IYGEAL:


Of course not. But if you don't have enough PV, why not? It also comes handy on bad-sun-days, especially if your storage isn't enough to sustain you for a few days.

Hmmmm, you don't need to have enough panels! I only have 1600watts capacity for now, I have been totally off Nigeria grid for more than 4years fa, this is for my own mental health and pocket! Nigeria grid will make u go bankrupt.

Mind you, I do all the basic things with it, except run an ac.

Bad weather, yes, I run my gen for 3hr and that's it. I started recording my petrol usage last year. I used only 20 liters from Jan to Dec 2021. I started the record for this year again.

Oshomo12:


Hmmmm, you don't need to have enough panels! I only have 1600watts capacity for now, I have been totally off Nigeria grid for more than 4years fa, this is for my own mental health and pocket! Nigeria grid will make u go bankrupt.

Mind you, I do all the basic things with it, except run an ac.

Bad weather, yes, I run my gen for 3hr and that's it. I started recording my petrol usage last year. I used only 20 liters from Jan to Dec 2021. I started the record for this year again.

The gen part has substantied what iyegeal said. In bad weather it is not bad to use grid, this is an alternative energy source just like the gen . So in theory the only way to beat bad weather is a big battery bank and adequately big panel generation.

samnaija:


The gen part has substantied what iyegeal said. In bad weather it is not bad to use grid, this is an alternative energy source just like the gen . So in theory the only way to beat bad weather is a big battery bank and adequately big panel generation.

I got his point clearly and yours too. But you are not getting mine. Take a good look at that useless grid voltage supply on the previous page. Imagine that 300+ volts passing thru that servo stab onto ur your appliances! It's going to be another story. I tried to convert a friend, but he would not listen, not until the grid cost him about 700k plus damages on connected appliances, Tv alone was 400k (just 2wks ago), and now he understood me clearly. In Nigeria, as we stand this moment, the grid causes a lot of damages than any other benefit you can think of. our people just do not keep record of this damages.

FireTheSun:


He must be referring to the "Alaba-Made type" of Canadian Solar, l guess perhaps

I am an End User, l a not selling anything, not Panels, not Inverters, so l dont need to pad-up any information here because l have no benefit from hyping a second rate Solar Panel, unlike those who do so, because that is what they have in store to sell.

Only a few sellers here, can anyone take their word or product recommendation seriously, majority will tell you that what they have in Stock is the best, even when they know that is not true! We know them by their past antecedents.

Original Canadian Solar Panels are still the best in the market.
There is a reason why Companies with Tradition, try to protect their Named Product and even go to court to protect any copyright or registered name infringement, it is because they have put in a lot of Effort, Money, Research and Development, to get their products to the level it is and that is why our Alaba Sellers want to produce a Counterfeit Version of it.

Lol. With all due respect sir I believe the argument is about Canadian solar vs other top tier1 brands like jinko, LG etc. Nobody mentioned Canadian solar vs tier3 (alaba) panels. My argument still remains cad solar is not the best in the market among other tier1 brands.
Incase you don't know , It is well known on this forum I sell original tier 1 brands panels and those that needs them are in my dm. If u need some too you can also dm. Let's stick to the argument.
Regards.

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.

GeorgeD1:


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?

Oshomo12:


I got his point clearly and yours too. But you are not getting mine. Take a good look at that useless grid voltage supply on the previous page. Imagine that 300+ volts passing thru that servo stab onto ur your appliances! It's going to be another story. I tried to convert a friend, but he would not listen, not until the grid cost him about 700k plus damages on connected appliances, Tv alone was 400k (just 2wks ago), and now he understood me clearly. In Nigeria, as we stand this moment, the grid causes a lot of damages than any other benefit you can think of. our people just do not keep record of this damages.

Current/Voltage Limiter is certainly less than N20k.

I understand you use Gen to make up for bad weather, insufficient storage/pv; but some people don't want anything gen whatsoever. Gen can also come handy and save the day but I'd rather manage my loads on bad weather/grid days than use gen. Our situations may be different as I don't often have my batteries depleted to the point of needing the help of gen or grid. I left grid to run in my place because I often don't use and or need it.

The OP is having a really unfortunate situation with the grid in his hood but that's not the norm.

It's funny people assume it is only grid that damages appliances, even in solar it has its own perils , lightning strikes for instance can take out your appliances. So you have to protect from both ways . Even generator that is not regulated properly causes damages .

Any body with experience with natural cracks on solar panels, does it affect production??.

Short circuit test on the panels was neither here nor there

samnaija:
It's funny people assume it is only grid that damages appliances, even in solar it has its own perils , lightning strikes for instance can take out your appliances. So you have to protect from both ways . Even generator that is not regulated properly causes damages .

A lightening strike took out my axpert 3kva [ipowerplus] inverter and I'm so pained. Took the inverter for repairs and every where I took it in Anambra, I'm told its toast. I'm still looking for anyone that repair it maybe in Lagos. Currently in the market for a replacement and prices are scary

samnaija:
It's funny people assume it is only grid that damages appliances, even in solar it has its own perils , lightning strikes for instance can take out your appliances. So you have to protect from both ways . Even generator that is not regulated properly causes damages .

Mostly occurs with systems connected to the grid my brother!

Where I work for example, a teaching environment, just this June. I have two installations there. In the town where the school is located, I have 8 installations, with my own installation, also in the same town. The school contracted installations to someone outside, numbering about 7 in all. Then this nasty thunder strike or lighting occurred. I was awake working with my system plugged and inverter on. Only for me to get to school the following morning, all the 7 installations in the school got fried. Nothing happened to mine and every other installed system I did within the same environment.

The only difference is that I don't connect my installations to the grid, none were connected to the grid. Maybe it's just luck abi? Let's wait and see.

Edited: pls this scenario u painted occurs due to a surge along the power line direct to ur inverter ac input, during thunderstorms.

Namzy:

A lightening strike took out my axpert 3kva [ipowerplus] inverter and I'm so pained. Took the inverter for repairs and every where I took it in Anambra, I'm told its toast. I'm still looking for anyone that repair it maybe in Lagos. Currently in the market for a replacement and prices are scary

Do you charge with grid, was the inverter connected to the grid line even when the grid had no supply?

....

Oshomo12:


Do you charge with grid, was the inverter connected to the grid line even when the grid had no supply?

It was but there was no power at the time. I don't have grid power for 2 years now, the 'AC in' is just for the big generator at night.

Note that I am not saying good and proper protection is not needed for any installation. It's just that where we find ourselves, the nation grid line is the weak link in any installation. Current limiter, servo stab that can see like 60v and 350 v!, ever-fluctuating voltages, dancing all over the place, etc, I just don't like the madness.

Any conductor that enters your inverter from outdoors makes your inverter fair game for lightning electromagnetic pulse including the cables that connect your solar PV array to the charge controller or hybrid inverter as the case may be unless you have a LPS installed.The grid conductors will carry a higher risk though because they may extend for up to a kilometre to your distribution transformer.

Oshomo12:


Mostly occurs with systems connected to the grid my brother!

Where I work for example, a teaching environment, just this June. I have two installations there. In the town where the school is located, I have 8 installations, with my own installation, also in the same town. The school contracted installations to someone outside, numbering about 7 in all. Then this nasty thunder strike or lighting occurred. I was awake working with my system plugged and inverter on. Only for me to get to school the following morning, all the 7 installations in the school got fried. Nothing happened to mine and every other installed system I did within the same environment.

The only difference is that I don't connect my installations to the grid, none were connected to the grid. Maybe it's just luck abi? Let's wait and see.

Edited: pls this scenario u painted occurs due to a surge along the power line direct to ur inverter ac input, during thunderstorms.

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!

dejidotun2000:
Any conductor that enters your inverter from outdoors makes your inverter fair game for lightning electromagnetic pulse including the cables that connect your solar PV array to the charge controller or hybrid inverter as the case may be unless you have a LPS installed.The grid conductors will carry a higher risk though because they may extend for up to a kilometre to your distribution transformer.

You are very correct, the drama attached to our grid is just.....

Where I am staying currently, workplace, earthing is non-existent, so l just connected my system off-grid. I don't like stories that touch.

earthrealm:
Any body with experience with natural cracks on solar panels, does it affect production??.

Short circuit test on the panels was neither here nor there

The black dot on the lower right side of the picture, is it a hole or what?

Hi everyone, I want to setup a solar charging station for phone power banks.
Something cheap decent and straightforward.
This setup is only going to be used for charging power banks so I only need a usb 3.0 output and nothing else.

I did some researching already and this is what I think it will require, kindly feel free to correct me.

1 solar panel ===> Charge controller ==> usb 3.0 ==> power bank.

I dont know what these ratings should be
Can some one validate this and provide cost estimates as well.

Thank you all.

oldienavie:
Hi everyone, I want to setup a solar charging station for phone power banks.
Something cheap decent and straightforward.
This setup is only going to be used for charging power banks so I only need a usb 3.0 output and nothing else.

I did some researching already and this is what I think it will require, kindly feel free to correct me.

1 solar panel ===> Charge controller ==> usb 3.0 ==> power bank.

I dont know what these ratings should be
Can some one validate this and provide cost estimates as well.

Thank you all.

It's either you are going to use
1. 6volt solar panels or
2. Solar panel --charger controller --battery---12v/5v charger----powerbank or
3. Solar panels---- buck converter----- power bank.
I hope the power bank is a 5v power bank?

Dishtech:

It's either you are going to use
1. 6volt solar panels or
2. Solar panel --charger controller --battery---12v/5v charger----powerbank or
3. Solar panels---- buck converter----- power bank.
I hope the power bank is a 5v power bank?

Thank you.

Oshomo12:


The black dot on the lower right side of the picture, is it a hole or what?

Not a hole, dirt, actually inspected it now, its discarded chewing gum, must hv been there for centuries..lol.
The panels bring 2.3amps with no sun and upto 4.1amps during short circuit test with 3pm sun

Please, can I get rechargeable mini steam iron?
The advertised ones I saw online aren't rechargeable.

earthrealm:


Not a hole, dirt, actually inspected it now, its discarded chewing gum, must hv been there for centuries..lol.
The panels bring 2.3amps with no sun and upto 4.1amps during short circuit test with 3pm sun

What are the specs on the panel? That's when one can tell by how much it is affected.

Namzy:

A lightening strike took out my axpert 3kva [ipowerplus] inverter and I'm so pained. Took the inverter for repairs and every where I took it in Anambra, I'm told its toast. I'm still looking for anyone that repair it maybe in Lagos. Currently in the market for a replacement and prices are scary

See if you can replace the damaged part. Try Alibaba if all fails here. Bought a part in Taobao to replace a damaged charger that I was unable to fix here.

IYGEAL:


Current/Voltage Limiter is certainly less than N20k.

I understand you use Gen to make up for bad weather, insufficient storage/pv; but some people don't want anything gen whatsoever. Gen can also come handy and save the day but I'd rather manage my loads on bad weather/grid days than use gen. Our situations may be different as I don't often have my batteries depleted to the point of needing the help of gen or grid. I left grid to run in my place because I often don't use and or need it.

The OP is having a really unfortunate situation with the grid in his hood but that's not the norm.

I support this view. Solar is best viewed from an econonic angle. If we have a perfect grid in Nigeria many wont be here because grid will always be cheaper than solar.

I currently live offgrid but before I consider spending millions extending my solar setup to make it more resiliant for low sunlight months.. It would be more economical to add the grid as an addtional source of electricity. The grid even though unstable would help to keep battery charged and reduce load on the system. Good thing is I have an inverter that allows me create a priority system which would allow me choose when the grid can come in. This would cost me 10% of the cost of addtional panels and batteries.
it is just the smarter way to get things done.

mctfopt:


See if you can replace the damaged part. Try Alibaba if all fails here. Bought a part in Taobao to replace a damaged charger that I was unable to fix here.

I intend to do that

dejidotun2000:
Any conductor that enters your inverter from outdoors makes your inverter fair game for lightning electromagnetic pulse including the cables that connect your solar PV array to the charge controller or hybrid inverter as the case may be unless you have a LPS installed.The grid conductors will carry a higher risk though because they may extend for up to a kilometre to your distribution transformer.

Very true this is why the solution is not to disconnect from the grid but to have layers of protection to your system from the design phase. Most people neglect protections system even though they are the cheaper aspect of any Installation. Yes few things can survive a direct lightning strike.. but most lightning related damage is from indirect strike.

It starts with having a good earth. Then having voltage protection systems. It also good to ground your panel frames or mounting systems to the same earth.
The last set of upgrades I did to my solar setup was protection related. They include grounding all the panels using bare copper wire and PV frame ground lugs I got from AliExpress.
Making a DIY combiner box with integrated current and voltage protection system.

This is to help reduce the risk of transient electrical surge causing damage.

.

Thank you boss.

GeorgeD1:


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!

Oga dishtech, your second option is the best for him. Those 6v panels don't have enough current in them, and if he chooses the third, excess power will be lost when the sun shines well, and there may not be enough current when the cloud cover the sun, so you need a battery, no matter the capacity to balance that. I bought some DC to DC chargers on AliExpress, it allows me to charge early in the morning or when the weather is poor without switching on my inverter. You can find those with USB 3.0

Dishtech:

It's either you are going to use
1. 6volt solar panels or
2. Solar panel --charger controller --battery---12v/5v charger----powerbank or
3. Solar panels---- buck converter----- power bank.
I hope the power bank is a 5v power bank?

Namzy:

A lightening strike took out my axpert 3kva [ipowerplus] inverter and I'm so pained. Took the inverter for repairs and every where I took it in Anambra, I'm told its toast. I'm still looking for anyone that repair it maybe in Lagos. Currently in the market for a replacement and prices are scary

Do you have a surge protection device installed?