DMerciful:
'ordinary' Sunshine panels o

Ordinary sunshine, haba ! At least it is giving you juice. Juice is juice irrespective of PV.

To me, it has matched it's expectations despite being considered a poor quality product.

In fact am beginning to think any of the dealers on the forum should do a test under same condition like laying 10 different PV brands of same wattage and test under mid-day sun & bring to us the diy results.

Copy to kiekie1, JUO, monspowersolutions etc.

DMerciful:
'ordinary' Sunshine panels o

The yield is impressive.
I'm wondering why folks would prefer to spend almost double on brands like solarworld!

Seconded.

efuro:


Ordinary sunshine, haba ! At least it is giving you juice. Juice is juice irrespective of PV.

To me, it has matched it's expectations despite being considered a poor quality product.

In fact am beginning to think any of the dealers on the forum should do a test under same condition like laying 10 different PV brands of same wattage and test under mid-day sun & bring to us the diy results.

Copy to kiekie1, JUO, monspowersolutions etc.

Quality?

mank1234:

I'm wondering why folks would prefer to spend almost double on brands like solarworld!

earthrealm:


the trick is not going far aboce c/10 in ur case..ur harvest shudnt exceed 35amps. at 1.2kw and just 2 x 200ah batts. you are maxed out already, unless ur setup isnt optimal

Thanks for ur input Sir. My set up is optimal, its just that I'm looking forward to increasing my back up time from 2 batteries 200ah to 4 batteries.

Barezzi:
Quality?

Yes Sir, Quality is good & nice for those who can afford it.

Even though PV are rated 10-40yrs, My narrow reasoning is such that I prefer to use sunshine panels now and probably for 6 to 7 yrs from which new template in technology would have be out in RE where the pleasure of current expensive PV
Would have been overwhelmed.

Take a look at Trojan 6v industrial batteries of few yrs back and now lithium solutions.

Just my view.

DMerciful:
Friends,

Yesterday I added 2*250w panel to my existing 4*250w making a total of 6*250w(1500w). This upgrade is driven by the need to run the pumping machine on inverter which was done successfully with 1000w but the drain on my batteries was appreciable. Also I should go to 70% off grid since my loads on average is about 150w
With this addiction I have moved from 2*2 configuration to 3*2 configuration with input Voc @ 106v(thats how epever itracer loves it)
See pics of before and after. Will post harvest later today.... Hope the Sun shines well.

Congrats on ur new upgrade. U've indeed taken a bold step and I'm proud of you.

You are right. Why buy a panel guaranteed to last for 25yrs when new panels with probably 60% efficiency will surface in 10yrs time. Lithium ti take over

efuro:


Yes Sir, Quality is good & nice for those who can afford it.

Even though PV are rated 10-40yrs, My narrow reasoning is such that I prefer to use sunshine panels now and probably for 6 to 7 yrs from which new template in technology would have be out in RE where the pleasure of current expensive PV
Would have been overwhelmed.

Take a look at Trojan 6v industrial batteries of few yrs back and now lithium solutions.

Just my view.

I last loaded 10k middle of 2016 I think

Every 4 months or so I load a provisional 2k so that the PHCN guys see some activity on the meter and don't come to bother me.

My bedroom AC, Microwave, Fridge-Freezer, Water dispenser e.t.c are all powered off solar/batteries. In fact my inverter is not connected to the mains at all (only non-solar charging source I have is an Huawei 48v Telecomms DC Power Supply) and the only thing that consumes PHCN credits are the bathroom water heaters when the Madam wants a hot bath, power usage when I power down the system for tweaks or routine maintenance and freshening charge for new batteries before Zeestone99 goes to install for Lekki clients.

kiekie1:


Oga NiyiOmoIyunade you are needed here ! When last did you load your PRE-PAID meter . As for us , we still use monthly estimates of 1500-2k not minding PHCN rarely remembers us like Ikorodu & Maryland people

zeestone99:


Phcn will soon restrategize, so as to deal with prepaid meter users, niyi and Co watch out, you will soon hear fees like maintenance fee, and lekki tolgate fee

mank1234:


The yield is impressive.
I'm wondering why folks would prefer to spend almost double on brands like solarworld!

Quality and durability. We often forget that a solar panels should last for over 25 years. Many PV might start proper but degrade at a very rapid rate down the years. You experience things like burnout of the silicon and drop in yield.

Well using for a year now... No noticeable drop in performance. I always prefer to buy known low quality and pay the low price than to be sold the same quality for a higher price cos of name. They are mostly same when all comparative analysis is done. I will consider them different when I start seeing some at 30% efficiency while the low quality at 20% efficiency

bigrovar:

Quality and durability. We often forget that a solar panels should last for over 25 years. Many PV might start proper but degrade at a very rapid rate down the years. You experience things like burnout of the silicon and drop in yield.

I strongly agree. The people who paid extra for premium today will also upgrade to the latest technology within the 10 year mark.

I am more of a value/performance person but I also believe choice of products can be driven by how deep one's pockets are, degree of technical exposure, status and/or need to impress amongst other factors. I have a potential client now who is using a ~10kw Victron inverter on a 48v 1200ah battery bank to power a maximum 2kw peak load and now wants to downgrade because someone mentioned that his setup was inefficient and he felt bad to be running an 'inefficient' setup as an MSc Electrical Engineering grad.

For the discussion around panels and quality I only tell people to buy the best quality they can afford - if you do the price performance ratio calculation for SolarWorld vs. say Chinco Flames panels, the results may just surprise you.

I show below a snapshot of my average solar yield between 1pm to 4pm with 4.5kw of West facing FLAMES 300w Mono Panels. This results held consistently on average for 5 months of 2017 before the harmattan season. 3.25Kw yield from a 4.5Kw array ain't no mean feat - If I had a Magnum PT100, I am sure I would max 4kw yield on this array .

DMerciful:
Well using for a year now... No noticeable drop in performance. I always prefer to buy known low quality and pay the low price than to be sold the same quality for a higher price cos of name. They are mostly same when all comparative analysis is done. I will consider them different when I start seeing some at 30% efficiency while the low quality at 20% efficiency

DMerciful:
You are right. Why buy a panel guaranteed to last for 25yrs when new panels with probably 60% efficiency will surface in 10yrs time. Lithium ti take over

efuro:


Yes Sir, Quality is good & nice for those who can afford it.

Even though PV are rated 10-40yrs, My narrow reasoning is such that I prefer to use sunshine panels now and probably for 6 to 7 yrs from which new template in technology would have be out in RE where the pleasure of current expensive PV
Would have been overwhelmed.

Take a look at Trojan 6v industrial batteries of few yrs back and now lithium solutions.

Just my view.

efuro:


Yes Sir, Quality is good & nice for those who can afford it.

Even though PV are rated 10-40yrs, My narrow reasoning is such that I prefer to use sunshine panels now and probably for 6 to 7 yrs from which new template in technology would have be out in RE where the pleasure of current expensive PV
Would have been overwhelmed.

Take a look at Trojan 6v industrial batteries of few yrs back and now lithium solutions.

Just my view.

Exactly my thought, dat is what I told niyiomo(bros ur name too long, and I no sabi spell ) b4 I sold him flames panels, with price diff about 30 to 40k as against solarworld , if solarworld ll take u 25yrs, and flames tk u 10 to 15yrs, that is enough tym for technology to take a different phase entirely, jst as traditional lead Ba3s are bowing out to lithium Ba3s. Although premium brands push out more amps than tier 2 panels.
On a second thought wen u compare d additional amps vs the additional price,i ll let u judge.

N:b if there is fund, premium panel and premium controller rocks

No attachment

NiyiOmoIyunade:
I strongly agree. The people who paid extra for premium today will also upgrade to the latest technology within the 10 year mark.

I am more of a value/performance person but I also believe choice of products can be driven by how deep one's pockets are, degree of technical exposure, status and/or need to impress amongst other factors. I have a potential client now who is using a ~10kw Victron inverter on a 48v 1200ah battery bank to power a maximum 2kw peak load and now wants to downgrade because someone mentioned that his setup was inefficient and he felt bad to be running an 'inefficient' setup as an MSc Electrical Engineering grad.

For the discussion around panels and quality I only tell people to buy the best quality they can afford - if you do the price performance ratio calculation for SolarWorld vs. say Chinco Flames panels, the results may just surprise you.

I show below a snapshot of my average solar yield between 1pm to 4pm with 4.5kw of West facing FLAMES 300w Mono Panels. This results held consistently on average for 5 months of 2017 before the harmattan season.

Which of flames, Myhome, yachi, yingli, sunshine is more reliable?

@Makavele, your comment below to DMerciful was rude. Please apologize to him. He does not deserve your insult.

makavele:


Will you keep kwayet ?

NiyiOmoIyunade:
....... and the only thing that consumes PHCN credits are the bathroom water heaters when the Madam wants a hot bath,

With 6.3KW array and 38kwh of battery storage, why are your water heater not on solar?

Install timer switch on the water heaters and set them to run one after the other for 30 minutes each in the afternoon, preferably between 11am and 2pm. Once the water is boiled it is good for the next 24hours.

I have a 4.5kw array, I run a borehole pump and four 20litre water heaters off it between 11am and 2:30pm.

The last time I bought PHCN recharge was October, 2016 when I needed utility bill for banking purpose.

SolnergyPower:
@Makavele, your comment below to DMerciful was rude. Please apologize to him. He does not deserve your insult.

DMerciful , I am sorry & I take back the insult.

efuro:


Am sure ur PV are in parallel . I can't just take my eyes off ur low wattage and high amps.

Magnificent harvest! Ur batteries will love you.

Yeah.

6nos. 2S3P. Seriously considering going back to 6P. So the system voltage operates at 35- 41v which makes it even cooler.

The more heat it dissipates from the cooling fins the more losses and faster degrading of electronic components.

a series of DIYs coming up soon . . .

Ijeoma660:


Yeah.

6nos. 2S3P. Seriously considering going back to 6P. So the system voltage operates at 35- 41v which makes it even cooler.

The more heat it dissipates from the cooling fins the more losses and faster degrading of electronic components.

6 Parallels? Way too much current = worse losses

Exactly what I started yesterday with 1.5kw array. Two water heaters that runs or 45mins btw 11am and 1pm.

dapsyra:


With 6.3KW array and 38kwh of battery storage, why are your water heater not on solar?

Install timer switch on the water heaters and set them to run one after the other for 30 minutes each in the afternoon, preferably between 11am and 2pm. Once the water is boiled it is good for the next 24hours.

I have a 4.5kw array, I run a borehole pump and four 20litre water heaters off it between 11am and 2:30pm.

The last time I bought PHCN recharge was October, 2016 when I needed utility bill for banking purpose.

Thanks for apologizing... Thumbs up

makavele:


DMerciful , I am sorry & I take back the insult.

Here goes Sir ...

I also updated the original post with the pic - some evil Nairaland gremlin must have swallowed up the 'pisho' the first time around.

mank1234:
No attachment

See my rooftop view below - and this in a rented house

I am pretty much where I want to be for energy independence until I move to my own place eventually - no motivation to make all those tweaks to the existing house setup which I would have to unwind when moving out.

Also, I grew up tough so hot water and hot baths are not my thing save for the Madam for whom it is a necessity.

Also I retired my 5Kw inverter due to high idle consumption and only use the smaller 3Kw - the Madam may have bedroom or sitting room 1hp AC running in the house all through the day and I would not want to have a 1Kw heater come on randomly while Iron or Washing Machine are already running at the same time with the AC - no matter how much I preach, she does not understand why I have so many batteries and am still managing loads nor why I am worried and start switching off stuff if the battery monitor is reading 75% AH capacity left - she thinks the inverter batteries are like phone batteries that you should only bother recharging when you get to 30% or less AH capacity left in the batteries

Ultimately I will only be motivated to put the water heaters on my system when I move to my own place.

dapsyra:


With 6.3KW array and 38kwh of battery storage, why are your water heater not on solar?

Install timer switch on the water heaters and set them to run one after the other for 30 minutes each in the afternoon, preferably between 11am and 2pm. Once the water is boiled it is good for the next 24hours.

I have a 4.5kw array, I run a borehole pump and four 20litre water heaters off it between 11am and 2:30pm.

The last time I bought PHCN recharge was October, 2016 when I needed utility bill for banking purpose.

Thanks dapsyra! This is why i love this thread.
I shall implement this immediately.

dapsyra:
Install timer switch on the water heaters and set them to run one after the other for 30 minutes each in the afternoon, preferably between 11am and 2pm. Once the water is boiled it is good for the next 24hours.

NiyiOmoIyunade:
See my rooftop view below - and this in a rented house

I am pretty much where I want to be for energy independence until I move to my own place eventually - no motivation to make all those tweaks to the existing house setup which I would have to unwind when moving out.

Also, I grew up tough so hot water and hot baths are not my thing save for the Madam for whom it is a necessity.

Also I retired my 5Kw inverter due to high idle consumption and only use the smaller 3Kw - the Madam may have bedroom or sitting room 1hp AC running in the house all through the day and I would not want to have a 1Kw heater come on randomly while Iron or Washing Machine are already running at the same time with the AC - no matter how much I preach, she does not understand why I have so many batteries and am still managing loads nor why I am worried and start switching off stuff if the battery monitor is reading 75% AH capacity left - she thinks the inverter batteries are like phone batteries that you should only bother recharging when you get to 30% or less AH capacity left in the batteries

Ultimately I will only be motivated to put the water heaters on my system when I move to my own place.

The general

Barezzi:
Thanks dapsyra! This is why i love this thread.
I shall implement this immediately.

No time bros

I need a dealer who can supply me a good 200mah inverter battery in osun state.

Akerekoroabijawara:
I need a dealer who can supply me a good 200mah inverter battery in osun state.

For fast & reliable supplies ,
Contact:
Smartcell global services
081-350-31951

Battery overhaul at LRU "Rapid response squad" CCTV van , Alausa-Ikeja, Lagos state .

Smartcell global services,
We deliver !

Akerekoroabijawara:
I need a dealer who can supply me a good 200mah inverter battery in osun state.

Call/whatapp 08117398294...