately it is being replaced at no cost to me but there is no stock.

Total cost was about R155k. The shape of house roof made the install rather challenging (if you could look down onto the roof from above it looks like a staircase veiwed from the side). So we ended up with 5 batches of 2 panels on separate pieces of the roof. The panels face magetic North (within 3 to 4 degrees) and are at a 28 degree angle (the angle impacts Summar production but makes up during Winter time).

We are also gradually replacing the old appliances in the house to more energy efficient alternatives (this was the Carrot to convince the "boss with long hair" that solar was a good idea).

So far we have managed to reduce our summer consumption from 25kw per day to about 16kw per day. The largest contributors here were the

1. Heat pump tumble dryer. At R13k it was expensive but it is an amazing piece of technology. It uses between 300w to 550w depending on the program ( compared to about 2200w to what we had before) plus it converts all the moisture to water so no more hot and humid air being blown out. We use this every evening (when no solar is available) often for 2 full cycles, meaning it is on for 2 odd hours and we still make it through the evening on the batteries (even with the reduced capacity due to the one broken battery)

2. 5.4 kWh ITS Heat pump, again at almost R30k (incl installation) it was expensive. We still have the 3.5kWh element in the geyser should the heatpump fail. It draws between 1400w and 1900w depending on where it is in the heating cycle (compared to the consistent 3500w draw of the element). It takes about 60 to 70 minutes to warm the water to 60 degrees Celsius in Summar, compared to 70 to 80 minutes for the element (I have done a number of tests on this, the 10 minutes difference is an average, sometimes it is more and sometimes less as the heating time is impacted by the starting water temperature).

3. We also replaced the washing machine, saving here was marginal (550w for old machine vs 420w for new one)

Next up for replacement is the fridge freezer. Current one draws 180W and will be replaced with a 90W or 100W alternative, likey a Bosch. I have been monitoring my current fridge with a smart wifi plug, I was surprised to see that it never turns off during warm evenings meaning it draws 180W on a constant basis.
Click to expand...
Nice system you have there. Do you have some pics?
 
We will again be fried in Cape Town today. What I have noticed is that anything above 33 celsius ambient temperature has a substantial impact on panel performance. With 36 max predicted it is likely that I performance will be way below 80% of rated capacity ( might even struggle to reach 75%).

Screenshot_20220114-082737_Ventusky.jpg
 
I am yet to experience such temps myself.
 
Koosvanwyk said:
Yes, it is the 9kg Samsung. This one, the price on takealot seems incorrect.

Takealot.com: Online Shopping | SA's leading online store

South Africa's leading online store. Fast, reliable delivery to your door. Many ways to pay. Shop anything you can imagine: TVs, laptops, cellphones, kitchen appliances, toys, books, beauty & more. Shop the mobile app anytime, anywhere.
www.takealot.com www.takealot.com
Click to expand...
WTF with that Pricing?! I think I paid R11k or R12k for mine. Maybe less. I upgraded most of appliances at home so I lost track of how much things were :ROFL:
 
I have a tumble dryer. Don't know when last i used it though.
 
I decided i am going to get the new Sunsynk logger. I find myself hitting the refresh button on solarman way too often. I would like to see real-time stats.
 
i have had the Sunsynk logger for three months, like it a lot
 
W@P said:
I decided i am going to get the new Sunsynk logger. I find myself hitting the refresh button on solarman way too often. I would like to see real-time stats.
Click to expand...

Ordered mine in December but no feedback yet from Powerforum-Store. I assume they will re-open on the 17th only.

Trying to cancel the Hubble Cloudlink as well.
 
maxxis said:
Ordered mine in December but no feedback yet from Powerforum-Store. I assume they will re-open on the 17th only.

Trying to cancel the Hubble Cloudlink as well.
Click to expand...
Yea i sent Steve a WA this morning, he's still on leave. Only back on monday.
 
W@P said:
I decided i am going to get the new Sunsynk logger. I find myself hitting the refresh button on solarman way too often. I would like to see real-time stats.
Click to expand...
I'm on the fence at the moment between that and the Solar assistant software (i already have a Pi). Keen to hear your experiences if you do get the Sunsynk Logger
 
Last edited:
I paid R2500 for the RIOT. Another R1600 will go towards the Sunsynk logger....

That is R4100. Solar Assistant is looking mighty fine.
 
Just go solar-assist, the sunsynk software looks very meh.
 
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