GeorgeD1: all, its been more than a year now since I started using my solar water heater. in the next couple of days I will be doing a review of the journey so far. a few surprises and a lot of flaks too. it has been anything but a dull experience.
durumibaka: pls can someone help me, i want to knw weither Chinese made modifier sine wave inverter of 2000watts can power a small size refrigerator of 100watts, LED TV of 60watts, satellite receiver of 25watts, radio of 120watts.
Why modified inverter don't you love ur freezer- fridge?
Get the picture of the inverter and possibly product details.
I only hope it is not those toy car type inverters ;
chris81964: Thank you. They are about 3 feet long. 36 inches. Weigh about 55lbs each. Think about it though. That is 62.5 AH at 48V in batteries. You can us 56 AH of it. Very Impressive. I hope all is well with you.
Auto setting (in Advance Menu but select Mode 0) for Fangpusun flexmax 60 or 80 has great ability in sweeping through your PVs in seconds once it detects a change in PV conditions and does continous tracking without restarting through out the day.
What am not sure it does is limiting excess PV current above rated Amps like TriStar or simply give off the smoke.
I also discovered that flexmax hates you mixing PVs either by type or size else it determines, calculates MPP which to you may not be true representation of your arrays.
sinistrian: Compare the two graphs below. The frequency of the troughs show how often the sweep is done, while the the depth/width of the troughs in the graph indicate how far it fell and how long it took to get back to Vmp.
The first one is the fangpusun with intermittent clouds passing over. Whenever it's overcast, the controller drops output and then starts hunting for the max power point. There is an annoying one around 2pm where it took a long time to get its wits together.
The second graph is for the tristar (low power output in the morning cos we were not home and all appliances were off). The troughs are not as deep/wide and yet they are more frequent, indicating that it detects the Vmp quickly after the clouds pass. This graph is not a great comparison as it wasn't too sunny today. But this result looks promising.
Am surprised the glorified Canadian solar panels are assembled in China also and may be under similar conditions as 2nd tier ones. That really makes me question their huge price tags or am I missing something?
Bear in mind these two parameters are at 25°C STC temperatures and actual voltage will derate based on a known temperature coefficient for our ambient weather here in Lagos around 28°C to 35°C
Regardless, these are both within the tolerance for the MorningStar.
There is a derating algorithm designed into the MorningStar where if the VmP gets into the 125v range it throws a fault code 'High Array Voltage Current Limiting' and throttles back on things to keep everything within tolerance.
See below nameplate of the Canadian Solar 330w as well as my max array voltage over several days.
pranil: Not only Axpert but any inverter which is paralleled requires the same battery bank ( exception is grid-tie inverters running directly from panels) The same is true if you need multiphase setup The reason being the battery and AC side is not galvanically isolated and for paralleling the reference -ve ( or +ve) should be same
for axpert you need a parallel kit and have to replace the card inside both inverters.also both have to be connected with datalinks and current sharing cable ( see the ugly cable between two of my inverters ) also, cables from the battery and input-output AC should be identical and preferably similar in distance to allow perfect load sharing
Superb installation.
This will make disco and generator dealers go green with hatred
DMerciful: In as much as I hate generators, a small gen should always be available even if not used to act as backup for situations like this. The cost of running a small gen few days in a year far outweighs the cost of having enough batteries to covers for many days.
CANADIAN 340w Mono panels 340w. N Solar world 325w mono panels. Made in Germany ..N84,000 (9 units in bulk) Must Powerstar inverters (VIL series) 1000w 12v. N85,000 1500w 12v. N95,000 2000w 12v N110,000 3000w 24v. N150,000 4000w 48v. N220,000 5000w 48v. N250,000 6000w 48v. N280,000 10000w 48v. N700,000 10000w 48v HYBRID. N800,000 EP ever 40a 12-24v mppt with MT50 ...N EP Solar (i-tracer) 60amps mppt..... ....... N127,000 Pro solar roof mount set .....N34,000 DC voltage led meter .........N4,000 Prag products; 10-150kva (45-270vac input) servo or relay stabilizers Discounts on all our Prag product online prices DC breakers 10-63a ....N3-4k DC breakers 63a double pole....... N7k USA trojan battery 12v 200a (J200RE) -N130,000 "quantity above 1" USA trojan battery 12v 205a (AGM) -N175,000
If you are for AGM SMF batteries : -kung Long battery 12v 200a N115,000 -Mercury 12v 200a N98,000 Note: USA trojan sealed agm 6v 315a (L16) batteries is now in stock ....... N150,000 Mouth watering discounts on; -Solarshop Nig products -Prag products -Back2back distribution partners -Luminous products -Voltron inverters etc
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Geniue DIY Homestead solar stuff. More juice to ba3s.
Don't worry, I have already filled up a glass with wine & rised in ur honour
bigrovar: Just finally moved to my own modest house. Decided to finally take a chill pill on the race for the higher wattage and settle for efficiency on the consumption side. This allowed me to set aside some funds for putting a roof over my head all glory be to God. My 1.84kw panel is all the electricity I need for now. I will connect to the grid once am done with some finishing touches to the house.. I generate enough to provide me 24 hours electricity that meets every basic needs refrigeration, laundry, light, TV, kitchen stuff.
The house runs on LED spot lights the highest being the single 12w kitchen lights. Over night amps draw before sun rise is 75AH from a 24v 200ah battery. I had time regig my setup.. Power drill was a life saver.
mank1234: In the tradition of the house, I'm sharing my very first installation.
This is my first dealing (3 weeks ago) with kiekie1 and he didn't disappoint. Paid for items on Saturday and by Monday it was delivered to Akwa Ibom. Was initially skeptical about the brand but with his assurance, I must say the brand - Foresolar is beyond expectation.
325W foresolar * 2 for a total of 650W wired in series. 60A tristar MPPT controller with no meter 60A and 32A circuit breaker - wired such that if the battery is disconnected the solar is disconnected as well through the 60A breaker. The 32A breaker is solely for solar. Chinese meter is for monitoring power into or out of the battery. The monitoring for the controller will be by Ethernet. The router is yet to arrived.
The attached images were taken at 4:20pm today. The total current drawn by inverter as fridge, tv and fan are on is 11.2A. So in essence the current from controller is 14.9A. The setup still manage to pump 1A to 7A during the period it is shaded due to the panel location.
21/01/18 Successfully mounted my PV array with 4 x 250wp, 3kw cc 04/02/18 I increased my Solar array to 6nos with the addition of 2 x 325wp PVs 09/02/18 Replaced my 4 x 200AH very old batteries with 2 x 200AH 09/03/18 One full month, I have not used my generator. i only support the system with PHCN. 10/03/18 For the first time we did not have PHCN for a full 24hours and I have depended on Solar all through the day and night with TVs and fans running on auto cruise.
The attached picture is my readings around midday!
Congrats to all of us. PS: I have contributed my little quota in minimizing greenhouse gas GHG emissions and reducing the impact of global warming to preserve the planet for your kids, my kids and our grand kids to have a world to live in...
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You have gained from your steadfastness being on the thread. It beautiful to have you report back your experience.
It is sad to know many enjoy reading without making few contributions or success stories.
enjoy your investment with chilled bottle of drinks powered by solar.
NoMoreTrolling: you guys should keep posting your harvests once in a while na!!
not bragging things, just to serve as encouragement for new comers and experienced guys as well.
you wont post now that it's sunny, but when june comes now with one week rain, you will be complaining
I remember saying " Naa Me Be Dis?" The first time my diy setup hit 1kw. I had the urge to grow it as much I can through out the terrible recession time. (It was only the marketers that constantly had smiles on their faces - after all - what you buy is what you sell, and prices stayed up there except for JUO).
For those starting, do not be ashamed/afraid to post ur harvest, it is an achievement which you would have paid discos to use. The thread is a place to share successes , troubleshooting, new aspirations etc. In response to ur request, the pix is my harvest as at 6.32pm. apart from ironing clothes once or twice a week, my harvest has been 6-8kw daily with day time requirement of 680w .
earthrealm: so who knows where i can get this dual panel connectors...or what do you guys use to parallel your series d panels. 2ndly am also looking for mc 4 connectors.
Ask Frankie I bought some from him recently. Or solar Depot as suggested by big oga himself.
NiyiOmoIyunade: Did I read the picture right? Slightly over 4 hours of 'absorption charge'? Odiqua risky o bros! That is a rather long period to stay in absorb. Are your batteries FLA/Flooded
Think positive grid corrossion
DIY stuff not a rule
I currently have SLA batteries and GEL batteries joined as one bank (both lead acid anyway). I set my absorption at 14v and floating to 13.6v. I can't equalize gel batteries @ 30v so I had to extend my absorption to 4hrs which works fine after testing 2hrs.
My overnight load is 140-200w and still have 65-70% in my batteries by morning. I run 24hrs TVs, DStv+strong+startimes nite or day. Freezer+fridge off 4pm to 9am. Finally, I get about 5-6hrs of grid a day which is irrelevant if it comes during the day.
Yes Sir, Quality is good & nice for those who can afford it.
Even though PV are rated 10-40yrs, My narrow reasoning is such that I prefer to use sunshine panels now and probably for 6 to 7 yrs from which new template in technology would have be out in RE where the pleasure of current expensive PV Would have been overwhelmed.
Take a look at Trojan 6v industrial batteries of few yrs back and now lithium solutions.
Ordinary sunshine, haba ! At least it is giving you juice. Juice is juice irrespective of PV.
To me, it has matched it's expectations despite being considered a poor quality product.
In fact am beginning to think any of the dealers on the forum should do a test under same condition like laying 10 different PV brands of same wattage and test under mid-day sun & bring to us the diy results.
kiekie1: Happy Sunday forumites .. Its been all dusty in my hood ..Ground mount has its advantages as you can easily wash off dirts from the surface of your panels. I had to wash my pv array"300w×8" few days ago , the yield has seriously improved to daily 55-59a as usual esp when we run a 1hp split AC at night to 50% DOD
Just as oga idsolar suggest to me on phone in December, I climb my low roof bi-weekly to clean my PV and I have never been disappointed.
Am beginning to feel my neighbors think Solar get wahala joor even though I have dedicated an extension bracket for their phone charging.
Braaad: Please, enough of this name calling..... Let's move this thread forward. We have a lot of great minds here. Nobody should drag us to the mud. Let's do what needs be done and settle any grievances we might have.
I'm currently designing a 10kva inverter for a client.
I think you all should look at it. I'll post more details about it later.
Everyone is free to commend or criticize.
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God bless the work thy hands. It's good to have geniue local content in RE. Am proud of you already.
By the way, what will be the standby/idle consumption of this 8kw, I assume it will be transformer based inverter.
finally, I hope it will be affordable. I recall my early attempt to commmission a engineer in a solar related federal agency to build 150w panel for me. I was billed N900/watt, I had to cancel my order, and got indian Tata panel @70k for same wattage. Nowadays panels are cheaper than phones.
viperVIP: Exactly my reason for being upset. it will just occupy unnecessary space and affect my next upgrade in case I choose to. I already have 180w and I decided 200w will be manageable. then I have this Billboard with a conviction that it will do magic.
PAGE 14 makes me bleed!
JUO who can afford to send 305w can easily send 200w (despite being paid in piecemeal) though he realized that late and wanted his panel back.
Anyway Sha! JUO ur my man any day. The panel issue like he said - is over.
Battery issues are sensitive and Warranty is warranty (even though ur sharing cost) if you still want your pride pls act fast and Iearn from this. After all we never stop learning.
makavele: You all should shut up and stop speaking for JUO . . Since when did he appoint a mouthpiece in here ? Or are you his lawyers ?
I also patronize James but via the online marketplace; where if any issues arise, i can return for refund (or replacement). It's been good so far;but I will not speak for him in a sensitive issue as this.
Let James speak for himself; let him come to the thread and type something or contact the plaintiff and resolve it.
Like I always say, too much ass-lickers on this thread.
If I was in a room and someone yelled "Hey Bitches!" I would never turn around because I just don't fit the description
DMerciful: In as much as there was guarantee which should be honoured, kindly check if the inverter is charging correctly cos it did last initially 9hours. I am sure Juo will resolve this in a way that is fair and ensure the integrity of this forum is maintained.
viperVIP: if JUO thinks time will heal this, I bet not because I am very sure he's seeing all this.
Painful as it is, am sure James is working out something for you. Maybe he has his funds tied up in importation or hanging outside, give him time. He is not that kind of a beast to leave you dry! At least the little I know of him.
By the way, take oga dmerciful point seriously. Your are an old facing here, check the inverter setting for battery type. Your ruined ba3 discription matches gel. And gel don't take nonsense esle your client may ruined another set of new batteries wether from JUO or not.