₦airaland Forum

bigrovar:
This is where victron energy products (and by extension their clones) completely got me sold. In an industry where the norm is for companies to be closed and resort to proprietary protocols. Victron energy is an exception. Every single one of their devices communicate via open standard protocols. The bluesolar MPPT charger, Inverter and battery monitor (BMV) all spew out plain text every second. The can be captured via any ttl/serial com port tool like Putty that can read data stream. There also send and can receive hex commands which can also be handled by Putty.

As if this is not enough this guys went further to create a detailed white paper with FAQ outlining in depth the technical specifications and information on the Victron VE. Direct Data communication protocols. They also have a github where they have committed and open sourced some of their projects. An example is their own version of Outback Mate 3 which they call color control GX. These device is like a hub / status display / remote control and monitoring / connection and integration hub of victron devices like Inverters, MPPT controllers, Battery monitors on steroids. The device cost about $400 a pop. But victron did something unprecedented in the solar industry and completely opened sourced it. They created a Linux Distribution based on debian called Venus and can be installed on the raspberry Pi. Venus allows your 30 dollars raspberry pi to do every thing that can be done from the $400 CCGX. The Venus software is completely free and well maintained and come with detailed guide on how to configure and install. With the Venus and Rbp I can have a system which can be connected to Victron Remote Monitoring Portal (VRM) and allow me to monitor and control my system from any where in the world all for $30.

Add this to their excellent and truly cross platform victronconnect and they is no solar company come close to integrating the best of ICT to energy generation.

@Bigbrovar
Can you Imagine all those features by Victron? Maybe Outback was rolled out when the internet was still unavailable. I bet you, they will find it difficult now that we have Internet of Things except for people who are not keen about it. They need to change else they will be left behind. They need to learn from Blackberry, Xerox, Blockbuster, Polaroid who lost the battle to Android/IOS, HP, Netflix, Digital Camera's etc.

I don't even want to think about it again self. They need to give more value to their customers in this digital age.

pranil:
EMONCMS actually uses MYSQL database with PhP engine and apache webserver . The the api calls are all json . and you can qury the the Data using MQTT

@Pranil
Can I get your phone? Will like to call you tomorrow. You can send it to me...

Thanks.

pranil:
Unfortunately they do not have open protocol that I am aware . EMONCMS uses JSON calls on the API . Google srecah turned up nothing .
I got fed up with crappy software and shoddy practice of charging extra for remote monitoring by mainly USA based manufacturers like morningstar and extremely to shift to Chinese stuff . I have a ATS from company called powergen - Costs 73 USD only but comes with full windows software and remote monitoring. Anything close to that from established brands is upwards of 500 USD.

@Pranil

Thanks for your response. Still doing the research sha. The Outback/Fangpusun guys just want you to drop money for almost everything before you can view your device locally not to talk of online. Imagine getting a mate 3 for $400+ just to connect or WattPlot. Haba. No qualms sha. I am working on what a guy did online and am almost through. Am at the stage of integrating it with Grafana + Postgres or MySQL which uses a time series database to make lovely graphs. Don't know if somebody have achieved this on this forum before. Well, we will get there.

pranil:
You can do same with emoncms. see my dashboard variations - You can configure it your way in half an hour once the basic setup is running
The yellow one is for my kids and wife . They know very well based on battery charge status when to use TV or washing machine etc. The moment the pointer is in Orange they swtichoff non essential stuff such as AC , TV , etc.

@Pranil

Love your Raspberry Pi setup and beautiful dashboard. Could you guide or point me to a place I can setup something similar for Fangpusun/Outback. Thanks as I await your feedback.

mctfopt:
Already discussed on this thread here https://www.nairaland.com/390522/solar-energy-complement-fta/183#50744403

Thanks. I must have missed it.

@all

Is anyone using the Solar Water heater in this forum? pls share pictures of your installation.

thanks.

DMerciful:
Its been awesome. connected it to my inverter and charge with the inverter or cc. i have a battery switch that allows me to select either the lithium bank, the flooded battery bank or both. I mostly use both combine in order to reduced the charging current going into the lithium. Highly recomended.

@DMerciful

Pls bro, kindly give us a peep into your setup. Lets have pictures of your amazing setup. Thanks.

NB: GeorgeD1 be warming up ooo. I know you did several upgrades and other wonderful gurus too. We learn a lot from pictures.

bodeface:
Team,
Please, without considering the cost, which MPPT Charge controller is the best in the market among; Midnite classic solar 150 / 200, Outback FM60 /80, Tristar MPPT 60A, Schneider Xantrex 150V / 600V, Magnum, e.t.c in terms of best solar harvest, durability, flexibility, extend-ability remote accessibility and e.t.c Which maker or model is the best. Thanks

Check out this comparison.

@Reprobate.

That's cool then.

For the felicity solar, their 200L freezer is N185k from their price list.

Cheers man.

dezo:
ALL SOLD!!!
Hello yall. 40 nos Fullriver 12v 200ah batteries for sale . Note they are not new and currently being used by me. Price is 20k. Discounts available for bulk purchase.Thanks. ALL SOLD!!!!. THANK YOU

@ Dezo

em m m... . What did you power with that number of batteries?

That can power and sustain a city

@Reprobate.

You may check out the felicity solar freezer & Fridge specifications as attached if it meets your need. Think they are in Festac, Lagos. Though i have never used it before sha.

0.45KwH/day = 0.45 x 1000 / 24hrs = 18.75 W

0.54KwH/day = 0.54 x 1000 / 24hrs = 22.5 W

0.60KwH/day = 0.60 x 1000 / 24hrs = 24 W

gurus, hope my calculation above is correct?

chris81964:
What does a Battery Temperature Sensor do and why do I need it?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uPlEJB6y_ec

Hello Chris,

Thanks for sharing this. Didn't know you have such educative site on youtube. Am spending the next few days learning from your site. I appreciate.

DUNKA:
Nice set up can please advise the cost of your system components

can we take this offline? Just dm me or let me have your email and we will discuss. Thanks.

RipVanWink:
your harvest is too poor, 8.4kw, ur panels are 3kw already..using the 5hr sunshine rate and factoring in losses and inefficiencies..your harvest shud be above 12kw daily, i harvest about 6.2kw daily from my 1500w panel array 4 x 200ah battery bank. another reason might be that your load is small and your bank small too, methinks an 8 battery system is beta suited to your 3000kw panel array

Yes, its been raining and cloudy here meaning less sunshine so i said in my earlier post. I believe it will shoot beyond that as time goes on. Battery bank is just for 4 for now. Intention is to go up to 15 panels with 8 batteries but NOT now. Also, I have not really loaded it. Just couple of items - fridge, lights, tv, etc etc are running on it. Thanks for your comment anyway.

So, few days ago, I upgraded my setup from the old 24 volts , 4 solar panel setup.

Now i have a car port with 12 nos 250 W Solar Panels (mixture of felicity and my-home with almost similar configuration). The car port can accommodate 15 panels Maximum (by just tweaking the holes in pipes), 80A Fangpusun Mppt Charge Controller, Mate 2, 48V Battery (4 Quanta batteries connected in series), and 5kva - 48V Felicity Inverter.

The only item missing is the Monitoring System which i need to complete but I can access the readings up to 128 days on the Charge controller. Need to brace the car port too. Interestingly, the highest generation so far recorded 8.4kWH in a cloudy day and I've been off grid for like 3 weeks(24/7) because the transformer in my area packed up.

I think its a good way to start for a beginner like me, right?

bigrovar:
https://openenergymonitor.org/ or if you cc logs your harvest. some allows you to export your harvest to something like csv which can then to uploaded to pvoutput.org

@bigrovar

Thanks.

Morning guys,

Anybody using WattPlot™ Monitor for Solar Power Generation?

Is there any open source software for monitoring solar power generation?

Hello Guys,

So am trying to setup 12 nos - 250W, 30V/8A solar panels in series/parallel.

Kindly look at my diagram and suggest the best option that is most efficient. Charge Controller is 150Vdc/80A mppt, Battery Bank is 48V, 200AH and the Inverter is 5000va.

Thanks as I await your response.

For longer life of our batteries, best practice suggests that we should not discharge our batteries beyond 50% but for a lot of us, our setup may not be able to give us the state just by looking at it to determine State of charge (SOC) or Depth of Discharge (DoD). In my search for knowledge, i stumbled on the attached diagrams which i believe will give us an idea of our SOC and also the DoD when we look at our batteries (though the diagram may not be 100% accurate for all batteries).


State of charge (SOC) is the equivalent of a fuel gauge for the battery pack in a battery electric vehicle (BEV), hybrid vehicle (HV), or plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV). The units of SOC are percentage points (0% = empty; 100% = full).

An alternate form of the same measure is the depth of discharge (DoD), the inverse of SOC (100% = empty; 0% = full).

@Barezzi

Thanks. I appreciate your response.

Hello guys,

What is the best solar panel inclination on a horizontal surface? Just want clarification. I learnt its equal to ones latitude and Nigeria is (Lat. 9N , 8E) which means the solar panel must be at angle 9 degrees.

Hope that is ok for Abuja.

I finally found the name of the creature.

it is called a camel spider.

They are not venomous too but their jaws looks scary

http://www.livescience.com/40025-camel-spiders-facts.html

and

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solifugae

wow! Never knew a termite could be as large as that.

Please help with the name of this insect. Found it in my farm. it is scary really.

Ferdiwar:
Since your current inverter is a 24v system you are to go/stick with the series/parallel connection​ till you upgrade your inverter to a 48v system then you can change your battery configuration to a series connection.

Thanks. I appreciate

@dapsyra, DMerciful, Konnektions146, Ferdiwar and everyone.

Thanks all. My Inverter is 24V. Planning to upgrade to a 48V soon hence the reason for the diagrams.

I think i will go with the serial-parallel for now and change to series when i upgrade the Inverter. Hope that will work?


NB: I stumbled on a link with facts and figures - http://www.smartgauge.co.uk/batt_con.html which will make a good read for forum members.

Hello guys,

Been thinking of the best and most efficient 4 Battery setup. Can you guys assist me in choosing a good connection out of the 2 options and the reason. Thanks.

@idsolar & DMerciful

Thanks guys, I appreciate.

Cheers.

Dear Solar Gurus,

Please can somebody help me choose between a Luminous & Quanta Batteries.

Which brand should i pick?

Thanks guys.

bigrovar:
Hello, buzz me on twitter @bigbrovar http://twitter.com/bigbrovar

Followed you already this evening.

@bigrovar

Hello. I need to contact you. I am in Abuja too. Need a little guidance on Solar. Need to upgrade my setup. Will dm you my phone number. Just flash me and I will call.

Thanks.

SnowJay92:
Why not construct a small pen, hunt them down and start a mini snail farm with em, right there in one corner of ur garden?
Ok modified:
I'm thinking they're no the breed to farm with, there are other options,
1. park the ones you see in the day time physically, crack and use them for fish farming, if you have a pond, otherwise just destroy them.
2. set a bait for them, maybe cut ripe paw paw in half, and place at the base of your paw paw tree and other strategic positions in the farm, by 7pm go to the garden witha torchlight and arrest them while they're seriously feeding.
3. Lastly, use the good old pesticide to exterminate them.

@SowJay,

Thanks. I was just experimenting with some of those solutions. I will take your advice.