pcoolioz:
Hi All, please does anyone know how to handle this. My inverter reads a higher volt than the BMS/meter on the battery. This just started a couple of days ago but it has happened last year.

Can’t remember how it sorted itself out. Sometimes, the inverter volt gets so high that the inverter trips off for overloading. Meanwhile, the BMS app says it’s fine and there is no overload. Has anyone experienced this before?

The first 29.3 is the battery volt shown by the inverter. It trips off at 30. Usually when the battery is full. The second is the meter on the battery which shows 26.4 volt and what the BMS app also says.

@ojeysky
@mcfopt
@Valto
@earthrealm

Anyone with this experience please your input is needed.

Expertt:
Good morning guys , please what type and size of surge, lightning or thunder protection do I buy for 8kw Inverter

pcoolioz:
Hi All, please does anyone know how to handle this. My inverter reads a higher volt than the BMS/meter on the battery. This just started a couple of days ago but it has happened last year.

Can’t remember how it sorted itself out. Sometimes, the inverter volt gets so high that the inverter trips off for overloading. Meanwhile, the BMS app says it’s fine and there is no overload. Has anyone experienced this before?

The first 29.3 is the battery volt shown by the inverter. It trips off at 30. Usually when the battery is full. The second is the meter on the battery which shows 26.4 volt and what the BMS app also says.

@ojeysky
@mcfopt
@Valto
@earthrealm

Anyone with this experience please your input is needed.

dollarnaira:


What u actually need is what i don't understand. What do u need?
All of a sudden?
After replying almost all ur post, I got banned for 24hrs. Wetin u dey find gan gan? Tell me biko. If d several replies still don't get u satisfied....hmmmm. Chai

Probably u felt everyone here sells lithium battery abi?

dejidotun2000:
Is the inverter connected to a solar pv array and to NEPA ?
If yes, for the AC lines, you will need a Type 1 surge protective device at your NEPA distribution board where the cables from your poles are terminated and a type 2 SPD very close to the inverter AC terminals.

For the solar PV input cable, you will also need a Type 1 SPD upstream and a type 2 SPD close to the solar input of your inverter and the earth terminals of all the SPDs must be connected to a ground electrode with no lower than 10 ohms resistance.

A lot of what I said will likely not make sense to you because lightning protection isn't really a DIY thing

ojesymsym:
The royal ramble continues. Lithium Vs Lead Acid.

If my memory is right, at a stage Niyi also was on the other side of the divide before he got converted also.

dejidotun2000:
Is the inverter connected to a solar pv array and to NEPA ?
If yes, for the AC lines, you will need a Type 1 surge protective device at your NEPA distribution board where the cables from your poles are terminated and a type 2 SPD very close to the inverter AC terminals.

For the solar PV input cable, you will also need a Type 1 SPD upstream and a type 2 SPD close to the solar input of your inverter and the earth terminals of all the SPDs must be connected to a ground electrode with no lower than 10 ohms resistance.

A lot of what I said will likely not make sense to you because lightning protection isn't really a DIY thing

samnaija:

My guy pass, no be by force to respond. And stop lying.

Expertt:
Thanks for this information. Please give me insight in terms of rating, and available brands. My intention is to to buy an affordable protective devices and call a good installer to do the job

Oshomo12:


How do you buy what you don't know anything about?
Abrg, call someone who knows this thing and get it done.

Expertt:


I understand your concern bro. That is why I am asking here. How do I know if the person is going to do a good job if I don't have an idea of what the person is doing. Besides I do not know anyone doing it currently. And am simply buying things for installation so I don't think it's wrong buying lpd and spd also so that the installer will fix everything once

FEGEITOK:


Your concerns are valid.

I spent over a month studying inverters and batteries including reading reviews.
....
If you cannot get the help, you want here, then consider 1. Reddit and 2. YouTube 3. very specific google searches, the answers you seek might be found there.
......
One thing I have learned from this thread - without those SPDs, your installation is incomplete.

My practice was to disconnect my inverter from the wiring of the house during rains and thunderstorms but installing SPDs makes more sense.

NiyiOmoIyunade:
Before SPDs people have to get their protective earthing done right because the fault currents and voltage potential from a surge or lightning hit will have nowhere to go to if there is no proper earth in place.

Once you have a proper Earth system in place with sufficiently low resistance then you can step up the level of protection with SPDs.

SPDs mostly limit the voltage rise seen by the protected downstream equipment - this is one reason why premium gear is more robust since they typically have a UL label which means they were tested at the lab to be able to withstand up to 2,500volts.

Good SPDs are not cheap, a lot of the el cheapo asian junk that go by the name SPD have no published or proven clamp voltage rating. In the end you get what you pay for.

Doing a premium midnite SPD on the mains incomer and PV lines could easily set one back 200k - may not make sense to spend 200k in SPDs to protect a 500k inverter - you kind of have to match the cost of additional protection which SPDs offer to the value of the protected equipment and any downtime.

Just to balance the discussion around surge and lightning protection.

FEGEITOK:


Thank you for your input, comments like this and the debate over types of batteries is why I suspended my purchase in the meantime.

For me SPDs are a most. I am going for an 8KW PV array and at least 10KW battery storage for a minimum and 30Kw storage maximum.

With that much outlay I have to protect it with all that I have, that said what has slowed me down is understanding which batteries to go for and why, so as to achieve the best cost/performance ratio.

Since my initial plan has been queried on this thread.

Once again thanks for your expertise and willingness to share.

dollarnaira:


I feel like calling u a name but it is already obvious...wat sort of person are u?

"Lying about?
"No b by force to reply"....
Chai see corporate insult o.

No worder some ppu dont reply to some questions posted here. Your type make others get unduly neglected.

No wahala o.
U try.

Well, I will pass... thanks

NiyiOmoIyunade:
For SPDs the Midnite SPDs for AC and DC applications are top tier.

Schneider produces some Acti 9 SPDs as well which are more budget friendly.

Whatever SPD you choose, you just need to match the mcov and clamp voltage ratings to your equipment.

Again you probably shouldn't use an 100k SPD to give additional protection to a 300k inverter.

For the ultimate protection you would need SPDs and voltage and overcurrent protection on the mains input, SPD on the PV input and SPDs and overcurrent/shortcircuit protection on the inverter AC out.


The costs of protection stack up pretty quick and you may need a risk assessment of your site to decide where best to put your protection dollars.

GeorgeD1:


there's really no need for name-calling here, i think.
you have to remember that we are all here for one purpose - energy freedom (or so i think)
what myself, samnaija and others are trying to tell up and coming solar enthusiasts is that you know what?
before lithium came onboard, there was lead acid. you don't have to be straight-jacketed into one type of battery chemistry.
you have options.
for all the draw backs of lead acid, namely:
1) it occupies space - not everyone is space constrained (many aspiring renewables enthusiasts might be living in their own
houses, so space is not an issue for them)
2) it is heavier and not easy to carry - again that may not be a deal breaker for many as long as they don't live a nomadic life.
battery banks are not meant to be moved about once they're installed. even the usual battery rotation is done every 12 or 24
months in some instances.
3) the energy density is lesser than lithium - while this may be true, except you plan to use your battery bank to run an
electric vehicle which has a high current draw, this shouldn't be a problem. if your sole aim is to run your house loads, i doubt
there's any domestic appliance that would require such high current draw which your lead acid cannot cope with.
4) dod of 50 (for lead acid) as against 80 or 90 percent (for lithium) - this also is not a challenge for many as proper battery
bank sizing easily takes care of this.
5) it has shorter life span compared to lithium - while this may be true, we have had lead acid banks lasting way beyond their
projected end of service life with proper system sizing and good maintenance practice. my 2v single cell batteries are projected
to last 15yrs by the oem. even if i'm able to get just 10yrs out of them at the end of the day, it would be a major step forward
for lead.

besides all the above, what we would like the newcomers to understand is that despite the much acclaimed drop in price of
lithium compared to lead acid, on a price per watt basis, lead acid is still a cheaper option.
so, if a person who is contemplating going solar is reading all this and all he is seeing is lithium, lithium and he goes to check
the cost of buying a lithium pack, and then throws in the cost of purchasing an appropriate sized bms with all other bells and
whistles, he gets discouraged and walks away thinking, "you know what, solar is too expensive".

over ten years ago, when we started this thread, we were all grateful for the opportunity to learn by building our systems
from scratch using simple, tried and tested methods. they were cheaper but they got the job done. we want newbies to be
given such opportunities too. they don't have to be teleguided into a particular method or battery chemistry. let them try for
themselves and see what works and what does not. that's the beauty of diy and that is overriding aim of this thread.

if we all are objective in our submissions, there would be no need for name calling. and, if we all are able to achieve our
ultimate goal of energy freedom, it would be a win-win for us all.

break the myth! you know you can!!

samnaija:


Do not explain anything to anyone. This thread is for everyone, all of a sudden if you cannot speak again. God forbid you mention lead acid battery.

This is a forum for matured minds to exchange ideas ,but some people take it has a personal war.

I will say it again again, lithium is the new baby in town. If you have the money no problem.

Then there are alternatives apart from lithium
Which don't cost an arm and a leg lead acid.

I am not a salesman , but an enduser that started solar journey through this forum.

Has long has my lead acid batteries are in service , if anyone ask a question about lead acid I will answer the person.

So if it angers you to hear about, lead acid feel free to touch a bursbar. ....

ojeysky:


Those who talked about lithium are also users(end or middle or high ), I still bought lead acid last month for setup somewhere but do not take it personal when people state the obvious superiority of lithium over lead acid.....

This thread is here to state our experiences and advice but ultimate decision rest with individual so tagging everyone that prefers lithium over lead acid as marker or seller could mislead users.
That said, I actually wish actual marketers on this thread actually share their experience when people ask questions

ojeysky:

That said, I actually wish actual marketers on this thread actually share their experience when people ask questions

NiyiOmoIyunade:
I have used both Lead Acid and Lithium.

Lead Acid I started off with the typical sealed Luminous, Genus, Sinergy which all dissappointed then moved on to Flooded US Battery which also dissappointed then ultimately went for Lithium. When I say dissappointed, I mean they did not all make the promised cycle life despite being used within charge and discharge specs and best practices. For customer installations I used Quanta AGM which did better but mostly still fell short of the expected cycle life.

I ported to Lithium 2018/2019 ish, lived offgrid exclusively off 16 units of Pylontech US2000 - 3 years and several hundred cycles later they are still going strong and no discernible performance degradation, also Lithium allowed me to move from dreading customer calls (once you hear backup time is reducing you know lead acid don dey near end of life) to answering them with my full chest and only getting calls for capacity and feature upgrades and referrals for new business.



Really the bane of all battery systems is how to keep cells in series well balanced - whoever solves that problem will greatly extend his battery service life. The Lithium chemistries are mostly superior to lead acid but also a lot less forgiving of mistakes (overcharge/discharge)

isangjohnson:
Please, maximum of how many months can one mix old LA batteries with the new one?
I know the battery must come from the same manufacturer and must also be the same amps.

Intellab:

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microgiant: