Loadshedding solutions

[117]

18 minutes ago, Showtime said:

I sommer feel like taking a leave day at work today to go and test that bailing twine vacuum bag move. Sounds like a brilliant idea. 

Make a vacuum inside that pipe, then break the seal on the one end suddenly - that bag/twine will zoot through at warp speed = science is fun 🥰

I digress, but its a great idea from Dave

[Johnny82]

18 hours ago, Pure Savage said:

A question, my sister in law may be moving in next door. would it be possible to connect the inverter to a 3rd DB board?

Just to power like lights and a plug circuit or two, depending on how many times we get invited over for braais.

To my knowledge, legally no not allowed as you are not allowed to cross property boundaries with electrical supply cables. No electrician will be allowed to sign off on such an installation as the supply for one house will be coming from another house which one might not have access to should the power need to be switched off.

As Lazy suggested, gooi-ing a lead over the wall might be easier.

[LongDonkey]

On 2/10/2023 at 9:05 AM, i24 said:

I have a similar but different problem:

• 3kVA Inverter powers, lights, TV, internet etc. (Nothing in the kitchen, workshop or other appliances).
• Solar hot water with tandem geysers - works well.
• Electric element in geyser on utility power.
• 220V circulation pump on geyser on utility power.
• Geyserwise controllers on utility power.

Now I want the circulation pump to run off the inverter but the geyser elements must stay on utility. Obviously some relays required. Has anybody got a solution to this?

Timer switches and an electrician to arrange your DB.

3kVA is not a big inverter, so you will need to make sure kettles, ovens etc are not all running at the same time you want to run your circulation pump, assume its a pool one. 0.75 kW  are typical.

Check what your peak load is during the daytime and check of you can add any kW. Remember kW and kVA are not the same. kW has inductive losses so your pool motor will be be around 1 kVA.

[tinmug]

CAUTION

Apparently some folks accessing Dye and Sunsynk inverters over the air and locking them out. They are suggesting removing the Wifi dongle until the issue is resolved. 

[NC_lurker]

Ok, just had my system installed.

Not sure if I'm being paranoid but has anyone secured their battery from theft? My setup is in my freestanding garage which opens onto the road & isn't on the house alarm system.

Surely nowadays R30k batteries are targets for theft?

 

[The Ouzo]

2 minutes ago, NC_lurker said:

Ok, just had my system installed.

Not sure if I'm being paranoid but has anyone secured their battery from theft? My setup is in my freestanding garage which opens onto the road & isn't on the house alarm system.

Surely nowadays R30k batteries are targets for theft?

 

apparently they are taking solar panels. probably because they are out in the open, I would imagine the batteries will be the next targets.

 

I think i need to invent some sort of cover/trunking thing that goes between the inverter and the trunking. I'll make millions. Everything else looks neatish, but those red and black cables exposed going into the trunking like that gets my bib shorts in a knot.

[NC_lurker]

1 minute ago, The Ouzo said:

. Everything else looks neatish, but those red and black cables exposed going into the trunking like that gets my bib shorts in a knot.

Yeah, no idea why they didn't feed them out the top section of trunking & reduce the exposure.

[Pure Savage]

I am impressed at how well the panels did during the rain on Monday in Cape Town. While it was pouring down, we were getting 1100w out of a possible 3800w. Ended the day on 100%, did have a low usage day though.

[Pure Savage]

On 2/21/2023 at 2:19 PM, NC_lurker said:

Ok, just had my system installed.

Not sure if I'm being paranoid but has anyone secured their battery from theft? My setup is in my freestanding garage which opens onto the road & isn't on the house alarm system.

Surely nowadays R30k batteries are targets for theft?

 

Very nice, Those batteries are heavy though!! Mine is sitting next to my insured bikes, so they will probably go walkies first.

Have added it to our house insurance though

 

[Pure Savage]

Also, glad did not install all the panels possible, would be nice to get that 25% back on my second array on garage next year as its only available for 1 year.

[NC_lurker]

31 minutes ago, Pure Savage said:

Very nice, Those batteries are heavy though!! Mine is sitting next to my insured bikes, so they will probably go walkies first.

Have added it to our house insurance though

 

Added to household contents or Homeowners insurance? Surely it's a fixture just like the geyser? Was trying to figure this out as well!

[Pure Savage]

5 minutes ago, NC_lurker said:

Added to household contents or Homeowners insurance? Surely it's a fixture just like the geyser? Was trying to figure this out as well!

Its homeowners insurance, similar to a geyser. 

[ChrisF]

On 2/16/2023 at 10:00 AM, LongDonkey said:

Timer switches and an electrician to arrange your DB.

3kVA is not a big inverter, so you will need to make sure kettles, ovens etc are not all running at the same time you want to run your circulation pump, assume its a pool one. 0.75 kW  are typical.

Check what your peak load is during the daytime and check of you can add any kW. Remember kW and kVA are not the same. kW has inductive losses so your pool motor will be be around 1 kVA.

 

Some anecdotal feedback

 

I also thought pool pumps were "around 750W".

 

With DAB poolpumps this is the hydraulic power, thus a true reflection of the water being pumped.  Add pump losses and motor electrical losses and the actual measured electrical power is nearer 900W.  This alligns 100% with the QC test certificate in the box.

[Hairy]

Sooo ... any of you riff raff using a Synapse 600W Sine inverter?

We got one for my home office (Running PC, monitors, Interwebs McGuyer that brings and distributes the world wide web in our house) about a year and a half ago with a 12v 100Ah Lead Acid battery.

The ACDC guy notes that the Synapse 600W inverter that I have has a rather good charging capacity at 20Amp at 50hertz, so this would be able to accommodate a Li battery. Seeing as this is not being paid with the change found “under the sofa” I want to make 100% certain via another source (THAT IS WHERE YOU RIFF RAFF COME IN) if the Synapse 600 can really charge up the Li batteries.

 Short term the LA battery will work, but given the short recharge cycles and then the usage after not having a full charge will kill the battery again in a short period of time. The 100Ah Li battery would be the better solution given the above.

 If one looks at going larger with the LA battery at 200Ah, you are at the same price as a 100Ah battery, with double the energy capacity where in theory after a long discharge would still leave a reasonable % of charge in the battery which hopefully will help with it’s life span. The Li though will charge up very quickly and more efficiently, and be ready for the next stage of load shedding.

1^st prize (Following alternative confirmation that it can charge Li) would be the 100Ah Li battery.

2^nd, the 200Ah LA battery … given the price, you may as well go Li 100Ah

3^rd , would be the 100Ah LA battery.

 

The info I can find on the inverter so far
https://www.solarpanelenergy.co.za/p/982764/600w-12v-synapse-ups-inverter

 

This battery is kaput, and I am looking at alternatives as per the following:

[Bomberman]

Hi all, really gatvol.  its time to pull the trigger. Had our local installer around today and would like some advice from the guys here, I need to decide on the package. My two options - R146050.00 (5.5kw system) and the R126500.00 (8.8kw system).

 

 

Now the guy told me that both would work for the house.

- with the 5.5kv system I can run a single phase and about 90% of the house connected. This includes the 3 rooms, tv room and kitchen, not sure about the microwave. The  second phase runs my garage which is only lights and one chest freezer (Eskom). Third phase is kept for my borehole, laundry room and geyser (Eskom).

With time I can always add another 5.5kw inverted and join the load of the first and second phase.

 

- with the 8.8kw I can run the house at 100% taking the load of phase 1 and phase 2, but he noted that I stand a good chance of overloading my DB when they system uses eskom to recharge and tries to feed the house on dark days as I only have a 30amp feed form the substation, so it might trip the DB or substation. substation only has a 30amp breaker installed.

would also like to add a geyserwise system or start off with a pump system to circulate my water

what ever I save on electricity will be payed towards my loan and hopefully I can cut my cost with about 70%.   

The borehole will stay on Eskom for now

 

Any advice would be appreciated 

 

Edited February 27, 2023 by Bomberman

[splat]

So, here's a silly question.
Apologies if it has been asked before.

Is the installation of a generator a worse idea than a inverter/battery/solar panel setup ?

I know that there are quite a few factors to consider (apart from  the neighbours), but the generator costs about R30k for an 8kVa system vs approx. R200k for the other set up. That leaves me quite a lot of change to pay for fuel over the next few year.

One of the other factors is that the batteries may not be up to the task of charge/discharge cycles for Stage 6 for as long as people hoped. I have heard stories of battery warranties being limited to 2000/3000 cycles rather than 10 years. At R45k per battery, that is an expensive 'disposable' resource.

Am I barking up the wrong tree and misunderstanding the factors at play ?