NiyiOmoIyunade:
While Lithium remains the superior chemistry, let us not bash lead acid tech so much that we begin to put out incorrect info.

First off, all lead acid chemistries are not the same. As far as I know flooded batteries can safely accept charge at 13% of capacity so a 200Ah battery can take 26A easily with no trouble, AGMs can easily do up to 25% of capacity so your 200Ah AGM battery will take 50A no trouble.

If you are sized for typical 50% DoD then it should be possible to fill up your batteries in one solar day keeping within safe limits. Not to forget also that ideal sizing for offgrid lead acid battery is 3 to 5 days autonomy and if you are so sized, C rates stop being a problem.

I just need to add, while I do agree with all your said. It still needs to be emphasized that your over night usage is still limited by how much would allow you fully charge the battery. The lower you go the more difficult it would be to fill up the next day leaving your battery in a circle of partial state of discharge which is very bad for LA batteries.

As part of my system upgrade, I decided to use my Ipowerplus 5kva Inverter as a second charge controller and terminated the new array of 2kw to it. I would never have done this before now but I had to keep things within budget. The axpert MKS series of inverter which the Ipowerplus, Gennex and likes are based on has a known bug MPPT Bug which causes the inverter to switch to float early under certain conditions. The bug pretty much makes them completely unreliable and not fit for purpose because it has the potential to damage your batteries leaving it under charge.

In my research I noticed that the community around the axpert series released a custom firmware which fixes this bug and add more functionality to the inverter. One of the functionality is add is to make it more compatible with Lithium battteries. I flashed my inverter to these firmware and the result has been amazing. You can read more about this firmware and other important information about this type of inverter here https://forums.aeva.asn.au/viewtopic.php?f=64&t=4332

NiyiOmoIyunade:
While Lithium remains the superior chemistry, let us not bash lead acid tech so much that we begin to put out incorrect info.

First off, all lead acid chemistries are not the same. As far as I know flooded batteries can safely accept charge at 13% of capacity so a 200Ah battery can take 26A easily with no trouble, AGMs can easily do up to 25% of capacity so your 200Ah AGM battery will take 50A no trouble.

If you are sized for typical 50% DoD then it should be possible to fill up your batteries in one solar day keeping within safe limits. Not to forget also that ideal sizing for offgrid lead acid battery is 3 to 5 days autonomy and if you are so sized, C rates stop being a problem.

Absolutely, if you note I was referring to Tubular which seem to the the fad these days. Yes AGM has higher rate of charge discharge compared to Flooded batteries like the Tubular type. In fact in certain situation I do recommend an AGM battery over Tubular for this very reason. The are the closest to Lithium in terms of charge / discharge rate and efficiency.

Namzy:

Lol like I said it's just speculation because I doubt whether you've seen overcharging kill a tubular battery. You can check the health of tubular batteries using specific gravity which has been great so far. I'll definitely update come January 2023.
P.S my lowest SOC has been about 60% and according to my bmv battery monitor. My battery has been cycled once

True but gravity won't tell you the state of the lead and if they are being degraded. You will have high gravity from your hydrometer but that's just half the story.

Namzy:

Lol when I started my solar journey, I designed my system after yours. Although you've upgraded I'm still using my ipowerplus 24v 3kva and 2 tubular batteries. From my experience and forums I've checked this C20 charging has always been the rule but when I saw how much power I was wasting from my installed 2720w panels, I increased the charge controller amps to 100amps. Yes I decided to offer my batteries as an experiment as I've yet to see where overcharging killed tubular batteries. I have been using it like this for over 1 year and specific gravity is still good on all cells. Increasing the amps helped with using heavy loads like microwave and inverter ac as with the initial C20 limit, you can't run those loads while battery is charging. The only disadvantage for now is smell of the hydrogen and increased rate of topping up battery water of 2 months interval which is OK by me. If batteries die, then lithium it is. But for now I'm liking my tubular with increase charging amps

The high C rate charge won't kill the battery over night. Flooded batteries are quite resilient, however just know that most of the 100A you are pumping into the battery will be converted as heat. Lead Acid just can't process all of it as stored energy. Remember that batteries are essentially chemical energy. The composition of Lead Acid with electrolyte can only optimally process C20 anything about that is converted to heat and will gradually degrade the lead which will shorten the life of the battery.

I had a system I use in managing my 4 x 200AH Index tubular. The goal is to make my consumption generally very efficient such that my over night use is about 45% DoD. I then have an over sized panel set at 3000w. This ensures that as day breaks and the panels start charging.. slowly ramping up .. the amount of energy pumped to the battery from 3000w panel leaves bulk by 11am (due to relatively low battery depth of discharge) and by the time solar panels are at peak generation, battery is on absorption and CC is cutting back on the amount of currents going to the battery. This ensures that I maintain a safe charge limit for the battery.

This strategy however needs my night discharge to be low. It worked for me though for over 5 years.

I currently leave completely offgrid no NEPA connection at all. My solar capacity is 3kw, battery is 200AH 48v. Even though my panel can provide me 50A and can theoretically charge my bank in 4 hours (say 5 hours) The tubular chemistry means that it would take 2 to 3 days to fully charge that battery.

Bulk charge at 40A would take close to 4 hours after which it would switch to absorption.. thus limiting the current going to the battery by as much as 10A. And it can do it his for 3 to 4 hours depending on discharge.. effective sunlight is done by 4PM.. remember this is an active system and I have loads connected to it.

Over night I will draw down the battery again from the partial state I left the night before.. starting from a low position.. again battery slow charge would mean I may never finish charging it again in day two cause battery can't take all I have to give.

I can not expand my panel to 5kw cause my battery would not be able to take most of it so it would be a waste. This slow charge for me is the biggest problem LA has. That and partial state of discharge problem.

samnaija:


This your post is very biased, there is no dispute that lithium is the new baby in town, but don't disuade people from options they have.

Disuade Ke? Are we kids here or did I threaten anyone. I just stated my truth and what works for me. Everyone is free to make their decision. Just be comfortable with it

First your statement above 800w solar system you want to push 50amps how ?..

All you described above is under panel size and you know it.

"When I started my solar journey" check my profile for my current panel capacity. And yes I fear of leaving my battery in partial state of discharge forces me (then) to have to prioritise a full charge causing me to turn off load if I don't have sufficient solar supply. Lithium doesn't have that problem I can leave it at 60% charge for the next 8 years and it would even be better for it.

Now a days my problem is reversed. I have more solar potential than my battery can take causing me to waste lots of energy even as my battery struggle to fully charge.

Lithium is great, but every one keeps saying the same thing. Pls be balanced. The only disadvantage of lithium which no one likes saying especially we wey dey naija na price....

Now someone will quote and say you can discharge lithium to 80%, you cant try that with lead, so it is cheaper. Why will I want to discharge batteries every time to this DOD, my battery bank is not adequate. Someone will say lithium loves to be discharged, everyone on this forum that have started their solar journey has an inbuilt fear of DOD. You should na money be batteries. Cycle life in batteries for both lithium or lead is what determines how long your batteries go stay.

Bros build according to your budget and what you can spare. I used lead acid till now and it served me well. My first 2 tubular batteries served me for 3 years under careful management. The current battery is now at 3 years and still has most of its capacity when I last did a capacity test. Lead Acid is good but it can nolonger meet my need. I find that lifePo4 is on per with *premium* lead acid (likes of fullriver DC, Trojan AGM, etc) especially if you go the DIY route. And it would serve better. But if your budget is tubular and it serves you well. Please continue using what works for you.

It is comfort everyone dey find.
The best scenario either lithium or lead is to have a big enough and adequate bank size and have a reasonable amount of solar panels to charge it.
You mentioned you will be struggling to charge your batteries on a rainy day so you switch off for it to charge... Haha.! You know.
Both batteries and panels should be expanded to accommodate this.
Both lead acid and lithium are okay, they have their disadvantages and advantages,

Lithium is the future.
Lead acid is ok

Racking up lead acid would not solve the slow charge problem. Like I said when designing your system. Don't use your battery or solar panel capacity to determine your daily load. Rather use your battery C rating. Tubular has a recommended charge rate of C20 this means even if your panels is 2million watt if you have say a 400Ah tubular battery, you can only use 40A to charge it. Anything above 40 and it get wasted as heat (reducing its lifespan). That 40A is even best case scenario because once it gets to absorption, it would cut down on current by as much as 50 to 80% taking sometimes 8A from your panel to complete charge and it can be like that for 3 hours. We have just 6 usable sun hours (on a good day) in Nigeria so do the maths. If you have your battery constantly monitored you will struggle for a full charge.

I am not discouraging LA. Just stating the fact to help people properly design their system so it can last. The more your battery last the more you have your ROI.

isangjohnson:
[quote author=Penuelseun

Can't we do this thing without top balancing?
I'm not just comfortable with this balancing of cells.
If there is lithium battery that doesn't require balancing of cells, please let us know.
Until I see a lithium battery someone fixed and stayed for two to three years without balancing anything, I'll continue with my 50% DOD battery.

To can always get a server rack (ready made) lifePo4 battery which come ready to use.

Top balancing can be quite delicate and requires some reading and configuration setup. Generally lifePo4 has a higher and steeper learning curve compared lead acid. But it is still worth it in the end. The DIY route is not for everyone very little room for error.

The biggest advantage of lifePo4 over lead acid is not the cycle or discharge depth. lifePo4 recommended discharge is 80%.

The best thing about lifePo4 is the ability to leave it for a long time in partial state of charge. This makes it perfect for solar application because unlike lead acid which needs to be 100 top charged almost all the time - when I was starting my solar journey with just 800w panels I would on a bad day turn off the load to prioritise battery getting fully charged. , lifePo4 actually prefers to be in partial state of charge. What this means on difficult solar months like July and August, you aren't under pressure to have your battery fully charged. It can be cycled to 70% or less without issues.

This brings to the next issue with lead acid. The charge rate of most lead acid is very low. My 9kwh tubular battery as a recommended charge rate of c20 which for my 200ah bank is 20A. My solar panel can deliver over 50A but my battery can only take 20A. Hence if I deplate battery down to 80% dod, it would take 2 sometimes 3 days to fully charge not because I don't have solar capacity but because my battery is inefficient and can only take so much charge.

Lead acid charge rate gets worse at absorption I have to suffer through 3 hours of absorption where current is tapered down to 10A sometimes 5A (even though my panels can push over 50A).

What all this means is that with lead acid especially flooded, you are limited sometimes not by your solar potential but by your battery ability to take charge.

Lithium can be charged at C1 which in my case means I can push all 50A to my lithium. So lithium ability to fast charge which again is perfect for solar application.

Add the ability to use the battery for 10 years when cycled to 0% and you would not mind putting up with the initial learn curve for lithium.

Penuelseun:
He meant that you should be careful of not shorting out the bare lifepo4 cells you posted as they are all in parallel. You should put a covering over them to prevent any unfortunate event until you are done with the top balance.

Oh thanks. I was super careful. The too balancing is done.

abilityC:


Congrats, nice setup! Is there any online shop that has the bench power supply? where did you buy yours from?

Got it from Amazon (us) but it is also available on AliExpress

Dam5reey:


Weldone boss, DIY is cool..

One need to be super careful too, any short on those parallel cells is 4500AMP discharge oo

Thanks the way I install my panels reduces chances of short. Panels are actually paralleled at the combiner box (there is a positive combiner box and a negative combiner box) close to the charge controller. This way less amps are sent down the wire from PV. Downside is you get to use lots of wires.

Finally bit the bullet and jumped onto the Lithium train. Took delivery of brand new grade A Eve Lf280k last week and it has been an exciting journey making them into an SAY bank for a 48v setup.

Before I got the batteries I got a bench power supply to help with top balancing, orings terminal plugs for terminating the BMS balance leads, JBD 7S-20S 200A BMS ILSCO de-ox (for preventing oxidation when two incompatible metals meet)

I also used the opportunity to add to my panel capacity from 3kw to 5kw with the addition of 4x 540w JA panels (thanks to JustAskMannuel)

Currently too balancing the batteries (they are almost balanced currently at 3.6v per cell.

Would be providing updates once setup is complete.

bodeface:
Thanks so much Earthrealm, I quite understand this will be very costly, is there anything I can do to reduce this cost?
Pls more comments and reviews from experienced hands on the forum is welcome and appreciated.
I remember someone was having this kind of idea for shopping mall, was this achieved may be I can learn one or two things from the project?

One thing I have always told people here and everywhere is to rethink their relationship with electricity when they want to move to solar. This include focusing on the consumption side before the generation side. The ultimate goal of solar is to reduce and make efficient your energy consumption. Buying solar panels battery and inverter is the easy part. The hardest and most important part is to focus on making your load energy efficient.

The load you listed are way too much to make using solar economical. A Good strategy might be to find efficient alternative of what you currently have or to isolate the small essential loads away from solar. We are all enthusiast here but even we would tell you that solar is not a silver bullet. It can be very costly if you want to deploy it for industrial use.

The big boys who use solar for powering industry have deep pocket to invest now and rip over a very long period, you may not have such pocket. Reason why solar is ideal for homes is because home is relatively easy to power. Same can not be said for industrial application even on a small scale.

Any solar panel seller in the house located in Abuja? I am looking to upgrade my systems and would prefer to procure my panels here in Abuja. Looking at between 2-3kw panel array.

Chuk77:


Thanks very much for your prompt response. I actually saw some of your previous posts here and they were very helpful and gave a lot of insight prior to me even making my comments.

In your opinion, which of them would be more user friendly? I haven't done this before and while I'm pro DIY, I feel a little bit nervous about it. The only reason I even thought of using the Suoer was because of the display interface and the ease of configuring (based on the view Youtube videos I was able to watch).

Again, I'm not an expert in this field at all, it just looked a little bit easier for a novice like me to set up and get running.

I appreciate your suggestion with regards to getting either Fangusun or Epever. Would you by any chance be able to direct me to a website article or video that shows the basic initial MPPT configuration process in English? This would be very helpful so I can follow after setting up the connections. I tried looking around and most of what I saw was in Hindi.

Thanks again!

On Suoer, I haven't used them before and I can not attest to how good they are. Fangpusun controllers are essentially Victron clones. Epever has some very good rep too. You can reach out to Juo on this forums. He would supply you what you need and you can count on him for good support on setup.

Chuk77:
Gurus in the house, I have a 850va Inverter with x1 220ah Tubular battery. I'm looking to add solar panels to my current system so I can charge with Sunlight as my regular electricity supply has become very unreliable.

After getting numerous quotes (most of them were outrageous!) from a number of sources, I decided to come here to see if I could get more information. I've gone through quite a lot of pages as well as other information on Google and I now think I have a good idea of the set up that would work for me. Just looking to get another opinion.

Initially, I was looking to get x3 Felicity 195watts 12v solar panels (since my battery is just 12v) and hook it up to a Suoer MPPT 60A charge controller.

Having delved a bit deeper, I found out I can actually use solar panels with higher voltage - 24v since the MPPT will still be able to step this down to the right voltage (12v) to charge my battery. From what I read, the higher voltage would reduce the losses associated with the distance between the solar panels and the controller.

Now I'm looking to get x2 300W 24v panels to connect to the same Suoer MPPT 60A charge controller.

In terms of pricing, both set-ups are relatively similar. I'm just hoping to get some advice on whether I should go for the 1st or 2nd set up and if either makes any sense! Also, comments on the choice of MPPT and Panels would be much appreciated as well.

Lastly, a very rough estimate on the accessories - mounting rack, cables, etc would be nice.

Thanks!

The only thing I would change from your setup is the Suor MPPT controller. I would change this for an epever or fangpusun mppt controller. They are much more reliable and have better charge algo compared to Suoer. I would advise you string your 300w panels in Series. This means that you would get about 70v-68v (VMP) depending on the panels. Doing it this way would ensure you.
1- Spend less on wiring, since you would be pushing move volts than amps from your panels to you CC. It would also means less voltage lost to resistance.
2 - Your battery would have more head room required to charge a tubular battery. Such batteries can require as high as 15.5v to be properly charged and you can set the absorption voltage to 14.8.

Both the listed charge controllers should be able to do what you want with the battery especially carry out equalization charge which is required for a tubular battery.

ceaser:
Came across this. I realized that I was empathetic and fearful, not for myself but for those who are not already on alternative green energy sources.

It is going to be a very bumpy ride.

The only challenge that may have some impact for the wider population now is still the use of ICEs as the major mode of transportation. Once BEVs availabilty and affordability come into the mix, na OYO for Dangote and the yèyẹ́ FG.

Years of paying cheap for energy in Nigeria finally coming home to roost. The country can no longer afford it. Those of us who made the tactical foresight of switching to solar and the accompanying life style change that warrants are very lucky. I see the nation gradually adapting to new realities. No more would we see houses with tiny weeny windows. Cross ventilation and natural lights would start being a thing.

Hopefully we would see a more sustainable approach to how we use energy and that is always a good thing.

samir101ng:


@bigrovar is the resident expert on the ipowerplus inverters. He's been rocking his for over 5yrs now i think. So, i think they are okay. I don't know whether they can charge LifeP04 batteries though without some tinkering with the firmware. Just make sure sha that you are buying an original product with warranty.

Ipowerplus are actually a white labelled product from voltronic Taiwan. The inverter is used and quite popular across the globe. I have used their 24/3kva for over 4 years without any issue.

The major and known issues with them is their MPPT charge algo which has a known bug that causes their charge to go to float earlier than it should. This issue is well documented. Fortunately the community around the inverter released a custom firmware which fixes the issue.

The also released a firmware that makes it LifePo4 battery compatible. Unfortunately those firmware only apply to the 5kv version of the inverter.

samir101ng:


And risk a kazeem solar installer or the time and energy needed to put together and monitor such a system abi ?

Bro, it's too much work & time for "me". And there are plenty mainstream consumers like me in the market that prefer an alternative to DIY.

Cost & setup was a major barrier for new entrants tempted to switch over from AGM & Tubular Lead Acid batteries to LifeP04. LifeP0 need a BMS, compression (depends on user), different charging profile, etc. Generally, it needed more attention than the regular AGM or Tubular. With a server rack battery, you have an all in one unit ready to go. It comes with a BMS in built, capacitors and wiring harness for the batteries, bus bars, etc. To put things into context, check out this video for the installation of a 16s LifeP0 280ah EVE battery install https://youtu.be/iUuRRhLegrY. Fam, all this na work nah. Why do all that if i can get the SOK Server Rack Battery and install it good to go. Another context to look at is the price too. The SOK 48v 100ah Server Rack Battery is currently on pre-order for $1,739.99. A battle born 48v battery equivalent will cost you $3,196 at $799 per 12v 100ah a piece. That's a huge cost savings and makes it more attractive to buyers. The SOK also comes with a 10year warranty and its serviceable by the user which means you can replace any faulty cell yourself.



I agree. With mainstream availability comes mass adoption and the market share it commands. DIY while an enthusiastic community has limited market share compared to the main stream. As correctly pointed, as the technology matures, prices comes down and more oem's release products for the market we will see a healthy increase in adoption. Already there is a noticeable drop in demand for battery cells according to Youtuber Will Prowse https://youtu.be/ICPDTq-ePP4 since more companies are releasing complete systems. These server rack batteries can also communicate to your inverters like Victron, Growatt, MPPSolar etc so making it fit into your existing setup. It's a good development for the solar community overall.

Very option comes has a cost, it either cost you in time or in money. Your choice depends on which of those 2 resources you can spare. I chose to go the DIY route for my Lithium migration because it would get be the best bang for my money. It would also allow me to ensure that every component for the system is top quality and best practice is used. I am a handy guy and generally love spending my spare time building something and to my taste as against getting a black box that might be difficult to fix or upgrade down the road.

For SOK is offering shy of 2000k USD for a 4kwh system when for 2500kUSD you can get a good 14kwh DIY battery system with a good BMS. Of cause this route is not for everyone. Not everyone has the time to pure over documentation and guides for building a DIY battery.

In terms of integration, you can easily get a BMS that works with your inverter solar charge controller which essentially allows your DIY battery to be perfectly integrated to the rest of your components. Again it just require a little more time spent going through the documentation.

[Quote author=olopan post=110434089] As a contribution to the ongoing solar panel energy production debate, which many with monitoring system can attest to is.

For us a rule of thumb,

1. Tier 2 panels are calculated with 0.55% of nameplate or total PV capacity for period of 4 Hours.

2. Tier 1 panels are calculated with 0.65% of nameplate pr total PV capacity for period of 4 Hours


If the system is loaded I.e. energy storage and loads then it is expected to see energy production in line with above.

This proven true by remote monitoring.

Conditions based on a normal sunny day

[/quote]

I have been taking logs of my solar installation since 2017 over 80% of those logs collects real time to information every 10sec of panel generation including peak power and total generated energy for the day.

What I have come to understand is, a lot goes into your solar panel harvest than just being tier 1 or tier 2.

The most important thing is how the panels were installed. What is the angle of inclination and the direction the panel is facing.

What is th installation design. Does it flush with the roof or is it installed on a roof rack. Lastly Location location. A solar panel installed in jos would have a different average yield compared to one installed in calaba.

A well optimized panel installation beats a tier 1 panel installed "wrongly"

Here are key pointers.

Ensure your panels are installed as flat as possible. Nigeria is just above the equator so your panels so the flater your get your panel the better.

7°horizontal tilt facing through true south. Send down the rain type of roof you see in many "mansion" in Nigeria are not ideal for solar.

As much as possible avoid your panel facing the north of you have no choice then make it as flat as possible using the roof rack to offset the non ideal roof angle.

Best to avoid mounting your panel directly on the roof. The roof is the hottest part of the house and heat is the enemy of solar generation. In fact panels derate the hotter it gets and you can lose close to 10 to 20% of your generation due to heat. Mounting on a rack that elevates the panel above the roof allows for it to be air cooled and reduces heat transfer from the roof.

If you have a large compound consider ground mount but ensure they are no partial shading. Ground mounts are best. Your panels can be tilted optimally, can be easily cleaned during the dusty period and easy to earth them.

Wiring is also very important. Lots of losses can happen between the panel and charge controller. As much as possible strive for higher voltage configuration to avoid pushing too much amps down the wire. This is one of the beauty of MPPT. It allows your to string your panel into higher voltage strings thus reducing the need for large wiring and associated cost between panel and controller.

Note that the thiner the wiring conductor surface area the higher the resistance and losses. There are lots of site that that help calculate how to size your wiring relative to amps/voltage and distance.

If your panels are far from your cc, you need thicker longer cables or you might want to consider a controller that can table high voltage panel Strings like 250v and use that to reduce loses and wiring cost.

In all, it is very reasonable to get 70% or even higher from your panel if the condition is right. My 3kw panel does 2500w standard as need demand and as weather permits.

It is however good practice to size your system in the design stage with conservative figures just ensure you thrive to beat those figures in the actual implementation.

blockgeek69:
I recently installed a solar inverter system with the following setup:

1. 4 solar panels (each 300watt) = total 1200watt
2. 24v inverter system
3. 2 units of 230amp battery
4. 60amp PWM charge controller

My load at max capacity is 500 watt and could go as low as 300watt during midnight hours.

But I noticed that my battery charge depletes faster than its charging, is it supposed to be so? What i mean is, my battery could be 26v after fully charged with no load, but after 4 hours of use, it falls down to 24.5v even when the solar panel is still charging the system.

So I am beginning to wonder if this is normal or there is a problem with my system configuration or the charge controller itself since i am using a PWM cc.

Please gurus in the house, i need your input.

A lot of variable goes into solar panels that could be the problem. One thing seem show though. You are not generating enough and your load is still too high. Both side of the equation needs attention.

On the generation side, you have a 1200w panel. But how much generation do you have on a daily. What is your peak generation and how much average daily generation. Most modern controllers have some form of logs that allows you to check their daily harvest. You might also want to check that the controller is doing in peak sun hours of around 11:20-13:00. Let us start from there before we move on.

500w is too much load for a 1200w panel. Remember that you have to generate to meet your day load and change the battery over night.
Standard installation planning requires you to account for losses (Heat, wiring and lack of optimal panel positioning losses). As a general rule, it is good practice to derate your panel by 25%. That is assume 30% of your rated panel capacity would be lost during the harvest.

Using the figure you posted 1200w * 0.75 - 900w
Multiply that figure by 3 or 4 hours (Depending on your location and the number of good solar sun hours you get in a day) Don't be tempted to use high figures because this is about planning and it is ok to be a bit conversative especially as you account for rainy months.

I would use 4 sun hours.

900 * 4 = 3,600wh or 3.6kwh. This is the average daily yield your panel should have. It can be higher on a good day and for a well installed system but just slightly.

Your battery is a 5kwh bank

Your daily usage is from your post of 500w daily and 300w night load. Your night load is already about 3600wh. You are barely able to change the over night load if you don't use the system during the day.

When you add 500w on the system during the day, you have nothing left to charge the battery.

recommended course of action. Reduce your load (the cheaper and best option)
Or increase your panels. You would need an additional 3kw panel array to meet your current usage.

Bolatitodavies:
I have luminous 4kva inverter already with 80amp felicity mppt charge controller with 4x220ah and 9x350watts solar panels, so my new technician is advising i switch to hybrid 5kva adding 180k extra to my 4kva inverter nd mppt charger which i feel im being robbed. Insead, i feel with 180k extra, i can get hybrid 7.5kva instead or is he offering me a good deal?

I don't think you are going about this optimally. I scanned through your message and I still did not find why you are upgrading. Why do you need a 7.5kva inverter?

You said something about planning for future expansion. If that is your only reason then it's the wrong way to plan. Solar is not about throwing money about but rather making every money you spend count. Efficiency is key in any system.

Rather than just buying the highest rated solar components you are better off first identify your load. The character of your load in term of timing and load type.

Typically the type of inductive load like water pump, freezer and non inverter AC and Fridge are things that determine size of your inverter. Plus the number of appliances you run concurrently. Once you have this figures then you size your inverter appropriately.

One thing you should note though. The load you are placing on your offgrid setup must be one you can generate back to the system either via solar or via generator / NEPA. If you take more than you can give back to the system, your setup would not last as you would over use your battery and kill it before you get economic value from it.

The first thing to consider is your generating capacity. Solar or NEPA (case in point I once lived in a place where 20 hours light a day was guaranteed that factored into my setup)

When you have your generating capacity, you then optimize your load to use below that capacity such that your battery can get daily full charge.

Next is your battery it should be able to take your night load and be at about 50% dod by morning

(Presuming you can take it back to 100% soc by noon)

Then your inverter should be sized to be able to operate at about 30% capacity when you turn your load. Over sizing inverter besides being a waste would also put a heavy idle load on your battery.

Solar has a good second hand market, if your needs radically increases you can also sell and upgrade. (Happens here all the time)

Best way to plan for the future is ensure your installation panel like where you installed your inverter or cc has enough space to do a drop in replacement for a bigger inverter without much rewiring.

Please post the price. I am in a market for a car but I can not bothered to be calling where there is not price transparency

ajabani4allah:


Is the IpowerPlus inverter still available?

No sir. Someone I granted first right of refusal on the item's decided to exercise his right.

Hi people. Currently carrying out upgrades of my solar components. I have the following for sale.

Used Victron Smart MPPT Controller (With built in Bluetooth)
150v - 100A
VEDirect
200k

Used IpowerPlus 3kva / 24v (Built in MPPT Charge controller 40A - not sure the actual charger capacity, never used it for one day)
70k

All price is non negotiable.

Sold

Keemie:


Thank you so much for your reply. Do you have any experience with luminous tubular battery. Is it good.

They are pretty much the same. Luminous is one of the biggest battery manufacturer in India.

The things to watch for are capacity inflation which is a thing in Nigeria. I had an India battery OEM confirm this to me in private how marketers pressure them to mislabel capacity. 180AH becomes 220AH.

Second thing to what for is electrolyte. The part many don't say enough about tubular battery is pure quality electrolyte mix they have once they get to Nigeria. Most are shipped dry and then the electrolyte is mixed here in Nigeria.

Unfortunately care is not taken to ensure the right gravity is achieved or that distilled water is used. What this result to is a battery with either poor nominal voltage (and serious voltage sag issues)

Or one with too much acidity that the battery dies within a short period.

Luminous is sold by Simba and they are a big brand so probably they do right thing. I have no insight.

Keemie:


Thank you for the reply. How do I make sure that my battery depth of discharge is within the 15%-20%.

Have a handle on your load. This is the key to a successful off grid life. Lot of people put too much focus on the solar, inveter, battery forgetting that the first and most important component is your load. You need to do proper energy audit because the load determines how your system should be designed vis a vis your financial budget. It is what would make you understand what is capable within a budget outline.

I don't have to do anything about my setup. The system runs itself because the load is fixed. I know how much power I draw everyday and how much my solar array is.

My setup can generate over 2.7kw or power from the sun, out of which the house load (during the day) ranges between 350-500w. Charging the battery to full (float) requires about 1000w (for about 2 hours it takes the battery to be full from a 80% state of charge)

This all means that I have lots of redundant power to play with. Thus inverter is setup the following way

Switch to solar during the day (when the battery is higher than 26v)
Switch to Nepa (if available) when the battery voltage drops to 24.5v (Usually at night or during cloudy stormy weather) and if Nepa is not available switch to battery.

Being on premium power and being guaranteed 20 hours of power everyday means that my battery is rarely used except for about an hour when the inverter uses battery until the battery voltage drops to 24.5 then it switches to grid. 24.5 for floaded tubular battery is at about 80-90% soc.

mctfopt:


Which make and capacity of charge controller do you plan to use to run this?

The charge controller (and my solar setup is in my signature) is victron 100/150. My current arraey is 335w x 9 arranged in a 3 x 3 x 3. The end PMV is about 90v.

The controller would be able to sustain a 5kw solar array (just about)

litaninja:
You're a techie / automation somebody yourself if i remember correctly. Would it be possible to have the strings still separate and combined at the CC or inverter but switch either at the time of the day when the sun is crossing over or if the voltage level per string drops to a certain value in comparison to the other?
That way you save the cost on the extra CC....hmm, but overall harvest per day would probably be reduced. Hmmm.

That would be unnecessarily complicating things. Better to have an array not optimally aligned than to have 1 off. If am going to put them on either side of the roof. Best to use different CC.

Dishtech:
Am hearing saying flat orientation! just note that every panel perform optimal when the sun ray strike the panels at 90degree, so from our latitude only on equinox’s season that you will have more generation but less during winter and summer due to sun position

True but flat or about 10 degree inclination towards true south will give you the best all year round solar yield in Nigeria. Hard to achieve this given hour our roofing in Nigeria so as much as possible try to get the best outcome from your situation.

mcTrinity:


Good morning Bigrovar,

I want to assume that you don't have much space in your compound to execute a ground mount, hence this dilemma; otherwise you could do a ground mount and orient/incline your array properly

However, if you're looking at roof mount, I don't actually know the size of your array. If you have 12 or more PV modules, I'll recommend you simply split them into two streams of Array... One stream on South-East and second stream on North-West. And then incline them approximately.
This, in my PERSONAL opinion, should be a good option.

NB: kindly note that two streams of PV Array on two different orientations would require each stream to have its independent CC (whether standalone or incorporated into a hybrid inverter)

Cheers

I considered this option too but like your rightly noted it would require separate CC which would rack up my cost considerably.

I would have preferred a ground mount system but the total land area is 440sqm with only 121sqm land area available once you take out the house. This means that to prevent shading or partial shading, I would need a ground mount system that would be as high as the house. That is a lot of money (judging by the cost of building materials) might just be better to spend that money on extra panels.

My first choice remain to find the optimal part of the roof to throw all the panels (15 planned) and terminate to a single charge controller. I might adjust the orientation to make the panels as flat as can be without affecting the integrity of the roof.

Keemie:


Which battery did you go for. How long did it last. I need recommendation for a battery that will last for up to 3 years.

The battery I used back then is no longer in the market (Mercury Tubular Battery)

I currently use a battery with the same chemistry which I got from Lagos the name is Exide TI 750. It is also a tubular battery. I am already making plans to move to LifeP04.

My current battery is already doing 3 years easy and that is because the whole system is designed around a daily battery depth of discharge at 15-25% so the battery is almost always at between 80-100% full. This is whole the setup was designed (I basically run on solar during the day and rely on NEPA at night - leveraging on 20 hours premium power guarantee available in my area)