₦airaland Forum

dollarnaira:
I feel like calling u a name but it is already obvious...wat sort of person are u?

"Lying about?
"No b by force to reply"....
Chai see corporate insult o.

No worder some ppu dont reply to some questions posted here. Your type make others get unduly neglected.

No wahala o.
U try.

Well, I will pass... thanks

there's really no need for name-calling here, i think.
you have to remember that we are all here for one purpose - energy freedom (or so i think)
what myself, samnaija and others are trying to tell up and coming solar enthusiasts is that you know what?
before lithium came onboard, there was lead acid. you don't have to be straight-jacketed into one type of battery chemistry.
you have options.
for all the draw backs of lead acid, namely:
1) it occupies space - not everyone is space constrained (many aspiring renewables enthusiasts might be living in their own
houses, so space is not an issue for them)
2) it is heavier and not easy to carry - again that may not be a deal breaker for many as long as they don't live a nomadic life.
battery banks are not meant to be moved about once they're installed. even the usual battery rotation is done every 12 or 24
months in some instances.
3) the energy density is lesser than lithium - while this may be true, except you plan to use your battery bank to run an
electric vehicle which has a high current draw, this shouldn't be a problem. if your sole aim is to run your house loads, i doubt
there's any domestic appliance that would require such high current draw which your lead acid cannot cope with.
4) dod of 50 (for lead acid) as against 80 or 90 percent (for lithium) - this also is not a challenge for many as proper battery
bank sizing easily takes care of this.
5) it has shorter life span compared to lithium - while this may be true, we have had lead acid banks lasting way beyond their
projected end of service life with proper system sizing and good maintenance practice. my 2v single cell batteries are projected
to last 15yrs by the oem. even if i'm able to get just 10yrs out of them at the end of the day, it would be a major step forward
for lead.

besides all the above, what we would like the newcomers to understand is that despite the much acclaimed drop in price of
lithium compared to lead acid, on a price per watt basis, lead acid is still a cheaper option.
so, if a person who is contemplating going solar is reading all this and all he is seeing is lithium, lithium and he goes to check
the cost of buying a lithium pack, and then throws in the cost of purchasing an appropriate sized bms with all other bells and
whistles, he gets discouraged and walks away thinking, "you know what, solar is too expensive".

over ten years ago, when we started this thread, we were all grateful for the opportunity to learn by building our systems
from scratch using simple, tried and tested methods. they were cheaper but they got the job done. we want newbies to be
given such opportunities too. they don't have to be teleguided into a particular method or battery chemistry. let them try for
themselves and see what works and what does not. that's the beauty of diy and that is overriding aim of this thread.

if we all are objective in our submissions, there would be no need for name calling. and, if we all are able to achieve our
ultimate goal of energy freedom, it would be a win-win for us all.

break the myth! you know you can!!

adrusa:
At this time, lithium battery will still be at about 53V at least.

One thing people don't fully appreciate in lithium chemistry is the improved charging efficiency. Lithium charging efficiency can be as high as 95% or more compared to about 80/85% for lead acid. So, you waste less solar power to charge your lithium batteries and on poor solar days you fill your battery more quickly.

Lithium is just superior to lead acid in every way, people saying otherwise are just being purely dishonest or poorly informed.

my brother,
as you know already resting voltage differs for various battery chemistries: nimh, nicad, lifepo4, lito, etc
the 50.8v for my lead acid battery bank doesn't drop much during the night even under very heavy use, that is why battery
bank sizing matters a lot.
i doubt if mtn, glo, and all other telecoms mast operators including banks will be bothered whether their battery banks
rests at 53v or 56v at sun down provided the batteries are delivering as expected with minimal or no supervision.
we can go on and on about which battery chemistry is superior to the other (on paper) but the bottom line for them
and for me too is value for money spent.

next day instantaneous power captured after noon.

i'm glad battery temperature remained cool at 31 degrees
even with 166a being pumped into its belly

seems august break is around the corner cox the sun is spitting out more juice than ever before.
end of day harvest: 45.50kwh

mctfopt:
Magnum = Premium. Never seen it fail

I can only imagine the cost in naira

tanx bro.
that's the price we have to pay just to have light in our houses.

ojeysky:
Till tomorrow if someone show me those 2v 2kah lead acid batteries, I will tell him what they are and why he should avoid them like plague but use lithium instead. Ofcourse he/she still has a personal decision to make.....! However what is annoying is for you to conclude that the action of mine is marketing for some personal gains! It's belittling and embarrassing!

bros, you can choose to avoid them 'like the plague' but try give objective answers to upcoming enthusiasts.
you have a market to sell, no one is saying you shouldn't market what you have but objectivity is the watchword here.
you really don't have to be embarrassed if none of what is posted about marketers here refers to you.

FEGEITOK:
Tell me more about your new baby.

Why this brand?

What are its specs?

lolz. the new baby is actually a magnum ms4348pe inverter. it's the third installation
i'm carrying out since going solar. i needed a back up to my already existing inverter and this
came just in time. sege in benin made this happen. i contacted the regular sources while
searching but to no avail. i guess most vendors no longer stock them because of what's going
on with the economy.

taking it's pride of place.
it couldn't have come at a better time.

...in other news, i had to perform due diligence on this new baby over the past weekend.
thanks to my brother sege in benin for making this possible. this third installment in magnum
is now live and firing beautifully (still under observation).

ojeysky:
There we go again, yes as one of those in that category, I have a few lifepo4 cells for sale, it's only ignorance that can make anyone to believe I ranked lifepo4 cells better than lead acid just for marketing purpose.

again, my brother i think it bears repeating here that no one is saying lead acid is better than lithium.
op saw some 2v batteries and asked an innocent question (which really only needed a simple answer).
but, what did he get in return? instead of a simple answer, peeps jumped out calling 2v single
cells 'obsolete' and making all manner of suggestions as to how lithium has now overtaken lead acid.
a renewables newbie reading all that might be misled, so i was only trying to put the records straight.
nothing more than that.

i decided to use pure copper belts to connect mine in series instead of the thick copper wires that is common
in most telecoms and bank installations.

FEGEITOK:
At almost all exposed ATMs I have seen these batteries, what kind of batteries are they?

In at least one instance, I have seen an installation not for ATM but for an office but with some 200 of these connected together.

these are single cell 2v batteries common with bank ups power rooms and telecoms mast installation.
i have the 2v 2000ah sonnenschein brand installed way back early 2020. it was a deal too good to resist as i got
them at a massive discount as part of 'project leftovers' and looking back, it's turning out to be one of my best
investments so far. unlike lithium, it's an 'install and forget' kind of set up. i don't have to worry about top balancing,
bottom balancing, bms, voltage run-away, etc. the battery bank just keeps delivering with little or no supervision.
and, i guess that's partly the reason why you see them being installed in those locations you mentioned.
you can choose to believe peeps like us who're quietly enjoying their installations without stress or believe those
so heavily invested in lithium that they would jump at every opportunity to discourage the use of lead acid.
obviously, such folks have an agenda. either they have stock they want to offload on you or they have friends who
are vendors they want to help in selling their wares. the choice is yours.
besides, if these batteries are as 'obsolete' as they want you to believe, why are banks, telecoms coys, major hotels
and multinational oil firms still holding on to them as if their life depends on them? need i say more?

BRIGHTSOLAR:
Try Stanbic IBTC card is cap @ $50

tanx bro. appreciate

earthrealm:
Gt bank is now 20usd limit as from today

chai, nah wao , derisgod oooh! no doubt all these banks dey one meeting.
anything that happens in one of them just be certain it's a matter of time
before others replicate it

ojeysky:
My GTB card worked on a 21usd purchase on AliExpress so I guess it's increased from 20usd

ok bro. tanx.
let's wait for more responses

guys,
pls who has used naira mastercard of either uba or gtb to make any online payment as recently as last 1 or 2months?
can you spend up to $100? my first bank and zenith cards are capped at $20 max down from $100.
this is as good as saying "don't use our cards to make any online payments". lolz.

earthrealm:
Lolz, sentiments aside, pls disprove scientifically all that i typed there, are the lies or truths?.

Now back to the posters question, it really has no answer, if you use the battery outside the limits i stated.

A leadacid battery can be dead in 8months to 1 yr, if owner goes against some of the rules i posted...same battery can do 5yrs..if owner obeys all the rules.....

I believe in showing people, life and death...so they can make informed choices

If someone comes to ask you, if a motorcycle can take him to London from Lagos...,instead of taking a 6hr flight...what would you answer him?.......i guess you would tell him Yes, end of story.....

Well, the way am wired, i would educate him on the pros and cons of his plans.....so he can arrive at a decision by himself

We all know why your leadacid bank lasted 8yrs+....you have a big warchest, wch enables you to consciously or subconsciously keep to all the rules i posted.
The average user doesnt hv the resources to copy your style.other than telling people tour leadacid bank lasted 8yrs, have you cared to inform people, the secret to your batterys longevity?...which is what i exactly xrayed in my earlier post

Lastly, if u are truthful n engage installers or users of leadacid battery, the usual denominator is premature battery failure, usually under 2urs..or 3yrs max

bros,
again, objectivity is the key word here. i'm glad you admit you veered off in your attempt to highlight the advantages of lithium
over lead acid. curiously though, lithium has been known to suffer early death in not a few instances if users don't follow the
basics too. so, whatever battery chemistry you are deploying, you cannot expect to get any useful mileage if you don't follow
the basic rules that apply.

earthrealm:
Dont drain ur leadacid battery below 50% , dont leave it always partially discharged, it likes being charged full daily + dont load or charge it above 15 %, ie not more than 30amps or above 300 watts load for a single 12 volts 200 ah battery.then a good leadacid can give you 800 cycles..

Lithium battery doesnt care for any of the rules above and has 4000 cycles, before loosing 20 percent capacity.

From the above, u can see why leadacid will always disappoint, as its tough to give it what it likes

bros,
the op asked for the average lifespan of an agm battery but all you did was embark on a scaremongering litany of the
downsides of lead acid while hyping the virtues of lithium. i'm not sure that's a balanced way to advice anybody.
and for the records, lead-acid will not always disappoint provided you get the basics right.
some of us used our agm batts for over 8yrs before disposing them without issues.
please let's try and be objective when giving advice to these up and coming renewables enthusiasts so as not to
create the wrong impression.

kiekie1:
Likewise UBA

tanx for the info bro.
i guess it's really time to explore other banking options.

Jefferyzz:
I guess most people don't no that GTB card dey do 200. I don make purchases of $100 with my card this month. At times it won't work. Give it few days n try again. Infant try it now.

heya, this is music to my ears. i'm porting to gtb next week!
i put so many purchases on hold the moment first bank and zenith
crashed their monthly limit to $20

FEGEITOK:
What is the average lifespan of the AGM variety? Can it give up to 5 years? If one goes for a quality brand?

i used my former 260ah zenith agm batteries for 8yrs before selling them off. the guy who bought them
thanked me for selling him good, used batteries

microgiant:
Bros, Please how do you spend $200 on you GTBank Cards, share the secret.

i was going to ask same question. my first bank and zenith naira mastercards spend limits were
crashed to $20/month just two months ago or thereabouts, down from $100. i never knew some banks still
do up to $200/month. interesting, hey?

FEGEITOK:
My inverter has 2 modes ECO and UPS.

ECO Mains high cut 290V +/- 10V
ECO Mains high cut recovery 280V +/- 10V
ECO Mains low cut 100V +/- 10V
ECO Mains low cut recovery 110V +/- 10V

ECO takes longer to discharge but has a range that hits 290 Volts

UPS discharges faster but has a safer range of not more than 265 Volts

UPS Mains high cut 265V +/- 10V
UPS Mains high cut recovery 255V +/- 10V
UPS Mains low cut 180V +/- 10V
UPS Mains low cut recovery 190V +/- 10V

Says to use UPS mode to run computers/sensitive equipment.

Says not to use ECO mode to run computers.

I am running computers on the inverter, but I don't wish to fry them.

ECO mode is the default mode.

I want to take advantage of the ECO mode but limit the risk to my equipment.

brother,
this inverter specs is totally at variance with the norm and its a disaster waiting to happen.
i will advice you discontinue any further use until you have the funds to purchase a replacement.
what you're toying with right now is a potential multiple damage to your electronics as well as a
fire hazard. i think the engineers who designed such a derelict product need to have their heads
examined. a word is enough...

Raregem9000:
Why is it that FTA channels pictures are not as clean as the one on DSTV, Gotv and other paid channels?

Raregem,
There are many 'clean' FTA channels out there. I guess by clean, you mean HD quality (720p half or 1080p full).
And believe it or not, we have a couple of 4K video quality FTA channels springing up now. You only have to know
where to find them. As for DSTV, they have never been known as pacesetters for video quality since inception.
If anything, they are always lagging behind while other competitors take the lead.

Bluecharger:
You're very right sir, Coming from about 3 years of no job, getting the little I got took me some time. Sir you know what an 80w panel can put out, especially at this time, even with tracking the sun with it. Most androids these days require 20w and above to charge, plus losses. The pain of having to return phones uncharged brought me here, knowing what effect that would have later apart from losing money now. I'm sorry I shouldn't be saying this, I did some hard jobs, the type I didn't do in my 30s or 40s, to raise money for the little I have. I was forced to start now because I developed back pain. I could've easily bought 'I pass my neighbour' with change left with what I had, but I choose this path. Thank you for your response sir.

brother,
i really sympathize with you. believe me, i've been there too. years back i had to do menial jobs just to survive.
me sef i been do 'lebra' work for ajao estate and surrounding areas that year. real, hard jobs with concrete mixing.
so, i know how it feels and i can relate.
that said, the internet is an anonymous place and sometimes it can be very challenging knowing everyone's personal stories.
i can only hope and pray for you that fortune will smile on you once again and your story will change for good.
keep shinning and best of luck!

Bluecharger:
PLEASE HELP!.

I just set up a phone and other devices charging shop using solar energy, thanks to this group for opening my eyes to renewable energy. I new nothing about this but now I'm able to set mine up myself.

I was only able to buy a 80w panel with a 40ah battery. I just found out those are not enough especially in this raining season. So I'm soliciting for help from any of our ogas here who may have 1 or 2 panels around that are not in use. I thank you all for this wonderful classroom.

brother,
its great news that you have been able to learn a couple of things from this thread. i'm sure there are many others
too who have benefited a thing or two like you. the solar thread is a great place to be even for those of us who have
been in the renewables journey for years now.
as for 'ogas here who may have 1 or 2 panels around that are not in use' the possibility of finding one is difficult if not
remote. reason being that solar panels are not like spare tires that you remove and keep in store waiting for when you
will need them. chances are that anyone with such panels here have either found other uses for them or sold them off.
so, i will rather advise you to save some money and buy more panels now that you have tasted the goodness.
abi, no be business u wan take am do? or are u charging the phones for free?

zeestone99:
The name Canadian is sweet in the mouth I guess.

it's not only about the sweetness bro. canadian solar has proven its named over time and many
savvy hobbyists and installers have come to rely on it for quality. in yesteryears jinko was not really known
for great quality but i guess over time they might have upped their game - as most oems have done in recent
time. as for internet product comparisons, i would take such writeups with a pinch of salt because anybody
write can anything and cook up figures to promote an agenda.

earthrealm:
and even if you analyse it thoroughly, solar/renewable energy is far cheaper than running gens and even grid. most solar setups pay for itself after 2 to 3 yrs maximum.. if you use 1 OR 2 ACs in your home and you run same for up to 12 hours daily @ 52naira per kwh, and you didn't bypass the phcn prepaid meter, your monthly bill will be over 50k monthly...and up to 100k if you run it 247. meanwhile a renewable energy setup with 3m to 4m naira will give you same comfort, and if you do the maths well, after 2 to 3 yrs......it cancels out and you start enjoying free power.

two yrs ago (2020), one of my colleagues was lamenting bitterly how his average monthly phcn bill was close to 50k monthly.
he was forced to do some sharp practice in reducing the count rate of the meter and in the process unwittingly turned himself
into a milking cow to the nepa guy who did the job for him. when he saw that the amount he was being extorted was becoming
almost if not more than what he thought he was saving by altering the meter, he was forced to ask phcn to revert the meter
back to normal!
anyway, imagine paying 50k monthly for 5yrs (with the myto tarriff structure the rate keeps increasing year on year)
so, in 5yrs even if you live in an area where you enjoy steady power supply, you would have paid phcn an equivalent amount of
money which you could have used in setting up a complete, functional solar system.
and, it gets even crazier for the 'big man' with a diesel 'plant' in your analogy. with diesel prices hitting btw 900 and 1000 naira
per liter, a solar set up would cover the cost of running such a plant in less than a year!

sethtsadopp:
So I was just thinking randomly about what exactly is the ultimate aim of what we are all trying to achieve with Solar?
Is it uninterrupted power supply?
Is it cheaper electricity?
Is it about the environment?
Or other things?
And which among these is the most important for most of us here?

Because for example, if it's about saving money, from some rough calculations I have done, it appears off-grid solar is simply the most expensive way to make electricity, No?
So does off grid even make any sense? Or is it best to combine grid and solar to create that uninterrupted supply (and cheaper bacause of grid?).

What are your thoughts on these?

NiyiOmoIyunade Ojeysky olopan valto earthrealm GeorgeD1 Bigrovar

hello bro,
i started this journey into energy freedom over 10yrs ago primarily because i was frustrated with then epileptic
power situation in the country. i ran electricity generators for a while and kept asking myself "is there no better way
of providing power than this?" then, i started making some research and discovered there was actually a sustainable
alternative to what i was struggling to achieve: solar power.
so, long answer cut short: its about energy freedom (that feeling of being in control of your energy supply is something
out of this world also, being able to quietly harness the power of the sun on a bright sunny day while others are
lamenting and complaining about the heat could be hilarious to say the least
lastly, its about economics. believe it or not, its cheaper to go solar in the long run compared to running fuel guzzling
generators. i did a cost calculation years ago (when fuel was still 65 naira per liter) and realized that i was able to recover
everything i spent in setting up my solar system within 2yrs if i were to run my generator 3hrs everyday excluding oil
changes and regular maintenance.
with fuel now at 165 naira per liter and likelihood of increment of pump price in the near future, your guess is as good
as mine how long it would take to recoup my investment if i had set it up at this present time.
to cap it up, there's no better time to go off-grid than now. my solar set up keeps making more sense on a daily basis
when i hear of frequent national grid collapse and fuel scarcity with vehicle queues everywhere. the sun has never
collapsed as far back as modern man started keeping records and never have my solar modules run out of juice.
with solar, i tell you there's no scarcity!

gadgetplanetng:
Who sells original panels?

@Valto suggested Auxano and they say no stock

& and attached image is the type I'm seeing which I won't buy.

you can try gennex bro. those chaps are legit.
the canadian solar panels i bought from them are still spewing juice like brand new over 4yrs later.

Kokomo:
Hi i have not received a chat from you yet, how can I get the MPPt I am interested

sorry my bad. i have been a little busy. pls check now. i dropped u chat already

Kokomo:
Hi all, I am in need of a used 30a MPTT charge controller, anyone that have can chat me, 0803428879eight, I am in Lagos

i have a tristar mppt 45a. check your chat in case interested.