The Alternative Energy Thread - Generators, Solar, UPS, Wind

[hassannabeel27]

The inverex nitrox 6kw (red box) ip65 should have a dual output for that purpose but you need to ask a professional installer if the shutoff feature will work on traditional non lithium batteries

Yes I have normal Osaka tall tubular batteries. Smart function works as expected with it.

[AkbarGr8]

In the absence of a bms, have you set it to turn off below a certain battery voltage? Thanks

[centos]

GoodWe is good brand but I am unable to find any dealer in Lahore.

Nitrox 6 KW is the way to go. It can parallel so you can add more inverters later. It supports light/heavy loads so you can run ACs etc on solar and other essentials on batteries when solar/wapda is out.

Do let me know if you manage to find any retailer/dealer for nitrox. I need to buy 2 x 6kw units.

[hassannabeel27]

In the absence of a bms, have you set it to turn off below a certain battery voltage? Thanks

Smart load works when minimum 1500 watts of solar is available during load shedding. I am not getting time to explore its settings. I think there is also setting based off battery % or voltage

[mgalaxy3]

Guys it seems nitrox 6kw is single phase.

In bahria rwp by default they install 3 phase meters so isn’t it an issue?

If iesco supports net metering on single phase then not a huge issue as we might shift to main ISB.

[AbbasJin]

I don’t know if Bahria has any special rules in place but I have a SolarMax PV9000 with net metering in Pindi and i believe it only exports to a single phase. So you should be fine. Do verify with your installer to be sure though.

[umans]

In Bahria Lahore inverter must be 3 phase for net metering.

[umans]

No, can configure that value, 1500 is not fixed.
For lead acid battery percentage setting will not give accurate result, you have to use voltage for lead acid

[umans]

You can also consider Fronus Matrix 5KW. Apparently it is also from Deye. It is cheaper than nitrox 320k vs 450K

[mgalaxy3]

Same in bahria rwp, at least the meters are 3 phase.

So can these single phase hybrid inverters work or are they useless in our case?

[salmanshah1]

I want to install 3kw off grid solar system with power backup at night. Please tell me good companies and price of this system.

[umans]

Single phase hybrid inverters can do grid feeding on any one phase of 3 phase meter. It is allowed in Lesco upto 5KW but not in Bahria. I'll still install single phase hybrid along with 3 phase on grid to utilize PV during power outage

[AbbasJin]

What is the avg per watt rate of tier 1 solar panels these days?

Also if u need to expand my setup? And my current inverter is maxed out capacity wise - Is it better to stick to same inverter n panels model or its better to get bigger solar panels and a different brand of inverter? Currently I have 545w Canadian panels. The new panels will need a new mounting setup so it's not really dependent on the old setup in terms of comaptibility. I think 650w panels are available in local market now?

[AkbarGr8]

Current rates are 125rs / watt +.

What's the max PV input supported by your inverter?Once you have that number, multiply 545 x number of panels to see where you stand in terms of total capacity.

If your current solar panels = max pv input of your inverter, you'll either need to upgrade your inverter to a higher capacity or bridge an identical inverter.

Overall I think it's a very bad time to buy solar stuff - not sure if delaying purchases is a good strategy considering the rapid pace of us going downhill economically.

[AbbasJin]

I figured the prices would only be worse now. I'm kinda annoyed by paying for lpg refills for kitchen so plan is to get more solar to convert kitchen to all electric.

But you're right it's a bad time to invest with so many uncertainty and fomo regarding anything imported.

My 6kw inverter supports 9000w panels. I'm at 7500w. 14x 545w panels. But I don't want to push it hard. I can hear some kinda capacitor / coil whine when it's at peak 5.7-6kw capacity during max capacity hours around noon. I think pushing more would be no good.

[umans]

I tend to disagree with that. PV oversizing is a smart way to get most out of your system. Oversizing upto 30% is normal. There can be clipping (flat top of generation curve) on favorable days but if you do the math it is still worth doing that. BTW I'm using 8KW PV on 5KW Nitrox. Let me share some interesting facts

[AkbarGr8]

You mean connecting beyond the support max pv input? If yes, clipping would only be an issue during max / peak hours and perhaps won't be an issue during the winters.

This holds true only if you do not want to increase the max load supported by your inverter. I don't have much experience regarding hybrids but I've heard they're very sensitive to their max load capacity.

[umans]

Yes, I'm talking about PV over sizing. You are right about load, one should not exceed max load. Hybrids either trip or bypass the load so you cant exceed anyways. Moreover when grid is present, inverter can better mange the load.

[mgalaxy3]

Guys
Has anyone explored lithium batteries? With lead acid so high in price, is Lithium the way to go?

I found 12v 200AH SES Power lithium battery here for 122k: https://w11stop.com/tubular-batteries/ses-power-12v-200ah-lithium-batteries?sort=p.price&order=DESC

Not sure however, how good it is!

And what major advantage it will have over lead acid for long backups n long battery life.

[umans]

I'm using pylontech lithium batters.
6K vs 1.5k cycles
0.5C vs 0.1C charging/discharging rate
Maintenance free, small size, indoor installation vs top up required, bulky, requires ventilation due to acid fumes
If you do the math, lithium is value for money considering life span. I'm talking about Pylontech only which is globally renowned brand, there are many other unknown orgon batteries available, avoid them. Dont go for lithium if your equipment does not have ability to communicate with BMS or charging parameters are not configurable.