A DC circuit breaker essentially serves as an overcurrent protection device to protect your wires/cables from carrying currents higher than they are designed for and running hot and melting the insulation and/or causing a fire.

Secondarily, a DC circuit breaker may perform the function of a disconnect or ON/OFF switch so that you can isolate parts of your system and render them safe for inspection and or maintenance - in this scenario it is expected that the breaker is only used as disconnect in case of emergency or infrequently.

An SPD serves to limit the potentially destructive voltage and/or current spikes that a system may experience from connected equipment backsurges, fault conditions and/or nearby lightning strikes. An ideal SPD sits between the potential source of surge and the equipment it is protecting and absorbs all incoming surges and diverts them away from the protected equipment (diverts to ground). If designed and installed correctly the protected equipment sees only voltage or current spikes within its design tolerance while the SPD takes the damaging hits and shunts them to ground and also fails safely if required.


For a PV array, you need suitably rated DC breaker(s) between PV and CC (use a combiner box for larger installs) and also between CC and battery bank as OVERCURRENT protection and manual disconnect

Depending on the value of installed components and how critical operational continuity is, you want at a minimum an SPD between PV and CC (usually SPD is installed at combiner box). Midnite is a good source of SPDs but surely you may not want to spend ~45k/50k on an SPD to protect an inverter or CC worth less than 100k.

ojeysky:


Sorry I think I may not have asked my question correctly, is an SPD same thing as circuit breaker?

Prag 2.5kva 24v inverter with inbuilt AVR and surge protection. Rugged with very fast charger, comes with complete carton and Accessories for 95k Negotiable, used as stop gap fo 2 weeks when my main inverter went for repairs.
WhatsApp if interested, serious buyers only zero806742397zero

saint2ace:
Prag 2.5kva 24v inverter with inbuilt AVR and surge protection. Rugged with very fast charger, comes with complete carton and Accessories for 95k Negotiable, used as stop gap fo 2 weeks when my main inverter went for repairs.
WhatsApp if interested, serious buyers only zero806742397zero

Why not keep it as spare then? You may need it again.

Trippledots:


Why not keep it as spare then? You may need it again.

Changed my configuration to a 12v system.

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INVERTER

MICROTECH INVERTER
900VA,12V N46,000
1.1KVA,12V N53,000
1.6KVA/24V N72,000
2KVA/24V N80,000
2.3KVA/24V N90,000
2.6KVA/36V N105,000
3.6KVA/48V N170,000
5.2KVA/48V N340,000.
5.5KVA/96V N340,000
10KVA/180V N790,000


PRAG INVERTER
1.1KVA,12V N70,000
1.2KVA,12V N90,000
1.5KVA/24V N110,000
2.5KVA/24V N125,000
4KVA/24V N270,000.
7.5KVA/120V N500,000

LUMINOUS INVERTER

1.5KVA/24V N58,000
2.6KVA/36V N105,000
3.5KVA/48V N210,000
5KVA/48V N340,000.
5KVA/96V N340,000
10KVA/180V N750,000



MUST POWER STAR INVERTER

4kva 3000W 24V N 220,000
4kva 3000W 48V N 260,000
5kva 4000W 48V N 350,000
6kva 5000W 48V N 400,000
7.5kva 6000W 48V N 450,000
10kva/48V 8000W 48V N 950,000

KEYE INVERTER
KEYE 1.2KVA/12V - N54,000
KEYE 3.5KVA/24V - N180,000
KEYE 3.5KVA/48V - N180,000
KEYE 5KVA/24V – N275,000
KEYE 5KVA/48V -N 1275,000
KEYE 7.5KVA/48V – N400,000
KEYE 10KVA/48V – N6800,000



HYBRID INVERTER

VOLTRON SERIES
1.4KVA/12(30A N65,000
2.4KVA/24V50A N97,000
3KVA /48V 60A MPPT N220,000
5KVA /48V 60A MPPT N310,000
7.5KVA /48V 60A MPPT N430,000
10KVA /48V 100A MPPT N750,000
15KVA /48V 60A MPPT N850,000
15KVA /48V 120A MPPT N890,000


GENEXTECH SERIES

2KVA/24V(600W MPPT) #138,000
3KVA/24V(600W MPPT) #149,000
3KVA/24V(1500W MPPT) #194,000
3KVA/48V(3000W MPPT) #202,000
5KVA/48V(3000W MPPT) #306,000
10KW/48V(14850W MPPT) #1,660,000


STABILIZER

VOLTRON STABLIZER
6KVA WALL MOUNT RELAY REGULATOR #45,000
6KVA WALL MOUNT SERVO REGULATOR #65,000
12KVA WALL MOUNT RELAY REGULATOR #90,000
12KVA WALL MOUNT SERVO REGULATOR #120,000


PRAG STABLIZER

10KVA WALL MOUNT SERVO REGULATOR #130,000
12KVA WALL MOUNT RELAY REGULATOR #120,000
15KVA WALL MOUNT RELAY REGULATOR #140,000
15KVA WALL MOUNT SERVO REGULATOR #240,000
20KVA RELAY REGULATOR #195,000
20KVA SERVO REGULATOR #370,000
30KVA SERVO REGULATOR #470,000


BATTERY

LUMINIOUS BATTERY 12V/200AH N 125,000
LONG BATTERY 12V/200AH N 120,000
MONBAT BATTERY 12V/200AH N 125,000
ELSON BATTERY 12V/200AH N 115,000
MICROTEC BATTERY 12V/200AH N 105,000
M POWER BATTERY 12V/200AH N 115,000
EASTMAN 12V/200AH TALL TUBULAR BATTERY N115,000
GLT BATTERY 12V/200AH N 90,000
ZEEDIX BATTERY 12V/200AH N 95,000
RITAR BATTERY 12V/200AH N 130,000
PRAG BATTERY 12V/200AH N 140,000
GENUS BATTERY 12V/200AH N125,000
RITAR 200A BATTERY .......................N 115,000
MOTOMA 200A BATTERY ................N 120,000
CINEMAX 200A BATTERY ................N 120,000
QUANTA BATTERY 12V/200AH N 140,000
ALIGRAND 200A BATTERY ................N 120,000
NPP 200A BATTERY ................N 120,000


BATTERY RACK
BATTERY RACK 2 BATTERY N 15,000
BATTERY RACK 4 BATTERIES N 30,000
BATTERY RACK 8 BATTERIES N 50,000


CHARGE CONTROLLER

ROY SOLAR SERIES
20A 12/24V PWM CONTROLLER N 20,000
30A 12/24V PWM CONTROLLER N 25,000
40A 48v PWM controller (LED) N 50,000
30A 96v PWM controller (LCD) N 120,000
60A 48v PWM controller (LCD) N 95,000


COWIN SERIES
20A 12/24V PWM CONTROLLER N 15,000
30A 12/24V PWM CONTROLLER N 20,000
40A 12/24V PWM CONTROLLER N 25,000
50A 12/24V PWM CONTROLLER N 32,000
60A 12/24V PWM CONTROLLER N 41,000
40A 48v PWM controller (LED) N 25,000
50A 48v PWM controller (LED) N 32,000
60A 48v PWM controller (LED) N 50,000

COWIN MPPT SERIES

40A 12/24/48v MPPT controller (LCD) N 80,000
60A 12/24/48V MPPT controller (LCD) N 130,000

EPEVER MPPT SERIES
12/24/48 /45A N 145,000
12/24/48 /60A N155,000

SRNE MPPT
12/24/36/48V/60A N115,000

FANGUNPSUN MPPT SERIES
30A 24V N40,000
60A 48v N140,000
80A 48v N170,000

SOLAR PANELS

JOY SOLAR PANEL
150w MONO -N32,000
200w MONO -N33,000
260w MONO -N54,000


150w POLY –N27,000
200w POLY -N31,000
260w POLY -N52,000

TRINA SOLAR PANEL

300w MONO -N85,000
350w MONO -N110,000


YINGLIN SOLAR PANEL
100w POLY -N22,000
150w POLY -N33,000
200w POLY -N39,000
260w POLY -N51,000
310w POLY -N62,000


100w MONO-N25,000
150w MONO -N33,000
200w MONO -N39,000
260w MONO -N59,000
320w MONO -N74,000

JINKO SOLAR PANEL
JINKO SOLAR 370WATT MONO - N80,000
JINKO SOLAR 340WATT MONO - N70,000
JINKO SOLAR 280WATT MONO - N57,000
JINKO SOLAR 265WATT POLY - N55,000

ERA SOLAR PANEL
ERA SOLAR 300WATT MONO – N56,000
ERASOLAR 370WATT MONO - N72,000


CANADIAN SOLAR PANEL

MONO-
375w. N65,000 (BULK PURCHASE ONLY)

POLY
270w. N48,000 (BULK PURCHASE ONLY)


ACCESSORIES

PROGRAMMABLE Digital timer 15A N7,000
PROGRAMMABLE Digital timer 25A N9,000


BATTERY BALANCER /EQUALIZER 48V -------------35,000
BATTERY BALANCER EQUALIZER 24V ---------------#30,000
BATTERY VOLTMETER INDICATOR ------------------#1,700

DC SURGE ARRESTOR 800VDC------------------------------------N26,000



INSTALLATION KITS
L.FOOT N1,000 (MINIMUM ORDER 10 PIECES)
MID CLAMP N1,000 (MINIMUM ORDER 10 PIECES)
END CLAMP N1,000 (MINIMUM ORDER 10 PIECES)


DC IRON 150WATTS #9,000


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NiyiOmoIyunade:
A DC .


For a PV array, you need suitably rated DC breaker(s) between PV and CC (use a combiner box for larger installs) and also between CC and battery bank as OVERCURRENT protection and manual disconnect

Depending on the value of installed components and how critical operational continuity is, you want at a minimum an SPD between PV and CC (usually SPD is installed at combiner box). Midnite is a good source of SPDs but surely you may not want to spend ~45k/50k on an SPD to protect an inverter or CC worth less than 100k.

Thanks a lot for the education, it's really useful. My setup is quite small, for now it's 4 panels (250w each) to be in series. I have attached the spec of my hybrid controller.

I already have an SPD so from your explanation above, it means that diagrammatically, the wire from PV will look something like below:

PV>>>SPD>>>DC breaker>>>CC

What DC circuit breaker rating do you recommend? It's a 24V system.

Thanks again.

ojeysky:


Thanks a lot for the education, it's really useful. My setup is quite small, for now it's 4 panels (250w each) to be in series. I have attached the spec of my hybrid controller.

I already have an SPD so from your explanation above, it means that diagrammatically, the wire from PV will look something like below:

PV>>>SPD>>>DC breaker>>>CC

What DC circuit breaker rating do you recommend? It's a 24V system.

Thanks again.

My dream inverter. How much did you get this?

Namzy:

My dream inverter. How much did you get this?

590USD + N10K

Premium Rolls Sc-L16-HC 6v 445AH batteries available for sale. The batteries were imported from Canada for a project, however the power requirements for the project was oversized. We have over 50 batteries left. All were manufactured in 2017. Price is 120k per battery. Please WhatsApp or Call 08086009949 for more enquires.

teamman:
Premium Rolls Sc-L16-HC 6v 445AH batteries available for sale. The batteries were imported from Canada for a project, however the power requirements for the project was oversized. We have over 50 batteries left. All were manufactured in 2017. Price is 100k per battery. Please WhatsApp or Call 08086009949 for more enquires.

I think you meant s6 not sc
https://www.rollsbattery.com/battery/s6-l16-hc/ btw, these aren't SLA batteries right?

[Thanks for the correction. You are right it's s6. They are FLA quote author=Trippledots post=79705641]

I think you meant s6 not sc
https://www.rollsbattery.com/battery/s6-l16-hc/ btw, these aren't SLA batteries right?
[/quote]

Quite a beast of an inverter you have there based on the specs.

Since your inverter can handle high voltage arrays, do you plan to string all 4 panels in series or you plan the conventional 2 panels in series arrangement.

To select a dc breaker current rating, the rule of thumb is max system current × 1.25 - a 250w panel with ~30v vmp should max out at 8.3a, so

4 panels in series gives current rating 8.3a × 1.25 - 10a breaker with rated voltage above 150v at a minimum .

2 panels in series in 2 parallel strings will be 8.3a × 2 × 1.25 - 20a breaker at a minimum for the main wires to CC - you may still put a 10a breaker on each individual string of 2 panels if you choose.

These are the minimum breaker sizes for an overcurrent protection device that will also minimize nuisance trips - you can size a little higher if you have suitable gauge of wiring installed.

So your connection will look like PV Array ---> Assorted DC Breakers arranged in combiner box ---> SPD installed in combiner box ----> CC ----> DC Breaker (at least 45a) --->- Battery Bank.

If you use an SPD, IT MUST BE CONNECTED TO GROUND - I have seen a number of installations where an SPD was installed but not grounded - this is a great error indeed.

For how to actually install the SPD, you have a variety of options from twisting wires to hard crimping to using a cable splice to using the dc breaker terminals as a connection point but the neatest of all is to employ busbars inside a combiner box or similar arrangement.

ojeysky:


Thanks a lot for the education, it's really useful. My setup is quite small, for now it's 4 panels (250w each) to be in series. I have attached the spec of my hybrid controller.

I already have an SPD so from your explanation above, it means that diagrammatically, the wire from PV will look something like below:

PV>>>SPD>>>DC breaker>>>CC

What DC circuit breaker rating do you recommend? It's a 24V system.

Thanks again.

Premium Rolls S6-L16-HC 6v 445AH batteries available for sale. The batteries were imported from Canada for a project, however the power requirements for the project was oversized. We have over 50 batteries left. All were manufactured in 2017. Price is 120k per battery. Please WhatsApp or Call 08086009949 for more enquires.

teamman:
Premium Rolls S6-L16-HC 6v 445AH batteries available for sale. The batteries were imported from Canada for a project, however the power requirements for the project was oversized. We have over 50 batteries left. All were manufactured in 2017. Price is 100k per battery. Please WhatsApp or Call 08086009949 for more enquires.

Not to speak negatively about the batteries. They are a great product

but the Lithium versus lead acid debate has a nice example

These are C100 batteries so 480 AH battery should be used for 4.8 Amps ( so for a 48 V bank ) that is paltry 250 watts to achieve full capacity

at C10 rates ( 48 amps or 2500 Watts) the capacity drops by 35 % ( 319AH/486)

They are best used for low loads large runtime applications such as offgrid

NiyiOmoIyunade:
Quite a beast of an inverter you have there based on the specs.

Since your inverter can handle high voltage arrays, do you plan to string all 4 panels in series or you plan the conventional 2 panels in series arrangement.

Thanks a lot for the compliment, have been hoping to get it for a long time, am happy it finally happened. I plan on doing all 4 panels in series. I have attached my panel spec

To select a dc breaker current rating, the rule of thumb is max system current × 1.25 - a 250w panel with ~30v vmp should max out at 8.3a, so

4 panels in series gives current rating 8.3a × 1.25 - 10a breaker with rated voltage above 150v at a minimum .

Okay noted with thanks!

These are the minimum breaker sizes for an overcurrent protection device that will also minimize nuisance trips - you can size a little higher if you have suitable gauge of wiring installed.

Noted, I got a 2 core 8awg amoured.

So your connection will look like PV Array ---> Assorted DC Breakers arranged in combiner box ---> SPD installed in combiner box ----> CC ----> DC Breaker (at least 45a) --->- Battery Bank

.

I do not have a combiner box, and I am running out on budget already, is this avoidable without issues?

If you use an SPD, IT MUST BE CONNECTED TO GROUND - I have seen a number of installations where an SPD was installed but not grounded - this is a great error indeed

.

The house is already earthed, is it okay to connect to the ground cable that supplies earthing to the household?

For how to actually install the SPD, you have a variety of options from twisting wires to hard crimping to using a cable splice to using the dc breaker terminals as a connection point but the neatest of all is to employ busbars inside a combiner box or similar arrangement.

Okay noted with thanks

The summary of this post: I've had a battle scare with my PIP-5048GK transformerless and battery-less-support inverter I just installed during the early hours of yesterday; but it's all good now.

How it went:

I had been on my brand new 3KW/4KVA VIL Power Star-Light inverter for just under a year, using the 1.8KW max PV loadable on it out of my available 3.2KW or so. Then the bugger crapped out on me two days ago, in the dead of the evening... (sorry, I'm interrupted. I'll contnue shortly.)

Edited: Please see below.

The summary of this post:

I've had a battle scare with my PIP-5048GK transformerless with battery-less-support inverter I just installed during the early hours of yesterday; but it's all good now.

How it went:

I had been on my brand new 24v 3KW/4KVA VIL Power Star-Light inverter for just under a year, using the 1.8KW max PV loadable on it out of my available 3.2KW. Then the bugger crapped out on me two days ago, in the dead of the evening. The seller wouldn't provide support, stating that the original merchant went under, or something to that effect. Meanwhile, I'm totally off grid and the past two days have had autonomy weather forced on my part of Lagos...

So, I was forced to have to install and deploy my PIP during the very early hours of yesterday, even as I was not quite ready with the PIP (still expecting the second of two 600/800vdc SPD's I learnt would be ideal for the system, one each by the PV array and inverter ends, particularly if the distance between is considerable.)

I went ahead anyways and also reconfigured all of my 10 PV's in series for a possible combined 400V, or thereabout. I also reconfigured my meager 4.8KWh of batteries to 48 volts. Then waited for dawn — and the sun — to show, starting from the next hour.

At about 7:30am, and without any batteries connected whatsoever, the PIP came to life with about 100 watts of power. No load yet, of course, because of the still sun-starved weather. It was beautiful, a successful test of the battery-less feature of the unit. Of course I would have to charge my batteries once the weather improved...what with the past two days of forced autonomy from the glorious sun!

Fast forward about two hours. I proceeded to shut down the sweet system, then installed the batteries. About ten minutes after system restart with batteries now in, the system started bleeping hysterically and shut down...there had been a fault with the fan! (Attached.) The system wouldn't stay back on and consistently beeped and threw "Fault 01 - Fan is locked when the inverter is off." According to the User Manual, the solution was to "Replace the fan."! I entered panic mode...

At about 2pm, I quickly wrote to MPPSolar, describing the problem and lamenting 'how embarrassing the unit became within the first two hours of its deployment and that how could that be? Please rush me a replacement fan, expectedly in addition to other urgent remedies you may suggest. Thank you.' Of course Taiwan had by then closed for the day and gone to bed; I'll have to wait another day...

Still in panic mode, I got in touch with an occasional but very reliable supplier on here, asking for a low price "túké-túké" 48v inverter? (Oh Lord, I'll have to reconfigure my panels again for a max 150v system?!) But there was none. And so I went to bed last night, power-hungry.

I woke up this morning to a waiting email response to me from MPPSolar in Taiwan. Ọpẹ́ o. One of the steps I was advised to take was see whether there had been an obstruction to the normal operation of the fan by some internal wiring harness? I quickly jumped on that one.

What I saw was that, in the process of installing the batteries' +ve lead into the inverter, I had inadvertently worked a clear acrylic flap adorning the top of the fan housing, INTO the fan housing, thereby obstructing the normal movement/rotation of the fan! By 8am, I had corrected the issue and the F01 fault was cleared. The PIP-5048GK has been flawless ever since. (Screenshot attached.)

Morals of the story:

My brethren, please know what you're doing while DIY'ing. The specs for some of our gadgets are precision based, even if the manufacturer has not specifically stated so. In this my specific case, the wire girth specified 38mmsq. I crimped the 50mmsq cables I had at hand and sort of worked them in. After all, one wire gauge up will be even better for carrying current, right? Well, I applied this teaching in a half educated manner and paid with aggravation.

So please be guided as necessary.

Good luck, folks, and thanks for all the education and help on here and elsewhere.

........
P34c3
.....
...

duwdu:
The summary of this post:

What I saw was that, in the process of installing the batteries' +ve lead into the inverter, I had inadvertently worked a clear acrylic flap adorning the top of the fan housing, INTO the fan housing, thereby obstructing the normal movement/rotation of the fan! By 8am, I had corrected the issue and the F01 fault was cleared. The PIP-5048GK has been flawless ever since. (Screenshot attached.)

Morals of the story:

My brethren, please know what you're doing while DIY'ing. The specs for some of our gadgets are precision based, even if the manufacturer has not specifically stated so. In this my specific case, the wire girth specified 38mmsq. I crimped the 50mmsq cables I had at hand and sort of worked them in. After all, one wire gauge up will be even better for carrying current, right? Well, I applied this teaching in a half educated manner and paid with aggravation.

Sorry for the stress. Please I did not understand some of the points you made above. Was it as a result of using a higher guage wire that the fan was obstructed? Thank you.

hi,
nice inverter, I have the MK in the post
what is the idle watt on this inverter

thanks

duwdu:
The summary of this post:

I've had a battle scare with my PIP-5048GK transformerless with battery-less-support inverter I just installed during the early hours of yesterday; but it's all good now.

How it went:

I had been on my brand new 24v 3KW/4KVA VIL Power Star-Light inverter for just under a year, using the 1.8KW max PV loadable on it out of my available 3.2KW. Then the bugger crapped out on me two days ago, in the dead of the evening. The seller wouldn't provide support, stating that the original merchant went under, or something to that effect. Meanwhile, I'm totally off grid and the past two days have had autonomy weather forced on my part of Lagos...

So, I was forced to have to install and deploy my PIP during the very early hours of yesterday, even as I was not quite ready with the PIP (still expecting the second of two 600/800vdc SPD's I learnt would be ideal for the system, one each by the PV array and inverter ends, particularly if the distance between is considerable.)

I went ahead anyways and also reconfigured all of my 10 PV's in series for a possible combined 400V, or thereabout. I also reconfigured my meager 4.8KWh of batteries to 48 volts. Then waited for dawn — and the sun — to show, starting from the next hour.

At about 7:30am, and without any batteries connected whatsoever, the PIP came to life with about 100 watts of power. No load yet, of course, because of the still sun-starved weather. It was beautiful, a successful test of the battery-less feature of the unit. Of course I would have to charge my batteries once the weather improved...what with the past two days of forced autonomy from the glorious sun!

Fast forward about two hours. I proceeded to shut down the sweet system, then installed the batteries. About ten minutes after system restart with batteries now in, the system started bleeping hysterically and shut down...there had been a fault with the fan! (Attached.) The system wouldn't stay back on and consistently beeped and threw "Fault 01 - Fan is locked when the inverter is off." According to the User Manual, the solution was to "Replace the fan."! I entered panick mode...

At about 2pm, I quickly wrote to MPPSolar, describing the problem and lamenting 'how embarrassing the unit became within the first two hours of its deployment and that how could that be? Please rush me a replacement fan, expectedly in addition to other urgent remedies you may suggest. Thank you.' Of course Taiwan had by then closed for the day and gone to bed; I'll have to wait another day...

Still in panick mode, I got in touch with an occasional but very reliable supplier on here, asking for a low price "túké-túké" 48v inverter? (Oh Lord, I'll have to reconfigure my panels again for a max 150v system?!) But there was none. And so I went to bed last night, power-hungry.

I woke up this morning to a waiting email response to me from MPPSolar in Taiwan. Ọpẹ́ o. One of the steps I was advised to take was see whether there had been an obstruction to the normal operation of the fan by some internal wiring harness? I quickly jumped on that one.

What I saw was that, in the process of installing the batteries' +ve lead into the inverter, I had inadvertently worked a clear acrylic flap adorning the top of the fan housing, INTO the fan housing, thereby obstructing the normal movement/rotation of the fan! By 8am, I had corrected the issue and the F01 fault was cleared. The PIP-5048GK has been flawless ever since. (Screenshot attached.)

Morals of the story:

My brethren, please know what you're doing while DIY'ing. The specs for some of our gadgets are precision based, even if the manufacturer has not specifically stated so. In this my specific case, the wire girth specified 38mmsq. I crimped the 50mmsq cables I had at hand and sort of worked them in. After all, one wire gauge up will be even better for carrying current, right? Well, I applied this teaching in a half educated manner and paid with aggravation.

So please be guided as necessary.

Good luck, folks, and thanks for all the education and help on here and elsewhere.

........
P34c3
.....
...

Cool, here I was thinking you've had yours set-up a long time ago good to see you are now up and I have also picked up a few points for set-up of my PIP-3024GK

If I may ask, are you using a combiner box and how did you connect the SPD to ground?

What's the peak generating you've seen thus far? And what's your PV spec?

Cheers!

duwdu:
The summary of this post:

I've had a battle scare with my PIP-5048GK transformerless with battery-less-support inverter I just installed during the early hours of yesterday; but it's all good now.

How it went:

I had been on my brand new 24v 3KW/4KVA VIL Power Star-Light inverter for just under a year, using the 1.8KW max PV loadable on it out of my available 3.2KW. Then the bugger crapped out on me two days ago, in the dead of the evening. The seller wouldn't provide support, stating that the original merchant went under, or something to that effect. Meanwhile, I'm totally off grid and the past two days have had autonomy weather forced on my part of Lagos...

So, I was forced to have to install and deploy my PIP during the very early hours of yesterday, even as I was not quite ready with the PIP (still expecting the second of two 600/800vdc SPD's I learnt would be ideal for the system, one each by the PV array and inverter ends, particularly if the distance between is considerable.)

I went ahead anyways and also reconfigured all of my 10 PV's in series for a possible combined 400V, or thereabout. I also reconfigured my meager 4.8KWh of batteries to 48 volts. Then waited for dawn — and the sun — to show, starting from the next hour.

At about 7:30am, and without any batteries connected whatsoever, the PIP came to life with about 100 watts of power. No load yet, of course, because of the still sun-starved weather. It was beautiful, a successful test of the battery-less feature of the unit. Of course I would have to charge my batteries once the weather improved...what with the past two days of forced autonomy from the glorious sun!

Fast forward about two hours. I proceeded to shut down the sweet system, then installed the batteries. About ten minutes after system restart with batteries now in, the system started bleeping hysterically and shut down...there had been a fault with the fan! (Attached.) The system wouldn't stay back on and consistently beeped and threw "Fault 01 - Fan is locked when the inverter is off." According to the User Manual, the solution was to "Replace the fan."! I entered panick mode...

At about 2pm, I quickly wrote to MPPSolar, describing the problem and lamenting 'how embarrassing the unit became within the first two hours of its deployment and that how could that be? Please rush me a replacement fan, expectedly in addition to other urgent remedies you may suggest. Thank you.' Of course Taiwan had by then closed for the day and gone to bed; I'll have to wait another day...

Still in panick mode, I got in touch with an occasional but very reliable supplier on here, asking for a low price "túké-túké" 48v inverter? (Oh Lord, I'll have to reconfigure my panels again for a max 150v system?!) But there was none. And so I went to bed last night, power-hungry.

I woke up this morning to a waiting email response to me from MPPSolar in Taiwan. Ọpẹ́ o. One of the steps I was advised to take was see whether there had been an obstruction to the normal operation of the fan by some internal wiring harness? I quickly jumped on that one.

What I saw was that, in the process of installing the batteries' +ve lead into the inverter, I had inadvertently worked a clear acrylic flap adorning the top of the fan housing, INTO the fan housing, thereby obstructing the normal movement/rotation of the fan! By 8am, I had corrected the issue and the F01 fault was cleared. The PIP-5048GK has been flawless ever since. (Screenshot attached.)

Morals of the story:

My brethren, please know what you're doing while DIY'ing. The specs for some of our gadgets are precision based, even if the manufacturer has not specifically stated so. In this my specific case, the wire girth specified 38mmsq. I crimped the 50mmsq cables I had at hand and sort of worked them in. After all, one wire gauge up will be even better for carrying current, right? Well, I applied this teaching in a half educated manner and paid with aggravation.

So please be guided as necessary.

Good luck, folks, and thanks for all the education and help on here and elsewhere.

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mctfopt:


Sorry for the stress. Please I did not understand some of the points you made above. Was it as a result of using a higher guage wire that the fan was obstructed? Thank you.

Ah, sorry if I wasn't clear [and I've had to catch my breath, hence this delayed response]. I used a thicker gauge wire (50mmsq) instead of the recommended 38mmsq.

Edited: The larger wire called for me to have to work through the somewhat precise space in the machine meant for a smaller-size wire. In the process, my "fat" hands pushed other things in the way of the fan.

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totalgreen01:
hi,
nice inverter, I have the MK in the post
what is the idle watt on this inverter

thanks

Do you mean the extent to which to load it with panels? If so, I think you can safely do like 30% over and above the recommended max wattage the model you'll have is rated for.

If you mean how much Watts you can draw from the inverter, then my little knowledge says, not more than 75% of the energy draw your unit is rated for.

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I think idle watts he meant 'no load self-consumption' of the inverter - how much power it consumes to stay on and maintain internal operations when the inverter is not powering any loads or not doing any work.

For a similar Axpert unit, I measured <50watts idle/self consumption - this version was not batteryless though.

totalgreen01:
hi,
nice inverter, I have the MK in the post
what is the idle watt on this inverter

thanks

duwdu:


Do you mean the extent to which to load it with panels? If so, I think you can safely do like 30% over and above the recommended max wattage the model you'll have is rated for.

If you mean how much Watts you can draw from the inverter, then my little knowledge says, not more than 75% of the energy draw your unit is rated for.

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ojeysky:
Cool, here I was thinking you've had yours set-up a long time ago good to see you are now up and I have also picked up a few points for set-up of my PIP-3024GK

If I may ask, are you using a combiner box and how did you connect the SPD to ground?

What's the peak generating you've seen thus far? And what's your PV spec?

Cheers!

It's my pleasure and thanks; all the best with yours.

At the initial stage of gathering my accessories, NiyiOmoIyunade offered some nugget of advice on the combiner box issue. You'll see those posts on a couple of pages back. [I may also try later to provide a link if I can. I simply can't explain it the way 'Niyi kindly did.]

I'm not using a combiner box, mainly because I have just one string. I had to improvise as suggested. The SPD has its own dedicated earthing slot on it (like I saw on those in the pdf file you posted earlier, have.) I ran a grounding wire direct from that slot to the grounding bus bar in my fuse box.

It's not been very sunny in Lagos these days, to say the least. Even at that, I saw about 2 KW peak today. I had deliberately plugged in a filled 1.5 KW water boiling kettle when the sun was out at about 1:40pm, just to see how much wattage I could induce from the panels at that point. (Attached. Don't mind the SOC shown, it's mostly wong on this unit.) Just my computer with a fairly large screen, a couple of energy saving bulb points, phone chargers and a router were mostly the other things connected at the time.

My panels are 4x 330Watts Canadian Solar + 6x 310(?)Watts Yingli. I don't have the labels handy, but they can be looked up.

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ojeysky:


Thanks a lot for the education, it's really useful. My setup is quite small, for now it's 4 panels (250w each) to be in series. I have attached the spec of my hybrid controller.

I already have an SPD so from your explanation above, it means that diagrammatically, the wire from PV will look something like below:

PV>>>SPD>>>DC breaker>>>CC

What DC circuit breaker rating do you recommend? It's a 24V system.

Thanks again.

I'm curious to see if your 4 panels connected in series will work flawlessly. though the manufacturer says mppt range is from 120vdc, the manual still states a minimum 6 panels in series (confuses me). a user on this forum https://forums.aeva.asn.au/viewtopic.php?f=64&t=5830&sid=f41c966980dd3208181a8cd01c33b841&start=25. had difficulty with his unit (running it with 5 modules in series, although without batteries). he solved his problem by adding a sixth module (don't know if the problem arose because he was operating without batteries). please keep us posted when you install your system.

NiyiOmoIyunade:
I think idle watts he meant 'no load self-consumption' of the inverter - how much power it consumes to stay on and maintain internal operations when the inverter is not powering any loads or not doing any work.

For a similar Axpert unit, I measured <50watts idle/self consumption - this version was not batteryless though.

I missed the word, "idle," hehehe. Thanks, 'Niyi, it's about the same on this inverter that I've seen so far.

And sorry for my misunderstanding of you, totalgreen01.

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oops.

Dkev:

I'm curious to see if your 4 panels connected in series will work flawlessly. though the manufacturer says mppt range is from 120vdc, the manual still states a minimum 6 panels in series (confuses me). a user on this forum https://forums.aeva.asn.au/viewtopic.php?f=64&t=5830&sid=f41c966980dd3208181a8cd01c33b841&start=25. had difficulty with his unit (running it with 5 modules in series, although without batteries). he solved his problem by adding a sixth module (don't know if the problem arose because he was operating without batteries). please keep us posted when you install your system.

Wew, my colleague brought this min 6 to my attention on the manual yesterday while we were installing, but the 120vdc was what gave some consolation so we proceeded with setup....I am now just patiently waiting for the sunrise to see if indeed I have goofed with my 4 panels budget

Regards

duwdu:


I missed the word, "idle," hehehe. Thanks, 'Niyi, it's about the same on this inverter that I've seen so far.

And sorry for my misunderstanding of you, totalgreen01.

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I think it's less than 50w on my 3kva, I had my LG TV (max power save mode), decoder and about 18w of bulbs on and I got about 60w output when I checked via the mobile app. I assume that reading is inclusive of idle(operating) consumption.

duwdu:


Ah, sorry if I wasn't clear [and I've had to catch my breath, hence this delayed response]. I used a thicker gauge wire (50mmsq) instead of the recommended 38mmsq.

Edited: The larger wire called for me to have to work through the somewhat precise space in the machine meant for a smaller-size wire. In the process, my "fat" hands pushed other things in the way of the fan.

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OK. Thank you, now it's crystal clear

At 7:53 am already over 120vdc, yet no single wattage/current has been received. The solar icon just keeps blinking I wonder if it's normal and am wondering whether this means I will need 6 panels.
Still waiting for sunlight to come better reveal itself.

In batteryless mode you will need sufficient dc current coming in from your panels to run whatever loads you have on + a margin for conversion losses and inverter self consumption - since there are no batteries to bridge transient power gaps, it will be power off in case of insufficient PV current to run the loads + margin. The laws of physics cannot be broken so the power your loads need to run cannot be sourced from out of nowhere.

This is aside from the issue raised about voltage headroom - whether you need up to 180v (5-6 panels in series) to run reliably.

By this time (almost) 10am, you should be in a position to run a very small load (say 1 or 2 bulbs) direct from the inverter. If still unstable, you definitely need a battery to store power and also source power from and perhaps additional panels as well.

I must say this is an interesting and courageous leap you guys have taken, pioneering batteryless inverter operations - I eagerly await final results and verdict how this stands up to real world use.

ojeysky:
At 7:53 am already over 120vdc, yet no single wattage/current has been received. The solar icon just keeps blinking I wonder if it's normal and am wondering whether this means I will need 6 panels.
Still waiting for sunlight to come better reveal itself.