I wasn't a prophet I just knew what will happened following history when I made this post

makavele:
And it's a wrap folks . . .

So I took Mr Niyi's advice and gave the busbars some good spacing to prevent stories that touch,

I have a lot of things I would want to comment on this installation but for some reasons I might not be able to.
One of such reasons is the fact that I enjoy reading comments from others. Some very honestly 'wrong' corrections and some I have to learn from though. Over time I have seen some people who use to ask basic questions here become pro advisers. It means this thread has built a lot of people.

There's one thing that I want to mention (maybe someone else has already mentioned because I am yet to read through the whole comment but there's nothing wrong in repeating). It is about the busbars. Please always endeavour to use a 100% STAINLESS STEEL bolt anytime you have to deal with electrical contacts especially in the DC circuits. You might be loosing current with the bolt/nuts you are using at the moment and over time it will get worse. Worse than loosing current is the risk of fire that might emanate from the heat from the iron with the wood beneath it. We have had to correct this error in most of the installations we are contracted to correct. We have even seen situations where those ordinary steel bolts for battery terminals which will heat up sending electrons away in the heat.

When you are using wood to mount electrical circuits care should be taken to ensure that the conductive surfaces doesn't come in contact with the wood especially surfaces that are prone to heat. In your own case here, The iron bolt you are using (wrongly) is directly on the wood.

One simple way to know if the bolt is stainless steel is to use a magnet to test. There shouldn't be any iron in it.

Just the level of my knowledge. I am always open for correction.

ANEB:
Please, I need advice on the Voltron 15kva inverter. Anyone with experience on it? What's the performance like? The pros and cons of it. Thanks alot.

only one advice for you;
NO LOAD CONSUMPTION IS OVER 200W

NiyiOmoIyunade:
Oga Chris.

You are probably right in the general case. But for this specific Zinox IPowerPlus I have ascertained it easily gets fried if you use an iron or microwave or other resistive load on it. Perhaps one could get by with resistive loads under 500w but certainly a 1.1kw microwave and 1.3kw iron used separately but on a regular basis ruined my first Zinox 5kva within 3 months and the peak load never passed 2.2kw at any time - meanwhile said inverter runs 2 units of 1hp ACs with ease at another location.

After Zinox fixed it under warranty the first time, they warned me strictly to never iron or microwave with it again - same inverter is still firing strong in my Ibadan family house till date.

People that use irons and microwaves on the Axpert type inverters typically stack two or more inverters to share the load.

I think this position is very personal to your own case and it doesn't conform to any electrical standard. I feel it will be proper you keep it as a personal experience such that you will not mistakenly mislead someone else.

pranil:


Ooops . My sincere apologies. With all the heated discussions on various charge controllers, I missed the inverter part .

Is it an offgrid or bidirectional inverter( grid interactive) . The inveter market is moving very fast in the mid ranage.

Just while back I posted about Batteryless hybrid inverter

They are launching the first zero transfer time off grid inverter ( basically a giant UPS)



at a quick glance at the user guide, 5kVA version adds the following to a widely sold PIP-MS4048 ( in Nigeria Ipower/gennex easun and many others which are a copy of the original)

5000VA / 5000W inverter
4000W 500V MPPT
BMS comms for LiFe04
61V max charge voltage for the Trojans !
battery EQ function
built in bluetooth with android app,
detachable LCD control for remote up to 20m
and for the battery-phobes.......
you can run grid/PV only with NO Batteries


the BMS part will not be ready till next year. and the initial release will be only with OEM orders ( where battery and inverter is sold as bundle)

But in General

PIS - 5048GK - (Voltonics Axpert VM III) 5KW/48VDC, 80A MPPT, max 500V PV open circuit with all the above features except BMS

PIP- 3048 MK - ( voltronics King) - Zero changeover time ( PV input 145 V - ONLY 3KW model ) others features same ( no BMS yet)



If I look at the graphic of the display I guess they are using their knowledge of online inverters and applying to the inverter to achieve zero transfer time - essentially using DC rectifier and then inverter as two-stage process. it is not the ongrid inverter ( maybe grid interactive is a better term ?)

Maybe that's why only 3KW model is available as they may not be able to handle the components and heat losses in the same chassis of 5KW

Should be available by mid August on Aliexpress on their official store - https://www.aliexpress.com/store/629424

https://www.mppsolar.com/v3/pip-gk-series/

I checked out the PIP-5048GK a while ago and it was terrifyingly impressive. It's going to be a real game changer in the market especially with the fact that their prices are always within reach.

I've seen a test video of it with fantastic performance. It even gives out up to 62v which is fair enough for trojan battery equalisation.
I'll be here waiting for them.

DUNKA:
Quite unfortunate and your review had put a real dampner on setting up a solar water heater as I had looked at Protek and other brands such as Simba,NaturePal etc but that all seem to be of similar quality and reputation and I cannot shout

Well the waiting game still continues until a qualitative and affordable solar water heater comes into the market while I will for now increase my solar panels for use of an electric heater.

I will find time to post something on solar water hear. we have some running for yeas now without any slight issue. For now you can see some on our Facebook page "PBASE Solar".

We use active system and they seam to work for us

pranil:



Victron is already in Market with 5.7KW with fanless design and 99% efficiency and Bluetooth and compatible to lithium batteries

https://www.victronenergy.com/solar-charge-controllers/smartsolar-250-85-250-100

https://www.victronenergy.com/blog/2018/06/07/video-introduction-to-the-smartsolar-mppt-250-100/

https://www.victronenergy.com/live/battery_compatibility:start

Hi Engr.

I was referring to Morningstar Inverter/Charger not Charge controller as in your case.
The Victron Smartsolar you are talking about is a charge controller not inverter.

Saipro:


I'm excited - something which doesn't often happen.

I was hoping to be wowed by the Midnite inverter. Indisputably, MorningStar made a bada$$ inverter back in the day. Just, the one. Let's hope not only do they replicate the feat but they actually surpass themselves.

Are you sure of this your information? because all I know is that Morningstar have never made any inverter for the public except the Suresine SI-300 which is unbeatable at it's level. The Suresine 300w inverter has been one of the best products on earth and has been consistent over the years, outperforming and product within it's class.

The only other inverter they have made was a custom product for a small project in Asia and not for the public. So verify that the "BADASS" inverter you are referring to as Morningstar was actually a Morningstar and not a mixed up.

DISCLAIMER:
I do not work for Mornignstar.
I get the right information, test and review products.
I support excellent products.
I work for PBASE Solar

Hahaha, someone just Dm me and asked what I brought back. It's really funny.

All the same, let me throw in a little promo to encourage guys who wants to use quality products but are limited by cash.

PRICE SLASH! PRICE SLASH!! PRICE SLASH!!!

Trojan SAGM 12 205
Life Cycle: 1700 cycls @50% DOD
Ah @C100: 216ah
AH @C20: 205ah,
Voltage: 12V

before: N185,000.00
Now:
• N162,000.00 (above 6 pcs)
• N164,000.00 (1 to 6 pcs )

Our contacts:
PBASE Solar
Email: contact@pbasesolar.com
Instagram: @pbasesolar
Facebook: @pbasesolar
Twiter: @pbasesolar
Call/WhatsApp: 08023033135

N/B: Price is for pickup in Lagos only. Delivery charge applies to other location outside Lagos.

Limited quantity available

For Large quantity, Contact me for special price.

dgr8truth:
I'm going the route of DIY powerwall, and thus far I'm pretty impress with the result.
It's a 7s100p setup of 190ah. I intend to crank it up to maybe 7s 300p/400p.

The lowest cells are 1500mah and the highest cell is 2500+mah.

I used repackr.com to group the cell

Congrats bros.
One quick observation on the cells you might need to correct;
I think you might want to change the terminals of the cells such the the +ve ad -ve terminals doesn't come from the same end. i.e. the positive can come from the front while the negative comes from the back. If not so you will have a very unbalanced discharge. I can explain much about these if you want.

something like in the image below

Goodnews No. 2

We will be bringing in Trojan Lithium Ion battery for your peace with battery.

The good news with this is the fact that you wouldn't need to change your inverters and CCs as the Trojan Lithium will come with internal BMS (which victron lacks) which will be good enough for DIY guys as you wouldn't need to crack your head on rigorous configurations.

So guys, the renewable energy have come to stay and the technological advancement is coming closer to you.

I just hope most of us will get an opportunity to experience the efficiency of Lithium Ion batteries before the Graphene battery wipes it out.

Few of the features that I remember that makes the Morningstar 4kW Inverter great are;

- It comes with known morningstar quality/effeciency
- It is transformerless and as such light weight
- It has inbuilt Display
- It has inbuilt AGS
- It has current Shunt mounted inside with busbars for battery and cc connections.
- Internal DIN rail for breakers
- Inbuilt Network card for stacking and for hooking up Charge controllers
- It has already installed hardware for Lithium Ion battery. Though they are still working on the software as at today.
- It's coming with great price as well

that's all I can remember for now

I've scanned through some discussions here and there are a lot to react to but unfortunately it might not be possible.

I've scanned through the Morningstar efficiency discussion.

I have one good news for the Morningstar lovers;
Morningstar 4kW inverter is on it's way to change things in the mid-range renewable energy market.

The system is coming with almost everything you would need in both off-grid and on-grid installation with the morningstar unrepentant quality.

When the morningstar guy brought a sample for our perusing some months ago, I asked for permission to post the pictures of bother the external and internal components but I was denied. In a couple of weeks, a test unit will be on my desk for which I am expected to install in my house and send feedback data to them. By then I'll be able to send pictures.

For now keep your fingers crossed in expectation of a game changer Inverter/Charger.

kiekie1:


Welcome on board once again my man !

Hahaha

Mr Frank, nice to see your progress here

Weldone my brother

dgr8truth:
The battery cabinet for my DIY powerwall is now completed and in full use.

The next project is building the remaining 43000 kilowatts hours pack. It will be a real challenging project.

Cool.

It's nice to know that people on this thread are venturing into the DIY POWERWALL.

For your rack, what is your plans for cooling as I didn't see vents nor cooling fans provisions there?

DMerciful:
See pic of an installation I did not long ago. Put all ur installation com.
ponents in max two boards and draw ur circuit flow offline and critic it before transferring to d board. There is nothing lovelier than a neat installation, its even a safe way to go

Neat job
Love it
Keep it up

abunafiu:
So many questions have been asked both online and offline about my 16 units of T105RE Trojan batteries.
Yes I have had some bad days with them. I had to retire 2 units when they were reading as low as 4v each.
I then connected 2 panels in parallel (200w/24v panel) to the batteries for almost 3 weeks. The highest I got was 14.7v.
Remember that I reconfigured my system to 42v which made my inverter cry low voltage all night.
Problem now started afresh when I noticed my Batts were low on distllied water and decided to top it. The whole system just start to misbehave. I almost gave up on them.
I then reunited the 2 units back to the system.
I was depressed by the whorible performance of the whole system. Imagine a battery bank you charge to 59v and absorbs for 2hrs+. Under a load of 1 fan, 1 TV , 1 fridge (less than 200w)...you will discover that by 8pm the battery is reading 49.5v. Before 49v was my battery voltage by 6am following day under same load. By 6am now, my battery reads 48v and most times less. All these events were recorded after topping up the water.
I just took k heart and began to use all I can generate per day.. That was d reason for my increased daily harvest I posted Few days ago.
Out of frustration I then read a post on an online forum where some one wrote that we (flooded users) we're mislead by the battery manufacturers with respect to charging algorithm especially for off grid applications.
The guy recommend higher absorb voltage and time. He never stated what voltage setting to adopt. But in my own case, I adopted 62.5v absorption voltage for 5 hrs( which means it's going to Gas all day).
After 4 days of using this setting I began to observe improvement since yestday that I had the courage of adding a small chest freezer to my load. In short the performance is encouraging.
Note: the 62.5v absorption voltage is a temporary setting which shall be reverted to 59v (Trojan recommended) when I achieve satisfactory performance and then hope to repeat this for 5 days in every 30 days to serve as equalisation.


This long story is to give every other silent Trojan user hope just like sir Chris AWPS always say. He said all you need to do is equalise them. But honestly I have been equalising with no result.

Maybe my new method might work for others too.

Pls remember to share your thoughts on this as well.
Cheers.

NB. When is the best time to top up with water. Trojans are known to drop in performance after topping but in few days (usually less than a week) it gets back to full performance.

I have been reading about your rigours with your Trojan T105RE for a while. In an attempt not to discourage people from going flooded (as you know I am an advocate of flooded batteries especially Trojan), I'll like to give a specific enlightenment to your situation.

All the methods you have been adopting are always on point that's why you don't see me say anything.

the major reason you are having series of problems is that you were using a wrong battery type for your application

This is what I mean, T105RE was originally designed for gulf cart which uses MAXIMUM of 2 units. Maintaining 2 to 4 units of that battery is not any headache but immediately you increase the qty more than 4 units you are putting yourself in an everlasting maintenance stress. The reason is that the volume of electrolyte in each unit is small so water evaporates quickly and the cells are also small meaning easily prone to damage.

The same situation applies to J185RE (12v 205AH). The primary reason Trojan introduced this product into the market was to enter competition at the lower end where someone can pick up a 24v 1kw inverter and just 2 units J185 batteries. Also in this case if you use more than 4 units you are also in the same situation as that of T105RE. Same applies to all those Mercury and the rest of the 12v 200ah flooded types.

When you are talking about Trojan Flooded the least recommendation for average offgrid/Hybrid installations is L16RE (6v 370AH) because this has a more sizeable volume of electrolyte that does not go down that fast and the cells are bigger and stronger yet still delivering the same 6v. You will notice that people with L16 don't have too many complains. However, the industrial is the way to go if you can afford it.

The simple rule is DO NOT STACK MULTIPLE BATTERIES TO ACHIEVE A BIGGER AMP HOUR WHEN YOU CAN BUY BIGGER CAPACITY UNITS. I am aware that it is cost that makes people stack smaller capacity in order to achieve higher amp hours whites wrong.

All the same, if you must use a setup like yours (16 units of T105), you must be ready to attend to it as if you were attending to a new born baby all your life. If you are faithful to do that following all the acceptable standards your battery will still remain in shape for at least 1500 cycles. We have a client we installed 16pc of Trojan T105RE for since 2012 and he is still using that setup as at now with good performance and he has not seen any need to change the battery even with my pressure because it is still serving him. He virtually lives off-grid cos of bad public power in his area. I posted the pictures here some time ago and below is the picture of that same installation I took last month

Not too long ago i created this thread and someone like 9jatriot gave me a sermon on the mount.
May I please ask 9jatriot to quote the bible scriptures again on the present circumstances

Hi guys

It's been a while.
Good to see a lot of good stuff happening in this thread.
Obviously this is one thread that spells the future. I have tried to scan through most of the pages though unable to get into details. I've come across some very interesting discussions and some very funny ones as well. Some of them which i feel like responding to but when i look at the date i just think the sleeping do should lie.

The most interesting thing to me is that many have become renewable energy owners through this thread. God bless the founding fathers.
I'll be making my contributions as usual very soon and introducing new products as time goes on.

Over the years we've experimented on various designs and materials and i think its time to share the knowledge with the great people of this thread.

Congratulations to most people who have become solar power installers with the help of this thread.

is it still available?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6dEFPws4BiQ

cooldipo:


hello bro......pls I have a 2000watt of the same brand though it does not come with a lcd screen.....i have had it for over 2 years now. presently it does not charge the battery until I press the power button to put on the unit and will continue charging even if I put it off immediately by put the power knob in the middle. The challenge is if i'm away from home and I put it off to save stored charge and power happened to be restored.....it won't charge. Pls how can I fix this problem?

Please contact your supplier. You might need to send it back for repairs.

NanaF:


How much is 4kva Prag Inverter?

136k

chris81964:
*****AVOID ERNEST NGWU*******
This guy claims to repair inverters. We took 4 Inverters to him for repairs. He claims that the board and Mosfetts were blown. On the 5 kw units he claimed that the charging port was bad and the other had issues that he could not explain.
He denied repairing the 5 kw units that we never gave him 5 kw units. I have them and one of the readers here took it back to the client with me.
The defective charger port still does not charge the batteries.
The other inverter that we took back to a client last night the ATF function does not work, the charger light comes on but it does not charge the batteries. The fans in the inverter don't work. The most glaring was that the display on one of the inverters was no working and he did not notice it. So far two out 3 are bad. We made him return the 4 th.
HE IS A FRAUD, A LIAR, A CHEAT.

Please avoid Ernest Ngwu at all cost. He is a quack and has no clue what he is doing. We avoided repairing inverters in the past and our first attempt has ended in failure.

It is so easy for people to come to this thread and air their judgment of others without telling us of what transpired between them before then. The don't even give a chance for the accused to defend himself. I may not be surprised to hear a different story from the guy in question. And i may also not be surprised to hear someone else somewhere refer to the said guy as a sent and a saviour. I personally have had dealings with a greater percentage of people on this thread even the ones that don't post but read only. The chris81964 I know here is not a sent. He also has his own skeletons. That so many things are kept from this thread is just out of maturity and for the decency of this thread.

Let he that has no sin be the first to throw the stone.

Braaad:
Please, All the Professionals in the house, come to my aid... I just got delivery of a 5kva transformerless inverter from UK but im confused as to the installation and grounding required for the solar panel array and the inverter. (I even read somewhere that the +ve terminal of battery should be grounded). I know that most of my "Oga's" here have dealt with transformerless inverters, Please help me with the knowledge to install this piece. Thanks in advance. @richmon74, kiekie1, earthrealm, chris81964, tnycee

Ive attached a photo to show what the inverter looks like.

It is always an argument btw UK and US on which battery polarity to ground. UK says +ve and US says -ve. But for your safety, do not ground any. Do the standard earthing of the AC line n chassis. They are very durable inverters to my surprise. I've installed a couple of them in both residential and commercial environments and they are still working great.

Barezzi:
Lucky you, i'm doing what i was called not to do...

If I catch you...

.

JUO:
bros we miss you

I dey my brother. Doing what i was called to do.

earthrealm:
@richmon, thanks for the info.
nolonger a big fan of lumious,,..

1. it doesnt display batt life/status.
2. it ruined the negative batt of 2 24v setups i hv
3. doesnt desulphize/desulphate.......

though i was thinking the 3.5kva 48v system wud hv beta charging algorithm/current than the 1500kva.

so am gonna settle for prag 4kva 24v as u adviced.
whats the minimum size of cable for the inverter ac input/feeder...i mean prag 4kva, wud 4mm be ok?, conflicting views on the internet....intend to put a 50amp breaker too

saw the green prag 130k on jumia, while the blue one was 175k,....wondering at the discrepancy.......guess old stock or something

Well you need to check up with jumia again. I bet you they can't sell it for 130 because they don't even buy it for that price. The colours doesn't make any difference as I told you before. We are the cheapest reseller of PRAG product. We're the only one that can give you PRAG 4kVA 24V/48V H for 136k. The inverter comes with Standard Battery Cable and AC IN/OUT wires so you don't have to bother yourself with the cable sizings.

If you are interested contact us it and for any other PRAG products you see on www.buyright.com.
We also offer professional advice on product selections and installation as additional benefits.


PBASE Solar
Call/Whatzapp: 08023033135
email: contact@pbasesolar.com
FB Page: PBASE Solar
www.pbasesolar.com

earthrealm:
NEED TO upgrade from my 2 x 200ah 12v baat 1.5kva luminous system to a 4 batt, 24/48v 3.5ka minimum system.
my ist choice is prag 4kva 24v inverter, while 2nd choice is luminous 3.5kva inverter............

am kinda tired of the deep cycle batts, as i have such on my 2 systems, villa and home...and they are showing signs of failure already...this is abt 3yrs of moderate use, am seriously leaning towards the flooded batts, especially the trojan range.

my questions are
1. can either of the inverters charge and equalize the trojan range of batts?
2. am a lil worried about the issue of gassing [since its going to be an indoor installation ---though in an airy passage in the house], and the issue of topping up with distilled water....how often do i need to top up?....and is the gassing/production of hydrogen excessive?....also what of smells/odour......is it something i can endure indoors..

Theres is no way you can talk about Luminous when you are talking about flooded battery.
First of all it charges battery at 16amps and secondly it can't disulphide (equalize). So among the two PRAG might be your only choice.

PRAG offers you battery type selections which keeps your charging as close as possible to the battery manufactures specs and also gives you the DOD switch which is a great feature for renewable energy battery maintenance. I wrote about this in details in my last review of PRAG inverters.

earthrealm:
2NDLY , Is there any diff btw the green and blue prag?
am thinking the green one is the first generation, does any1 know if it has any issues/why it was phased out?
from my lil research only major difference i saw was max charging current being 90amps for the green one and 120amps for the blue one

For your info

The colours of the PRAG inverters are just ecstatics and nothing more.

Optimixim:
Buy your US flooded battery at 75k each . Very rugged as trojan and hoppecke. Mind you I have worked with solarshop and other big solar companies in lagos. Kiekie1 and remond7... You know what I mean sir so kindly contact me for your US battery...
08167327440

Was doing some jobs with diamond bank and zenith recently . All tech masters are right with their deduction over how the solar system works. But here comes a talkless man optimixim from solarshop, have done projects including ghana and many other companies.

Oga

I suggest you do a detailed review of the battery itself and convinced us on why the battery is value for money rather than tell us your own credentials because we are not buying you but the battery.