₦airaland Forum

Can you post a link of the website so we can check it out?

harveyspec:
Saw this on coscharis website, they are the licensed distributor of mercury product

does it mean the the mercury tubular battery is of 2 variant? Acid & Non Acid type

does it also imply that the tubular without Acid is Maintenance free?

CC

Dmerciful
kiekie1
GeorgeD1
bigrovar
JUO
efuro

Very lovely installation. when i grow up

Javid4me:
Thanks Oga GeordeD1 and chris81964 for the advice.
I got the upgrade done whilst i was out of town and there is significant difference that astounded me when i got back & queried the system.
Look at the readings on CC1 and CC2 .
Knowledge, wisdom and experience. I duff my OGAs.

Thanks to Solar Depot. Expedient delivery.
1 Midnite Solar Combiner Box with fuses
1 Midnite Solar DC SPD
1 Outback 80Amp CC

Awaiting Windmill CC, until then the breaker is off.
Panel cleaning does really help. Dust trying to deny me my harvest from God. Na lie.

Kindly review pictures and as usual your comments, criticism and queries are very welcome

Best wishes to everyone.

Does anyone have Outback Hub & Mate/Mate3?

All,

Brand new Fangpusun Flexmax 60A mppt solar charge controller for sale at best price.
Whatsapp me on 08035415969 if interested.

Cheers

All,

Brand new Fangpusun Flexmax 60A mppt solar charge controller for sale at best price.
Whatsapp me on 08035415969 if interested.

Cheers

All,

Brand new Fangpusun Flexmax 60A mppt solar charge controller for sale at best price.
Whatsapp me on 08035415969 if interested.

Cheers

60A x 27v= 1620w. Your battery charges to a little above 27v so your controller can handle 1600W.

Obimind1:
That being the case, what's the maximum watts someone can use on a 24v system, bcus personally I've always wanted to add more panels to my 1,200 watts array which runs on a 60ah mppt charge controller, but I've been kinda scared to avoid exceeding my cc limit.

See your dashboard .
I wash my small array weekly...my area is untarred and as such dusty...my array is 1000w....can be cleaned under 8mins

dapsyra:
Yesterday, at sunset, I washed my Solar Panels and was rewarded with a bountiful harvest today.

My harvest increased by 3kwh, from 11.7kwh the previous day to 14.7kwh today. My daily harvest had consistently hovered around 11kwh since January when the harmattan haze took over the skies of Abuja.

If you have not washed your panels recently, please do so without further delays. Your efforts will be pleasantly rewarded by the god of green energy.

Glad to see the ever supporting gurus giving advice and coaching...thumbs up!
Now to the next frontier....remote monitoring.

Gurus in the house kindly recommend a 'cheap' modem/router with remote management or Dynamic DNS that I can use to monitor my renewable energy system from anywhere over the internet. The router is the remaining piece for me to go live

Once again appreciate ur help as u respond...thanks

still available

Speak to them and let us know....I already ordered one...when it comes will definitely do a review.

Konnektions146:
Bros, that moment moment eh, I no dey shut down the system oo, I dey use am , maybe my lady is doing something in preparation for tomoro work and school, battery say make I shut down.....

Dmerciful, I have been reading all your analysis about other batteries and you are gradually pushing me , make I speak to my battery guys In china and see what I get

Bigrovar gave an excellent deposition and solutions on what and what not to do if you want battery longevity while you gave a realistic situation and recommended Oversizing. You guys are great but I lean towards your angle more cos u're not d only user of d system to be able to really control DoD. For instance ur battery is 50% already and its still 10pm...what will you do? Shutdown d inverter and put on generator you have abandon for 1 year? Or stay in darkness? Mind you there may be cloudy weather the previous day and no NEPA light for a week. Why buy batteries of so much capacity and u're limited to only 30%? We need a battery revolution, LiFeO4 or Nickel iron are d way forward! Mind you with current cost of deep cycle lead batteries, its already at par with LiFeO4 cost wise. LiFeO4 ti take over

Konnektions146:
Bigrovar,

I read your post with some intrests, if may ask-

- which region do you live in?
- what's your average harvest in KWH daily?
- u stay alone or have people at home when you go out for the daily business?

I ask these cos some information here can be misleading

"I have 24/7 power"
"I have not used gen in 20years"
" My TV and appliances run all the time"
Etc etc

I have installed some systems for customers and they are doing pretty well , I own one as well though not that a big one but I am sure and know how RE guys are monitoring and watching their systems like hawks.

When u are home, u can manage all these, when yu are not, women Hmmmm

Except for a few inverters that's got some adjustable DOD settings, most dip more than 50%.

In a bid to paint an awesome image, we tend to make certain comments that make some new guys feel they have issues with their systems.

I always tell any prospective client, we do a load calculation and you know what to expect,(sometimes I over estimate so that when the customer gets more, he would be happier)

Alot of installers don't even do any load check, they dump a system which most probably is well done but undersized and the client would say "this thing no dey work"

We post images of our systems best moments , yes it's a good thing but I need us to be more clear to make new guys know certain factors could get Dem less back up time.

I installed a 1000w solar system with a 3kw,4800wh inverter+battery for my mum and the stuff has been amazing,

The major load in her house is a deep freezer and a TV+decoder and fan. And the system has an uptime of about 90% ,that's because she manages it well enough with timer switch for the freezer.

About lifepo4, its still very young but I ay just give a shot at it when I have some $ to spare

No but expecting one within the week

netotse:
is the 40A epever still available?

You can see this is not a case of redemption but of distress!

richmon74:
Nigerians Have Chosen.

GIVE US BARABBAS

In the Holy Bible, in the book of John chapter 18 the people of Jew known as the Jewès had an option of choosing their king and meziah who was Jesus Christ and He was presented to them with so much plea from Pontius Pilate but they insisted they wanted a rebel and shouted to the top of their voices "Give Us Barabbas".

The interesting part of this story is that the bible says "it was so that the scriptures might be fulfilled". And because of this we have salvation today through the dead of the one they rejected- Jesus Christ.

Today, Nigerians have made their choice. The history is not knew. But I am persuaded that it shall be for the redemption of this nation.

Congratulations General Muhammadu Buhari

Good to have you back...exciting days ahead!

richmon74:
Hi guys

It's been a while.
Good to see a lot of good stuff happening in this thread.
Obviously this is one thread that spells the future. I have tried to scan through most of the pages though unable to get into details. I've come across some very interesting discussions and some very funny ones as well. Some of them which i feel like responding to but when i look at the date i just think the sleeping do should lie.

The most interesting thing to me is that many have become renewable energy owners through this thread. God bless the founding fathers.
I'll be making my contributions as usual very soon and introducing new products as time goes on.

Over the years we've experimented on various designs and materials and i think its time to share the knowledge with the great people of this thread.

Congratulations to most people who have become solar power installers with the help of this thread.

Your test model is not designed to last hence frequent battery replacement. If you had bought 2*200AH one time and paralled it so that the stress on individual battery is low, it would have lasted far more than the single battery being bought yr after yr. I recommend Lithium Iron Phosphate battery(LiFeO4), they are the latest ultimate offgrid storage batteries with thousands of cycles with d capacity to do 7-10yrs. Also we have the nickel iron batteries that can do 40yrs! Whatsapp me on 08035415969

juliustip:
Thanks for all the suggestions.
To be more detailed;

Solar Panels: 230w *4
Inverter: 2kva
Battery: 200AH
CC: 20A 12v/24v (Model: CM20D)

Loads: Within 700~1000w daily

Duration on off-grid: 3years
Battery Change: Thrice (once every year)

This was installed to test the efficiency of the system, before moving to a bigger version.
For a bigger version, batteries price could be going upto 1.5m yearly.
I see people saying they've been using their batteries for 2 years.
That made me come to conclusion, something is wrong and needs a fix.

My initial plan on upgrade when dollar was ok was to go for Telsa Powerwall (Tesla stats 10years warranty)
But seem that isn't an option at the moment.


I will appreciate any help that can specify what I need to change in this setup.

Upper temp range is upto 60°C but its better to run at room temperature of 25-28°C. The ones with BMS(battery management system) are adapted to be used in inverters as the required charging voltage is 14.4v consistent with what is obtainable in inverter. Normal Indian inverter would charge some of the Chinese models including the one I'm expecting. Draw back is high initial cost. Also max continuous current draw is limited to about 80A per battery however u can parallel to get more. But the advantage over lead acid is much.

eddyline:
can the LiFePO4 batteries be used in areas where ambient temperatures can get as high as 44oC? also would the normal Indian inverters be able to effectively charge these batteries? what are the drawbacks of this type of batteries?

With current price(Fullriver @ 130K, Exide @ 200K, Mercury @ 115K etc) Lithium iron phosphate is cheaper in the medium term and far cheaper and super in the long term. It requires planning

efuro:


Lithium iron phosphate or iron Edison
are for big boys!

i rather stay put with my go-slow SLA batteries with lesser loads

12V, 100AH is $600 on aliexpress but i want to see if i can negotiate it to <$500 . Lithium iron phosphate last about 2000cycles at 80% DOD unlike lead acid that will do max 300 cycles at 80% DOD. In reality, you get more backup time for 100AH LiFeO4 than 200AH lead acid cos you can do 80% DOD on lithium while you're limited to 30%-50% on lead acid if you want it to last appreciablly. Besides LiFeO4 is 1/7 the weight of lead acid so its mobile....take it to where there's power and charge . If you're doing 40% DOD on LiFeO4...we are talking of over 5000cycles(13yrs)
LiFeO4 ti take over
Note: lithium iron phosphate(LiFeO4) last longer than lithium polymer which inturn last longer than lithium alone(3 or more different types of lithium)

mank1234:
What's the price of a 12V 200AH of this lithium battery.

The solar panels, CC and inverter are durable by design...the only challenge is periodic battery replenishment. That's y I'm switching from lead acid to Chinese LiFeO4! Will share a review when d time comes . However Lithium iron phosphate or iron Edison are the way forward! I'm done with sulphating lead acid!

efuro:
Can it be true that the strength of home solar applications is directly d strength of batteries?
My advocacy on AE has always been bedeviled with opinion that solar don't last and see no reason why they should fall in love with it as we do.
We need to prove to Nigerians that solar works and works well & remains d lifeline of electricity to millions of homes.

I salute the courage & works of great men here. It inspires millions to take their lives in their hands.

The ariston has temperature setpoints adjustment and it can get quite hot if set high...but then sun gets really hot....as seen in solar electricity generation through heating of molten salt

GeorgeD1:
efuro,

no wahala. i will do that. but here is my other experience with electric water heater.

so, i'm a tea guy and i have an electric water heater dedicated solely for kitchen use.
i always like to take hot water out from the ariston before heating it up on the burner
to raise its temp to boiling point before making my tea. i always used to wonder why
it took so long for the water to boil knowing fully well that it was supposed to have
been pre-heated by the water heater.
this measurement helped me confirm what i had always suspected: the heater does
not heat the water hot enough.

now, the solar water heater is doing a better job without wires, without fuel, without
phcn.

Is it an Agm battery with individual cell terminals or else how do you know 1 of 6 cells is bad

mank1234:
Used AGM batttery (12V 200AH) for sale. One of six cells is bad. Interested buyers should PM me.

Kindly tell me where I can get this battery

amiablesystems:
I use this exact battery I can hook you up with the seller to sell just the charger to you if you're interested

Where can I get this battery?

amiablesystems:
I use this exact battery I can hook you up with the seller to sell just the charger to you if you're interested

My brother e cost pass even panels and inverter sef . LiFeO4 on my mind!

purplekayc:
Batteries don cost ooo

How can you compare Trump with incompetence?

How do you open the hood with fire underneath? Well I depend on my comprehensive insurance.... no tracked installed and hope I don't have a fire incident cos I ain't gonna stress myself....mansard insurance will have to earn their money!

Price is there now....my number is also there

EKOBIZ:
In box me. How much?

Registered hummer 2 bus for sale.
Bus drives well and there is no major issue with the bus.
If interested Whatsapp me on 08035415968
Price-2.7M

Solid! Great job

chris81964:
We are officially a distributor and installer of Outback Power Inverters, Controller and Accessories. Inventory will be available in a few weeks.

Please enjoy the job we did last week in Port Harcourt. The customer has three phase into the house to power his Central AC systems and a single phase to power pumps, hot water heaters etc. The house has no tank, water is produced on demand by a pump. He need to have power 24/7.
He had spent two million Naira on Deka batteries and we did not think he should feed his Sukham these batteries for them to get destroyed.

So the first phase was to handle all the loads that were on a single phase using a Victron Quattro. A peak of 4000 watts. Use the gen as back up for when PHCN was absent or batteries fell below a programmed threshold.

The result is a happy customer.
Phase 2 is solar
Phase 3 is three phase

Enjoy the finished job

Interesting writeup.....good points you mentioned. Expecting those reviews

bigrovar:
Everything has plus and minus. FLA are quite rugged but they require attention and you must be on top of your maintenance with distilled water and equalisation... Also have an hydrometer handy to periodically check that all your cells are equally getting same charge and same GS level (AGM batteries don't require the type of baby sitting)

Further more and most importantly is how you charge and discharge your FLA (or any battery) most people focus on battery depth of discharge but little is done to ensure that the battery is being discharged within recommended limits. Most FLA batteries are rated C20 @25c which means the AH value of the battery is dependent on discharging them within C20 under a relative 25C temperature.

This is where sizing your system is very important. In my case my battery is 220 at C20 meaning my discharge rate should be no more than 11AH (@24v)
Hence at no point in time do I allow my battery to be discharged above 8AH.. in fact most of my discharge stand at 4 to 5ah (about 100w to 125w) only time my system shoots to 8ah discharge rate is when I have freezer on even then battery rarely gets discharged up to the 200w treshold.

If you have a C20 battery and you discharge at a rate higher than C20 not only does the rated AH not apply you are also wearing out the battery faster.

This is where renewable energy users have to pay serious attention to how u optimize and conserve load. It's not enough to just get energy efficient light bulbs. Everything should be efficient. It's cheaper to conserve than to generate and store. The 50k I spent on getting rechargeable fan which use 25% of what my ceiling fan uses allows me to run my batteries at C40 prolonging its life while at the same time enjoying reasonable comfort. My 43 inch led TV + dstv HD and 1200w 5.1 sound Surround system all use less than 60w. No light bulb in my house is above 8w. Security light are provided by solar led outdoor light with motion sensors so about 600w saved

Lastly I have a small battery monitor with a shunt which allows me keep an handle on battery voltage, rate and depth of battery discharge. Since I started measurement my dod has never been more than 45% in fact day on day dod is 35% - 25% of battery capacity and believe me my system often runs 24 hours especially when grid has issues (during the day I sometimes generate enough to use and charge my battery). My battery rest voltage barely drops below 24.8v and because my daily consumption is little it's easier to generate and give back to the system hence my battery gets to float every single day. And no my array are very small just 660w.. but thanks to Abuja sun with optimization in mount system making my panels easy to clean and air cooled I generate an average 2300wh of energy everyday to replace my daily consumption of about 1800wh

Having a handle on my load and consumption completely removed the need for LVD. But as my family gets bigger and less trained and oriented folks show up to pay homepage to our latest member I might need one. My inverter allows me to set LVD to 23v but that's a no-no.
I just ordered victron energy battery monitor. The system is just like the Trimetric but with additional features and cheaper. It keeps a 30 day detailed statistics log charge and of usage (hope to review it here)
Unlike the monitor I use which monitors only rate and depth of discharge, this system monitors both.. I get to see what goes in and comes out of the battery

it also has a relay out which allows me to have a solid state relay to disconnect my inverter when battery ah drops to say 60% state of charge.

The new battery monitor, a new 60/150v "Fangtron" MPPT controller and an additional 250w panel are some of the investment I hope to add to my system first quarter this year. I will definitely share here how it all went.

Seems flooded battery longevity is overrated . for goodness sake how can you off your inverter when there is no light ? to stay in darkness?In truth we need focus in this area as the cost of going green is comparatively being threatened by battery replacement. Lithium battery LiFeO4 may be the way forward!

Nigeria wasn't great before!