₦airaland Forum

...my first 24hrs power autonomy!!!

My latest upgrade under going testing...
Amazing results does far, I'll be sharing pictures and further details on Monday.

I'll will like to thank @kie kie for being an honest man, I sent a huge some of money to him without even meeting him in person and he delivered my panels as promised. The panels are doing wonderfully well.

I will also like to say that renewable energy is more than just putting together the required components, we should reiterate this when we give system specifications to people. Apart from the depth of technical knowledge required, DC voltages can be dangerous. Novices should seek professional help when trying to setup their systems.

[quote author=George_D]bodejohn,

i think you just said it all. this is exactly what i was trying to explain a short while earlier.
using a charge controller without a display is like driving a car without a dashboard. how do you
monitor the engine parameters? how do you know when it is working well and when it is not?

also, beyond the charge controller, it is now becoming increasingly more important to monitor entire
system components including battery bank and inverter. that way you can be sure your system is
performing up to nameplate specs and the user is able to react promptly when anything goes
wrong.[/quote]How are you monitoring your battery bank and inverter? I want to learn.

I like to share two lesson I got over the weekend, they are not really new but I just saw them in action.

1. No knowledge or information is without value, someone on the forum some pages back shared the cost of suntech solar panels and we talked about it into some details. I later discovered that my supplier has been reapping me off. The same panel, I bought from him at 42k about six months ago, I got last saturday for 30k. I wish I had even down priced it.

2. You are always as good as the instruments or equipment you use/have.

I discovered from lesson 1 above that my solar panels were not optimised and I was loosing sustancial power. I had before now connected 5 120w panels in series resulting in a combined Voc of 100v, my charge controller can actually handle up to 140v. I however needed only 4 pieces in each string since the manufacturer recormended a minimum of 65v. But I had only 6pcs of the 120watts, so I decided to buy 2 more pieces and connect in a string of 4 pieces.

With all connections done in the evening I waited for sunrise the following day only to discover that my 2 parallel strings of 4 by 120watts (960watts total) was delivering only 380watts at peak. This information from my CC compelled me to go up the roof to check all connections again and found out that a cable from the first string was pulled out completely cutting power generated from that string from getting to my CC.

After all reconnections, my power generation jumped to 600watts. If my CC had no display, I would only have been using half of what I paid for.

deeplo: To all the ogas at the very top. I have questions to ask on this tristar mppt. 2 of our comrade has learnt in a hard way i pray God replenish their pocket (Amen). Question are:- 1, what is the best way to install the sensor or precusion to adopt while installation is going on? 2, how can one combine solar and phcn to the charge controller (i read about it where oga George D mentioned he adpt that method for his system) Thank you

Read the user manual of the controller you have. You will definitely find all the answers there. The rule of the thumb usually is to connect the dead end of cables first and the live end last, but try as much as possible to isolate all power sources as much as possible before any connection and disconnection.

xynerise: MTN this early morning

Too bad for Malawi...i hope the game will not be bloody

Live streaming: http://ntanews24.tv/ntanews24Live.html

fikfik: EMERGENCY

When connecting the morning star MPPT, my technician connected the battery sensory to the batt bank first before connecting to the charge controller. When passign the wire (used UTP CAT6 twisted cable about 0.2mm) through the hole to plug into the charge controller the +ve touched the common negative in the charge controller for a tenth of a second with a small spark. After connecting everthing, now my charge controller wont show the green flashing light when turn on the bettery breaker. Have comfirmed 53.5Volts at the charge controller battery bank terminals.

Is my charge controller fried, just because of that small spark wow, this is very sad for me... Please what are your thoughts?

Quite unfortunate that such a small spark could cause a major damage in the controller.
Maybe users of Morning Star could write the manufacturers to protect the controller from the consequences of these short circuiting.

Oga George and other suntech panel users, it is true that original suntech panels have a three letter inscription on each of the cells in the panel? I am getting an offer that i cannot resist from one supplier in Lagos and i need to be very sure of the quality of the panels, i have attached a picture sample.

I can remember how we laughed about the information that Suntech panel company was shutting down...
Unfortunately, this could end up been true as the company is in serious financial crises.

Ebig22: Manchester United din buy any new player?

Yes, two more center refs...

I wish these words of his could be used against him but we all know he was speaking under the influence of alcohol...LOL!!!

Saib4Jesus: Pls, can anybody in the house help me out, I have a UPS 650va I just converted to serve as an inverter with a battery of 12v 200 amp. I presume the ups cannot charge the battery so I need an external charger in line with the discussion so far. I don't know how it looks and where to possibly get it. The Buzz sound of the ups is disturbing I don't know how to disable it, I am also considering putting à cooling fan, don't know how to go about all these. Pls I need help.

You obviously need a qualified expert to help you fix those things. I am not sure you will still be able to do those things you requested by yourself even if you are told what to do.

Do not forget also that there are some dangerous voltages in the ups (220Vac), you really need to be sure before you open the ups up.

[quote author=George_D]feasy1,

under normal conditions you are very correct. 7,200w appears to be a lot but the emphasis here is on nameplate. i have since learnt that in solar, things are not always what they appear to be.

like i explained to a good member of this forum some time ago, i started my array build up with supposedly 'sharp' solar panels which i later found out to be not as original as i thought they were. also, most of the panels i bought with stamped 200w were not actually outputting their stated power, not so much because of the sub-optimal roof installation angles (although i think that also contributes a lot) but mainly because they were not original. so, i suspect a lot of those earlier sharp panels i installed were most likely 120w or at most 150w panels disguised as 200w.

what i have been doing of late is to make up for this shortfall - very much like 'damage control'. actually, i was faced with a choice of either starting completely from scratch by using original sharp panels or just adding to my existing array to boost up their output. obviously, i chose the second option.

so, in effect my supposedly 7,200w may just be a little bit around 5,000w in reality after discounting the sub-standard early sharp panels and the non-optimal roof installation angles.[/quote]All join, Oga na Master...

Sammy Hoe: U era yrev tcerroc ym rehtorb. nac ew wonk hcae rehto retteb naht siht?

t'nsaw oot tluciffid ot dnif sith tuo...

samkoro: P and G has some connections with Free Mason,and the culture of cults like this is to negativel utilize the powers that are inspired by the. bible

I will appreciate you mention some of the connections...just for my education, but i will show some understand if your statement is just another hearsay.

gbokukueba: Ode,i dont have to say anything again...

Just as i figured you would respond, thanks for confirming who you really are...

gbokukueba: Take it back!!!

OMO is no 1 go and ask !

Where exactly within my post did i mention which brand was selling better, you obviously know how to read, so go read again.

ayogbade: The rumour then was dat d owner said in a tv interview dat part of d profit goes to church of satan and d interviewer ask if disclosing such info on air will not affect sales and he said therewere not enough christian in america to matter, also d logo is said to represent 666 d way it look like, we were asked to shun p and g products den to prove there are enough christian in d world to matter, it was pasted around unilag den, ariel is another name for jerusalem , God was angry with his pple several times because of idolatery and anytime they repent he blesses them, i,m sure of d fact dat if u are truly branded for christ even if p and g products are evil it will not affect u, Jesus said so.Luke10:19, unless of course you have a personal revelation not to use them.

Which employee of a company will speak like that? Even the bokos will speak with less hate...

Ayemere33: well i think what is important, is that we pray very well not to be initiated tru any product

Think again, who would be initiating with a detergent?

moscobabs: Im working with Procter and Gamble,I have never heard such but I smell bad belle from Unilevers(Liver brothers) whether they like it or not Ariel Detergent is selling and will be selling than OMO

We do not just mention names of companies like that, we just call them competitors. Rumors like this have a way of unsettling nerves but the company has overcome greater issues. We will just continue to produce products that touch our consumers' lives positively every single day

toba: My questions are

1) Did you hear about the rumour back then?
2) If you did, what was your reaction?
3) Is there truly a correlation between the Ariel in the bible and that of P&G?
4) Why did P&G choose the brand name Ariel as against any other non controversial brand name?

This thread is just for discussion.

I will try to answer your questions...

1) The rumors linking the company and her CEOs to the church of satan is a old has the history of corruption in Nigeria. These rumors started outside of Nigeria and have moved from one continent to continent. These rumors to some extent no longer bothers the company.
I have always taken my time to educate those who have been bold enough to pop this questions at me.
In the past 20 years P&G has had about 5 or 6 CEOs, so I will ask you, do you know their names? Which one among them attends the church of satan? The rumors have largely been peddled by the competitors and willing superstitious people. I am sure you remember when it was rumored that a popular Indomie noddle brand was killing children, we all knew the stories came from a rival noddle company.

2) When i heard these rumors, i took my time to research the circumstances surrounding the issues. Not that i was jobless but because I earn my living there.

3) I will leave you to belief what you think here. I can't possibly see the link between Ariel, a city in ancient Israel with a 21st century product that delivers superior cleaning power far above its competitors. You will also find out that Ariel, a Hebrew word, also means the angel of God. Note the capital G in the God.

4) Why did P&G choose Ariel as a brand name? You make me laugh. Are they suppose to consult Nigerians or Christians before naming their product? Are you aware that a Nigerian company once named another detergent "Global Ariel" Are you also aware that there are close to 300 products made by P&G globally and with different names?

Brand wars are fought everywhere in the world and mudslinging in these wars are common, I will close with the words of the holy book, "Prove all things: hold fast that which is good or true."

[quote author=George_D]no sun? no problem! [/quote]Oga George, what is the combined total of your solar array now?

With the benefit of hindsight, I think the problem of wage dispute in recent times started with the obnoxious furniture allowance that federal legislators received in the early days of the fourth republic.

All the industrial unions since 1999 have sighted the outragious renumeration of politicians as one of the reasons why they are demanding for a better life. A lecturer on tv some couple of days ago put the annual revenue of the federal government from oil alone at about 16trillion naira.

Having said that, the labour unions and indeed the entire Nigerian populace are always selfish. A selfish legislator wants a pay check higher than the US president, a selfish lecturer wants to be paid like an elected governor, a selfish student just want to graduate and go into the labour market and a selfish me uses free internet to type this because i am not a student and do not yet have a kid in the university.

Our course as a nation will change when we begin to demand accountability and responsiveness from elected officials and leaders everywhere including our family, community and even places of worship.

Workers all over the world are constantly demanding a better pay to live a better life but how about ensuring that some of the pleasures that we really crave for are provided by the organs of government that are consistutionally enpowered to do so?

If we had good roads, affordable and well funded schools and hospitals, power supply and other ammenities, how many members of the workers in the unions will join a strike action?

TotalGreen: Thanks,
Does it keep history of records, I need something that can keep records for at list one week

How much does it cost

It was about 300 Euros without shipping charges.
It has a Rs485/Ethernet card with monitoring software which i have not tried out yet, so i cannot yet say categorically that it can save history or not. The manuals are bigger than 200Kb I would have uploaded it.
You can send me a PM and i will forward the files to you.

TotalGreen: nice.

with the shunt what is the highest dc current that can pass thru

thanks

I currently have a 100A/100mV shunt connected to it.
The meter by itself can handle up to a 10A current without a shunt.

Mr Wenger and sons sure know how to deliver when it matters most...Arsenal is that team you will always hate to love!!!

And a chance for the third...it's it's it's a gooaaalll!!!

My DC power meter final arrives...

[quote author=George_D]dunca,

i think that's about the best bargain you can get for suntech 280w right now.[/quote]That's a wonderful deal, i could get a 1.4Kw solar panel array with my budget.
But Oga George, that means it is about 250NGN/Watt, that one smell like fish o.

Olodo!!!

Oga George, to add to your comments about the dc circuit breakers, there are some models that are actually made with two poles, that is, one pole for the positive and the second side for the negative.

But these models usually come with polarity. If the polarity is reversed, the dc voltage will not be passesd through to the load or connected equipment.

Some of the ac circuit breakers in the market are rated for both ac and dc power although the voltage and power that the circuit breaker can handle in dc is much lower than ac.

A word of caution again for folks planning to increase their battery banks.

The additional batteries should be same brand and model and these additions should be done not more than 6 months after the first installations.

Adding different battery types and models will eventually kill the battery bank faster.

What more will not be said about the opposition? Didn't the minister of power blame the opposition for the vandalization of gas pipelines a couple of days back? Pipelines situation in the heart of the region that currently runs the presidency.
Why not blame the opposition when every little activity of the government is heavily politicised and critized.
The earlier we know that the opposition and the ruling party are two sides of the same coin the better for us.

BUTONEDAY: George_D,

I am crawling slowly to where we want to be. My GEL battery bank is now @ 530 amps/ 96 volts, while my alternate AGM bank is 400amps/48 volts. I am looking forward to increasing the number of panels very soon.

When the men are talking...did i hear 530Amps @ 96Volts?

Oga George, salutations and congratulations on your latest upgrade.
I am planning to add 1Kw solar array to my system later in the year, i will surely holla you for your Suntech source.
I remember when i was silently comparing my 24V charging current to your setup but my understanding got corrected after i switched to the 48V battery system.