₦airaland Forum

Solarrookie:
Big Shoutout to the Bosses in the house.

As my Monicker implies, I am a rookie with "chikini" background in renewable energy.

I recently moved into a remote area and got some tier 4 600 watts mono panels for myself (150 x 4) for a 12 volts setup. I also got a 50 amps PWM charge controller and 10m cable dual core cable.

I arranged the photovoltaic array in parallel for more current (A) and positioned for proper exposure to sun radiation. Although I must confess that the distance from the rooftop to the panel isn't up to 5 inches.

Distance from Panel to CC = 8 Meters.

The reason for this post

1. The highest current I have recorded is 16amps (1st week after installation) at maximum voltage.

2. Now I record less than 12 amps even on sunny days.

3. Total AH per day is within 60 - 66ah.

I have installed a similar setup sometime in the past but with a different chinko 60 amps PWM controller and saw 20amps current output. Something is telling me to call my base and ask them to send me 60amps PWM (That brand i used in the past) but i feel its going to be a wasted effort.

I know you all will say "Buy MPPT", I will buy one by the end of the month for checks but please recommend between EpEver, PowMr and MakeSlyblue.

Expert suggestions will be appreciated.


You guys are king!

I think your major problem may be the charge controller in use and of course the tier 4 PV you are using

If each PV has capability of producing 8A at 18v or 20v, under ideal conditions you should get up to 32A. But the PVs may not working under ideal conditions as there are loses due to wire size, loses too due to tilt angle, shade factors, PWM inefficiency, etc. But you can even out these odds a little by using an MPPT and hopefully increasing the gauge of wire in use. My 3 cents

Valto:
from the sticker pasted on the supposed canadian solar. i seriously doubt the authenticity. this is likely an alaba made!

Alaba don dey do Canadian solar

adeniyisamuel59:
Ibadan is the worst place to receive order from, tracker indicated that attempt to deliver failed, yet, I have not received calls or text from post office to come and pick my order after 3 days it has arrived.

Go to the post office and ask for your item. Sometimes they may have reason why they didn't call. Some can be when phone number is ineligible (I've seen this severally) or they plain forgot to call or text.

earthrealm:
so we are about wrapping up this group buy, , i am impressed by the turnout, we have about 140 cells being demanded for, our target is 190 cells, so now is the time for interested folk to join.. options are available for people who dont want to pay full money

Did this last year. Still awesome. Una well done.

reidkrugger:
Thanks. But two things tho. 1st, about four days ago it rained heavily with a lot of thunder and lightning. So I quickly put of d inverter. 10mins later, I heard dis same spark sound from d inverter area. Just once.
2nd is, the technician dat wired d Gen, tried to replace a fuse on d plug. So he brought some flexible wires n wound Dem in place of d fuse. While d fuse was still present.

I guess the tech rewired your fuse by using that strip of wire. Is there any thunder protection and earthing where you are staying?

ManyMany rs forn forfuse to open, one may be facurrent, others may be exceeding the fuse rated current.

Eg if the fuse is rated 10A (which translates to 2300w). This fuse may open if you run load greater than this. A short (live and neutral touching) can producing fault current that may exceed this rated current.

Anyways hard to tell what your problem could be as I''m not there. Look around for an experienced tech person to check what your issue might be.

ovuobab:
Thanks man.

But how about if there is dispute or something like that?

You can open dispute on each of the transaction done, as long as payment is done on the Alibaba group platform you are covered. NEVER make payment outside of their platform.

reidkrugger:
So sorry. I misread dat.
It's a complete solar setup. A 100ah battery, 30amp charge controller, 1kva souer inverter with charger and a 150watt solar panel.
So it's been charging with d solar panels all along. But I tested it once on a smaller generator and if worked but burnt d coil. Like I earlier stated.

You may need the attention of an expert. Hard to tell why you experience this arcing from. It could be a lot of things, but an experienced tech person is just what you need.

chris81964:
They all have stories

Thanks. I'll manage some other way

Trippledots:
Nice one... I personally have downloaded trove and bamboo but yet to activate my acct. Like you said FX, crypto and stocks can be very dicey.

I hope others too drop some hints too.

Thanks boss

I'll recommend you activate it

ovuobab:
Please how do you get them to split it?

Chat them and tell them something along the line that your country's central bank restricts payment to $100 per transaction, will they be kind enough to split it to something less than $100. Some may agree, others may not. Just contact a lot of sellers selling the same product, you'll see one really dying for a sale that'll honor your request.

SilentVboy:
Bro did you see d point am making?
This same Access bank charged me 450.50 and now, they charge u 454.

Well, we have a system that is not working and that is why all this nonsense is happening.
It's a pity.

If you talk now dem fit tell you that FX rate is volatile. Lol

SilentVboy:
I have no idea about Zenith bank but I think this banks are just using the masses to make money anyhow.

I think they are not really stable with their exchange rates. For instance, GTB charged me 433.47 when I used it on 13th march but on 15th mach, they charged me 420.8.
So it's not really stable.

CBN should step in and regulate this. Access charged me ₦454/$ which does not make any sense when GTB was doing less than ₦421. These two banks are in Nigeria. The difference is just too much.

Trippledots:
Talking about earning, i have always wanted to appeal to the ogas in the house, apart from sharing RE knowledge biko share money earning tips too.

Some of us have great ideas and dreams about RE, but lack the cash. Any ideas to help a brother pocket some nairas won't be out of place.

I hope I am speaking the mind of we micro solar users here sha.

Peace.

Not a financial advisor though (take whatever I say with a pinch of salt and a bottle of tequila ), but you can start researching into the stock market. A great way to earn the $ while in Naija. Check out fintech startups like Trove, Bamboo, Trading 212 (got in before they banned Naija ) et al (they've got threads here in NL and telegram). And consider investing in foreign stocks such as Google, FB and others. Of course you gotta do your due diligence and only use money you can afford to lose

Once made a killing in çr̃ypto years ago. But very risky plays. If you are an artist (digital or otherwise) consider checking out NFTs. My 2 kobo

Anyone know the current rate for ₦ to $ exchange rate of Zenith Bank? I know GTB is ₦420/$.

ovuobab:
Please is there anyway of buying online above $100. My card is limited to $100 a month

Yeah. I just did a $260 payment using three cards. Some sellers will agree to split it, while others may not agree. The good thing is there are a hundred sales rep that'll split payment for every sales rep that refuses to do that for you

alphamars:
I have never failed to get my money back from AliExpress for over 15 cases.
It's a very simple process.
Always allow your buyer's protection to expire first

Then click on open dispute

Click on Refund only

Did you receive your order ...click No

Dispute reason: purchase protection is running out and Package is still in transit.

Refund Amount: Indicate the amount.

Please specify why you are requesting for a refund.
Parcel never arrived destination.

That's all...I guarantee you will get for refund.

Never lost a dispute...7 years and counting. This method works like a charm. Just make sure your item is not in Naija before you open dispute.

barter

AyarmBoye:
what about riter or genus tabular battery?

Go for Ritar. But if cash is not do much of a problem, buy Quanta.

IYGEAL:
Not your network. I have been experiencing that for quite some time now.

Good to see this, thought my network is going crazy

Is NL super slow these days or is my network freaking slow

ceaser:
• 4200mah
• Are those true capacities?
• Is it protected 18650? It looks protected cos it's not the flat head 18650.

You can tell there is no way it up to that 4200...the best you can hope for is 1500-1800mAh

And now the much awaited reviews are pouring in. Lemme read. Be right back

Shipping is the Nigeria's Achilles heel for mini importers, especially if the item has battery inside. Crazy shipping rates and serious long wait period. Meanwhile, I watch as our counterparts in other countries in Europe and America receive their battery goods shipped via sea and when it gets to the port gets handed over to either DHL or FedEx for onward delivery to the buyer. E dey pain me sha.

BetaTechnicians:
is there an efficient way of getting the panels to the roof?
I have been lucky with all the installs I've done regarding location of the panels.



et al

Use rope to pull it up

hancock:
Approximately 8 days for the 8 batteries. The PSU I bought was rated for 30v/10a CV CC. Patience is virtue when it comes to Top Balancing Lithium Cells.



bought from Shenzen Xuba
https://www.alibaba.com/product-detail/4pcs-3-2V-280AH-Lifepo4-Battery_62025848351.html

I used a 50A charger. Balancing was faster

hancock:
Will you be Top balancing the cells in parallel before you assemble them? I would advise you do so.
Just finished a similar build with EVE cells 24v 280AH and overkill BMS
It was an experimental build/ DYI hands on for a quick replacement of dead lead acid batteries.
Was almost going for the Felicity lithium that has been heavily advertised here but thought otherwise as the reviews was not so favorable.
In hindsight, the 24v 280AH build cost about 620k
(could have been far less if I had opted for the 3 months sea shipment as against 3 weeks air freight and also choice of BMS) as against 450k for the 24v 200AH( ) Felicity lithium battery

Awesome. How long did it take you to bring it up to balance using that bench power supply?

Valto:
nice cells, the same with mine, but coupled with DALY BMS 150A with Bluetooth. spent about 400k inclusive the DALY BMS (almost 5months sea shipping though ) but that promised 3months shipping is now 6 to 7months in reality.

My yeye shipper took 7 months last year (April till Nov) E no funny.

anonymousey:
Please have you used the Edifier nb2? If you have, what was your experience like?

Currently using one. It rocks. ANC is superb for a wireless earbud. Totally enjoy travelling with it plugged on, I'm suddenly transported to my own world devoid of crazy passengers talks

iroanthony:
am looking for link for used laptop on 1688.com I only see new one any time I checked

I think you may be better off buying used laptop in eBay instead of 1688, just my opinion though.

globalfanz:
Kindly give me an honest review along these lines if you have used Nicargo.
1. Do they change contract terms midway through the contract?
2. Do they pick customer calls(If they are not trained in customer service then, while some say it is only WhatsApp and website. I will not be transacting with robots sorry)?
3. Is their $7/kg real or a means to trap unsuspecting potential customers
4. Hmmmm another koko, do they give real weight or fake weight? (All I have been using from here will always inflate weight from 0.5-4kg. I mean all, I always check with my two different weighing scales)
Kindly review accordingly as I am eager to engage them for some procurement and shipping services.

You really understand how the China procurement people can rip off unsuspecting clients. These questions are definitely coming from experience, especially that No 1 question.

I always wonder what is so difficult in having a hitch free customer service from most shipping logistic company. Most of it comes from the logistic company lying to "rope in clients" by giving ETA they can never fulfil and pricing they never really plan to stick to to lure you in.

ceaser:
Then maybe it's best we don't let the BMS do the LVD. That job should be left to an external add-on device or to the inverter if it can be programmed.

On some their party installs that I supervised, I've been called on two occasions where the LFP went totally down and the voltage meter would not even display nada. Turned out the BMS disconnect occured. Solar power will not wake up the BMS neither did PHCN input via LFP charger. So I had to connect similar battery in parallel to wake it up.

The inverters were BTS 1050kva and load did not exceed 50 watts both occasion. They did not take a hit. So I suppose the negative impact of the BMS tripping on the inverter could also have to do with the extent of load when the disconnect happened.

But that KEYE name sha, is it a DEYE variant?

Keye could be anything

Yeah, solar power or the inverter charger was unable to wake up the BMS. Load when disconnect happened is just approximately 1.2KW. The Keye inverter was rated for 5KW and has been doing well without issues on lead acid battery.

ovuobab:
Like how long those their shipping take ?

Shipping is dependent on courier services used. With FedEx or DHL takes within 4 days to 9 days.

Via other means may take longer (dependent not on seller) but the logistics you chose and paid for. I once used a shifty forwarder via sea and it took 7 months to get to Nigeria!

ovuobab:
Their payment method is a big confusion to me...i

It is easy, just chat the seller. After agreeing on price and shipping (whether they are shipping to you directly or shipping to a forwarder in China all comes at a few). They will create a payment link for you which you will click on to pay with your debit card (ATM card).