for all the hype about lithium on here, be rest assured that the silent majority still sides
with lead acid!

so, goodbye zenith (it was good while it lasted) and welcome sonnenschein!

BetaTechnicians:

To think I was expecting you to end with "So, I want to sell them off and go lithium".

lolz, brother. sorry to disappoint but not everyone is enamored with the lure of
the lithium hype.

however, early in the year i had already started thinking of expanding my battery bank in order to
accommodate comfort cooling which hitherto i have been unwilling to include among my house loads.
so i knew the zenith batteries had to go (reluctantly)

then came the era of 'left-over project batteries' and i got an offer too good to resist. this started a
series of events that eventually led me to installing a new battery bank and doing away with my
beloved zenith batteries.

as promised earlier, i have been on my 260ah 12pcs zenith batteries since 2012. it's been a remarkable
journey no doubt, especially given all the lament on here about lead acid batteries and their poor durability.
7 years and counting and my batteries seemed to just go on and on. at a point i almost became confused
as to why i was having such a nice time with lead acid while the general opinion was anything but pleasant.
maybe i was just plain lucky or maybe i was doing something right afterall...
the jury is still out on this...

BetaTechnicians:

My fear is, solar may become more expensive. Government may try to make it unattractive so that the power companies would have a market.

sorry to disappoint bro but it's already happening.
solar panels have been categorized as 'transformer' (lolz ) in the new duties schedule by customs.
all in a bid to generate more revenue.
it's what you get when you have someone that doesn't know jack about renewables in a position of
authority...
another reason why cost of solar in naija is one of the highest around the world...

lolz bros! this is still small nah compared to the system size of other peeps.
i still be learner where david poz and co dey oh.
i believe system sizing should be on as needed basis and each home have their
own peculiar energy needs different from the others. so for instance, as a single
person living alone, i might get by with as little a system size of 1.5kw but a
guy with large family and having a lot of critical loads to run will struggle with
a system 5 times that size.

YoungBrain:


Uncle George long time no see/hear

What is your battery/panels setup like now.

So that people like us can grow up to be like you one day

brother,
really its been a while. though i may appear to be absent from the thread at times, my spirit, my soul still
breathes solar.
i tactically stopped making reference to my system size long ago in order not to appear to gloat. some here
might even misinterpret it as showboating. even the solar harvests that i post from time to time is just a way
of encouraging a few of us here who still look at solar with hidden doubt, not too sure of its possibilities. it's
my own way of saying, "hey, it's possible. solar is real".
that said, i have a very robust system comprising 48 solar panels total nominal capacity about 15kw. batteries
used to be 12pcs 260ah zenith lead acid totaling 780ah until earlier this year when i did an upgrade.
i will be posting details of this in the next few days along with pictures.

after two straight days of relentless rainfall, the sun came out in full force yesterday.
it was happy days at last as modules greedily pumped out juice after juice topping
almost 60kwh harvest as at sundown....
...the sun truly is the answer!

yes you can. but its only the mbc channels and a few other insignificant ones

have replied you too

Dishtech:
@GeorgeD1 and the house, where can I get Inverto black ultra lnb to improve my weak signal reception.

I'm not aware of any satellite outlet selling that LNB for now except you want to order it direct
from Ebay. However, you can consider using technomate 4-way lnb (TM4) as someone already
suggested. Stargold 4 way lnb is also good.

click on the person's moniker to access his or her profile and scroll down.
you will see a link to send him or her email.
that's the dm feature.

lolz ok. you can dm me using nairaland's dm feature.
then we take it from there.

obinna37:
please some one answer this.

Both are same bro

grafikii:

Thank you very much, I will try later today.

Also I would like to find out how important focal length is to performance of a dish. Using the formula below I got focal length of 160cm but my dish focal length actually measures at 142 cm which is about 18cm short. Is this responsible for the poor performance of the the dish?

Here is the formula I used
Focal Length = f.

Depth = c = 40cm

Diameter = D = 320cm

f = ( D * D ) / ( 16 * c)

f = (320 *320) / (16 * 40)

f = 102,400 ÷ 640

f = 160cm

I want to know if I should go ahead an construct longer lnb arms or the focal length isn't really important. Looking forward to your response.

Cc dlee1 GeorgeD1 Ameboperoo odilibe blexxonmak

Hello grafikii,
The focal length of a dish is very important if you want to get optimum performance from your dish.
In fact, with a wrong focal length you will not get any signal on your lnb and you will end spending countless hours
in the sun for nothing.
That said, if your dish diameter is 320cm and depth is 40cm then your calculation is correct. Your theoretical focal point
should be 160cm. Notice the emphasis on theoretical because in reality, it may not be exactly 160cm spot on.
You will have to do a little adjustment and finetuning in order to arrive at the actual focal point on the dish but I doubt if
it will be as low as 142cm.

grafikii:
Hello guys, when tracking ku sat on a big dish (3m and above) should the lnb point to the center of the the dish or should it tilt slightly to the sides.
Cc GeorgeD1 odilibe blexxonmak and all

I'm tracking 9e on a 3m dish, when I point the lnb directly at the center of the dish, i am not able to hit signal unless I point the lnb slightly to side, i hit green but with poor results as a 1.8m dish would.

emmaniche lamtam IT4ALL Dlee1

Hello grafikii,
You might need to check that dish to ensure it is not warped.
Take a straight plank (preferably 2 by 2 wood) and stretch it across the diameter of the dish.
Make sure you are measuring from the center. To get to the center, take another short straight wood
and locate the deepest part of the dish. From that point, align both the 2 by 2 wood that you stretched
across the diameter and the shorter wood that you have placed inside the dish. Both of them must be exactly
perpendicular (90 degrees). Since your dish is 3m, you should get exactly 3m or with some fractions across
two or more opposite ends of the dish. If not then your dish is warped (or bent on one side).

You can do this while the dish is hanging on the pole but you have to ensure it is facing sideways and not up.
But if you can drop the dish to the ground, the better for you. It will make your measurements easier.

obijack:
where are the likes of George-D and Enitan to mention a few that were the pioneers of this thread over 10 years ago

Are you guys out there ?

Brother, we are still very much around.
What exact info are you looking for?

NiyiOmoIyunade:
Indeed the sun is the answer! She has afforded us a decent living and above all energy security.

niyi,
indeed the sun never disappoints.
i recall sometime in 2014, at the height of then presidential campaign, a now serving minister boldly told nigerians
that "any serious government should be able to provide 24hrs electricity to its citizenry within 6 months". today,
6yrs down the road, all we hear is excuses and blame game. meanwhile, the darkness grows thicker by the day.
the sun on the other hand never promises and fail. it never plays politics with its energy supply..
even in the thick of the rainy season, it still manages to provide us enough juice to make hay...

btw, nice interface you have there and welcome to the over 12kw instantaneous power club.

coldcandy:
The man that saw 2020 ten years ago.
Respect to you, sir!
Nepa has been balkanized and sold to some briefcase businessmen who are not adding any kw but wants more revenue by charging d helpless consumers.
Price of fuel has gone up 100 percent after a fraudulent subsidized regulated deregulation.

I greet you coldcandy.

when I was making that post in 2010, little did I know that I was being prophetic...
i only pity those peeps who still have faith in nepa or phcn in its many iterations cum bedc, ekdc...the works.
and now you know what I mean when I keep shouting myself hoarse with any given opportunity...
...the sun is the answer...!

tonididdy:

Pls sir in lame man terms, what do this figures mean... Pls

hello tonididdy,
it means my solar panels were able to make 53,560wh of power that fateful day (from morning till evening)
and at some point during the day they were producing a combined total 12,219 watts of power...

Barezzi:
It means that the total Solar ENERGY generated that day was 53.56kwh to feed house loads and charge the batteries.
That same historic day, his panels went berserk and pumped 12kw of power to 4 charge controllers for a few seconds
causing them to angrily spit over 220Amps unto the hungry DC bus for the inverters and batteries to snag up!

Everyday the house makes unreasonable(reasonable?) load demands. The inverter doesn't care, it simply takes it from the DC BUS.
The batteries and charge controllers are unfortunately on the DC BUS. So, one or both of them must feed it. It's a rat race!

lolz @Barezzi
That's a rather comic way to put it but I must say your explanation is more or less correct

earthrealm:


are you offgrid?
care to list the humongous loads you have chopping all this kwh?

brother, I've been offgrid for close to 2yrs now.
just recently before the lockdown (march to be precise), bedc was forced to send me a note complaining
that i haven't recharged my prepaid meter for a long while. i just laughed in greek

Namzy:

Abeg are you powering your neighborhood? This is too much na. I'm sure even my street transformer no dey reach the level of kwh every day

my brother, e reach to ask.
but as the saying goes, i'm just trying to make hay while the sun shines

guys, seems it can only get better...
even with the near daily rains and flooding taking place, the heavens keep smiling on us with decent sunshine...
12kw instantaneous power and counting, 53.56kwh daily harvest...
the sun truly is the answer...!

essegis:


I want to be like you when I grow up oo. Abeg come and show us the way.

How does 75mm cables even enter inside CC terminals, jah Jehovah.

The 75mm cables are not connected to the cc directly. Rather, they link the battery bank to the Inverter.
As for how they are connected, I have a magnum e-panel which carries all my wiring and bos. It makes life easier when you have a magnum Inverter by allowing you run your wires separate from the Inverter...
Also, the cables are terminated by lugs which makes it simpler to connect by bolts and nuts to the e-panel...

JUO:
I know he has 4 cc. Oga please come and explain more we are waiting. I pray make I no thief because of you

Lolz. Bros, na your lithium batteries i go come carry as replacement

essegis:


Hello GeorgeD1,

After this your post I went hunting for the Morningstar CC that offers 200A and could not find. Could you please educate us on how you achieved the 190A showing on your screen? A lot of us are willing to learn.

While at it what's your cable size for such an amperage. Thanks. I'm also interested in the number and rating of panels that can give above 10kw instantaneous.

Hello essegis,
I see niyi and JUO already done justice to this. Sorry I'm just seeing your post now.
Yes, I'm using the tristar meter hub which combines my total solar harvest from 4 charge controllers...
For cable size, I have 3pcs 75mm diameter cables feeding in from the battery bank to the inverter...
As for number of panels/ratings, that would be 48pcs, with 24pcs 315w Solarworld panels from kiekie and 24pcs 330w Canadian Solar from Gennex...

JUO:
Jesu. Permission to use pictures?

Lolz. Go ahead bro. Nothing do u

mctfopt:


Power from the sun. Lovely! I like seeing that 190A cruising through those cables!

brother, indeed solar is sweet. nothing beats that feeling when on a hot sunny day, you're using the sun's power to cool your house.