Bigrovar's Posts
Nairaland Forum / Bigrovar's Profile / Bigrovar's Posts
(1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7) (8) (9) (10) (of 60 pages)
 Satellite TV Technology / Re: Solar Energy, A Complement To FTA by bigrovar(m): 11:16am On Jul 02 |
Sapiosexuality: Science is not that easy. they are many things yet to be well understood talkless "solved" the nature of lightning makes it hard to truly understanding ... opinion are divided on how best to protect against it.. It is still one of the gray area of science. |
| Satellite TV Technology / Re: Solar Energy, A Complement To FTA by bigrovar(m): 11:13am On Jul 02 |
brightk: No please don't TT system is designed to have the earth (the ground you are standing on) to be the bond / return part for your earthing to the GRID neutral (the neutral at your transformer which 1 Like |
| Satellite TV Technology / Re: Solar Energy, A Complement To FTA by bigrovar(m): 9:20pm On Jul 01 |
Sapiosexuality: Unfortunately physics doesn't care about your believes. You can prevent a direct lightning by using active lightning protection systems like Indelec PREVECTRON3 last time I checked the price (sometimes in 2021) when USD was ₦580 it was over a million for the device alone minus installation. Direct lightning is a very rare occurrence. What is common is electrical surge induced by indirect lightning strike or lightning strike in a near by location. This is why it is best ( more economical and practical and prudent) to invest in SPD. Lightning is a phenomenon that is still being understood there is no exact science that can predict it or guarantee protection against it. What exist are standard practice on how to increase your chances of surviving the effect and impact of lighting. My central point is. You need an SPD. The Chinese and everyone who cares about important infrastructure installs SPD. Turning off a device or breaker will not protect against a lighting surge travelling 100s of miles looking for ground. It would arc and jump between contacts.. best to provide a path for it to follow. Of cause we are all adult and thus free to do whatever we think work for us. 4 Likes |
| Satellite TV Technology / Re: Solar Energy, A Complement To FTA by bigrovar(m): 5:28pm On Jul 01 |
gadgetplanetng: Turning of a breaker is no sure way of stopping and the Electrostatic discharge you get from a direct or near by lightning. You best bet is proper ground and a well installed SPD. Even that is no 100% guarantee especially if it is a direct strike which nothing can survive. 1 Like |
| Satellite TV Technology / Re: Solar Energy, A Complement To FTA by bigrovar(m): 10:27am On Jun 26 |
jonescosmos: Besides, the bigger danger is the earth is not energized which should never be the case especially when you consider lots of appliances and metal frame are suppose to be connected to earth. This is why RCD is very important for a TT system. It is meant to spot a differential between live and neutral then trip to ensure safety. |
| Satellite TV Technology / Re: Solar Energy, A Complement To FTA by bigrovar(m): 7:04am On Jun 26 |
I would be more concerned about 40v showing up on neutral that is not suppose to happen. Hiding the fault by shunting it to lower than recommended resistence earth rod should not be the solution. 40v is now going to earth. I personally would be more concerned by 40v on neutral. I don't know much about this installation having a low resistance works then fine. Have you tried installing an ELCB just to rule out leakage to earth? My focus is on resistential systems not factories or industrial applications. (I stated same in my post) My post is mainly based on UK code which is what Nigeria is modeled after. 2 Likes |
| Satellite TV Technology / Re: Solar Energy, A Complement To FTA by bigrovar(m): 6:05am On Jun 26 |
GloriousGbola: Please don't go broke trying to get sub 10 ohms earth resistance. For a TT system at least going by UK electric code for residential systems. (We use TT earthing system in Nigeria) Minium theoretical earth electrode resistance is actually 1666 Ohms. Now that is theoretical. In practice anything below 200 ohms is considered ok but below 100 ohms is recommended. 10 ohms and below are requirement for industrial applications and power equipments line transformers, power substations, Network Masts etc. They are not a requirement for home earthing of electrical components. To get anything below 10 ohms for domestic earth rod would be very expensive. The important thing to note in all of this is that. Homes are required to use RCDs to compliment a domestically installed earthing system. This helps to provide protection in place of a very low earth electrode set out to provide ie trip a breaker in the case of an earth fault. Since 100 ohms earth rod is incapable of tripping a breaker. An RCD does that job Source https://www.tlc-direct.co.uk/Book/8.6.1.htm https://community.screwfix.com/threads/tt-earthing-readings.173423/ https://www.quora.com/In-a-TT-earthing-system-how-does-the-fault-current-go-through-the-consumer-earth-rod-to-source-the-earth-rod-through-the-earth-because-the-earth-s-resistance-is-too-high If your RCD trips then that is a bigger issue with your electrical connection which needs to be fixed and not a or problem with your earthing. Secondly lots of people including me use to go all in on likes of bentonite and GEMs. Until I realize just drilling your earth rod into the ground should be sufficient.. See compacted earth and length of earth rod matters more than some of these Earthing materials. From all the literature I have read on the issue, getting an 8 foot earth rod (copper bonded is fine and stronger than all copper earth rod which can be quite brittle) Just drilling your earth rod on undisturbed compacted soil ensures the earth is fine. At least you can carry out soil resistant before you start. If you live in a place of high soil resistant or rocky place then you can consider an eathing enhancer just note that most of the GEMS currently in the market are fakes / immitation. I spoke to the authorized distributor for GEMs and he said he doesn't stock them any more due to high dollar rates. Last one he sold went for 80k for 12.5kg bag. Bentonite is a good alternative earth rod backfill but again I am not sure on the quality product we have in the market. Bentonite also tend to expand and crack when dry this allows air bubbles which means some part of your earth rod losses contact with the earth if encased in bentonite. Most people in the west just put the ground rod directly into the ground (without digging a hole) The idea is digging a hole reduces the compactness of the soil, a soil disturbed and backfilled might take 20 years to compact again. Soil compactness is required to ensure the rod maintains contact with the soil around it and contact is not lost if the soil settles. I go with the school of thought that believe that if you can drive a long enough earth rod like 8ft and above you should be fine without any extra hole digging. Source https://www.eng-tips.com/viewthread.cfm?qid=11731 When considered the minimum recommended earth resistance is sub 100ohms having a good earthing becomes quite inexpensive and easy to do without delving into sneak oil or spending tons of money. Earthing is just one part of protection system. You still need to ensure earth neutral bonding is available in your system (by doing an impudence test) hopefully earthing of your grid transformer is done properly. And if you are on inverter ensure your inverter has a MEN rely when operating in island mode. Also your RCD.. if you get a lot of nuisance trip consider a 300mA RCD for the whole house just make sure the trip time is below 50ms. Also take time to identify why your RCD is tripping. This is my humble take on this. Remember I am not a qualified electrician so please feel free to take whatever I say with a pinch of salt. 6 Likes |
| Satellite TV Technology / Re: Solar Energy, A Complement To FTA by bigrovar(m): 10:42am On Jun 20 |
Just to add to my post above. The SPD I use for my setup are 300v DC Midnite SPD for my 2 PV array. They are connected in series with my PV combiner box. The PV as a VOC of about 150v hence the closest rated Midnite SPD was their 300v series. I got it from amazon US For the AC I use Schneider Type 2 SPD sold from the official schneider shop herehttps:///product/iprd40r-modular-surge-arrester-1p-n-350v-with-remote-transfert-a9l40501-5935598 They also have a type 1 spd https:///product/schneider-electric-iprd65r-modular-surge-arrester-1p-n-350v-with-remote-transfert-a9l65501-5935603 Just note that you are as good as your weakest point. There is a lot to know and understand about SPD how they are installed and such. You can reach out to people who have good understanding of them to ensure your setup is apt otherwise you will just be wasting money. 2 Likes |
| Satellite TV Technology / Re: Solar Energy, A Complement To FTA by bigrovar(m): 10:26am On Jun 20 |
osayuwamwen: I see a lot of people discuss their challenges with lightning induced electrical surges. Let me start by saying I am in no way an expert on this subject. You still need to reach out to experts and read on your own so this should not be considered a professional advise more a how "I" did it. Another thing to get out of the way is. no amount of protection help you in case of a direct lightning attack.. No amount of SPD or surge protectors. A direct lightning takes almost everything. Fortunately direct lightning are very rare events, what we see mostly are caused by indirect lightning or near by lightning which is what and SPD and lightning protection system can help with. What are surges. Surges in a system can occur from the grid (NEPA) and most electrical surges comes from the grid.. usually caused by heavy machinery used in a near by house or factory or heavy equipment like fridge and freezers. They introduce spike into your circuit. Surges can also be caused by induced or sudden increase or spike in voltage / current caused by a near by lightning stike. Such a spike which is called a surge can be very high.. as high as 50kvA to 80kvA. This sudden spike occurs very quickly.. sometimes less than a second.. hence they are usually caused transient electrical surges.. they happen within seconds and dissipate. But they can do damages to electrical equipment within the time they occur. Like all electricity, Surges are looking for ground and the best way to protect your equipment is to provide a pathway to ground. Ground here means your mean house earthing. This is why earthing is very very important and it is the bedrock which lightning protection should be based. Check my last couple of posts on earthing and best practice I followed and how you can check your earth resistance to confirm that it is within spec How can indirect lightning ingress into your house. Mainly through external fixtures which are linked to your electrical circuit. It could be a satellite dish, or a solar panel, or a cable from the grid. (Nepa connection) all of the listed are can pick up surges induced by near by lightning and bring them into your home. Protection in layers There is no one red button that will protect your house from lightning. the best approach to guaranty you survive a lightning surge is to take protection in layers. SPD or surge protection device helps to protection against all electrical surge by drawing the surge to itself and sending it to ground (your earth rod) and away from your sensitive equipment. SPD are rated in Type. Type 1,2 and 3 Type 1 SPD Type 1 are usually installed at the entry point to your house. like by the NEPA connection ingress to your house. or by your PV combiner box before it goes into your inverter / charge controller. They are the most powerful and are designed with withstand very large surges.. between 50kVA to 100kVA. The take this large surge and clamp it down to a lower surge like 2.5kva, sending the rest to ground. of cause 2.5kva is still too much for most of your equipment.. this is where a Type 2 comes in. Type 2 surge protector are not as powerful as a type 1 and they can handle surges between 40k to 10kva and clamp it down to like 1.1 to 800va .. much safer.. ideally in a well coordinated setup. Type 2 pick up from type 1 or type 1 hands over to type 1 to further clamp down the surge to a safer level. Type 2 are usually installed in your main house distribution box often time paired with the main house breaker. It should be known that a surge protector should always be paired with an appropriately sized circuit breaker. The surge circuit breaker and earthing work hand in hand. When there is a powerful surge, the SPD trips the breaker and sends the surge to ground. Type 3 are like your normal APC surge protector power outlets you see in electrical shops and super markets. They handle smaller surges and break it down further for your device. Things to watch out for when getting a surge protector - (Ue)The rated voltage. This is the amount of voltage that is allowed to pass through the surge protector. Anything high than that will be shunted down to earth. You want to appropriately size your surge protector so that the rated voltage is just above the rated voltage of the protected circuit. e.g for AC circuit, a 350v or 300v surge protector is ideal if you get an 800v surge protector.. you are letting in way too much surge into your equipment. Remember spd acts like a capacitor, they help protect your equipment from voltage spikes. This spikes happen all the time and often time equipment are designed to handle them but each spike as stress you want to protect your equipment from. ( Imax)Maximum discharge current. This is the maximum amount of current an SPD can protect it can be 40kA or high or lesser depending on the class / type Max protection level (Up) This is the voltage surge protector would clamp down the surge to. It can be 1.4kV or 1.5kv All the above specs are important in setting up your surge protection device. There is so much to say and write about surge protection. Again not a professional and not qualified to give advise on this. But hope this guide people on how to think around surge protection. cheers 9 Likes 2 Shares |
| Satellite TV Technology / Re: Solar Energy, A Complement To FTA by bigrovar(m): 9:34pm On Jun 14 |
bigrovar: |
| Satellite TV Technology / Re: Solar Energy, A Complement To FTA by bigrovar(m): 11:42am On Jun 14 |
brightk: In a TT system earth to neutral bonding happens between the consumer ground rod, and the ground rod installed at the NEPA transformer that serves your house. The neutral (that comes into your house from NEPA) and Earth electrode (installed at the transformer) is *suppose* to be bonded together. That transformer earth electrode/rod is connected to your house earth electrode (rod) using the mass of the soil / earth between them. The soil acts as the connector. Faults that goes into your earth rod finds its way to the transformer neutral via the transformer earth rod. For this to work though, the earthing at the transformer level has to be properly done and not more than 5ohms in resistance. It most also be bonded to the neutral supplied from the same transformer and into your house. Unfortunately, the above is not always the case, we see situation where transformer earthing is not properly done or the neutral is not bonded to it thus making the transformer run a floating neutral. There is a test for checking if your electrode is bonded to your neutral (via the transformer ground) in a TT system. It is called ground impudence test. This test checks how much resistance exist between your earth rod and the transformer neutral. I don't know much about this impudence test but a competent ground tester should be able to check it out for you. If you use an inverter, most inverters have MEN relays for when your inverter is operating offgrid or in island mode (in this case disconnected from NEPA) I know for sure that Axpert and SRNE have this MEN relay. It works by bonding ground to neutral when your system is off-grid or when NEPA is disconnected thus ensuring you maintain your earth to neutral bonding. The relay pretty much connects neutral to earth when NEPA goes and disconnects it when NEPA is on. Some inverters like DEYE don't have this MEN relay hence allowing your system run in what is called floating neutral. You can use an external contactor to fix this but that is another rabbit hole. 8 Likes 1 Share |
| Satellite TV Technology / Re: Solar Energy, A Complement To FTA by bigrovar(m): 11:12am On Jun 14 |
bigrovar: Just to add, in my case I paid 15k for the assessment and my earth resistant measurement was 17-14ohms. Most people who carry out this type of earth resistant testing are also quite knowledgeable about earthing and fault protection system. They tend to have above average knowledge than the ruff and tumble NEPA official. 1 Like |
| Satellite TV Technology / Re: Solar Energy, A Complement To FTA by bigrovar(m): 10:44am On Jun 14 |
durodee: Like everyone have added, you need to review your electrical fault system including your earthing. You said you had your earthing done, have you had the earthing independently tested to ensure that it is within the recommended resistance required of a TT earth system (which is pretty much what we practice in Nigeria) You should also ensure that the earth point for all your electrical socket are well terminated, and those terminations are still functional. You can use a multimeter to carry out basic testhing. In my case I run the connect the red probe to the live, and neutral, note down the voltage (which should be around 230v) then I do this same this time with red to live and black probe to earth / ground (the top part of your electrical socket) it should also read 230v. This will let you know the socket it connected to a sort of ground. (It would not tell you how active your earthing is but it is a good indicator) Light bulb test can also help, get an incandescent light bulb and connect it to live and earth. A well lit bulb indicate decent earthing. Run this across most of your socket to ensure they are well terminated to earth. Non of the above test should replace a proper earth resistance test which can only be done with proper tooling and by a competent technician. Often time, NEPA officials tend to have this tool so you might want to reach out to your local NEPA office .. you might be able to have someone come run a test on your setup (off the record). I attached a picture of my previous earthing setup. For a TT system 200 ohms and below is recommended but anything below 100 ohms is ideal. The earth resistent tester should carry out test of the earth electrode and also check resistant from central earth bar (from your db) Lastly on the Main Earth Neutral Bonding (MEN). This is not recommended for a TT system. A TT system is technically suppose to have MEN happen between your earth electrode (earth rod) and transformer neutral. The connection between your earth rod and the transformer neutral is meant to happen through the mass of the earth.. basically the soil / ground between your ground rod and your transformer ground (which is bonded to the neutral that comes into your house. (See the attached diagram) You are suppose to have only 1 MEN in a circuit to ensure that ground loop fault have just 1 path of return. Bonding Earth to neutral in your DB creates multiple fault path because it technically means you have multiple Main earth to neutral. Lastly, you might want to try installing an RCD to or an ELCB. The latter to detect earth leakage, the former to detect a fault in the system and trip (in other to save life) Be careful though RCD can become a nuisance if your electrical connection is not properly made. 6 Likes 1 Share
|
| Satellite TV Technology / Re: Solar Energy, A Complement To FTA by bigrovar(m): 12:05am On Jun 12 |
QuoteJust1nce: I got a 22U rack over the weekend for about 275k (which seem to be the common price in computer village lagos) an 18U should be slightly cheaper. I would find the contact of the seller and post it. |
| Satellite TV Technology / Re: Solar Energy, A Complement To FTA by bigrovar(m): 8:42pm On Jun 11 |
Selling off some excess solar panels and inverter. Deye 8kw Brand new = 2.3m Axpert 5kva used = 350k (sold) 4 x 540w 480k (in a bundle) available only FCT 2 x midnite SPD 600v 180K each. Product and details available here. https://x.com/bigbrovar/status/1800587475468882317 |
| Satellite TV Technology / Re: Solar Energy, A Complement To FTA by bigrovar(m): 6:25am On May 08 |
Hello guys, I have an barely used SRNE HESP Series 6kw Hybrid inverter for sale. The Inverter was initially purchased for my personal use but decided I needed more power and got a 8kw Hybrid inverter instead. The inverter was purchased directly from SRNE authorized distributor on April and on April 2024. I am used it for some weeks but has since been replaced. The inverter came with a 5 years warranty and it is build using the double enclosure design (popularized by Deye) where the fan and heat sink are on the separate enclosure allowing the main enclosure to have an IP65 for water, moisture and dust. The inverter comes with 2 up blowing fans and as such the thermals of the inverter has been very stable all through my use ie temperature never rose above 60C. I have attached a screenshot of the thermals from my use of the inverter as pulled from my monitoring dashboard. The specs of the inverter include the following. 6kw rated output 2 x 4500w MPPT charge controller (120v-500v) Support for Lithium battery connection via can port You can read more about the specs here https://www.srnesolar.com/userfiles/files/2023/09/19/SRNE_HESP%20series_EU_48V_4%EF%BD%9E6kW_230V_Solar%20Storage%20Inverter_datasheet_1.5.pdf Going price is 900,000 Sold 1 Like
|
| Business / Re: If You Earn 2.5m Everymonth How Do You Invest? by bigrovar(m): 9:23am On Jul 10, 2023 |
. 2 Likes |
| Satellite TV Technology / Re: Solar Energy, A Complement To FTA by bigrovar(m): 1:25pm On May 07, 2023 |
olopan: Neat job. 2 Likes |
| Satellite TV Technology / Re: Solar Energy, A Complement To FTA by bigrovar(m): 4:08pm On Apr 26, 2023 |
Mini review of Lifepo4 batteries from Selina of Shenzhen Deriy https://deriy.en.alibaba.com/?spm=a2756.trade-list-buyer.0.0.446c76e9yMKAWz&tracelog=from_orderlist_company . Order Process The order for 16 x Eve LF280K cells was placed sometimes December 2022, they were shipped out sometimes in January and I got delivery notification in march. I had no issue getting the batteries from the shipper. I ordered extra items like non polarized breakers, extra busbars and nuts, and a battery tester the EBC A40l Smart Battery tester. All items came delivered with the battery. Physical Condition of the batteries Battery came in pristine conditions, they looked brand new and no physical damage can be seen. The packages was well done. I settled for the dual terminal batteries, the only issues I had with this was the terminals were wielded in a way that makes it impossible to line the batteries close together in a build without shorting them. This was not a big deal for me though. Testing On getting the batteries, I carried out extensive capacity test to ensure they batteries gave the rated labeled capacity. For this I used the EBC A40L smart tester. I connected the tester to the battery and connected my laptop to the tester, The tester application allows you to set charge and discharge parameter and you can see a graph of the voltage curve of the battery in real time as it charges. I set the tester to discharge the battery to 2.6v (voltage of a fully discharged lifepo4 cell) and then immediately charge each cell to 3.65v, it would then cut of charging once the charge amps is at 7A. I logged the capacity of the battery once it got to 3.65v (The voltage of a fully charged Lifep04 cell) in all every battery cell was at 280+Ah (some at 284, the least was 282ah) once the voltage reached 3.65v, this means that the battery were the corrected labelled capacity. Building into a bank I assembled the batteries into a bank 16S to ad to an existing 16S 280AH Eve battery bank. So so good. Still early days but the cells are doing well. Each bank is attached to its own JK BMS In all, I am a happy customer, Selina was very helpful especially her employee Colin, both of them speak good english and they were very communicative during the whole process. 12 Likes
|
| Satellite TV Technology / Re: Solar Energy, A Complement To FTA by bigrovar(m): 3:32pm On Apr 26, 2023 |
FEGEITOK: This is close to what I get from my Canadian solar. Even with not being optimimally oriented (they face south east at about 124 degrees of azimuth as against 180 degress) and at about 21 degrees tilt (as against 5 degrees) My panel constantly do north of 80% of their name plate, that is about 4.5kw of 5.4kw PMAX. Note that I am paring them with a 100A solar charge controller which means generation is clipped at 100A when in fact the panels are designed to produced 112.6A. so in a way should be getting more from the panel if I were using a bigger solar charger or if I were to divide them between 2 controllers. For the OP I suggest get can squeeze more from the panel if he can put them on rails and have them tilted a bit to achieve close to 18 degrees tilt. This would require the work of an experience installer. They would need to fabricate an L foot for him. I did same with my system 1 Like
|
| Satellite TV Technology / Re: Solar Energy, A Complement To FTA by bigrovar(m): 3:24pm On Apr 26, 2023 |
Juror: Not as much as it does tubular or flooded acid batteries. AGM has a very low self discharge I think about 5% a month, can't remember the actual number. You can look it up. |
| Satellite TV Technology / Re: Solar Energy, A Complement To FTA by bigrovar(m): 9:46am On Apr 20, 2023 |
ask4bk: Tubular Battteries share the same age as AGM, it all depends on how you use them. I tend not to recommend tubular for home or solar use, if you can afford go for AGM. you can charge them faster and discharge them at a higher discharge rate, all this makes them ideal for home and solar application. Tubular have too many point of failures, for one the tubular we get here in Nigeria have electrolyte of douthful quality since the electrolyte are usually mixed and filled here in Nigeria, you can not be sure of the gravity of the mix ratio and the quality of water used. Then they is the issue of long time idle state, over 3 months in a ship from India and another 2 to 3 months in the shop waiting to be sold. All this means when you get a tubular it is already suffering from partial state of discharge and have issues with sulphation. AGM is less susceptible to above listed problems. The problem with AGM is cost. Good AGM batteries cost close to Lithium. 8 Likes |
| Satellite TV Technology / Re: Solar Energy, A Complement To FTA by bigrovar(m): 6:21am On Apr 20, 2023 |
ask4bk: I think your usage is fine. How long the battery would last though depends on many factors. The type and quality of the battery is one. Heat plays a big role especially with lead acid batteries. I do suspect the reason many of our batteries die faster is because of the average ambient temperature. Batteries are designed to operate at 27C which is AC cooled room temperature in Nigeria. Anything above that an the battery start to degrade faster. How you charge those batteries is also very important. If you want your battery to last, check to ensure they are being charged according to spec. Felicity (last time I used one in 2017) has some flexible charging param which you want to look into and ensure it aligns with battery charge specs which is usually in the label. I am not a big fan of large parallel banks especially when it is lead acid. It is extremely hard and expensive to wire a parallel battery to ensure every battery in the bank are equaly changed and discharged. Most times some batteries gets more charge / discharge more than others in the bank creating imbalances which eventually take down the whole bank. The imbalances is from some batteries dying from over charging while others die from being under charged. If you want to do parallel proper, you need 6 busbar, 3 for the negative side of the battery and 3 for the positive side. Each of the 2 batteries in series then connect to the busbar using equal length cable. This would consumption a lot of money considering a 35mm² flexible cables is now over 3k per meter. You might spend close to 70k. In all you should get close to 3 years from them or more so fingers crossed. |
| Satellite TV Technology / Re: Solar Energy, A Complement To FTA by bigrovar(m): 6:09am On Apr 20, 2023 |
earthrealm: Based on recorded data which can be viewed here http://energy.openculture.org.ng:8080/dashboard/view?id=48 The Yingli performed quite well they usually operate at about 70% -75% of PMAX. Occasionally they can get as high as 83%. During the harmattan the Yingli output usually drop to 60-65% The Canadian solar performed much better. They operated at about 80-84% of PMAX and sometimes you get them operating into 90% I suspect that the charge controller might be a bottle neck for the Canadian solar. I paired them with a 100A solar charger which means their output is clipped to 100A if my battery bank is 48v. They also drive the controller to it's max capacity which was why I added external fans to reduce clipping and heat related derating from the controller. In all the Canadian has better heat tolerance and better performance during harmattan. It should be added though that in my case. My Canadian solar is the Hiku7 which uses some of the latest PERC technology in solar cells. The Yingli was based on Polycrystaline black cells. When compared their specs sheet. The Canadian has 21% efficiency against the 17% from Yingli. Heat coefficient is also better for the Canadian 0.34 vs 0.5 this means Canadian performs better under hot weather. 5 Likes |
| Satellite TV Technology / Re: Solar Energy, A Complement To FTA by bigrovar(m): 5:54am On Apr 20, 2023 |
tobennae: Home is an average 3bed room but tell you what, it doesn't matter. What matters is how you use energy. People tend to use house size for reference on energy usage but truth be told a 1 bed room apartment might use more electricity than a 3 bed. For my house I made sure to make it energy efficient. Walls are white of bright and windows are large so lots of natural lights during the day, electrical light only comes on at night and they are all 5w, fence lights are all solar outdoor lights with motion sensor. Fan are all DC ceiling fans with light ver 70% efficiency compared to AC motor fan. The battery are LifePo4 from eve and were bought from Amy Wan directly from china and shipped to Nigeria. They are automotive grade cells. I have a second bank I am currently building which are more solar grade I got them from Selina Li also directly shipped in from China. 5 Likes |
| Satellite TV Technology / Re: Solar Energy, A Complement To FTA by bigrovar(m): 5:37am On Apr 17, 2023 |
Around Q4 last year. I upgraded my solar panels from 9x 335 Yingli panels to 9x 600w Canadian Hiku7 solar panels. Bought panel from techland. Here is a short performance review. Installation. The panels are roof mounted with a 21 degree tilt. They face South East at 123 degree Azimuth. The panels are paired with a 100A / 150v Victron smart solar charge controller. Total capacity is 5.4kw. 9 panels are connected in a 3SP3 arrangements. There is a 10mm2 shielded and UL listed cable between PV and charge controller. Cable length is about 10 meters. Overall the system performance has been really good. I get an average of 4.5kw output which represents over 80% of panel PMAX. One thing the panel is really good at is how it handles heat. It has a heat co efficiency of 0.34% and this shows in the performance. Yesterday ambient temperature (as pulled from my personal weather station) was as high as 43C, yet the panel was able to produce (consistently) north of 4400w. During cloud edge events the panel has produced close to 110% of output which is 5.8kw of 5.4kw PMAX. I attached 2 centrifugal fans to the Victron solar charge controller to help handle heat since I am using the controller close to it's limits. 6 Likes 1 Share
|
| Satellite TV Technology / Re: Solar Energy, A Complement To FTA by bigrovar(m): 10:27am On Apr 14, 2023 |
Elcapitan0: Very difficult to diagnose solar generation issues without significant information about the system, notes of things can go wrong. Here are the information you should provide. * What type of battery are they connected to. e.g Tubular or AGM, if possible provide the name or picture. How are the panels connected, e.g 2 In series (4 in series would damage the inverter solar charger because it would be more than the maximum PV input of the inverter which is at 145v. * What is the make of the panel, do you have the panel specification sheet (usually the label at the back) where did he get the panels from. * What is the distance between the roof (assuming the panels are installed on the roof) and the inverter e.g if the house is an "upstairs" is the inverter installed on the ground floor? this helps to gauge distance. And if possible what type of wiring was done between inverter and solar panel. If you don't know a picture might help. My preliminary assessment based on what you provided and some assumptions of mine. I am assuming the Panels are connected 2 in series. If this is the case, the total voltage of the panel assuming VMP is 35v might not be sufficient to charge a 48v battery system when you factor in losses. A 48v battery (assuming tubular) needs at least 57.6v to properly charge. This means the solar panel of 70v would struggle to charge such a battery system when you calculate wiring and heat related losses, in fact they won't much much room for MPPT to happen and this might account for the low charge you are seeing. If my assumptions are correct and assuming the right wire size is used, then you friend would be best served switching to a 3 in series panel configuration. This would make 2 extra panels redundant. He can stick to using 6 panels in a 3S2P (3 in series, 2 parallel) configuration or buy an extra 400w panel and set them to a 3S3S 3 in series, 3 parallel configuration. 1 Like |
| Satellite TV Technology / Re: Solar Energy, A Complement To FTA by bigrovar(m): 10:28am On Apr 11, 2023 |
Trippledots: This is not really an advantage because DC voltage is not one or constant, if I have a 48v battery system and the inverter freezer is 12v input, I would still need a dc to dc converter to tap into the battery. This only works if your battery system has same voltage as your dc freezer, often times this is never the case. |
| Satellite TV Technology / Re: Solar Energy, A Complement To FTA by bigrovar(m): 10:26am On Apr 11, 2023 |
osayuwamwen: I think you are over using your battery sir, 1 12v 200AH battery can store up to 2.5kW Hours of electricity (assuming the battery is actually 200Ah which often times is never the case) 50% of this is 1.2kwh. Now although people advise you discharge your battery to 1.2kwh, this is not the most important thing to watch out for. What is most important is your solar panel capacity. Lead acid batteries like Tubular don't like to be left in a partial state of charge for long, They work best when they are fully charged every day. What this means is, your battery usage should align more with how much solar you can generate on a daily, the amount of solar should be able to fully charge your battery and also power house loads in the afternoon. If your solar panel can only produce 1kwh a day, your battery discharge should be be made to reflect his. If not you would have either of 2 things, forced to over discharge your battery and or be unable to fully charge what you used up the day before leaving your battery in a partial state of charge and gradually killing it. My advise, remove the freezer, fridge and anything but essential loads like a few light bulbs and fan. I would also advise you take out the outdoor lights and instead use solar outdoor lights. They are cheaper and ensure less load on your system. Your system is ok as is and allows for a future upgrade path, for now focus on bring balance to the system to ensure you get return on your investment (aka your battery lasts for at least 2 years before replacement) I would also advise you consider DC ceiling fans and if your ceiling is too low, DC standing fans (if you don't already have them) Lastly, take some time to do a proper system audit of all the loads you have in the house and which are connected to the system. This should give you an indication how much you are pulling from the system. You can buy a watt meter, I think it is less than 10k. My pedigree is using 2 tubular battery to power a 2 BR house for 2 years completely offgrid with a 1.8kw solar setup, I know a thing or 2 about how to conserve and manager small systems. |
| Satellite TV Technology / Re: Solar Energy, A Complement To FTA by bigrovar(m): 9:15am On Apr 11, 2023 |
cretin: Please take time to share where the battery is installed. Particularly the ambient temperature around the battery. So basically, when your use up electrolyte at such rate, it means you are over charging your battery - the reserve is when toping up electrolyte takes a long time (like 2 to 3 months) means battery is being under charged. You may want to adjust down your charge voltage. Something people should understand is, for lead acid batteries, your charge voltage is actually relate to battery temperature, the higher the temperature of a battery, the lower the charge voltage should be. The reference charge voltage on the battery spec sheet is meant for a 27C temperature, so unless your battery is installed in an AC room, If you are in Nigeria you need to adjust your battery charge voltage to compensate for temperature increase above 27C. This is called temperature compensated charging and some solar chargers have this functionality and thus have a temperature sensor probe that you attach to the battery. This allows them to adjust charge voltage automatically based on battery temperature. On the issue of voltage sag, this is a characteristics of Flooded Acid Battery. It is a fundamental flaw of the battery chemistry and it is one of the ways where an AGM does better. The voltage sag under load shouldn't worry you too much as long as it remains constant. It just means you are unable put heavy load on the battery which again is part of the flaws of Flooded Acid battery. 1 Like |
| Satellite TV Technology / Re: Solar Energy, A Complement To FTA by bigrovar(m): 12:11pm On Apr 09, 2023 |
haarfeez: Not worth it when you factor the high cost, including the cost and challenges of maintenance (getting a repair shop for support etc) all of which drive up the total cost of ownership. The energy difference is not that significant from a conversational Freezer. When you take out the starting current, Freezers are actually energy efficient for what they do, especially the chest freezers. Their ability to withhold cold air allows them to keep things cool for a long time. You are better up buying a conventional freezer (or even the inverter freezer which Thermocool now sells) and then size up your inverter accordingly. 5 Likes |
| Satellite TV Technology / Re: Solar Energy, A Complement To FTA by bigrovar(m): 7:35pm On Apr 06, 2023 |
samnaija:seconded, even games store when they were operational, they had a batch of distilled water that were adulterated, I had this pointed out to them before they had to withdraw the product. Most of the tubular battery dealers ship their batteries into Nigeria dry and then mix and fill up the electrolyte in Nigeria, most of them get their distilled water from AC. Just get the water from an AC hose and use a clean cotton, I always use new singlet for this. I use it to filter the water and you are good to go. |
(1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7) (8) (9) (10) (of 60 pages)
(Go Up)
| Sections: politics (1) business autos (1) jobs (1) career education (1) romance computers phones travel sports fashion health religion celebs tv-movies music-radio literature webmasters programming techmarket Links: (1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7) (8) (9) (10) Nairaland - Copyright © 2005 - 2024 Oluwaseun Osewa. All rights reserved. See How To Advertise. 167 |