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Satellite TV Technology › Re: Solar Energy, A Complement To FTA by bigrovar(m): 5:03am On Jan 02, 2023

NiyiOmoIyunade:
Say you want to build a smallish system and your household can get by on like 500w of day time loads and 300w ish of night loads - you may have to run the 1.5hp pump off grid or gen primarily.

If you go the lead acid route, every 12v 200Ah battery can support about 120w of loads (the C20 rating) so you would need 4pcs of 12v 200Ah to run your 300w of night loads from 6pm to 8am every day - 4 pcs of 12v 200Ah also fits your existing 48v Luminous inverter perfectly.

The solar panel wattage needed to support 500w of loads from 8am to 6pm and 300w of loads from 6pm to 8am will be any where from 3000w to 4000w of solar panels - at this point in tech and time, I would say choose the larger panel sizes so at least 450w - 9 pieces of quality 450w panels will get you to 4000w mark nicely and put you on the energy independence side of the curve. 6 pieces of quality 450w panels will give you enough energy most days.

All these above assume you are fully offgrid, if you get some hours of PHCN or Gen then you can size your panels leaner, if you are able to reduce your loads too then all the better.

You will see that the bill of materials for this 'small' offgrid system runs into a few millions at today's prices. If budget constrained, the more you can prune down your loads, the more you can make your system lean.

The idea is that this will be your system for 2 to 3 years and then you can upgrade to better tech - the panels and your inverter can likely be retained through all your upgrades but you will most likely need new batteries.

If your budget supports it, you can get 51.2v 135Ah LFP battery pack instead of 48v 200Ah lead acid pack (4pcs of 12v 200Ah lead acid) - with Lithium you just need to get your charge profile right and set a suitable LVD and you can worry less about whether you are overloading the batteries or whether there was enough solar charge for that day. With Lithium also, you can expect from 6 years and above of use vs say 18 months - 4 years with lead acid. The level of positive assurance is higher with Lithium i.e a well designed pack with decent cells will likely give you 8 years or more of service. If you cross 1 year with your lead acid, you will celebrate, 2 years you got something good and 3 years and above you got it right.

If your budget does not cover enough for 9pcs of 450w panels + 4pcs of 12v lead acid batteries at least then you are going very lean, if you already made the decision to go solar any ways then I would say just get 4pcs of 450w panels + 2pcs of 12v 200Ah + compatible inverter (you will need to jettison the 48v Luminous) and use this system to learn what is possible - later with your learnings and more cash available and faith in renewable energy you can build a system more in line with your needs.

One viable way to proceed as a newbie is to get a quote from an installer and bring it here for people to help you critique the materials used and costs. If you are more DIY inclined you can purchase an energy meter within 10k and use it to determine what your appliances consume - this will put you in a very good place with respect to sizing your system properly.

Oga Niyi I agree with the brilliant break down above just would advise caution with pairing a 200Ah tubular battery with 4kw. 2.6kw (6 x 450w) would be a good sweet spot.

For anyone wondering why I won't pair 4kw array with 200ah/48v tubular

The problem of using a 4 tubular with 4kw solar array is the potential to go over battery rated current charge rate.
Tububar batteries have a current charge rate is of 10% of battery capacity in Amps hence a 200Ah battery (12v/24/48v) should be discharged at 20A 26A max. Anything above that and you are killing the battery. It would cause heat build up and wear out the lead in quick time.

Also remember that the issue of capacity inflation is very common. Heck the Indian lead engineer for a major distributor for tubular batteries did confirm that one of their product labelled 220Ah is in fact 150Ah which they relabeled due to pressure from marketers.

Hence when you consider the fairly high self discharge of Tubular and the storage conditions of most Tubular batteries you would be extremely lucky to get a Tubular battery that has 80% of it's rated capacity. This needs the be factored into your design.

I used tubular for 4 years (2 years completely off-grid) and it served very well powering a house of 4 people with a refrigerator, freezer, tv, fan etc. Even though by batteries where said to be 220AH I deratee them to 180AH for my use. Even my 4 x 200AH tubular I upgraded to were derated to 180Ah. Derating was used for the purpose of calculating deapth of discharge, current charge and discharge rate.

A 4000w panel rated for 75% loss is 3000w. Such a panel will deliver about 58A to 62A to a 48-51v battery.

A 200Ah tubular battery has a recommended charge rate of 26A max so you will be feeding it with 2x the recommended charge current. It is for this reason I would not recommend pairing a 4kw solar setup with a 200ah tubular battery. Either you half the solar panels to about 2.5kw or better still use an AGM Battery.

I do think for most application in Nigeria AGM is actually better. I used tubular for years and I don't recommend it any more. The issues of what can go wrong are much and the chemistry propensity to always voltage sag coupled with the low charge and discharge rate makes it extremely not ideal for solar application. Tubular can't be fast charged. It doesn't like to be fast charged. It prefer a slow charge and long time in absorption.

AGM is a good mid point. It can be charged at 20 to 30% of capacity thus 60A for a 200AH battery.

It supports relatively high discharge rate and doesn't experience voltage sag the type you see with Tubular so you can run a 1.5hp pump on a 48v 200Ah AGM battery without worry and charge same with a 4kw solar array without over shooting the limits.

AGM is also relatively maintenance free, no need to look for distilled water or worry about equalization (which many inverter / charge controller doesn't support) as long as your set your charge voltage to 14.3 for absorption you are good to go.

Quanta is still the best AGM battery. The capacity you get from is pretty on the mark. I have also heard good things about NXT AGM.

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Satellite TV Technology › Re: Solar Energy, A Complement To FTA by bigrovar(m): 12:56am On Jan 01, 2023

samnaija:
How many panels did you have, because all the load you stated. On 2 batteries is catastrophic. Two batteries that makes 24v200 ah of lead acid. Are you using presently this capacity in lithium or it is larger than this.
People that have 8 lead acid batteries are even more discreet than this if you don't have enough panels.

The key is system design to maintain balance. This has been the key to my solar setup from day one. I went from 480w -> 600w -> 800w -> 1000w -> 1800w (when I went completely off-grid) -> 3000w. Each panel increase lead to adjustment in energy usage to utilize the new capacity.

I think people are being overtly sensitive about this whole lithium - lead acid issue. Use what works for you. The important thing is to design your system around the limitations of whatever battery system you are using.

Satellite TV Technology › Re: Solar Energy, A Complement To FTA by bigrovar(m): 12:50am On Jan 01, 2023

Juror:
I've heard about fullriver DC having such capability, is it being sold locally? I mean the DC variant that has such higher discharge rate.

They use to be sold sometimes around 2019. Haven't seen them in the wild since.

Satellite TV Technology › Re: Solar Energy, A Complement To FTA by bigrovar(m): 6:20am On Dec 31, 2022*

Not too long ago someone asked how long can a tubular battery last and those of us who have used those batteries gave our experiences. I started my solar journey with 2 Tubular batteries and used them for 3 years (Including 1-year completely off the grid in a 2 bedroom house with 4 occupants) The secret is how you design your system to avoid the limitation of whatever system you are using.

In my case, I ran heavy loads like my freezer and fridge during the day and thus on solar and limited battery discharge rate to about 150w. This includes a TV, fan, and lights for the house. heck, my night load was once 90w thanks to having efficient loads like led lights, dc ceiling fans, and solar outdoor lights. The low night discharge was way below the recommended discharge rates of those batteries which in my case was 200w.

The only thing I ran my generator off on was the water pump and I decided 20 minutes of generator time once every 2 days was more efficient than putting a 1HP water pump on a 5kwh battery bank designed for a 200w discharge rate.

I later sold those batteries and got 4 Exide Index batteries 200AH directly from Multipower ilupeju. These upgrades allowed me to increase my loads hence things like an electric kettle, microwave could be used with the batteries (In short bursts) and my night discharge became 300w (Still within the discharge limit of my batteries)

The Exide Tubular are in their second life with a friend which puts them at 4 years of use. I ensured I used the batteries within the limits of their rating,
* I had a battery sensor that allowed for the temperature-compensated charge.
* I made sure my batteries were rarely discharged below 50% dod
* I made sure batteries were fully charged every day and never left them in a partial state of charge
* I also made sure that I kept the charge voltage, and discharge rate to be within the limits accepted by the battery chemistry.

When you come to a place like this, come with facts not offing and puffing but offering very little substance. I have put out the facts as I see them. It is up to whoever is reading this to do as they see fit. Every decision has consequences. How long your battery last depends on how well you treat them.

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Satellite TV Technology › Re: Solar Energy, A Complement To FTA by bigrovar(m): 8:23pm On Dec 30, 2022

samnaija:
This is very very wrong , and untrue.
Nothing wrong with flooded batteries running pumping machines. I will always say it , if you are currently not using flooded batteries stop trying to make it look has if it is a diseased patient.. stop lying. . period.

We can't have a thriving community with this type of attitude. Accusing someone of lying without any proof to what end? Why should he lie? He doesn't sell lithium batteries neither does he manufacture them. If his suggestion tickled your insecurities then that is your problem.

Earthrealm is one of the Tubular batteries OG. He has lots of experience with them and he told no lies. Tubular batteries like all flooaded acid batteies are but designed for High rate of discharge. It is just one of the down side of the battery chemistry. Tubular are rated for C20 discharge or about 10A for a 200AH battery. 10x 48 = 480w this is the rated or optimal discharge rate of an average 200AH tubular battery in 48v configuration. Anything above that and you are discharging the battery faster than it designed rate if charge.

Putting a 1.5HP device which is over 1000w or about 20A This could lead to inevitable voltage sag especially if the battery is at 50% state of charge which can even trigger a low voltage disconnect.

A cheaper alternative would be to use an AGM battery like Quanta or fullriver DC. AGM have higher rate if discharge and some can go as high as C10 or 800w in the case of 200AH in 48v configuration.

7 Likes

Satellite TV Technology › Re: Solar Energy, A Complement To FTA by bigrovar(m): 8:09am On Dec 29, 2022

babaegun:
Here you go - https://addonigeria.com/tubular-technology/ . The manual is available at the link.

In addition, Eastman Tubular Battery has similar specification.

https://eastmannigeria.com/tall-tubular-diamond-conventional-battery/

In fact, they have the same manual sef . Just different name.

Many marketers/distributors copy and paste most don't even have an idea what a charge profile is. Back in the day, I wrote engineers at Luminous India for the correct charge profile of their tubular battery and they came back with the usual 14.4-volt absorption. I think Niyi was spot on when he said they recommend a low charge rate for their batteries to ensure longevity at the expense of capacity. I personally used 14.6 for absorbing my batteries and 31v for equalization once a month. 4 years on the batteries are still in use (with a different users who is still my friend)

1 Like

Satellite TV Technology › Re: Solar Energy, A Complement To FTA by bigrovar(m): 9:39pm On Dec 26, 2022

abbeymighty:
Complement to all members in the house, Please can 2.5kva pure sine inverter power deep freezer? only to be used during the day between 11am to 3 or 4pm . with Solar panels and CC

I haven't been frequent here for quite a while so maybe there are context to this question which are not obvious to me.

On the surface though, it is hard to give an answer without additional information.

What battery capacity, size of solar array and size of freezer in question. State all the details so that you can get an informed answer. There is no universal answer to this question.

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Satellite TV Technology › Re: Solar Energy, A Complement To FTA by bigrovar(m): 6:22pm On Dec 25, 2022

isangjohnson:
.
Your illustration on the performance of your battery once load is applied is called voltage sag. Those ones with severe voltage sag may not easily return to the previous voltage when the placed load is released, though still depends on the running time of the said load.

Nothing to add than to say in his case his battery is among the better I have seen.. although depends on state of charge and amount of load.

Satellite TV Technology › Re: Solar Energy, A Complement To FTA by bigrovar(m): 10:05am On Dec 25, 2022

NiyiOmoIyunade:
Topup is in response to low water levels in a battery cell.

If none of your cells are short of water after a careful visual inspection then there is no need to topup.

Beware that any flotation based battery water level indicators are indeed working correctly and not deceiving you hence I said after a careful visual inspection of the water levels per cell.

Once the above checks out and you satisfied yourself that you are charging at a proper voltage for your battery then you are good to go.

I agree with everything you said above nothing to add but to double click on the statement concerning the concentration of acid on the tubular lead acid sold here in Nigeria.

These batteries are usually shipped dry to lower the shipping cost. Shipping them mixed with electrolyte automatically makes them Hazmat and shipping cost goes through the roof. The quality of the electrolyte they are filled with here in Nigeria then bring to question and it is why many tubular batteries are plaqued with severe case of voltage sag once a small load is placed on them. I personally don't recommend tubular. They are not worth the stress and are very difficult to use properly.

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Satellite TV Technology › Re: Solar Energy, A Complement To FTA by bigrovar(m): 5:59am On Dec 25, 2022

jonescosmos:
Appart from your Batteries being full or floating, You can't compare the efficiency of Independent CCs to Hybrid Inverters.
I had this same problem when my setup was 8x360w (4s2p Wiring) with 60A CC and 3KW Inverter on 4x220Ah FLD Batteries. The Banks never get full all day long and no matter what I switched on, I never got past 1.XXKW production from the PVs according to the display of the CC just like what you have posted here.

When I switched to 5KVA Hybrid with 100A MPPT Built-In Charging at 60A, same 4x220Ah FLDs, rearanged same PVs to 8s, The Inverter sucked almost 2.8KW from the same panels begining from around 10am till 3pm, Batteries gets fully charged before sun down while powering more loads alongside than the prior setup.

Conclusively, I nothiced that due to a broader intelligent programming of priorities on Hybrid Inverters, they tends to query for more power from the PVs than the Batteries. (Output Source Priority Setting: SUB) once you do this, S=Solar, U=Utility, B=Battery. So the SUB order means get every power you need from the Sun first, If Solar Energy is not sufficient or not available, Make it Up from Utility, If both Solar and Utility are not available, take power from the battery banks.

This is one hell of a function that Seperate CCs doesn't have. Because the Inverter sees only Battery Input as power source, it sucks from it, remember that the Battery Banks are closer to the Inverter than the PV and CC in terms of ampearage, the batteries are then always draining.

This whole Hybrid Inverter Intelligence in my own words is revolutionalised in my Deye Inverter which dumps all dependence on Grid/Battery and shifts to Solar inputs for Power, in turns, it sucks everything is can get from the solar before considering Grid or Battery.

In my humble opinion, dump the setup of CC, inverter, Battery and shift to a good Hybrid Inverter, i guarantee you won't regret it. Just make sure that yout setup is properly protected from the storms both from Grid and Solar.

What all due respect, I would like to correct some assumptions made in this post mostly for people seeing this so they don't take the wrong conclusion.

I can't speck to the performance of the seperate CC you were referring to since you didn't provide any information. CC are not all the same and just because something is called MPPT does not mean it works or has a good tracking algorithm.

We also don't know the specification of this CC but since most CC take 150v max VOC inputs configuring your panels in 4S (and I want to believe this are 24v nominal panels) already puts them out of range for most 150v CC (again we don't know the cc so it might be configured for 250v inputs or more)

In a nutshell, your poor yield experience is more due to system design or bad cc. It is definitely not resultant from using a seperate charge controller. In fact it is often recommended to use a seperate charge controller whenever you can (a good one that is) as they tend to have better MPPT tracking Algo than those that come with solar inverters (which we call hybrid inverters here)

The second thing I would like to address is the the SUB setting from your solar inverter where is defaults to Solar then Utility before battery.. is just physics. You would have the same functionality with the inverter even if your charge controller is external (from experience) SUB uses battery voltage to decide when to switch to grid. Battery voltage can give an indication if a battery is under load or charging and it uses certain battery voltage threshold to decide when to switch to the grid.

However some solar inverter like Axpert King use a process called double conversion to blend grid with solar thus allowing you to use the grid to augument your solar production (rather than using battery). They do this by converting the grid AC to high voltage DC and terminate this to a common busbar shared with their inbuilt solar controller output. The paralleled output from solar DC and converted Grid DC is then converter to AC to power the house.

Inverters like Axpert King and I think Deye also does this are those that do require you to use their built in charge controller to utilize the grid blending function.

It should be however said that Victron multiplus can also do grid blending when paired with an external Victron CC.

In conclusion it is actually better from a performance point of view to use an external charge controller as it makes the system modular and you can get a product that is dedicated to harvesting and charging.

If however you want to be able to use features like grid blending then you can get a solar inverter that supports it and use it's built in CC.

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Satellite TV Technology › Re: Solar Energy, A Complement To FTA by bigrovar(m): 5:08am On Dec 25, 2022

nnadychuks:
hw much does it cost to top the acid, and is it something you can do on your own?

When I owned my tubular batteries, I settled to harvesting water from the AC and using that over buying "distilled" water from a source I can't verify. I did this after I saw some aldulterated distilled water sold at Games store (a major super market competitor to Shoprite) I reported the issue to them and they had to stop selling the product.

Put a container to the AC horse and you would have it filled up with distilled water in less than 30 minutes. Use a white cotton (I got a white pure cutten singlet for this) and filter the water to another container and you have a distilled water to last you a top up cycle. You can use AC at work if for this.

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Satellite TV Technology › Re: Solar Energy, A Complement To FTA by bigrovar(m): 4:58am On Dec 25, 2022

isangjohnson:
With all the rules duely observed, if lead acid battery can last for 5 to 6 years with lifecycle of about 500 to 800, then lifepo4 may get to 15 years under the same condition with lifecycle of about 2000 to 2500.
I'm waiting to see how many years my tubular will stay alive too. The highest power drawn from my battery is 30%. It's about a year now and I've never top water before.

From all the literature I have read about tubular and from over 5 years of personal experience with an average discharge of just 30%. TUBULAR (which are flooded acid batteries) does need constant top up at least once in 2 months. If yours hasn't been topped with water going into a year then something is wrong somehere and it is not good for the battery.

Not topping up your flooded acid battery like TUBULAR simply means you are charging it at a voltage that is lower than recommended for the battery chemistry. Tubular is designed to be charged at 14.4v per 12v battery or 28.8 for 24v etc (based on all the documentation I have read about them from Indian sources) 14.4 is the absorption voltage and it is best to maintain them at this voltage for at least an hour or 2 to ensure they are properly charged and reduce the risk of sulfation.

They are also expected to be "over charged" at least once a month in a process called equalization. This equalization charge helps to mix up the electrolytes to prevent concentration of acid at the buttom and it also helps to balance all the cells within a battery and bring them to parity. Ordinarily you want this equalization charge to happen at least once a month. Not all inverters support equalization though so you would need to ensure your inverter suports it.

Equalization voltage is about 15.5v per 12v cell or 31v for a 24v bank. Some chargers can do this for you automatically if you ordered program them. You might also want to get an hydrometer to check the gravity of each cell during equalization process.

I would suggest you review how your battery is being charged to ensure it lasts as long as you want it to.

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Satellite TV Technology › Re: Solar Energy, A Complement To FTA by bigrovar(m): 7:45pm On Dec 23, 2022

viperVIP:
House abeg o!!!

I have been hearing this often and often, from your experiences here, do the tubular batteries in our markets here really last 5-8years for real?

Likes of Inverlast, Eastman and others
Help enlighten me please

Got mine 2019 and sold it early this year to a friend who still uses. Mine then was Exide Index and it was usually cycled around 40% depth of discharge / 60% state of charge. I also made sure it got daily fully charged at C20. Water topping happened about once in 2 months.

1 Like

Satellite TV Technology › Re: Solar Energy, A Complement To FTA by bigrovar(m): 4:53am On Dec 23, 2022

mctfopt:
Is there a real Jinko dealer at Alaba

Jinko only has one distributor in Nigeria ( based on their website) they do have presence in Alaba. They also happen to be the official distributor for JA, and Longi.

You can reach the +234 803 373 1860 (as displayed on Jinko website)

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Satellite TV Technology › Re: Solar Energy, A Complement To FTA by bigrovar(m): 7:45pm On Dec 20, 2022

Anyone knows where to get non polarized DC breakers in Nigeria I need 2 poles 200A x 4. I can't seem to find them even on AliExpress.

Satellite TV Technology › Re: Solar Energy, A Complement To FTA by bigrovar(m): 2:43pm On Dec 19, 2022*

Hello people. I have the following for sale:

9 x 335w Yingli (Black cell) Solar Panels. I purchased the panels exactly 3 years ago (November 2019) from Yingli directly from Yingli's office at Allen Road Ikeja. I used them personally for my home setup. The panels are in good shape and the reason for selling is due to an upgrade to my system. I am upgrading to a higher-capacity setup.

I kept online logs and records of my solar setup so you can actually see the historical performance of the panels (3kw total power) on my solar monitoring dashboard here http://energy.openculture.org.ng:8080/dashboard/view?id=48 (The panels are still in use as I write this)

The highest performance I ever recorded from the array is 3241w and this was sometime this year. (Screenshot attached)
The total price I am selling the array is 450k at the cost of 50k each. I intend to sell them all in one go.

Location is in abuja and logistics would be handled by the buyer.

The panels are in great shape.

Sold off.

Satellite TV Technology › Re: Solar Energy, A Complement To FTA by bigrovar(m): 8:57pm On Dec 16, 2022

drizzypat:
that looks like a felicity controller.

I do not think it gets accurate reading though .

I use a 8 x300watts panel and I get not up to 1.6

BTW guys I was thinking of doing a separate connection to my must 5kw hybrid inverter,this time I'm looking at getting original Canadian solar panel 600watts x2[when money comes]

I'd like to know guys if this hybrid can take another 2400watts

Depends on the rated input. I use an axpert mks clone called ipowerplus to handle my second array made up of 4 x 540 JASolar panels configured in a 2S2P. The out put is quite decent even though the array faces West and by the time it is ready to really work, the east facing array has done most of the work.

You can track the performance yourself here http://energy.openculture.org.ng:8080/dashboard/view?id=48

One thing to note though, the axpert mks 5kw 48v and it's related clones are best used in a 2S configuration. Even though it can handle 3S technically, it is actually designed to optimally handle 115v. Go over that and you would experience losses. The source for this information is from people who actually decoded the axpert charge Algo. Same people wrote a custom firmware which fixes some serious charging bug with the inverter, a bug which as the potential to ruin a battery by leaving it under charged. Don't have the source ATM but when I do I will update this post.

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Technology Market › Re: Pixel 6A Brand New Sealed Box 240k -Sold by bigrovar(op): 4:51pm On Nov 27, 2022

Technology Market › Re: Pixel 6A Brand New Sealed Box 240k -Sold by bigrovar(op): 8:38am On Nov 26, 2022

Technology Market › Re: Pixel 6A Brand New Sealed Box 240k -Sold by bigrovar(op): 7:21pm On Nov 23, 2022

Available in Lagos

Technology Market › Re: Pixel 6A Brand New Sealed Box 240k -Sold by bigrovar(op): 5:37am On Nov 23, 2022

Technology Market › Pixel 6A Brand New Sealed Box 240k -Sold by bigrovar(op): 5:36am On Nov 23, 2022*

Pixel 6a brand new, sealed box 240k

Body
Dimensions 152.2 x 71.8 x 8.9 mm (5.99 x 2.83 x 0.35 in)
Weight 178 g (6.28 oz)
Build Glass front (Gorilla Glass 3), aluminum frame, plastic back
SIM Nano-SIM and eSIM
IP67 dust/water resistant (up to 1m for 30 mins)
Display
Type OLED, HDR
Size 6.1 inches, 90.7 cm2 (~83.0% screen-to-body ratio)
Resolution 1080 x 2400 pixels, 20:9 ratio (~429 ppi density)
Protection Corning Gorilla Glass 3
Always-on display
Platform
OS Android 12, upgradable to Android 13
Chipset Google Tensor (5 nm)
CPU Octa-core (2x2.80 GHz Cortex-X1 & 2x2.25 GHz Cortex-A76 & 4x1.80 GHz Cortex-A55)
GPU Mali-G78 MP20

Ikeja Lagos
Sold

Satellite TV Technology › Re: Solar Energy, A Complement To FTA by bigrovar(m): 4:27pm On Jul 03, 2022*

2 Likes

Satellite TV Technology › Re: Solar Energy, A Complement To FTA by bigrovar(m): 4:14pm On Jul 03, 2022

dejidotun2000:
Any conductor that enters your inverter from outdoors makes your inverter fair game for lightning electromagnetic pulse including the cables that connect your solar PV array to the charge controller or hybrid inverter as the case may be unless you have a LPS installed.The grid conductors will carry a higher risk though because they may extend for up to a kilometre to your distribution transformer.

Very true this is why the solution is not to disconnect from the grid but to have layers of protection to your system from the design phase. Most people neglect protections system even though they are the cheaper aspect of any Installation. Yes few things can survive a direct lightning strike.. but most lightning related damage is from indirect strike.

It starts with having a good earth. Then having voltage protection systems. It also good to ground your panel frames or mounting systems to the same earth.
The last set of upgrades I did to my solar setup was protection related. They include grounding all the panels using bare copper wire and PV frame ground lugs I got from AliExpress.
Making a DIY combiner box with integrated current and voltage protection system.

This is to help reduce the risk of transient electrical surge causing damage.

5 Likes

Satellite TV Technology › Re: Solar Energy, A Complement To FTA by bigrovar(m): 3:51pm On Jul 03, 2022

IYGEAL:
Current/Voltage Limiter is certainly less than N20k.

I understand you use Gen to make up for bad weather, insufficient storage/pv; but some people don't want anything gen whatsoever. Gen can also come handy and save the day but I'd rather manage my loads on bad weather/grid days than use gen. Our situations may be different as I don't often have my batteries depleted to the point of needing the help of gen or grid. I left grid to run in my place because I often don't use and or need it.

The OP is having a really unfortunate situation with the grid in his hood but that's not the norm.

I support this view. Solar is best viewed from an econonic angle. If we have a perfect grid in Nigeria many wont be here because grid will always be cheaper than solar.

I currently live offgrid but before I consider spending millions extending my solar setup to make it more resiliant for low sunlight months.. It would be more economical to add the grid as an addtional source of electricity. The grid even though unstable would help to keep battery charged and reduce load on the system. Good thing is I have an inverter that allows me create a priority system which would allow me choose when the grid can come in. This would cost me 10% of the cost of addtional panels and batteries.
it is just the smarter way to get things done.

2 Likes

Satellite TV Technology › Re: Solar Energy, A Complement To FTA by bigrovar(m): 9:55am On Jun 22, 2022

drizzypat:
thank you so much

Pls how do I administer it to my batteries..I've got two batteries I wonna do that too

I just pour them in and charge?

The best way to top is when the battery is fully charged. Please avoid doing this when the battery is heavily discharged - this is due to the low gravity state of the battery essentially at that level what you have is pretty much just water, adding more at that stage is not good. It could allow corrosion of the internals of the battery. You want to add water when the battery is fully charged and thus gravity is high.

Satellite TV Technology › Re: Solar Energy, A Complement To FTA by bigrovar(m): 3:31am On Jun 22, 2022

House people. Please I need recommendation for water dispenser. If I can find one which uses inverter dc compressor I would be a very happy man. The current one I am using called Nexus is a total pain.

Satellite TV Technology › Re: Solar Energy, A Complement To FTA by bigrovar(m): 3:30am On Jun 22, 2022

drizzypat:
Hello I was told condensed water from an air-conditioner can me use as the liquid to be added in tabular battery then charge it ..it then becomes quite new

Pls is this true?

I would even say it is your best source of distilled water. Most distilled water sold in Nigeria (even in major malls and super markets) are adulterated. Try get from an AC with relatively clean hose and use a white cloth (I use a dedicated clean cotton signet for it) to filter it into a jar and you have your distilled water. It served me for over 3 years.

1 Like

Satellite TV Technology › Re: Solar Energy, A Complement To FTA by bigrovar(m): 3:27am On Jun 22, 2022

GeorgeD1:
two yrs ago (2020), one of my colleagues was lamenting bitterly how his average monthly phcn bill was close to 50k monthly.
he was forced to do some sharp practice in reducing the count rate of the meter and in the process unwittingly turned himself
into a milking cow to the nepa guy who did the job for him. when he saw that the amount he was being extorted was becoming
almost if not more than what he thought he was saving by altering the meter, he was forced to ask phcn to revert the meter
back to normal!
anyway, imagine paying 50k monthly for 5yrs (with the myto tarriff structure the rate keeps increasing year on year)
so, in 5yrs even if you live in an area where you enjoy steady power supply, you would have paid phcn an equivalent amount of
money which you could have used in setting up a complete, functional solar system.
and, it gets even crazier for the 'big man' with a diesel 'plant' in your analogy. with diesel prices hitting btw 900 and 1000 naira
per liter, a solar set up would cover the cost of running such a plant in less than a year!

This has been my calculation and why I am currently completely disconnected from the grid. The small 5kw system paired with 14.5kwh lifepo4 diy cells with smart energy management is giving me a better deal than hooking up to nepa and 45% of the system is from components that i have had in the last 3 years (which have all paid off their initial purchase price) in 3 years the upgrade I carried out in switching to lifepo4 and addtional PV would pay for itself. In this inflationary period, not having to worry about NEPA bill is once less thing to worry about.

7 Likes

Satellite TV Technology › Re: Solar Energy, A Complement To FTA by bigrovar(m): 4:13am On May 25, 2022

olopan:
Good day Guys,

putting together a solar calculator that can get your audit done in minutes, basically targeted at home users who are enthusiast or pro user

but i need to populate these list i have get going to get things up to speed. ...... everyone is free to add or correct existing data.

Appliances Wattage

LED Bulbs 3W - 3
LED Bulbs 5W -5
LED Bulbs 9W -9
LED Bulbs 18W -18
LED Pop Light 6W -6
LED Pop Light 18W -18
LED Pop Light 26W -26
Ox Fan 16" -120
Ox Fan 18" -140
Ox Fan 20" -180
Ceiling Fan - 80
Standing Fan -70
DC Fan -30
Rechargeable DC Fan -45
LED TV 32" -55
LED TV 42" -70
LED TV 50" -85
LED TV 70" -130
Laptop -70
CFL Bulbs 9W -9
CFL Bulbs 18W -18
CFL Bulbs 26W -26
Decoder -18
freezer -180
Fridge -120
Phone charging -12
Regular 1 HP AC -870
Regular 1.5 HP AC -1380
Regular 2 HP AC -2100
Inverter 1HP AC -480
Inverter 1.5HP AC -700
1 HP PUMP MACHINE -900
1.5HP PUMP MACH. -1400
LED Bulbs 10W - 10
Standing Chiller -200
Microwave -1200
Signage light - 90
Signage light Large -180

Thank you

Laptop 65w (when charging, 18w when fully charged)

1 Like

Satellite TV Technology › Re: Solar Energy, A Complement To FTA by bigrovar(m): 10:36am On May 20, 2022

ebocoms:
Good day,
I have been reading a lot about Felicity Lifepo4 battery capacity but I can state most of the statements are not totally true. The one i'm using is 5KWH (Model: LPBT24250 Usable Capacity 5KWH written on the box), I had consumed more 200AH from it more than twice before turning the inverter off myself. Although I set the capacity to 200AH on my BMV 702 initially because of the comments I read on this platform that their batteries capacity are not true capacity, but I have changed to 250AH after several capacity test. Reason my battery SOC is showing Zero in atatched pictures.

From my understanding, they have several models of batteries with same voltage at different prices but you need to do own research on the batteries.

I will advise the OP to check the inverter cut off time if it's set to like 50%.

PS:

I'm an end user and I have no relationship with Felicity.

Thanks for sharing your experience. The battery is rated for 200Ah. How much were you able to pull out of the battery from 100% fully charged? I did not really get that from your post.

Satellite TV Technology › Re: Solar Energy, A Complement To FTA by bigrovar(m): 11:38am On May 18, 2022

darediamond:
Does Natural Coal Get Formed In An Open Surface?
How come you expect to get quality man-made coal from burning wood in Air?

See, my directions are meant for individuals who are ready to GET THERE HANDS DIRTY LIKE I'M DOING MYSELF TO KEEP DISCOVERING SERIES OF WONDERS.

IF YOU DO NOT UNDERSTAND SOMETHING, YOU ASK QUESTIONS not that you become [b]unnecessarily arrogant [/b]at the person providing you with his or her own discovery.

Have you even tried what I explained on how to get the said effect at all?

Come on!!!

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