₦airaland Forum

ceaser:
So I envisage challenges with self-mounting my panels cos they will be higher up the roof where there is currently spaces for them. So I will need to hire the services of an avid "roof climber" to mount the solar panels.

But I still need to have full control of my installations as subsequent tinkering and panel reconfiguration may come in occasionally. So I was thinking of a viable way to achieve that, bypassing the restriction of my free access to the roof.

One idea that came to mind is extending the wires of each panel (via MC4s and 6mm wires) by as much as 14ft to 20ft to terminate at a point where I have access to. At this point there will be a junction box with busbars where I can comfortably manipulate and connect those terminal panel wires

From the junction box, I envisage using a 10mm gauge wire to terminate at DCBs. Then another 10mm from the DCBs to terminate at the panel input of the SCC. Also 10mm wire the rest of the way to the battery terminals.

There is a picture illustration. Do you guys think my ideas are reasonable, especially that part about using 6mm duo core to extend the panel wires to a junction box 20 feet (around 6 meters) away?

Thanks for your anticipated advice.

Why not maintain 10mm for the 14ft extension as well? Unless this is a 48v system and you won't be doing heavy load, I will suggest that wire guage for battery to inverter be more than 10mm.

Regards

chibjohn:
Took more risk today by jumping into Fidelity @ 3.02 and Unilever @ 15.75... I know it's a risky move. Life is all about risk. My positions in dansugar, ETI, UBA, GSK etc are making me proud though.
OGG thanks for recommending GSK. It was never on my radar.
I hope this will be a good move too. I [b]just need 20% [/b]in them o...

That's how it use to start then one will want to stay for a while more. Good thing is that your prayer point go help mine, by the time you are at 20% as am already in the bus so am with you bro

megawealth01:
True... I sold off GTB and ZENITH... Thanks to GOD I bought UBN, GUINNESS and UNILEVER with the proceeds

Looks like Unilever will go far o, that one is just starting

We've been praying for green now it's here.....so much that people may start hoping for red on some stocks

This morning, I decided to push my battery beyond my usual 70/80% DOD, this beast was doing 50A @less than 15% SOC and all cells were above 3v with that load. With 500AH pulled out of it and cell voltage were still at 25.4v (above 3.1v per cell) under load (6A) these cells have exceeded my expectations

With lack of utility in the last 1 week here is to hope for a sunny day today to replenish my 13kwh drain

TraDeRR:
Hmmm.. I don’t even know what to say.. make I jaa ? Or still hold? Weytin Dey fuel this bull? Most especially the one in transcop.. is it the usual Christmas and new year rally? Because that one no Dey pass February.. abeg oo any info on transcop ?

I think it's the recent acquisition they made in the energy sector

dapsyra:
I pushed my 5.5KVA Hybrid Inverter to the limit to test it's ability to handle load. I ran three 1HP Aircon, two 1200w water heater, one big deep freezer and a 4-door refrigerator on it simultaneously. It handled like breeze. These hybrid inverters have really come of age.

I stopped at 5211VA, not because the inverter cannot handle more but I simply ran out of loads.

See the peak data on the attached image.

Cool, experience with mine is similar and temperature in my case never got to 50C. I will give that to the modification I did on the inverter fan.

gamaliel9:
Today, i wanted to buy....Meritrade is showing me account suspended... my transaction was rejected. What do i do? I did kyc last two months ooo before this recent one by sec..should i do another one?

It happened to me last week, wrote them a mail and it was resolved by next trading day

tnota:
Up to this time, i haven't seen ETI symbol in the order page. Anyone using mytradebook platform (by Greenwich Securities Limited) should help me check if s/he can see ETI symbol in the order page. Thank you.

It's not listed on meristem either

ceaser:
There's a NL guy that once tried to help me organize a casing for 8s 105ah LFP for 8k, if I remember well. Perhaps he may be of some help.

090six 84four 8zerozerofive

He does some LFP assembling and has a thread on NL. But I've not transacted any deals with him before unlike our own LFP guy that has been tested and trusted.

https://www.nairaland.com/5757093/lifepo4-prismatic-cells-available

Thanks I reached out but he is out of stock on my spec

maishai:
Traanscorp remains a kalo kalo stock

I lost hope in it

People are not even selling, the queue there too much jare...on top my money

Ardova's 3rd quarter seem to be quite better, I hope it's current upward trend will be maintained;

http://www.nse.com.ng/Financial_NewsDocs/31780_ARDOVA_PLC%20_QUARTER_3_%20_FINANCIAL_STATEMENT_FOR_2020_F.pdf

ameh99:
Good afternoon NL

Quote me if you have battery casing with 10 inch height and 14 inch wide (+/-1)

mcTrinity:
Bros, the bolded happening is very rare. When you hear CCs that have died, it's due to either not properly sized or battery breaker tripping and blowing the stuff. In ALL my installations over the years, no single CC has ever had issue. They're quite built to last. And that is why they're not meant to be repaired; but to be replaced if it goes bad.

But there are, and there would, always be cases of inverter failures, resulting from numerous factors. An inverter can wake up and decide not to function again! just like that o...

So, now compare when your standalone inverter have issue and u still have ur standalone CC keeping ur batteries healthy and when ur hybrid have issue and nothing remain... Ur battery is good as dead

As for the copy aspect, we know that's not rational. Someone can't just decide to buy two systems just because he's anticipating failure. We're looking at a system that is more reliable, Flexible, and most importantly, batteryLife-friendly

Responding to this extensively earlier got me a bot ban, let me summarise and hopefully this goes fine.

I should have added "vice versa" to the post as I didn't intend to cover just the situation where CC goes bad alone. From you response I can see that standalone is motivated largely for "battery safety" by keeping it at float. If it's not the CC that spoilt and if it's LA battery yes that is very valid. Though am not sure why just 2 to 6 weeks of no charge will easily kill a good LA with some juice in it.

However it still means neither the hybrid user or the standalone user has electricity supply which is the main reason we set-up renewable energy. I also do not like the sound of locking down money by procuring backup equipment but it's certainly the rational thing to do if an uninterrupted electricity is desired. Even the big wigs like the victrons spoil and I don't think some hybrids are like Windows OS that just decide to stop working. When my MPP packed up, I had an idea of what caused the failure and that was important for me.

Anyone who knows where I can get or has battery casing for sale should quote. I need something with 10inch tall and 14 inch wide (+/- 1)

ojeysky:
BMV 712 with 500A shunt, aux cable, long comms cable, temp sensor - 125k

12.8v 280AH LFP pack with 40A utility charger - 350k

Bus bars, 7s to 16s ANT BMS, 4s smart BMS, balancers(4s, 8s, 16s)

080-three 5-23-3535

Still available

By the time the plug is pulled, hee go red o

adrusa:
It is a double protection. Set equalization voltage to float voltage and then disable equalization. Setting equalization voltage to float protects your battery if equalization is mistakenly enabled either by unsteady finger or any such other mistakes.

Okay I see your point, assuming that float voltage is already low enough yes that should work

ceaser:
Folks, what wire guage would you suggest is suitable for 48v system likely to have 3s3p 320 watts panel travelling a distance of 30 feet (approx 10 meters). 6mm wire?

6mm would do but I used 10mm when I had similar set-up though with 270w but current it carried is close to yours. Would suggest you use 10mm if you've got some budget

adrusa:
Lithium are not supposed to float. It is bulk and then stop. The idea of a float charge is to account for lead acid self discharge which is minimal for Lithium. The recommendation is to set your bulk, absorption, float and equalization voltages at the same value which depends on how you want to drive your battery. I set everything to 55V for my system 16s batteries. You set equalization voltage at float as double security since equalization will rapidly destroy lithium. You must disable equalization on your charger also.

Felicity has 16 cells.

I use node red and a contactor to cut off my inverter on lithium at 50V. I have not really looked into hardware LVD. Others may advise.

I think that's a typo, as you right indicated later, please do not equalise an LFP, a lot could go wrong doing that unless you want to do it for just a few minutes because equalisation will try to maintain the voltage point even when the battery does not needs it. I have a feeling it was the mistake I made with my MPP board that I lost initially.

NiyiOmoIyunade:
Felicity Lithium users. Help needed please!!!

1) How does one implement a reliable low voltage disconnect at 49.5v? The site I just inherited, the felicity inverter has a maximum permissible low voltage cutoff at 48v - I need to raise the cutoff voltage to 49.5v approximating 80% DoD.

I am looking for suggestions for a reliable low voltage disconnect mechanism please - I guess this will be an external/add-on device.

2) What is an ideal float voltage setting for the Felicity Lithium? The manual is silent and only specifies 57.6v as the charge voltage.

3) Internally how many cells are in series? I suspect 16 cells? If there are 16 cells then perhaps 57.6v for the pack or 3.6v per cell is very very highly charged and not ideal for the long term?

Let's see if I don't get banned again by NL bot
1. In my case, I put the lvd on highest possible on my inverter then make sure battery never gets there through yet of Sonoff/nodered/BMV combo to turn off all power guzzlers at various SOC. The last one (fridge) goes off at 15% SOC
2. I won't float above 54.2
3. It's LFP so it's 16cells (multiple or individually), i will charge up to 3.5v max(in situation where grabbing the sun juice within shortest period of time is important). However ideally I will do 3.45v

Edit: to add response on 1

ojeysky:
Cool! Could you share more experience on that hybrid. What's the actual no load consumption? what's the conversion efficiency as your load increases (load at 500 and 1500w is though)?, How does it perform with lithium charging? (I guess you are using it with Lithium?)

@earthrealm this is still pending your response o

samnaija:
For standalone, If your cc dies in an off grid situation, which we all know you must have a gen for backup, you will still survive with your inverter . Besides all I have to find is a backup up cc and life goes on.(less expenses).
But in hybrid, cc get yawa you withdraw the whole system how do you want to operate with batteries only. Ok you get back up let me guess another hybrid (more expenses), or a standalone cc and stand alone inverter (more expense).
Any how you look at it, it also boils down how the devices are built, I have used my episolar standalone for 6 yrs no yawa, but within that period I have repaired and changed my inverter so many times no brainier...... N

A complete off-grid will not have a Gen as that is a backup already, I was referring to such situation. Nevertheless we are in agreement on relative replacement cost but as you said it all depends on the equipment to be replaced, a powermr CC will be easier to replace (cost wise) than a morning Star or victron.

ceaser:
I will align with him and with you as well. In his case, for some the cost implication of getting a stop gap hybrid replacement while you are getting the main hybrid repaired will be more expensive than getting a standalone CC or standalone inverter. Remember that in most cases, the stop gaps will usually be smaller capacities than the main system. People may have a spare 1.5kva inverter benched for days when their main 3kva may need to be repaired.

For those that can afford it as an emergency, getting a hybrid for stop gap may not be an onerous challenge. I remember you using the cheaper, less capacity and smaller VoC Felicity while you awaited the replacement board for the MPP. The Felicity is much cheaper than the MPP but definitely more expensive than a standalone that may be used as a stop gap.

Right but it's an option I don't think I will want to take again in future, a plug and play will be better, even if it's a lower capacity. Having to rewire my panels then was a little bit easier but won't be what I want to do with my current setup.

Also, high VoC and remote data logging becoming standard features of most affordable hybrids is a valid threat to the desirability of standalone SCCs, at least to me. That is me assuming that I am unaware of any standalone product with high VoC capability.

However, I'll also posit that the more parts of stand alone systems calls for more points of failures but easier replacements of the failed parts wherease the integrated feature of the hybrid means less failure points but potentially challenging replacement when you need to. You may be required to change whole boards or the whole system in such scenarios.

In my case, I could have just gotten the MPP Board as a replacement backup at similar or less than the price of a felicity and save myself the stress of having to rewire my panels.

That said, on a lighter note, the thought of buying a replacement part for a future scenario thereby locking down funds is what I also need to overcome

GeorgeD1:
bro, i wouldn't jump to such conclusions yet if i were you.

stand alone charge controllers are still way ahead of their hybrid siblings in terms of performance and features and
those that value battery longevity will choose them over hybrids any day and anytime.

personally, i don't think i would be singing such high praises of my recently sold off zenith batteries if my cc had
been a hybrid.

The "hybrid" can't be a battery spoiler my Oga , I guess you are probably referring to idle consumption and conversion efficiency of some hybrids where one could experience deeper discharge on same load. While some hybrids have high consumption, some standalone inverters have much more as well. Those who use MPP MK series have reported 75w consumption while my GK ranges between 50 and 100w depending on the load. Yes some standalone may consume less, how lower is yours? and at what cost? I chose to use that extra bucks to have a larger battery bank.

fowlyansh181:
How many watts does this inverter give out? I’m new to all this and really don’t know how to rate or calculate these things

Approximately 1000w

samnaija:
I just bought this, you are very right. The fan makes a very loud blender like noise. As for hybrid taking over I think what is ruling nigerians is the cost implications of buying a separate inverter and charge controller.
But in reality, if your hybrid as an issue with the inverter or charge controller and needs repair you are left with only batteries, start looking for a backup inverter and charge controller...

I hear that a lot and makes me wonder; if the standalone CC dies, what's the use of the standalone inverter that is still alive? especially in a off-grid set-up.
The main gist for me is that anyone that wants consistent power source should keep a copy of their hybrids or the standalones. May master J bless our hustle.

earthrealm:
maybe, maybe not....i recently operated the mighty Sorotec hybrid inverter, and i am super pleased with its functions and data logging capability

Cool! Could you share more experience on that hybrid. What's the actual no load consumption? what's the conversion efficiency as your load increases (load at 500 and 1500w is though)?, How does it perform with lithium charging? (I guess you are using it with Lithium?)

Transcorp over 100m bids no offer!

I still have these 280AH LFP cells available for sale. I use some of them personally and they have been great. The are brand new Eve cells

Oshomo12:
How did you combine those panels, 280 and 380W, or d GK has two mppts?

String1- 9x280
String2- 7x380

Both strings ran in parallel. The catch is to ensure the total Voc of each string are close enough

omotoda:
Wao!!!How possible is that without damaging the inverter? 5.2kw against recommended 4kw??

If hervest gets to 4kw it will just peg it there and the rest is a waste. However my demand does not even get to 4kw instantaneous and I have never tried to reach it.

Japauloil new gold don dey fly upward o....no more digging