Yet ANOTHER solar install thread (Cape Town)

[Ghost02]

When all these threads started popping up I wondered if everyone needed their own thread, now after facing this massive financial decision myself I must say that I understand.

I've been quoted on the following system (using Dean who's been recommended here many times) and had a few questions:
- 8KVA Deye
- 3 x Dyness 5.2KW
- 18 545W Jinko (this could be 15 too)

Basic overview of house energy eaters:
1x Pool pump
2x Aircon (shouldn't run at the same time but both inverter aircons, a 12000 and an 18000)
1x Gaming PC
1x 200L geyser (want to replace the element with a 2kw)
Gas hob and we mostly use the air fryer to cook.

The questions I have so far are

1. Would you get 18 or 15 panels? My thinking around 18 is to better carry me through winter and I read on the forum that more is better with solar panels. It probably allows me to export more one day too when I get to that stage (waiting to see if the bidirectional meters ever get subsidized)
2. The other battery option was Volta which are 1C but the Dyness is a bit cheaper and I heard that they were bullet proof. 3 of them at 0.5C at least brings me to ~7.5kw which sounds good for battery only load.
3. I read on powerforum that SunSynk inverters can blend AC power in if available if you go over your inverters max load, there seems to be some debate in the threads I viewed about this and the thread even mentioned it might be a SunSynk specific feature as Dyness just trips when you go over the rated amount. https://powerforum.co.za/topic/9026-passthrough-on-sunsynk-hybrid-inverter/
4. Would you put everything on the essential side given the system and the energy eaters in the house? The answer to question 3 impacts this I suppose but I also plan to setup solar assistant with home assistant and make it turn off the pool pump and geyser (geyserwise) given to much load.

 

[Ghost02]

Reserved 1

 

[Ghost02]

Reserved 2

 

[Pegging]

Check your electic bills for the last year and see how many KWH a day you use.

Decide if you want to tackle up to stage 8 or whatever with your system.
Or if you want to survive a 24 power cut etc.

There are many geyser options. A busy thread running right now.

The system you are thinking of should easily cover stage 8 if the oven and geyser go off during power cuts.

 

[Mzezman]

Even a 3kw geyser will be fine on this system - I run mine on a 5kw and it's fine on most days. You might need to shift some of that Geyer warming to the sun hours but I would keep it on essentials with a timer. If there is an extended outage and you don't have the geyser on essentials you will have an unhappy cold watered household

About the batteries, Dyness ARE quite bulletproof, as are Pylontech and a few other 0.5c rated ones. In the higher C ratings you then have the Greenrich + Hubbles of the world which do come with a bit of a premium. Guess the question is, would you ever need more than 0.5C from your bank during loadshedding / night?

 

[Mzezman]

On the blending, the Sunynk/Deye can blend Ac+dc+grid to a max of about 11kw. It will take what it needs from each source based on what that source can give. In this case if you have 0.5C batteries and there are 3 of them you will get whatever that max is (7.x kwh for 3*5.12 kwh if there is little PV) the balance from grid... But again this is config dependant

 

[Mike Hoxbig]

Get as many panels as you can afford. Otherwise it means coming back to install more, which comes with another install cost.

With the amount of storage you have, C rating is irrelevant. You have enough to carry a high load and that's all that matters. I run Dyness myself, as do @Mzezman and @SauRoNZA and we haven't had any issues.

Put everything on essentials. There will come a time when there's no power for a few days and you'll have no hot water. Just use a CBI astute to manage the schedule and run it mostly during the day...

 

[Ghost02]

Check your electic bills for the last year and see how many KWH a day you use.

Decide if you want to tackle up to stage 8 or whatever with your system.
Or if you want to survive a 24 power cut etc.

There are many geyser options. A busy thread running right now.

The system you are thinking of should easily cover stage 8 if the oven and geyser go off during power cuts.

On average we're using about 23KWH a day at the moment.

The goal at the moment is to be able last though any stage of loadshedding and pay eskom as little as possible. I'd be happy to be able to export at some point too.

Even a 3kw geyser will be fine on this system - I run mine on a 5kw and it's fine on most days. You might need to shift some of that Geyer warming to the sun hours but I would keep it on essentials with a timer. If there is an extended outage and you don't have the geyser on essentials you will have an unhappy cold watered household

About the batteries, Dyness ARE quite bulletproof, as are Pylontech and a few other 0.5c rated ones. In the higher C ratings you then have the Greenrich + Hubbles of the world which do come with a bit of a premium. Guess the question is, would you ever need more than 0.5C from your bank during loadshedding / night?

I'll try keep the geyser to only heating during sun hours, I already have a geyserwise for timing but hoping to get some smarter rules going by upgrading to the wifi geyserwise and setting up home assistant rules.

0.5C per battery should cover us during load-shedding/night, it's mostly for spikes such as making tea.

On the blending, the Sunynk/Deye can blend Ac+dc+grid to a max of about 11kw. It will take what it needs from each source based on what that source can give. In this case if you have 0.5C batteries and there are 3 of them you will get whatever that max is (7.x kwh for 3*5.12 kwh if there is little PV) the balance from grid... But again this is config dependant

Is the max 8kw dc and 3kw ac?

Get as many panels as you can afford. Otherwise it means coming back to install more, which comes with another install cost.

With the amount of storage you have, C rating is irrelevant. You have enough to carry a high load and that's all that matters. I run Dyness myself, as do @Mzezman and @SauRoNZA and we haven't had any issues.

Put everything on essentials. There will come a time when there's no power for a few days and you'll have no hot water. Just use a CBI astute to manage the schedule and run it mostly during the day...

Thanks, will just get the panels over and done with. 18 should be basically all the north facing roof I have.

Glad to hear you're happy with the batteries, will stick with them.

Does the CBI astute do anything that the geyserwise wouldn't?

 

[Pegging]

On average we're using about 23KWH a day at the moment.

The goal at the moment is to be able last though any stage of loadshedding and pay eskom as little as possible. I'd be happy to be able to export at some point too.


I'll try keep the geyser to only heating during sun hours, I already have a geyserwise for timing but hoping to get some smarter rules going by upgrading to the wifi geyserwise and setting up home assistant rules.

0.5C per battery should cover us during load-shedding/night, it's mostly for spikes such as making tea.


Is the max 8kw dc and 3kw ac?


Thanks, will just get the panels over and done with. 18 should be basically all the north facing roof I have.

Glad to hear you're happy with the batteries, will stick with them.

Does the CBI astute do anything that the geyserwise wouldn't?

I'm also using 23kwh. Up to 25kwh in winter. Got close to what you have. 8kw Deye. 2 x 5kwh Volta. 12 x Jinko. Getting a 3rd battery soon.

Your one will have plenty of plenty of power.

 

[Ghost02]

I'm also using 23kwh. Up to 25kwh in winter. Got close to what you have. 8kw Deye. 2 x 5kwh Volta. 12 x Jinko. Getting a 3rd battery soon.

Your one will have plenty of plenty of power.

Thanks, how far does 2 batteries get you at night? What was the driving factor to get another, loadshedding or taking sunlight further?

 

[Pegging]

Thanks, how far does 2 batteries get you at night? What was the driving factor to get another, loadshedding or taking sunlight further?

First 10% is do not use for warranty reasons.
Next 40% is emergency power for loadshedding.

50% (or 5 kWh) is used for normal usage and that runs out by 9 pm.
Then it will use Eskom.
(If a 12 hour plus power cut started then, I will struggle to get to sunshine time with my 4 kwh emergency power, so that is one reason for the extra battery)


I am using about 6 kWh from Eskom per day, another reason for a battery, but not a good reason as that amount of electricity doesn’t cost much.

 

[Mzezman]

On average we're using about 23KWH a day at the moment.

The goal at the moment is to be able last though any stage of loadshedding and pay eskom as little as possible. I'd be happy to be able to export at some point too.


I'll try keep the geyser to only heating during sun hours, I already have a geyserwise for timing but hoping to get some smarter rules going by upgrading to the wifi geyserwise and setting up home assistant rules.

0.5C per battery should cover us during load-shedding/night, it's mostly for spikes such as making tea.


Is the max 8kw dc and 3kw ac?


Thanks, will just get the panels over and done with. 18 should be basically all the north facing roof I have.

Glad to hear you're happy with the batteries, will stick with them.

Does the CBI astute do anything that the geyserwise wouldn't?

The max is 11-ish kw of DC and AC, split between DC and AC or AC only . The DC only max is 8kw when there is no AC

 

[Ghost02]

The max is 11-ish kw of DC and AC, split between DC and AC or AC only . The DC only max is 8kw when there is no AC

Thanks, does any special setup need to happen for that or will it blend on its own?

 

[SauRoNZA]

[*]Would you get 18 or 15 panels? My thinking around 18 is to better carry me through winter and I read on the forum that more is better with solar panels. It probably allows me to export more one day too when I get to that stage (waiting to see if the bidirectional meters ever get subsidized)

Where would they be facing?

If they are all facing north it’s just too much.

With a 14 panel North only system I’m looking to re-balance mind to 10 North, 5 East and 5 West.

In winter it won’t matter Jack if they are all one direction and you’d want to spread it out to have more hours instead of peaks.

Going by memory it was hard to get mine fully charged on many winter days with 6.3kWp north facing.

[*]The other battery option was Volta which are 1C but the Dyness is a bit cheaper and I heard that they were bullet proof. 3 of them at 0.5C at least brings me to ~7.5kw which sounds good for battery only load.

Very happy with my Dyness. Only thing I would have done different is gone for their Powerboxes instead for a neater/cooler install.

[*]I read on powerforum that SunSynk inverters can blend AC power in if available if you go over your inverters max load, there seems to be some debate in the threads I viewed about this and the thread even mentioned it might be a SunSynk specific feature as Dyness just trips when you go over the rated amount. https://powerforum.co.za/topic/9026-passthrough-on-sunsynk-hybrid-inverter/

I would imagine Deye does it too but yes while Eskom is around you can go up to 20kW as I recall.

[*]Would you put everything on the essential side given the system and the energy eaters in the house? The answer to question 3 impacts this I suppose but I also plan to setup solar assistant with home assistant and make it turn off the pool pump and geyser (geyserwise) given to much load.
[/LIST]

I have put everything on there and the only real management I do is to turn the Geyser off when there’s load shedding with Home Assistant.

When it’s mid day peak solar I’ll even have all three aircons on but this is really on extreme days over weekend when everyone is home.

If I’m baking I’ll limit it to one aircon.

didn’t bother with Solar Assistant I just interface directly with a cable as my server rack is also in the garage.

I do plan to add a 4th battery to my setup soon as I can when I add the other 6 panels to the system.

(Dean did my install as well).

 

[Mzezman]

Thanks, does any special setup need to happen for that or will it blend on its own?

The basics should cover you but you can decide whether you want PV to power laod first or charge the battery, that will then influence the above

 

[Mzezman]

[QUOTE="SauRoNZA, post: 30854451, member: 97943]

I would imagine Deye does it too but yes while Eskom is around you can go up to 20kW as I recall.


I don't think the 8kw can go to 20kw with pass-through. It's double digits but not that high

 

[Ghost02]

Where would they be facing?

If they are all facing north it’s just too much.

With a 14 panel North only system I’m looking to re-balance mind to 10 North, 5 East and 5 West.

In winter it won’t matter Jack if they are all one direction and you’d want to spread it out to have more hours instead of peaks.

Going by memory it was hard to get mine fully charged on many winter days with 6.3kWp north facing.



Very happy with my Dyness. Only thing I would have done different is gone for their Powerboxes instead for a neater/cooler install.



I would imagine Deye does it too but yes while Eskom is around you can go up to 20kW as I recall.



I have put everything on there and the only real management I do is to turn the Geyser off when there’s load shedding with Home Assistant.

When it’s mid day peak solar I’ll even have all three aircons on but this is really on extreme days over weekend when everyone is home.

If I’m baking I’ll limit it to one aircon.

didn’t bother with Solar Assistant I just interface directly with a cable as my server rack is also in the garage.

I do plan to add a 4th battery to my setup soon as I can when I add the other 6 panels to the system.

(Dean did my install as well).

I'll have a look at how much my east/west can handle and look at doing possibly 4 each on those.

Are you using a cable that goes from the inverter to the server usb directly? If so, what software are you using to stream the data in? I could put the PC I'm planning to use next to the inverter but there isn't a plug there at the moment. I suppose the pi would need power too though.

I saw in one of the threads that you were looking to do solar assistant at a point, what changed your mind? Is direct integration better or just the same but for free?

What's the main reason you're looking at getting another battery?

I've heard many good things about Dean on the forum, I think your thread was the first that nudged me towards him.