₦airaland Forum

Justice629:
If batteries are Lead acid with %100 dod, you will have a battery vendor on speed dial and your solar charging is based on a perfect STC which can be misleading

My inverter has only beeped low battery less than 10 times since installation, and it was because I was dependent on AEDC charging and there was an extended no-utility power situation a couple of times.

Since I installed solar it has not even happened.

I have never gotten below 24.81%.

I realize that by adding additional loads (whole house lighting as opposed to just the seating room and electronics) as I transition from AEDC to near complete autonomy (AC and iron are not yet included in the current autonomy plan) my batteries could be discharged to between 24.36% and 24.50% overnight so I want to ensure that before noon the next day my batteries should float.

I am also doing this to take care of days with low sun harvest due to the rainy season.

I also want to take care of my refrigeration loads during the day without depleting my batteries which I am currently unable to do.

When I decided to set up a miserly 1.5kva inverter system, I could very well have afforded my then intended 8kw system, but I felt that other investments were more important. For example, I bought a car that was so cosmetically spotless that I cannot remember how many times other drivers at petrol stations complemented it and even offered to buy it from me.

Today I wanted to get a 3kva inverter system and I could very well afford the brand of my choice, but it does not support lithium batteries and does not support 48v.

Since I want to upgrade to 48v and want to do lithium, I decided the alternative upgrade route, more solar panels, more charger controllers, increased generation capacity but no increase in storage capacity.

The way things are going I can very well do the 48v and lithium battery by the end of the month, because I am just one step away from the expected funds for the major upgrade, but I am not willing to go back to the days when I was spending nearly 50,000.00 Naira on electricity units and the only way to prevent that with the threatened increase in electricity tariffs is what I have done.

The next upgrade will be brutal. I will max out solar panels, I will deploy redundant solar charge controllers, I will not just increase generation capacity, but I will also increase storage capacity, and even protective devices. It is the major upgrade that will guarantee complete autonomy to include heavy power hugs like ACs, cookers, electric ovens, washing machines, and what have you.

Then I would have upgraded my system to my preferred size at my leisure/pleasure but by doing this now I would have plugged a potential financial drain hole in the meantime.

Life is not just about what we want, it is also about planning the finances around all responsibilities and obligations, and for maximum return on investment so one don't have to look like a fool as an adult.

In any case by delaying the plan to go big, I have gathered a ton of wisdom thanks to this thread that ensures that my money will not just be spent, but it will be spent very well, and that I will not live to regret the capital outlay.

jiday4:
Please I need replace redmi note 8 volume and power button in Lagos, any recommendations? Thanks

my email address is fegeitok at(@) yandex dot com

You can reach me on that

Following in the footsteps of my brother who did some serious overpanelling.

I am increasing the capacity of my panels to 2500 watts and installing a second MPPT solar charge controller for the additional panels I would be purchasing. This is the idea or the thinking:

As a general rule of thumb, you will need solar panels with a capacity of at least 600 watts to fully charge two 12v 200Ah batteries connected in series in 5 hours of sunlight. This is assuming that you are using efficient solar panels with a charging rate of 15%.

If you want to charge the batteries faster, you will need more solar panels. For example, if you want to charge the batteries in 3 hours, you will need solar panels with a capacity of at least 1200 watts.

Two 12v 200ah batteries connected in series have a total capacity of 4800 watt-hours (Wh). If you have 2500 watts of solar panels, the batteries will charge in about 2 hours.

Here is the calculation:

Total capacity of batteries = 4800 Wh
Power of solar panels = 2500 watts
Charging time = Total capacity / Power of solar panels = 4800 Wh / 2500 watts = 1.92 hours = 2 hours

However, it is important to note that this is just a theoretical calculation. The actual charging time may be longer or shorter depending on the amount of sunlight you receive, the efficiency of your solar panels, and the charging rate you use.

For example, if you receive 5 hours of sunlight per day with an efficiency of 15%, the batteries will charge in about 2 hours. However, if you only receive 3 hours of sunlight per day, the batteries will charge in about 4 hours.

This is a minor upgrade to my existing system of just solar panels and a new charge controller, no new batteries still using my AGM batteries. (545watts Jinko x 3)

The major planned upgrade is to increase my PV size to 10 kilowatts and my batteries to lithium of at least 10 kilowatts as well.

Once I complete this project. I will now convert AEDC into a backup plan.

In another post, I will share how the rise in my electricity bills led me to go solar.

shortgun:
Another square peg in a round hole

What exactly is a police officer doing in the office of the national security adviser?
What is his combatant experience?
What is his war experience?


How will army Generals , Navy Rear- admirals and air force Air vice marshals honour a meeting summoned by a police officer?

Modified
Ribadu lacks the knowledge, training, education & experience in domestic, foreign, & military policies related to national security.

Most of the directors and other senior staff of the NSA are military men, will ribadu dismiss them? or place them under his command as a civilian?
Ribadu is also politician who took part in the APC primaries in the last election, he still have his political ambitions intact and remains a politician....a card carrying member of the APC.



Fingers crossed

National Security is all about law enforcement not always necessarily a military matter.

In the United States lawyers have also been known to hold that office.

Ribadu has a legal background and a law enforcement background.

Nigeria's long years of military rule has made everything to be militarized.

You do not need to be an ex-soldier to be a successful NSA.

In the Nigerian experience do not ex-military men also have political ambitions?

Yes, military experience can be a valuable asset in this role, but it is not the only experience needed to make a success of the role!

In the United States there have been several National Security Advisors who have had some experience with law enforcement. For example, Robert C. O'Brien, who served as National Security Advisor from 2019 to 2021, was a lawyer who specialized in national security law. He also served as a federal prosecutor in the Southern District of Florida, where he prosecuted cases involving drug trafficking, money laundering, and terrorism.

Another example is Stephen Hadley, who served as National Security Advisor from 2005 to 2009. Hadley was a lawyer who specialized in national security law. He also served as the legal advisor to the National Security Council during the George H. W. Bush administration.

These are just two examples of National Security Advisors who have had some experience with law enforcement. However, it is important to note that neither of these individuals had a career in law enforcement. They were lawyers who specialized in national security law, and they had some experience working with law enforcement agencies.

Ribadu has both a career in law enforcement and understands how to use the law to achieve national security objectives.

In Nigeria, the military approach to things has resulted several times in ignoring the law and using brute force, and as we have seen it does not always work.

Wish him the best and let us try something different this time around!

Modified: See images attached.

Which of the qualities highlighted in the two pictures attached does Ribadu not have but that your preferred retired army generals have?

As seen on WhatsApp

If you are outside Lagos and want to buy solar panels, please verify that an authorized reseller in your location does not have it in stock before ordering outside of your station and paying for logistics.

I did not do this the first time I bought my Jinko solar panels and 1. I suffered some delays and 2. I spent a tidy sum on logistics

You might discover that you could buy it at the same price in your station as it is sold in Lagos but you would have saved yourself the cost of logistics.

I just did as I intend to increase the number of panels I have installed in response to proposed electricity tarriff hike and found out it I could buy at Lagos prices in Abuja and not have to pay for transportation and wait for them to be delivered.

And you know anything can happen along the way and you would be faced with dealing with that.

Of course if the price is a steal even after accounting for logistics and the product is legit then by all means you can buy from Lagos

mctfopt:
I have two growatt connected in parallel. The panels are shared between the two. I know I'm almost maxing out the max PV of 450v, but the wattage is still 4kw for each when it can do up to 6kw. I'm thinking of adding one more and running it as a three phase system and upgrading the battery.

I appreciate your response.

mctfopt:
I gave out my lead acid batteries. Bought EVE from China when there was no vendor, not that I know of, selling it here. Actually bought 32 nos of 3.2v 280AH EVE cells. Decided to use 16 and kept 16. Later sold the 16, should've kept it. Lol.

I like to oversize my solar panels so that I don't use batteries during the day. I use growatt.

The way things are going in Nigeria if you decide to buy something.

Just buy it and forget.

Otherwise you will live to regret.

Thanks for sharing your experience.

So all these panels are connected to one MPPT SCC?

GloriousGbola:
Chief spend this money ooooo. Don't be doing Ebenezer scrooge

There is a reason why I said the first time I ever got a smart TV.

I bought 8 brand new smart TVs last year from Mitosshoppers.

Does not hurt to look for bargains though. And some on this thread might be at the stage where they would rather buy good but used and not new.

GloriousGbola:
there is an amazon tv stick and a roku tv stick. also a redmi mi tv. if you really really want to spend, then the nvidia shield

there are a lot of chinese android tv boxes, but i personally will not recommend them. they have a lot in common with all those tecno phones. i bought one a few years ago was was completely underwhelmed by it

polystar tv na chinko tv. with the QA issues. if you live alone, you may be fine. but if you have small pikin, that tv will spoil fast. i have an lg and it survived my pikins attempts to fk with it when he was three years old. my guy got a polystar some years back, his kid threw something on it, and instant line and crack

if cash is an issue, you can grit your teeth and go for a hisesne [buy from CONFIRMED fouani] or follow gaz.zuz on his clearance thread and wait for him to flog an LG tv.

also as per movies most tvs already have A usb port . though if your tv is not smart, it will not be able to play x265 /hevc encoded videos
you can literally just connect your laptop or pc to the tv hdmi port and watch your movie or stream your match like that

different ways to skin a cat.

First time I bought a Smart TV I was worried about the high price tags and the fact that TVs made for Africa/Nigerian market tend to be low quality so I got a used unit that was as good as new from Graceglory.

The guy is good.

He sells high quality stuff

Highly recommend him for those who may not want to splurge and buy brand new.

His and brand new are virtually indistinguisable.

aviona:
You've just hit the nail on the head @ Fegeitok. With a reasonable PV oversizing you are covered, so long as you remain under your charger's max Voc.
Also, a larger battery bank helps make up for bad weather. Some people even maintain two separate arrays and banks, and just switch between them at different times of the day.
Decently oversized PV arrays alongside a good MPPT charger, require minimal daylight (not even 🌞 sunlight), to go from bulk to floating, even with some loads on a rainy day.
In summary, your PV and battery capacities can keep you "dry" even on a rainy day.

Honestly, I haven't used a generator for years.

Smiles.

I have already started investigating conversion of gasoline car to run on electric motor.

Seems I need to go to school again to play safe around those high voltages

durodee:
Good morning house, just want some advice here on Smart TVs.
1) Is there a way I can make my regular TV smart? I.e is there a box or stick readily available that I can attach?
2) Anybody with experience with Polystar 65inch smart TV. Is it worth the 300k price? Just to watch films and occasional football matches.

Many thanks for your input!

Sorry that I am late to the party.

But this device maybe all that you need.

It just showed up in my newsfeed over the weekend

It has an independent remote control. It can be used to do much more like see te pictures

It will give you Netflix, I think someone suggested your setup from Jumia can't

The days of N1000 for 10kWH are here

But it may be higher for some of us.

I think I see over 20 hours of light daily

isangjohnson:
What type do you have?
I believe Era could do same or very closed.

Jinko

When they say buy better solar panel dem no de joke oooo!

For several minutes my 2 No. 475 watts solar panels generated 1.0 Kilowatts of power instantaneous not cumulative

it is still doing 1.0kw as we speak

Modified:

It has even hit 1.1kW

isangjohnson:
I've been buying 1k for 13kwh since.
Please, where do you buy 1k for 16kwh?

Same here.

But the tariff depends on the area.

Some pay less some pay more

toyeoye:
Oh boy!!!!

Currently partially dependent on public power.

But this news means that I must hasten my plans to upgrade my system to be fully autonomous in the coming days.

it is about to go down part 2

Still delaying that investment in solar? inverter? batteries?

it is about to go down part 1

So this is the latest story that lead to the tank stand discussion.

Please note the accusation of gross negligence

egunmogaji, does this help you answer your question a little while ago

44chux:
I think you are confusing steel water tank stands with steel tanks.

I know they are different.

I know the tank housing in Nigeria is built with metal, don't know the type of metal, I assume it is steel

I know the tanks in Nigeria are generally plastic

I was assuming that since the tank housing is metal, the reason why steel tanks fail can be applied to the water tank stand failures in Nigeria

Despite all attempts I could not single out the metal that supports the tank when conducting the search for reasons for failure, this was the closest I could get

GloriousGbola:
The other issue is corner cutting. If the tank stand is built with schedule 40 pipe, which has a thickness of 6mm - it will last much longer. But some people with build with pipe that is 3mm thick. That pipe will invariably have issues within two years.

We have the same issue in the oil and gas industry. You see stations with tanks that have 6mm shell looking pristine after 20 years. Then you see the Nigerian fabricated tanks with 4mm or 3mm shell which start leaking in two - three years.

Unfortunately client has no way of knowing what the vendor is doing,client may have paid for a standard tank stand but some vendors gonna vendor.

Let Nigeria not happen to us!

Very enlightening

GloriousGbola:
A few years ago lasg went after telecoms masts for this reason. Your standard telecoms mast is angle.iron members. But people were fabricating masts with hollow pipe and rods as trusses. Basically another round of bastardization of a design that is then copied enmass. The hollow pipe is rarely coated within and so will rust from inside, then fail spectacularly during heavy winds. Your thick angle iron members are painted all over and have no area where water can collect and condense. This is the same design for power transmission towers. This can probably be adopted for over head tanks, but it will cost more.

It is also possible that if your overhead tank has hollow pipes and you actually design with proper water proofing/blocking , there will be no water ingress into the pipes. However this will require thoroughness and possibly a higher cost the client is not prepared to pay.

Finally the secret is out.

Why tank stands in Nigeria tend to fail.

From the little I have seen the majority of water tank stands in Nigeria are built this way!

Mine is. Everyone in my neighborhood is built this way.

My only saving grace is that mine is short! So it cannot fail spectacularly. I do have pressure issues though and I want to solve those with an inline pressure pump.

Thanks for sharing your knowledge

44chux:
There is this culture of maintenance that we generally don't like.

All steel structures are meant to be inspected and certified periodically based on use (criticality) and environment.
Lagos is surrounded by salt water, resulting in I creased rate of corrosion. All heavy duty steel structures should be inspected bi-anually, followed by painting or any other corrosion mitigation strategy

Alot of these failures are corrosion induced while very few are foundation related

Soon after that post as I always do, I decided to find out why do storage tanks fail.

The results I found were more attuned towards the oil industry but the lessons can be applicable to water tanks.

Yes you are right. Corrosion was the first on the list.

I am not sure those who build tanks as a general rule teach the owners of those tanks that fighting corrosion is the responsibility of the tank stand owner and not the tank stand builder.

And not being aware that one is supposed to fight corrosion is not an acceptable excuse before the law, it is rather evidence of negligence on the part of the tank stand owner. He ought to know that a tank stand is dangerous thing and need to be managed.

So the fault of the failure of tank stands in Nigeria is a fault of the owner of the tank stand in cases of corrosion and poor maintenance and maybe the fault of the builder in cases of improper construction.

There are other reasons which are included in the screenshot.

This is one reason why I try to educate myself on anything I engage a contractor on. Lest I get into trouble because I did not know what I ought to have known. This is another reason to engage engineers that don't have a bossy attitude and that don't just want money to change hands but can discuss implications with those giving them jobs.

EgunMogaji2:
Question of the ForEx changes.

Are yah all keeping your dollar or changing to Naira?

Thanks.

Keeping for now.

I agree with everything r.m.x said

EgunMogaji2:
I’ve scheduled my welder to come for an inspection of my tank stand.

Everyone that has a tank stand and everyone who lives close to one needs to be aware that this is a potential consequence of owing one or being close to one and should take action to be sure they are not living close to a ticking time bomb

I recall posting how it destroyed a school next door and killed some unfortunate kids in the south east of Nigeria

Everyone building one or hiring one should also be aware of the legal consequences if something you put up results in someone's death

it is not about how cheap you can build it, it is about how well you can build it

So don't hire just about anyone to do it

twinskenny:
Done something like this years back.. with the help me of a converter

Oh great someone who understands my predicament.

Did you buy the converter locally or did it have to be imported?

Since we are talking TVs.

I have a modern smart TV without analog audio outputs just digital audio outputs but I have a vintage amplifier.

I want to pump the audio from the TV into the amplifier because I prefer the audio that comes from the amplifier to that coming from the TV.

The issue is that to do that I need a Digital Audio Converter (DAC) to act as a go-between my TV and my amplifier.

If anyone else has this kind of setup which DAC are you using?

Did you get it locally or did you import it?

Trying to determine what works and why before biting the bullet

Your thoughts?

It's on the home page today

brightk:
How do you over provision? Apart from increasing battery backup days, what else

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h4iOs2taeZM

The over provisioning or oversizing begins with solar panels ( in technical speak PVs which is short for photo voltaic cells)

This video should help

toyeoye:
This is how I try
1. Reduce Energy Usage
2. Performance Monitoring
3. Use gen as backup to charge batteries as last resort

In addition to the above, over privisioning helps (in plain english more solar panels than your actual consumption, a larger array will generate more than a smaller array in difficult weather) and efficient equipment (MPPT instead of PWM)