₦airaland Forum

duwdu:
Perhaps I wasn't very clear with the part of my suggestion you responded to here. What I meant is to use the various disconnect switches between the PV array, the PIP, and the Battery bank, to put them on in different combinations towards powering up the system each time. I once saw a video on YouTube where that strategy worked for someone who faced a similar situation as you, although the number of panels didn't feature in the vid. I wish we could talk. I'll PM you.

I don't even have any switches at any point yet. I have not been able to determine how to connect the SPD as it has only the input side and can't find the output. I decided to just leave that for now and come back to this group later. (It's a type 2 SPD).

duwdu:
My own gen packed up and no grid (a peculiar NEPA story fit for another discussion) so I had wanted to feed a/c power from my VIL 24V to my PIP's a/c input, since a/c is a/c, just for tests, before I'd deploy the PIP itself in the house. But the VIL packed up before I could. You may want to try that as a filter if a solution is taking too long and you're bold enough?

Hmmm....a 1.5kv feeding a 3k may not be good enough. In other to still ensure I have my battery charged what I have done is to:
1. Switch off GK
2. connect both GK and my 1.5 inverter to the battery terminal
3. My 1.5kv inverter does the charging and provides output to the house hold for now

duwdu:
Mehn, it's particularly hard to uncouple MC4 connectors from/on Canadian Solar panels in particular with the normal MC4 combination tools I have. This is especially so because I'm not doing them at eye level but from under a car port kind of set up. The MC4 connectors I personally put on the Yinglis are easier to work with for me, though. Taking all together, I'll only uncouple them as a last resort, I'm afraid, so let's hope you're sorted out pretty soon.

Yeah I can understand, I know it's somewhat a tall order. Thanks a lot

Good luck.

chris81964:
Go back and read the manual. Just because it see voltage does not mean it would work. On the manual the start up voltage is 150V plus or minus on the high voltage units the MPPT range is 120 to 450V. To start it needs 150 plus.
READ THE MANUAL.

Bros it seem you didn't go through this thread, yes I have read the manual, yes I am using the high voltage unit and yes I have passed the 120v.
Are you saying that the high voltage range also require 150v at start-up? Well I didn't see that in the manual but will double check. I guess that means I will need extra panels if what you've stated is on point.

Thanks

duwdu:
Sorry, I just got back on this forum now and thought to read through the last post before making a response.

First, I'll suggest you try various combinations of the sequence in which you switch on the parts of your system: PV, battery bank, PIP; or in any other sequence. One of them may just initialize the power charging/supply mode.

Yeah I have tried all combinations; USB, SBU, SUB none of them brought the mppt on the solar icon(like yours), instead the icon just keeps blinking.

Secondly, I probably missed your mention of it, but is your PIP connected to the grid? Because the grid should start charging your batteries with the normal/default setting of possible charge/discharge sources?

We've lost grid power over the last 2 months, it's the reason why I am trying to get this up, so no supply to AC for now. However I am still charging my batteries with the 1.5kva inverter I currently use (with my gen which cannot serve my GK)

One thing to be especially careful about, though, is to not misconnect the "A/C IN" and "A/C OUT" wire blocks. As you've probably seen, the User Manual calls a special attention to such a potential error, since the two power blocks are side-by-side.

Certainly that was carefully ensured; I already got served output to my household from the GK but it's all juice from the battery bank noting in going into the bank from the GK.

If those all fail, let's hope you get some helpful message tonight/tomorrow morning from MPPSolar.
Good luck and hope you revert with some breakthrough news as early as overnight

.

Thanks, if I may ask, have you tried to (or can you) put 4 panels on your GK to see if you can reproduce the issue at your end as well?

Regards
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P34c3
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zellfoxx:
Have you tried resetting it to default and putting a load on it? Since no fault or warning codes, it might work.

Yeah I did that but it didn't help.

mctfopt:
How about emailing the makers/sellers your experiences so far? Most MPPT should be able to pick up at 80v and above. Though yours may be different, that is why you may need to tell the sellers your experience

.

Yeah I have written mppsolar hopefully will read from them on Monday

Those with similar machine can chip in too. Well done

Yeah this will be helpful, perhaps @duwdu can help here.

Thanks

NiyiOmoIyunade:
Oh okies!

My bad!

Apologies please.

Got back home and it's still the same thing, no charge from PV! Wew, strange that a CC with over 120v still cannot start-up. My people any idea on what else I should look into, could this be a faulty panel or a problem with the connection itself?

Thanks
PS: I left the battery at 23v now it has discharged to 22.5v which means even with the high rays of sunlight it didn't pick-up at anytime while I was away!

NiyiOmoIyunade:
Oh okies!

My bad!

Apologies please.

No offense made chief, perhaps am running batteryless mode without knowing, so maybe my issues is settings... Will see when I get back home and will certainly keep the group posted.

NiyiOmoIyunade:
In batteryless mode you will need sufficient dc current coming in from your panels to run whatever loads you have on + a margin for conversion losses and inverter self consumption - since there are no batteries to bridge transient power gaps, it will be power off in case of insufficient PV current to run the loads + margin. The laws of physics cannot be broken so the power your loads need to run cannot be sourced from out of nowhere.

This is aside from the issue raised about voltage headroom - whether you need up to 180v (5-6 panels in series) to run reliably.

By this time (almost) 10am, you should be in a position to run a very small load (say 1 or 2 bulbs) direct from the inverter. If still unstable, you definitely need a battery to store power and also source power from and perhaps additional panels as well.

I must say this is an interesting and courageous leap you guys have taken, pioneering batteryless inverter operations - I eagerly await final results and verdict how this stands up to real world use.

I am not running a batteryless mode, the stuff is connected to 24v bank. Currently not home, I hope it will have changed when I get back

At 7:53 am already over 120vdc, yet no single wattage/current has been received. The solar icon just keeps blinking I wonder if it's normal and am wondering whether this means I will need 6 panels.
Still waiting for sunlight to come better reveal itself.

duwdu:
I missed the word, "idle," hehehe. Thanks, 'Niyi, it's about the same on this inverter that I've seen so far.

And sorry for my misunderstanding of you, totalgreen01.

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P34c3
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I think it's less than 50w on my 3kva, I had my LG TV (max power save mode), decoder and about 18w of bulbs on and I got about 60w output when I checked via the mobile app. I assume that reading is inclusive of idle(operating) consumption.

Dkev:
I'm curious to see if your 4 panels connected in series will work flawlessly. though the manufacturer says mppt range is from 120vdc, the manual still states a minimum 6 panels in series (confuses me). a user on this forum https://forums.aeva.asn.au/viewtopic.php?f=64&t=5830&sid=f41c966980dd3208181a8cd01c33b841&start=25. had difficulty with his unit (running it with 5 modules in series, although without batteries). he solved his problem by adding a sixth module (don't know if the problem arose because he was operating without batteries). please keep us posted when you install your system.

Wew, my colleague brought this min 6 to my attention on the manual yesterday while we were installing, but the 120vdc was what gave some consolation so we proceeded with setup....I am now just patiently waiting for the sunrise to see if indeed I have goofed with my 4 panels budget

Regards

Cool, here I was thinking you've had yours set-up a long time ago good to see you are now up and I have also picked up a few points for set-up of my PIP-3024GK

If I may ask, are you using a combiner box and how did you connect the SPD to ground?

What's the peak generating you've seen thus far? And what's your PV spec?

Cheers!

duwdu:
The summary of this post:

I've had a battle scare with my PIP-5048GK transformerless with battery-less-support inverter I just installed during the early hours of yesterday; but it's all good now.

How it went:

I had been on my brand new 24v 3KW/4KVA VIL Power Star-Light inverter for just under a year, using the 1.8KW max PV loadable on it out of my available 3.2KW. Then the bugger crapped out on me two days ago, in the dead of the evening. The seller wouldn't provide support, stating that the original merchant went under, or something to that effect. Meanwhile, I'm totally off grid and the past two days have had autonomy weather forced on my part of Lagos...

So, I was forced to have to install and deploy my PIP during the very early hours of yesterday, even as I was not quite ready with the PIP (still expecting the second of two 600/800vdc SPD's I learnt would be ideal for the system, one each by the PV array and inverter ends, particularly if the distance between is considerable.)

I went ahead anyways and also reconfigured all of my 10 PV's in series for a possible combined 400V, or thereabout. I also reconfigured my meager 4.8KWh of batteries to 48 volts. Then waited for dawn — and the sun — to show, starting from the next hour.

At about 7:30am, and without any batteries connected whatsoever, the PIP came to life with about 100 watts of power. No load yet, of course, because of the still sun-starved weather. It was beautiful, a successful test of the battery-less feature of the unit. Of course I would have to charge my batteries once the weather improved...what with the past two days of forced autonomy from the glorious sun!

Fast forward about two hours. I proceeded to shut down the sweet system, then installed the batteries. About ten minutes after system restart with batteries now in, the system started bleeping hysterically and shut down...there had been a fault with the fan! (Attached.) The system wouldn't stay back on and consistently beeped and threw "Fault 01 - Fan is locked when the inverter is off." According to the User Manual, the solution was to "Replace the fan."! I entered panick mode...

At about 2pm, I quickly wrote to MPPSolar, describing the problem and lamenting 'how embarrassing the unit became within the first two hours of its deployment and that how could that be? Please rush me a replacement fan, expectedly in addition to other urgent remedies you may suggest. Thank you.' Of course Taiwan had by then closed for the day and gone to bed; I'll have to wait another day...

Still in panick mode, I got in touch with an occasional but very reliable supplier on here, asking for a low price "túké-túké" 48v inverter? (Oh Lord, I'll have to reconfigure my panels again for a max 150v system?!) But there was none. And so I went to bed last night, power-hungry.

I woke up this morning to a waiting email response to me from MPPSolar in Taiwan. Ọpẹ́ o. One of the steps I was advised to take was see whether there had been an obstruction to the normal operation of the fan by some internal wiring harness? I quickly jumped on that one.

What I saw was that, in the process of installing the batteries' +ve lead into the inverter, I had inadvertently worked a clear acrylic flap adorning the top of the fan housing, INTO the fan housing, thereby obstructing the normal movement/rotation of the fan! By 8am, I had corrected the issue and the F01 fault was cleared. The PIP-5048GK has been flawless ever since. (Screenshot attached.)

Morals of the story:

My brethren, please know what you're doing while DIY'ing. The specs for some of our gadgets are precision based, even if the manufacturer has not specifically stated so. In this my specific case, the wire girth specified 38mmsq. I crimped the 50mmsq cables I had at hand and sort of worked them in. After all, one wire gauge up will be even better for carrying current, right? Well, I applied this teaching in a half educated manner and paid with aggravation.

So please be guided as necessary.

Good luck, folks, and thanks for all the education and help on here and elsewhere.

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P34c3
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NiyiOmoIyunade:
Quite a beast of an inverter you have there based on the specs.

Since your inverter can handle high voltage arrays, do you plan to string all 4 panels in series or you plan the conventional 2 panels in series arrangement.

Thanks a lot for the compliment, have been hoping to get it for a long time, am happy it finally happened. I plan on doing all 4 panels in series. I have attached my panel spec

To select a dc breaker current rating, the rule of thumb is max system current × 1.25 - a 250w panel with ~30v vmp should max out at 8.3a, so

4 panels in series gives current rating 8.3a × 1.25 - 10a breaker with rated voltage above 150v at a minimum .

Okay noted with thanks!

These are the minimum breaker sizes for an overcurrent protection device that will also minimize nuisance trips - you can size a little higher if you have suitable gauge of wiring installed.

Noted, I got a 2 core 8awg amoured.

So your connection will look like PV Array ---> Assorted DC Breakers arranged in combiner box ---> SPD installed in combiner box ----> CC ----> DC Breaker (at least 45a) --->- Battery Bank

.

I do not have a combiner box, and I am running out on budget already, is this avoidable without issues?

If you use an SPD, IT MUST BE CONNECTED TO GROUND - I have seen a number of installations where an SPD was installed but not grounded - this is a great error indeed

.

The house is already earthed, is it okay to connect to the ground cable that supplies earthing to the household?

For how to actually install the SPD, you have a variety of options from twisting wires to hard crimping to using a cable splice to using the dc breaker terminals as a connection point but the neatest of all is to employ busbars inside a combiner box or similar arrangement.

Okay noted with thanks

Namzy:
My dream inverter. How much did you get this?

590USD + N10K

NiyiOmoIyunade:
A DC .


For a PV array, you need suitably rated DC breaker(s) between PV and CC (use a combiner box for larger installs) and also between CC and battery bank as OVERCURRENT protection and manual disconnect

Depending on the value of installed components and how critical operational continuity is, you want at a minimum an SPD between PV and CC (usually SPD is installed at combiner box). Midnite is a good source of SPDs but surely you may not want to spend ~45k/50k on an SPD to protect an inverter or CC worth less than 100k.

Thanks a lot for the education, it's really useful. My setup is quite small, for now it's 4 panels (250w each) to be in series. I have attached the spec of my hybrid controller.

I already have an SPD so from your explanation above, it means that diagrammatically, the wire from PV will look something like below:

PV>>>SPD>>>DC breaker>>>CC

What DC circuit breaker rating do you recommend? It's a 24V system.

Thanks again.

mctfopt:
The calculation is just for the setup I described. You can always interpolate with your own specific setup data to get what you require. I hope this helps.

Sorry I think I may not have asked my question correctly, is an SPD same thing as circuit breaker?

ebuks4ever:
Recommended ATF is Toyota Type IV
Recommended engine oil is SAE 5w30

I use recommend oil on mine but I notice it burns on highway, I checked reviews and it seem to be a popular problem and some indicated that changing the rear valve cover to the 3rd Gen cover fixed the issue. Anyone with experience on this?
Fyi, I don't loose oil if I drive within 70miles/hr

mctfopt:
OK. I'd suggest you use a cable up to 10mm, just buy the flexible copper type mostly used by welders.

The Voc determines the minimum voltage rating of the disconnect switch: for a 14 series 36v PV system the breaker disconnect voltage will be
14 × 36 V = 504V, so a 600V dc breaker will do.

As per the current, if Isc of each panel is 8.5A as they are in series the maximum current obtainable is 8.5A, you'd multiply this by 125% which gives 10.625A which you can round to the nearest standard current size of 16A. So you'd require a 600V 16A dc breaker for this configuration.

Thanks I have an SPD that has 600Voc, is it the same thing with what you've stated above? Here is the reference of the SPD I have:

https://www.otowadenki.co.jp/eng/products/pdf/LS-YPV6012S%20%20LS-YPV10012S.pdf

Regards

Namzy:
There's an app on playstore called SOLARCT. It's a nice app and have calculations for your needs including solar panel tilt angle. I think the developer tried with that app

Okay thanks, found the tool useful. I have ordered a 10mm 2 core amoured cable.
Meanwhile has anyone used sunfit solar panels before? Anyone with experience of it compared to flames will be appreciated.

mctfopt:
The cable size you are asking of is it for the connection of the PVs to the solar charge controller? If yes, what's the distance between the PV and the charge controller?

Yes and the distance is about 12 meters.
Please kindly also recommend if I should get a circuit breaker and the specification. Fyi I already got an SPD.
Thanks

ojeysky:
So I am starting with 4 250W flames panel. I have gotten an SPD as well. Now am wondering what kind of cable I should procure. My colleague said I should get a 6mm amoured cable which has both negative and positive and earth. Is that the right cable for my setup?

Bump!

ojeysky:
Package received after paying 10,700. How they arrive at the figure remain unknown to me but I just needed to retrieve the package so didn't ask much questions.

One down from the required ingredients now many more to get

So I am starting with 4 250W flames panel. I have gotten an SPD as well. Now am wondering what kind of cable I should procure. My colleague said I should get a 6mm amoured cable which has both negative and positive and earth. Is that the right cable for my setup?

MotorGuru:
check the wiring going to your coils and injectors and ensure the insulation is not degraded.

I eliminated all that before we finally discovered that it was one of the valves that had issues after we opened up the cylinder. Car is back to normal now, though I hope the engine will remain in top shape now that it has been opened.

Teeders:
See the bill Kazeem gave my Dad's friend for fixing his lexus rx330, ignore the grammatical errors �check the costs.

What caught my attention is the last line; how can he make all those quotation and then end it with a 1k engine oil. Perhaps a 1L 20w50....by the engine oil we shall know them... Your Dad may need another kazeem

GAZZUZZ:
If spark and fuel supply confirmed. Next check compression. If poor then focus on valves and head gasket

Finally summoned the courage to open up the engine(good to see it's somewhat sludge free) which was done by a recently identified Professional, so It happened that valve was the problem (one of the valve got bored in have no idea how that was possible).

Thanks!

Vehicle has a high rating that exceed the normal range. You can't go wrong on this offer. Keep the calls/WhatsApp coming

Hello,

This baby was just surprisingly won on copart and it can be yours, contact me before the end of today if you are interested, a deposit of at least 1m will do while you can pay the rest on arrival:

https://www.copart.com/lot/31437529

0803five23353five

amdman:
Hot Sale!!!

2005 Toyota Corolla

Manual Transmission

186k miles

No reported faults

VIN 2T1BR32E05C867890

N1.3m all costs included

That's your contact details? Has anyone dealt with this guy? Is he legit please?

JUO:
AC/DC ceiling fan now available price 25k. There is Discount for bulk purchase
Features:
Remote control
Regulator
Led light
Input source AC/DC
Power consumption 5w-36w
Size 56"
080-987-337-09

Kai now that am low on funds, will patronise you next month God's willing. Do you have the standing fan as well?

Rubbiish:
First time i am seeing 04 corolla for 1.9m
All i have seen so far usually don't exceed 1.8m
So what is so special about this?

Same here, it's on the high side but considering the price it was bought at copart and assuming full duties were paid, I guess Gazzuz may be looking at a profit margin within 200k+. Perhaps not too much profit afterall

This is 2001 Sir