₦airaland Forum

FEGEITOK:
I am in the market for a 10kVA inverter.

I am thinking about SRNE but what other brands would the house recommend that I consider?

Transformer based or transformerless?

ceejay80s:
100% and the charging mode goes off,
If I notice where the protection mode changed to Cell_OP. ON

Thats the cell over voltage protection kicking in to stop charging

ceejay80s:
Still 37 percent, no light and I am using solar to charge, I ask her for battery charging voltage, she said 14.6v

That's too high chief, u sud really just do 14v or a little less for the battery safety. Its a lithium phosphate battery so doesnt need to get that high

Gshems:
panel is 2 250watt and 1 350watt in parallel, absorption and float @14.4v. Yes, my battery gets full but sometimes I want to power a 300watt load, even in very good sunlight my load is greater than what the panel is producing. Note: the 350 watts panel is not up to 350watt, it has a voc of 40v. So I ran it in parallel with the 2, 250watts panel. Multimeter readings from the panels is showing something higher but the charge controller no dey give pass 280

I think the issue here is ur panel configuration. U are using a MPPT so u sud rather series the panels rather than parallel. This ur paralel setup wud work better with a PWM

JoeSef0:
How did you create space for 2 batteries inside the bunnet and also how did you configure it to make the lfp work for idle drain and not the 2 batteries?.
Lead acid batteries are so annoying. The solite made in Korea battery i bought about 13 months ago for 85k now barely cranks my engine after leaving the car idle for more than 24hrs.i now have to remove the battery head if I don't have plans to use my car in 2-3 days otherwise i have to run the car for 5-10 mins every day to keep the battery alive... Annoying ‼️

Why not just get a jump starter. My battery has bin doing same for abt 6mths now if i leave it for 48hrs or more idle. I got the jumpstart 4mths back and its bin bliss. Once it doesn't crank, na to use jumpstart and the battery has bin fine so far

HeavenlyBang:
DIY IS expensive.

There's the monetary expense that comes with buying tools and materials at retail prices, and then the time expense, opportunity cost, actual stress and effort plus having to troubleshoot when things eventually go wrong.

Recently I wanted to build a 12v battery to use as an auxiliary battery on my car. By the time I calculated the things involved, I jeje went to buy it from a guy selling it on the lithium thread. It was much cheaper than if I'd tried to build it myself, simply because I don't even have the tools.

On a side note, using lead acid + LFP in parallel on a car seems to work like a charm. LFP handles the idle drain, while the LA takes over when cranking.

U using the 2 batteries simultaneously or i dont get? A picture too would be helpful if yes

harbayyoungesth:
Good morning, please can any user of valtech batteries kindly assist me in making a decision on valtech 3.6kVa 24v battery

Valto valto, correct person. Have 4 of his batteries, 1 clocked 2 years in Aug, another is 18mths already and the last 2 a year old. He's also very easy to communicate with and ask questions. Wud recommend again and again.

seunpinky:
Hi All,

Pls asking this question for a friend who is about to carry out a solar inverter project and got a “family and friend” quote of 1.4million naira for a 4kva system on 2 batteries. Pls is this amount realistic?

To start with, 2 batteries obviously mean lead acid which is a no no in this age and time. U can also post the quote if u really want our input as we aren't magicians and cant discuss what we don't know

Seun:
I'm looking for an all-in-one with at least 5-8kw inverter and 15-20kwh battery. What do you guys recommend?

Mr Seun of nairaland....... 🙌🙌🙌. Hope u get to also see our member's complaints abt the bot here and save this page.
About ur question, its better and advisable u get seperate systems ie inverter and battery than going for an all in one. Ease of expansion is key here

genius43:
Battery Go for Deriy over Felicity and inverter Dey or Growatt over Felicity.

Some installers only recommend what they are comfortable with not because it is the best available.

I'd still pick a Felicity inverter over a growatt or even deye presently. Not everyone wants all the bells or are enthusiasts. Some ppl just wants what works reason why Toyota/Honda are best sellers.
Apart from Deye, doubt any of the listed inverters come with 5years warranty with readily available service centers (doesn't cover for lightening damage as i sadly found out).
Make i no even start with the growatt charging bug some ppl complain of..
To every man his own sha...

twinskenny:
Nawa

Technologia!!!

mctfopt:
Abeg which inverter is 160k for 4000w?

Satchet inverter obviously

Bankyshinani:
What do you think I can do cos I can't buy another inverter for now?....Will installing an external charger controller make me go beyond 1600W of pv array?

You can get an external charger, it is going to the battery and so is limited by its own VOC and max Pv array and not the inverter's own

ajabani4allah:
Good morning all, will this AC SPD of Uc 385v protect against electrical surge? It seems the Uc is too high for it to work since the normal voltage range here is around 240v

For single phase inverters, 275 abi 285v wid suffice. Not sure which of the nos is on the spd. Ur system wud av blown itself b4 the 385v wud trip

micxwell:
Thanks bro for asking this important question.

1. The installation fee covers the solar panel installation and other in-house wiring, breakers, surge protectors, etc.


2. For the load wire, I just got home yesterday and took my measurements. I won’t be needing more than 20 yards. From my main junction box area (starting from the middle of the wall) to the top of the artwork rail (middle of the wall) at the spot where I plan to mount the inverter and battery, I measured 5.5 meters with a tape. Accounting for kinks and other excesses, I believe 10 yards should do ×2; that’s 20 yards. Maybe I should get 25 yards to avoid any blame game.


3. The battery is LVTOPSUN, 51.2V 100Ah, 5kWh. As for whether it’s MCB or MCCB, I’m not sure yet.


4. Regarding the 125A DC breaker, I’ll have to ask him about that too. Are you saying it’s too much or not necessary?



The grid supply is terrible here, so I don’t plan to connect the inverter to the grid at all.

I bought the battery, inverter, solar PV cables, and panels myself.

I’m yet to receive the solar panels........Fouani wahala.

I’ll definitely review the quote with him again and probably bring it down to below ₦300k.

If the DC breaker is between panel and inverter, then its wrong rating. Seeing as u wud most likely connect the panels in series, u sud be doing btw 20 to 25amps max. Ur inverter mppt specs though would help.
@danfreey should be able to help tell if the lvtopsun battery comes with an mcb or mccb, if it does then wont advice having another breaker connected.

micxwell:
My people, hope this is not on the high side please?

Location is Ibadan.

Cc: All, bassdow

This installation fee is for what exactly?
The load wire is from where to where?
What type of battery are u using? Is it an mcb or mccb he is getting? Is there an actual need for a battery breaker esp if ur battery already comes with one?
What does he want to do with a 125amp DC breaker?
Wud e mind if u buy ur breakers and spds urself and he just comes to do his installation as that wud be cheaper for you?

FEGEITOK:
Troubleshooting the Shocking Truth

In the course of troubleshooting this issue, I ended up installing a brand new earth rod and earthing connections. I had wrongly assumed that there was something wrong with the earthing of the house (yes, something was wrong, but not necessarily what I thought was wrong).

However, I noticed that the fridge, the freezer, the microwave, and the cooker still shocked to the touch.

But I discovered that there was zero shock if the power came from the inverter and not from the mains.

When I shared this with my very able electrician, he said, "Let me come and confirm." Once he confirmed this issue by testing the Live, the Neutral, and the Earth at the outlet that powers the fridge, the freezer, the microwave, and the cooker, the remediation process started.

Identifying the Culprit

We then went to the distribution board (DB) and tested the common earth, the common neutral, and the common live, and each of these would light up.

So the next thing he suggested was to go to each outlet in the house and check the connection, which would have been very tedious. I said, "OK."

Next, he said, "There is a better way."

He said he would try to sort it out at the DB level.

So we started separating each of the earth connections at the DB and tested. The earth would light up until the problem circuit was identified: the earth wiring to an AC switch and a looped wall socket in the guest room.

He then went into the ceiling and asked me to confirm from the ground which room he was in (the problem room). I told him it was the guest room. After he traced the wires to the part of the wall where the wires were, he came down and went straight to that socket, and when he tore it apart, we confirmed our suspicions.

The problem was that in that one circuit due to the use of a single color of wire, whoever wired the house did not know when they bridged the live with the earth. So one had the same result testing live and neutral and earth with a tester.


Once this was fixed, I went back and turned on the circuit breaker that I installed between the AC input and the inverter, and voilà, no inexplicable ramp-up in consumption occurred. I did not bother to switch off the breaker embedded in the meter, and everything is as good as it was.

The Cost of Cutting Corners

This is a practical example of how much cost one ends up incurring in time, material, labor, and worry just because standards (like a different color of wire for each type of connection) are ignored and sidestepped for expediency.

He told me he did this because of me, and that many electricians will often ask you, "Are you wiring a new house, socket, or light?" If you say yes, they will come. But if you tell them you have this kind of issue that I have—a maintenance issue—they will give any and every excuse in the book not to be involved in this sort of troubleshooting.

All in all, I am glad. I can finally trust that the house will not make me guilty of involuntary manslaughter.

The Office Debacle

This leads to the story of what happened in my office and how I ended up spending a lot of time to untangle the mess/hack job that was done when my electrical assistant got frustrated. (He wanted to run new wires; I said, "But I already bought wires before, even made sure it was up to code. Why should I abandon the wires in the ceiling and redo the wiring? It would be such a defeat!"

I ended up going into the ceiling of the office myself to sort out the mess of a connection that was done there by a new set of inverter people who do not understand why standards are made and why they need to be followed. I will address this story in another post.

Had a similar incident when my new ivem inverter threw a fault 2 days after installation with bus voltage high. First electrician came and checked and said nothing was wrong. It was a close pal that now came to check and we found out a socket in the bedroom was wrongly wired and a the light switch was said to have bin looped such that switching it on switched on light in the bathroom while bathroom switch was off.
Same house I discovered the earth was looped with my co-tenant and was advised to just do my own earthing seperate. Rented apartment but sure opened my eyes to what to expect whenever wiring of my personal house wud be done

.

FEGEITOK:
My neighbor is asking that |I supply them power from my alternative to AEDC.

Please recommend a cheap but functional meter that I can use to ensure that I can monitor their consumption if anyone has been through this situation before.

Do we have it in the country or will I have to import?

Got this from Zeestone a while back. U have an idea of what's bin consumed, u can schedule when it comes on and the max power per time all remotely

favouredbymercy:
This is the most likely issue. Hybrid inverters and potential hybrid inverters users please take note of this: Always try to aim for the nominal pv input voltage at least. Most hybrid inverters have a nominal pv input voltage of 240v. Even if it means going for multiples of lower panel sizes, aim for that nominal input voltage at least because it is from that voltage the inverter will work best.

This is the reason i went for an external charge controller to connect my 2 jinko 590w panels first to my setup, though my hybrid inverter has an mppt startup voltage of 60v, but the nominal input voltage is 240v. I would only connect my pv array to my hybrid inverter when i have at least 6 of thos panels.

Take note of this, it is important.

While there's a nominal pv input where ur inverter works efficiently. It doesnt mean that if u go lower, u still wont enjoy ur system. Most important thing is to ensure u target above the minimum pv input and you are good to go.

dollarnaira:
Do care to share the brand?

The 2kva inverters like sako, powmr, sms, welion come with panel limit of 2000w and voc of 500v

dacool1:
For most people, especially grid tied, a 12v system is great. You can run a freezer(200w) and a blender(500) watts simultaneously on a 1kw(continuous power) inverter.

You might say the initial surge, but that's totally dependent on your inverter surge capacity and more importantly you battery bank.

Except you need to draw over 1kw continuously for a long duration, a 12v system is perfectly fine. 12v systems are suitable for loads below 1kw.

How will you have a 48v system and only have 5kwh battery capacity. Personally I have used and currently using my 12v systems as it suits my load.

Left to me if your battery bank is less than 5w manage your loads and stick to a 12v system

For a 24v system your minimum battery capacity should be about 10 to 15kw bank

For 48v from 15kw upward

Of what use is a system you can't fully utilize its capacity.

I have issues with ur 24v and 48v hypothesis. Anyone doing 24v sudnt do above 5 to 7.5kwh battery normally. Anything above is better on a 48v system.
I also have a 5kva48v system with a 5kwh battery system and it serves my needs well so ur saying 15kw upward isnt an objective one. In the end, solar is about knowing ur loads and setting up accordingly

bassdow:
yet to aggressively test since I'm only using it on one of ma small auxiliary setUp BUT from the little I've observed, both in build quality and config interface, it's much better than the likes of FELICITY which I've always seen as trash.

Would say it's a close alternative for those who can't easily afford the likes of morningStar, Fangpusun, and epEver. In fact it's closely in league with epEver + this my version even supports Lithium out of the box.

Thanks boss. lemme know when u plan to dispose it sir 😁😁😁

bassdow:
Don't know about ZN SOlar but have used JA solar on 1 occassion. Can't really say much other than so long it's on Fouani, mayBe they are good enough BUT then again, don't expect super rich results.

na fear of getting stuck with a few premium brands that you're left stranded when out of reach that made me often attempt brands I suspect might be good enough. My list of Premium (vary grades) of charge controllers just included SRNE. Not like morningStar or epEver, etc BUT much good enough.
I never still fit completely get alternatives to sonyXperia phones sha though select model of LG Huawei seems to be good enough.

Also, hopefully you're very much aware it's often popular brands that are easy to pirate abi FAKE abi CLONE

How's the srne mppt performance like so far

Obnoxious2001:
You can use it.

What you need to check majorly are:

1. Charging voltage float and buck (depending on which mode you choose gel,tub,SLA each has different voltage at the above mentioned parameters. So find out which option will keep you within the safe limit of 27.5-28.8v)

2. The charging current (averagely, it's usually 20A confirm if you have a toggle switch to select the charge current (select the lowest if possible)

3. Low battery cutoff voltage (most Indian inverter has LVD at 21vdc, so you will need a way to control the discharge)



If you can control this 3 parameters, you can use any Indian inverter with lithium batteries.

Not only Chinese inverters are lithium compatible (the only likely advantage you may get is that Chinese inverters will be able to push in more charging current)

For ur nos 2, we know Indian inverter are optimized for tubular batteries with their low charging current but why now choose the lowest charge current instead of the highest seeing it's lithium we talking about here?

joseph4sales:
Hello house, please i have a 2.5kva indian inverter system that has no settings for Lithium battery, does that mean i wont be able to use lithium batteries with the inverter?

Also, it doesnt have any manual settings to change or adjust the voltage since the preset buttons is only for tubular, gel, sealed lead acid batteries only

Half bread is better than none. Use ur felicity CC to charge the battery. Ur inverter can charge the battery via AC though it wud be slow, most bms wud stop the charging once its full (my experience using afripower with a Sako battery so confirm same wit urs if not u wud av to manually switch of charge when its full). Main issue though is ensuring u manually switch of the inverter once battery gets to its recommended minimum so u dont drain it completely.

bassdow:
WHY

Cos i asked nicely 😁😁

Pls I get first refusal right on it if u decide to sell sir 😁😁

bassdow:
Finally bought SRNE ML4860 mppt charge controller. Bought it used 60,000 naira + 10,000 naira (transportation).
Hopefully, it matches my taste else I would sell it.

As per the load being only 20amps, I can't use a charge controller without using that load port Ooo.

I built a couple of things that 70% of my loads don't use your regular inverter.

My Core i7, Core i5, and a couple of other PCs all run directly off 12-volts.
Even my 39-inch LED Tv-Monitor, and the 24-inches LCD monitor, all run directly from 12-volts.
Tv Antenna (the rotating type) runs off a USB port (5-volts). I just comot the transformer wey dey inside, attach USB cable to it and voila, e work.
Routers and Modems all run on 12-volts.

All my Fans are the regular DC fans I bought used from Arena Oshodi + a few I bought from Aboki Condemn which I fix and repurposed to permanently run off 12-volts.

Then I got a couple of high powered Desktop PCs I built; those need more than 12-volts but less than 20-volts due to the nature of work they do.

So you see, a lot of my appliances need direct 12-volts and to keep costs low, while supplying clean power devoid of noise, I use that port + should power run low (less likely but possible), it auto shuts down and wouldn't drain the battery bank enough to cause damage.

For all the charge controllers I got, I use all those ports, (including the USB ports for those that's got it); those that could cause an issue (due to high current draw), I built a circuit for them to ensure the power is clean enough. I try not to use inverters as much as possible. Na only chest freezers and occasionally pumping machine need inverter and those got their own separate installation

yvy1:
Gurus in the house,

I hail o.

Please how do you cool a solar system installed in an enclose space (i.e store) with no windows? That was the only place we saw fit to install without distorting the beauty of the interior design.

The set-up is 3 16kwh SRNE lithium batteries, 1 12kva SRNE inverter and charge controller .

Also, is this set-up noisy?

Install an inverter AC there

fuckboys:
130v -135v

Chief is it with load or at start up? What's the max u have seen. Use a felicity and i need about 150v

fuckboys:
I didn’t get the battery anymore bro, I ended up returning it the next day and collecting 420w panels with it. I ended up buying 4pcs of 420w Cworth panels.


I have been looking for a great battery deal for a long time, this is the best deal of the decade. 3.6kwh for 450k is crazy.

Pls whats the total VOC u get with the 4 panels?

Collione:
You may be right. To be honest I don't know so much. I have a 1kva transformer inverter that I'm currently using. It was connected so poorly but yet it's so rugged 5 years running. Maybe it's sentiment or fear. I'm just worried that if I use my pumping machine or air fryer the high frequency inverter won't handle it. I was considering Felicity hybrid high frequency but I'm not seeing good reviews as for growatt it looks sophisticated and I'm worried a lot of installers can't program it. Before I started this journey I planned to get felicity products only but now it seems to be the least reliable.

Felicity has a large share of the market and as such u wud expect slightly more complaints compared to other brands esp with poorly done installations. I'm using the 5kva ivem series and its serving well and I can speak same for others I used it for. Only ish is its slightly expensive than its peers but then 5yrs of warranty aint beans (warranty doesnt cover lightening damage though which I found out painfully)