guy,
growing well... nice one

richmon74: This MINI-GRID installation is still ongoing. We've done 36 pcs of 265W Solarworld panels on day one (though it was a half day job) and the remaining 17 will be done the next day.

I appreciate every member of this thread that showed up at site to give us their moral support.

The details of the complete installation will be on our facebook page 'PBASE Solar'

We will welcome any reasonable question as long as it won't infringe on our business privacy.

my oga

always available

GeorgeD1:

brother,

ts-rm-2 arrived wafi land safely. its already installed and firing as we speak.
thanks a million! now that is one less piece of damaged bos equipment to worry
about.

next stop will be the bls and i'll be knocking on totalgreen's door for that.

hmmmmm! strange! how come i'm getting this feeling that i've been here before?!

yeah, that's what thunder & lightning can do to your system!

my oga welcome back.

GeorgeD1:

brother,
since the recent near collapse of nl, a couple of us have suddenly realised that there is life outside of the stream.

ok, just joking. I (and I guess a couple of other guys) have been busy making a decent living in the real world. deadlines to
meet, issues to sort out, et al. but I'm back now and kicking.

break the myth!

where is everyone... am i on the wrong thread?

HAPPY NEW YEAR AGAIN BROTHERS

George_D: richmon74,
abunafiu,
juo,
all,

looks like we got to start the year all over again.
fortunately for us, it may not be such a bad idea seeing all the acrimony that took place here of recent.
let's therefore seize this opportunity for a fresh start devoid of brickbats.

so guys, welcome to the new 2014 in june! as the holy book says, let him that stole steal no more. let him
that cursed, curse no more. in the same vein, also, let him that spammed, spam no more, for we be
brethren!

may the sun never set on all our endeavours. amen!

hi,

same problem here

nice one

abunafiu: happy new year my good friends on this thread..

I discovered a significant drop in output of my system so I climbed up to see what's happening.
the problem was dust . all I did was to use a big hand size foam and clean. although not easy but I stretched as far as my arm could reach.
the result was a significant improvement .
I hereby recommend u observe ur panels for dust.
If u reside very close to an untarred road...am sure Ure already a victim.

congrats... very nice

happy new year friends.

salam12: Remaining Pics:

My Oga,

Very well said, u could not have put it better.

Brothers is time we start setting examples to the newbies, or at least talking about it, funds is always an issue when you have to do anything right in life, so if we cant afford it for now, we can talk about it so when newbies come on board, they at least know the right thing to do.

I cant even start telling you how many batteries i have gone thru. My cyberpower has been repaired once, but i guess i am lucky cause i am like 90% off-grid, all i do is invert and use my gen in raining season. I have 3 xantrex inverters i bought for my cybercafe like 7years back, up till this day i still use them and i have never had to repair them for once.

My Oga thanks for setting the pace... we go work harder

George_D:


fikfik,

just as i said in my reply to bodejohn's post earlier on, i think it depends on how you look at it.

my cyberpower inverter had to be worked on like three good times before i was finally able to enjoy it in its
present condition. the luck i had was that i got it from a dealer who was close by. i just wonder how
i would have fared had i purchased it from a faraway place like lagos. what irked me most was that from the very
first day i bought it, i was told by the dealer that it needed 'special installation' as according to him it was not
'like every other inverter'. well, i soon found out exactly what he meant when i was hit with problem after problem
arising from its operation. and, mind you, i'm not exactly a novice when it comes to inverters, having been in the
business close to 7yrs!
also, i just recieved my sukam inverter from my dealer after having been to the workshop for the better part of a month.
at the end of the day, i had to cough out a whopping 22k for the repairs!
so, when you talk of waste of money i think we all tend to have this general idea of being penny wise. its much like
telling someone who bought a mercedes benz that he could have saved money by going for a cheaper korean car model
instead since both of them do the same job of moving people from one place to the next. we all know that they are not
the same. several years after that korean car would have been long forgotten in the scrap yard, the mercedes benz
would just be starting its useful service life.
the renewable energy option by its very nature attracts droves of people with the promise of low maintenance, low
cost and durability. that is why you see most solar panels with warranty of up to 25yrs, batteries with service life up to
8, 10 and 15 years, charge controllers outliving the very systems they were initially installed to charge. i could go on
but you get the general idea. therefore i get worried when peeps become comfortable with the idea of batteries
which last maximum of two years and are changed out and they see this as normal? inverters which only serve you for a
year or two and after wards send you running to the electronics repair shop. imagine if you have to climb your roof every
other year to change your solar modules? how clumsy would that be? but this is what we do with our batteries. this is
what we do with our inverters. this is what we do with our charge controllers, etc all because we think we are saving
money going for 'low cost' alternatives. put together, all those low quality batteries we changed out over time could
have given us a trojan or hoppecke battery that would have lasted the whole of 15 years! put together, all those low
quality, average inverters changed out over time could have given us a sunnyboy or a xantrex or a magnum, etc that
would have lasted the better part of 10 years! so, how wise do we make out at the end of the day buying lower quality
alternatives that only give us pain in the long run? maybe we should ask the man visiting the mechanic after just two
years of purchasing that korean model car while his mercedes benz counterpart keeps cruising around in his sleek auto
without any care in the world!

hello,

Not Advisable, you old set is 2yrs deep, if it was like 3months or less, then you can risk it, but 2yrs too long.

my 2 cent

shithapuns: i have a battery bank {2 x 200amp) that i have used for about 2yrs.........now i want to increase my capacity and buy 2 x 200amp battery to form my 2nd bank...my qquestion is....can i combine both banks...say using the copper bar as george d used?

its a 24v inverter so the batteries will in in series n then parallel....the system would be connected to a 1kw 24v solar panel and a cc charge controller.....but my major concern is if i can combine the old and new battery bank............without the old battery affecting the life/performance of the new........am thinking since they are in different strings that the effect would be negligible...but am open to ideas/comments from folks here

My Oga congrats, i am gum smacked, setting a trend for all of us to follow.
but only one more upgrade remains..... PLEASE paint that room, magnum na yanky o.

great upgrade, really worth the cash.

keep us informed on the workings of Battery Saver.

George_D: ok, looks like a complete makeover, at last!

my oga i dey with you..... carry on

George_D: next will the installation pics showing how all these items tie together.

hi,
u guys want to kill us, pls pls send pics, cant wait to see.

bodejohn: Proffessional installation of a 2.4kw solar array done today.
Highlights: 12pcs of 200watt perlight monocrystalline panels, 50A China brand charge controller completed with DC circuit breakers. Pictures to follow later...

hi,
make sure you get the digital one, i have both, every 4 - 5 days i have to correct the manual one, but if all you are doing is cumulative timing, then any would do, but if you need to shut off at a fixed time i.e just when the sun is going down then "digital" is it.

earthrealm: wow..in ladipo?....that's cool...did u get the manual or digital?...pls how much did u get them? what brnd etc?....am exploring another option of getting them from the uk...but want to compare prices and specs

My oga you are too kind... thanks for the trust.
I dey wait for pics o... this waive of upgrades.

George_D: all,

after several months of diligent preparation. a couple of disappointments here and there,
i finally made it into the league of high end inverters with my latest upgrade works
over the weekend.

thanks to totalgreen who lent his invaluable assistance in acquiring all the dc breakers and
other accessories. i will always be grateful for his help as a brother indeed.

right now, i'm still in the process of tidying up the installation.

more details coming soon!

hi
is any one here using Trojan Flooded Battery?

OK Cool

earthrealm: i understand now...the 24v 1200w is for a 24v battery bank/inverter sytem while the 12v 600w is for a 12v system..sadly that's where mine falls under

No Error there, the CC's Nominal Maximum Solar Input for 12 volt - ***600 Watts***, so if you use only 2 panels, that's 500watts which does not maximize the CC.

That's why i recommend 3panels which is 750watts, don't worry when the CC reaches its maximum input it will stop or limits its self, throwing away 150watts.

check out http://www.morningstarcorp.com/en/strings/calc.php

regards

earthrealm: thnks guys for the info.

@totalgreen..I think u made an error, using 3 units of the 250w panels will give me 750 watts...which is more than my cc can handle....yes its morning star mppt cc.

Correct... very Correct

pheleix:
For now you can go with option 1. But option 2 is better. The lower the system voltage the higher the current on the wires and this causes heating and sometimes fire, hence lower voltage system will require bigger wires 16mm sq and above, and as you can see higher capacity of CC. But the higher system voltage the lower the current. For a system of 45A , 8-12mm will serve depending on the distances involved . Copper is expensive

Option one is "use only ***3UNITS**** of ur 250v 24v panels", the CC max is 600watts.

earthrealm: ok thanks guy for the info..i have 2 options now

1. use only 2units of my 250v 24v panels
or

2. upgrade my inverter/battery bank to a 24v system


the 3rd option of buying an 80amp cc isn't feasible now, cos of cash constraints.
my cc is morning star

I assume you are using TriStar TS-MPPT-45

Maximum Battery Current - 45 amps
Nominal Maximum Solar Input for 12 volt - 600 Watts
Maximum Solar Open Circuit Voltage - 150 volts DC

so from the above spec, you would be wasting about 400watts which is not being converted.
If you do the numbers, you would be loosing 30amps at peak.


hope this helps

earthrealm: sorry to raise this issue again...but on another forum some1 told me that my plan to use a 45amp mppt CC with my 250w x 4 24v solar panels on a 12v inverter/battery bank is not good..............that a lot of energy will be wasted at the CC since according to him my panel is 1kw/12v battery bank [since the CC has to down convert the 24v from the panels, to 12v] = 83amps...................and since my mppt CC is only 45amp...the excess 38amps will be wasted.................

I wasn't aware this is so..i tot since the panels are 24v and output 1kw...the max amperage produced will be about 45amps wch the CC has handle ok

pls gurus mek una come helep me o

hi,
is that budget battery inclusive?

okoegualek: @ALL THE GURUS IN THE HOUSE,I WANT TO BUY A SMALL INVERTER THAT CAN POWER MY 32INCHES LED SAMSUNG TV AND DECODER,THAT CAN BE CHARGED WITH NEPA LIGHT AND GENERATOR,AND LAST AT LEAST 12HOURS STRAIGHT ON USE,I HAVE A BUDGET OF #30,000,CAN U PLS ADVISE ME ON THE ONE THAT SUITS THE ABOVE REQUIREMENT FOR ME TO BUY.

my oga Bravo... well said

George_D:

fikfik,

i think my post above says it all. not all products are the same. among inverters, there are high end, mid-range and low end
types. same thing goes for other electronics like tvs, home theaters, air conditioners, fridges, etc. even cars too cut across all
the ranges. you buy according to your pocket (mostly) even though a few others who prefer best in class wouldn't mind going
the extra mile to get something better.

basically, cyberpower is nothing different than the other indian and chinese inverters as they are all bulk chargers. true, you
can do a little bit of configuration using the toggle switch and lcd display but it ends there. the dealers all get into these
advert frenzy trying to paint a larger than life image of this inverter and many peeps fall for the hype. i was also a victim once.

that said, among different ranges of products, there is a class difference, whether you're talking of mid-range ones, high-end
ones, etc and depending on what your preferences are, you could decide to go for one above the other. for inverters, you
cannot compare a gaoxing inverter with a sukam, luminous or cyberpower. xantrex is a recognized industry standard for high
end inverters and that is why most banks here use it in their back up systems. however of recent, their build quality has really
not kept up with their reputation and costumers are complaining a lot about defects.
magnum and outback are neck on neck when it comes to performance and durability but if you intend installing your inverter in
a harsh, salty environment, outback gfx series takes the lead. magnum though has a cleaner waveform of all three.
exeltech inverters however are known to have the best waveform of all the inverters at present.

so which inverter is best not considering cost? my take:

1) exeltech
2) magnum
3) outback
4) xantrex
5) sma sunnyboy
6) fronius
7) kako
8 ) victron
9) solar edge
10) tripplite

these are all high end inverters. bear it in mind however that some do contain more features than others thereby adding to the
overall cost. some features like grid-tie is build into the xantrex xw series which we don't really need here in this part of the
globe. also, some have better accessories for improved inverter control and system monitoring. depending on what floats your boat,
you cannot go wrong with any of the above.

yes.

rodgers: just wondering. Is it possible to charge my battery with another inverter using the output from the first inverter. That both inverters are connected to same battery bank, while one is supplying, the other is used to recharge

pdozie:

Actually this post hit the nail on the head regarding the strings of panels configuration to use

Notes

1. "most important thing to bear in mind is the vmp of the combined panels in relation to your charge controller voltage efficiency benchmarks"

2. "my high voltage solar panels far exceeded the recommended best operating vmp range for the tristar 48v"

just to highlight

earthrealm: pls...am still waiting for close up pics of how you installed ur panels on the roof

Hi,
How "who" installed?

it does not work for me

werlay: download the ipa from the link. then install with ifunbox (jailbroken devices) or download pp-pc (non jailbroken) to install it.

https://mega.co.nz/#!GpRA1bgR!UKeGLQeLOrPvzzAiiNDcgjQ5ovxkbB2uyw6_hqqxEu0

have you gotten it to work on a non jailbroken iphone

well most likely, i had that issue and i think if you look back to my post, you would see what happened to mine, so painful cause they are not cheap at all.

fikfik: EMERGENCY

When connecting the morning star MPPT, my technician connected the battery sensory to the batt bank first before connecting to the charge controller. When passign the wire (used UTP CAT6 twisted cable about 0.5mm) through the hole to plug into the charge controller the +ve touched the common negative in the charge controller for a tenth of a second with a small spark. After connecting everthing, now my charge controller wont show the green flashing light when turn on the bettery breaker. Have comfirmed 53.5Volts at the charge controller battery bank terminals.

Is my charge controller fried, just because of that small spark wow, this is very sad for me... Please what are your thoughts?

true talk my oga g.

George_D: hello totalgreen,

i've gone through those links and i think they are very helpful.
when i started out installing my panels, i was very enthusiastic on the prospect of the 3 by 3 wiring config
and i was a foremost crusader in that regards. however, my real world experiment with my back facing panels
was rather disappointing. looking back, there may have been other factors that played into their dismal
performance but when i reverted back to my old 2 by 2 set up, their performance jumped up astronomically.

the foregoing really points out the need for everyone to carry out real world output tests on their solar
panels in order to determine best configurations as relating to their charge controller oem recommendations.
it may be counter productive to just follow stated nameplate values.

my Oga G, u have spoken well, very correct.
but from his panels info below, 34.8v x 2 is just 69.6V, and this is at peak, he will need to add one more panel to get 104.4V just a little above "anything after 98v vmp, you may be just wasting precious power"....from my experience(cause his panel info i close to mine), the panels just spikes 100V ..... my oga hence my recommendations.

Output power = 260W
***** Vmp=34.8V *****
Imp=7.47amp
Voc=44V
Isc=8.09amp

i think this link is still active " http://www.morningstarcorp.com/en/strings/calc.php " or " http://www.se-renbu.com/support/xwsizing/disclaimer_SE.aspx "

George_D:

totalgreen,
when it comes to mppt configuration for solar panels, the 3 by 3 rule is not cast in stone. the most important thing to bear in mind is the vmp of the combined panels in relation to your charge controller voltage efficiency benchmarks. that is why it is always very important to read up documentations for any product you use. depending on the charge controller's operating voltage range, you may even have to combine up to four panels in some cases (especially for those panels that have very low vmp). in the same vein, you may only need to combine 2 panels when using high voltage panels.
if you check your tristar mppt 60 oem documentation (page 62), you'll notice from the voltage efficiency curve that you actually get about 99 percent conversion efficiency at 52v vmp. anything after 98v vmp, you may be just wasting precious power. i believe different controllers have their own unique best operating vmp range and it is very important to ascertain this compared to the specs of your panels.
some time ago, i experimented with the 3 by 3 configuration for my back facing solar panels and after a couple of months, i was forced to revert back to my 2 by 2 formation as i discovered that my high voltage solar panels far exceeded the recommended best operating vmp range for the tristar 48v system settings and i was just losing power daily if i stuck to that configuration.

http://www.morningstarcorp.com/en/support/library/TSMPPT.IOM.EN.04.pdf

hi,
for mppt connection, you have to step up the vdc so the mppt controller can step down the vdc and increase current when the sun rises and when it sets. At the peak mppt and the regular controller work the same aprox.

Yes from what see you need to get 60amps mppt, cause at peak u should get about 60amps(if and only if your panel name plate is original, this is where u know if you have bought a bad panel or not - my oga George... correct?)

no matter how you connect it, you will loose power, so its better to at least maximize(3 panels in series strings of 4) the use of the mppt first.

thanks

fikfik:

Thanks Uncle TotalG, but wont that give me 104.4volts Vmax and 29.88A Imax since my specs are:

Output power = 260W
Vmp=34.8V
Imp=7.47amp
Voc=44V
Isc=8.09amp
I understand from the pix below that may be ok (because the MPPT will regulate the charging votlage and current based on the connected battery bank, but my fear now is on that battery bank side. from this image, does this mean i'll have (260watt x 12) divided by 48V = 65Amps current on the battery side? Its only a 45 amp MPPT controller o. Will energy be waisting?

Thanks All

Good Talk,

my oga G, "others are hitting the ground running thanks to your experience and support on the forum"... very important talk... i have not been hear for too long, but from what i have read from post 1, you are wealth to this forum.. keep the Flag flying..

my take

feasy1:

George_D, you've obviously gone for the right choice, those panels will still be harnessing albeit not up to the nameplate spec, that was the price you paid for breaking the myth, others are hitting the ground running thanks to your experience and support on the forum.