Loadshedding solutions

[DJuice]

8 minutes ago, PhilipV said:

One of the quotes on my table has Hubble batteries on it. May I ask why you are still on the fence? 

I'm also looking at either a Sunsynk or Mercer inverter. 

I wish the choices was easier.

 

PhilipV

Disclaimer - I am not technically minded

Just came off the phone with the installer. Our system is a week old, 8.8Kw Synsynk inverter, 2x5.2Kw Hubble batteries and 8x545 watt JA Solar panels.

Our previous system was 5.5Kw Victron with2X4.8Kw Blue Nova lithium batteries.

Last Saturday during load shedding we used the Hubble batteries to below 15% at which stage it shuts automatically off. Full drain within 2hours...our previous battery system was enough for 6 - 7 hours.

It is a beautiful warm sunshine day in Upington, over lunch the panels was only performing at 30%, due to the batteries being "full", but the batteries is only showing at 78% of full charge. It was explained to me that there are many "little batteries" inside and they need to sync, so some of them are full but others not(reason for 78% shown) and it can take 30 days to sync...

Only after the install it was mentioned the Hubble batteries have a 5 year warranty. Blue Nova have 10 years.

We have another appointment set for Tuesday and will report back.

The Hubble batteries are sleek, small and good looking, the Blue Nova was a silver box on the floor.

Not sure if it makes sense.

 

 

[ChrisF]

1 hour ago, DJuice said:

PhilipV

Disclaimer - I am not technically minded

Just came off the phone with the installer. Our system is a week old, 8.8Kw Synsynk inverter, 2x5.2Kw Hubble batteries and 8x545 watt JA Solar panels.

Our previous system was 5.5Kw Victron with2X4.8Kw Blue Nova lithium batteries.

Last Saturday during load shedding we used the Hubble batteries to below 15% at which stage it shuts automatically off. Full drain within 2hours...our previous battery system was enough for 6 - 7 hours.

It is a beautiful warm sunshine day in Upington, over lunch the panels was only performing at 30%, due to the batteries being "full", but the batteries is only showing at 78% of full charge. It was explained to me that there are many "little batteries" inside and they need to sync, so some of them are full but others not(reason for 78% shown) and it can take 30 days to sync...

Only after the install it was mentioned the Hubble batteries have a 5 year warranty. Blue Nova have 10 years.

We have another appointment set for Tuesday and will report back.

The Hubble batteries are sleek, small and good looking, the Blue Nova was a silver box on the floor.

Not sure if it makes sense.

 

 

 

Please keep us posted ...

[Mike Mac]

All I can say is go with a reputable company for system design and install. A well put together system should operate flawlessly. You shouldn’t even know it is there. Battery management is critical and the battery management system and the inverter need to be compatible. There are many settings in these systems and if the installer isn’t clued up on the hardware as well as the software, you can have lots of problems. Just spend some time on the Victron website and it becomes clear that efficient system design and implementation is complex.  
 

 

Edited July 15, 2022 by Mike Mac

[Eddy Gordo]

Well, my 1kva system with a 105Ah battery only lasted an hour powering the wifi, a 42" tv and an android box. Kinda disappointed was hoping for more, but didnt expect much as well. Next test will be a laptop.

[ChrisF]

1 hour ago, Eddy Gordo said:

Well, my 1kva system with a 105Ah battery only lasted an hour powering the wifi, a 42" tv and an android box. Kinda disappointed was hoping for more, but didnt expect much as well. Next test will be a laptop.

 

Ouch ... that battery does not sound healthy ....

[Reinardt]

4 hours ago, DJuice said:

PhilipV

Disclaimer - I am not technically minded

Just came off the phone with the installer. Our system is a week old, 8.8Kw Synsynk inverter, 2x5.2Kw Hubble batteries and 8x545 watt JA Solar panels.

Our previous system was 5.5Kw Victron with2X4.8Kw Blue Nova lithium batteries.

Last Saturday during load shedding we used the Hubble batteries to below 15% at which stage it shuts automatically off. Full drain within 2hours...our previous battery system was enough for 6 - 7 hours.

It is a beautiful warm sunshine day in Upington, over lunch the panels was only performing at 30%, due to the batteries being "full", but the batteries is only showing at 78% of full charge. It was explained to me that there are many "little batteries" inside and they need to sync, so some of them are full but others not(reason for 78% shown) and it can take 30 days to sync...

Only after the install it was mentioned the Hubble batteries have a 5 year warranty. Blue Nova have 10 years.

We have another appointment set for Tuesday and will report back.

The Hubble batteries are sleek, small and good looking, the Blue Nova was a silver box on the floor.

Not sure if it makes sense.

 

 

Hi I did a DIY install with a Sunsynk 5kw and 1xHubble AM2 5kwh. It Gave me 5 hours during a power outage. Router, home theatre, 70” tv, kids playing PS5 on 50” tv. I did a hour Zwift session via Apple TV and 32” tv, all indoor and outdoor lights connected and double door fridge. At 20% soc it shut down. In the morning I connected generator and it charged to 99% soc in under 2 hours. 
 

During latest round of load shedding it worked flawlessly 

I have since added 6x 460w panels. 
 

[Eddy Gordo]

9 minutes ago, ChrisF said:

 

Ouch ... that battery does not sound healthy ....

Well, it is a no name battery, which was gifted to me.

[DJuice]

2 minutes ago, Reinardt said:

Hi I did a DIY install with a Sunsynk 5kw and 1xHubble AM2 5kwh. It Gave me 5 hours during a power outage. Router, home theatre, 70” tv, kids playing PS5 on 50” tv. I did a hour Zwift session via Apple TV and 32” tv, all indoor and outdoor lights connected and double door fridge. At 20% soc it shut down. In the morning I connected generator and it charged to 99% soc in under 2 hours. 
 

During latest round of load shedding it worked flawlessly 

I have since added 6x 460w panels. 
 

Very neat, some serious skill you have to DIY!!

They did change some setting after my call today, battery went up to 94%. 

[Mountain Bru]

9 hours ago, mikkelz said:

I bought one of these for my Mom after a few colleagues raved about using them for their home office setups.

Super easy to use, quiet when running and is a UPS (so great for powering PCs, etc.) Some of the other "portable" battery backups do not support UPS, so you need to manually switch over.

The price is high, but they use LiFePO4 batteries which are better in terms of faster charging and lifespan (designed to drain and recharge, unlike cheaper GEL batteries).

You can also add batteries to it and, if you want, charge via solar panels.

Glad to hear some positive news about them before I commit. It seems like a super useful option for some use cases, with the main advantage being that it's compact and 100% portable. 

For the guys saying a battery box would be cheaper, could you show me how a home-made battery box would work out much cheaper? I did some calcs a while ago when I was looking into dual battery systems purely for running a camping fridge in the car, and this is what I came up with once you replicate those EcoFlow units and all their features. Granted this calc has a 105Ah battery in it vs the 720Wh in the Ecoflow, but once you include all the faf of buying the components and wiring everything together, it really doesn't seem like a better solution. Only place I see to save it by getting a cheaper DC-DC Charger, but that seems like the worst place to try and save. 

Edited July 15, 2022 by Mountain Bru

[Mongoose!]

https://mybroadband.co.za/news/energy/452716-solar-power-users-must-pay-r938-per-month-even-if-they-dont-use-our-electricity-eskom.html

[stringbean]

A word of advice to those thinking about doing a installation,go with reputable company.

My installer is spending 50% of his time at the moment “fixing “other peoples installations.Because there has become a gap in the market (just like when everyone wanted a borehole)hundreds of fly by night guys have cropped up.

Most of the fixes he has to do is as a result of guys been sold second hand batteries,only to find in a few days,weeks months they don’t last.

Dont be tempted to save a little with the “new Chinese batteries “Go with what has been proven.

Whatever you do DON’T buy from gumtree.

Get installer that you can at least get some long term backup .

[HdB]

2 hours ago, Mongoose! said:

https://mybroadband.co.za/news/energy/452716-solar-power-users-must-pay-r938-per-month-even-if-they-dont-use-our-electricity-eskom.html

I'm not sure Eskom understands (or cares) why so many people are moving to large grid-tie systems...
With loadshedding only getting worse, avoiding it is about convenience. If Eskom was dependable, different story

[mikkelz]

3 hours ago, Mongoose! said:

https://mybroadband.co.za/news/energy/452716-solar-power-users-must-pay-r938-per-month-even-if-they-dont-use-our-electricity-eskom.html

Someone needs to subsidise the non-payers... 🙈

[fanievb]

59 minutes ago, mikkelz said:

Someone needs to subsidise the non-payers... 🙈

we've been doing that for years

[-cK-]

So let me get this right. 

They are not able to supply enough so people use less as a result so their solution is hike the rates and now they want this BS...

How about and follow me here this is a bit revolutionary thinking here. FIX your 💩 and people will actually use and pay you ESDOM 🤷‍♂️

 

[The Ouzo]

what are they going to do if you dont pay ? cut you off ? hahahaha