dragnet:

directly via mc4 connectors or ?

series was via mc4 connectors, while for parallel, the mc4 connectors was cut off to enable us run a linking 6mm wire to all panels...

terrymason:
series was via mc4 connectors, while for parallel, the mc4 connectors was cut off to enable us run a linking 6mm wire to all panels...

I noticed you don make use of solar panels rails how do you nail your panel to the aluminum roof on wooden truss aND if the truss happens to be made of steel how do u intend doing that too

dreamwords:


I noticed you don make use of solar panels rails how do you nail your panel to the aluminum roof on wooden truss aND if the truss happens to be made of steel how do u intend doing that too

Most of our installations we make use of panel rack or rails.

Some things that hinder rails or rack when installing..

1. Client budget: Some project have very low budget funding, so in the course of reducing items, some things need to be cut off, but the system we work as intended.

2. Availability of space: Some roof are just too small to accommodate all panels with rack or railings.

Our installation are been paid "installmentaly".
Most client bargain to an extent, our profit will go in for the job...

Inverter installation

Remember we are still on the 5kva installation.

When will initially started the installation we meet a 5kva sukam inverter and 4 Gell batteries.

The batteries has completely run down(drained), the 500w panel on it was bad, the main(nepa) section in the sukam inverter was also bad.

We had to minimize cost by fixing the mains problem in the inverter to enable it charge the new 4 set of gell batteries we bought, couple with the 5500watt panel installation in place.

Pic1: working sukam inverter after main repairs
Pic2: Sukam inverter before opening
Pic3: opened sukam inverter
Pic4: Faulty power section removed for repair..

The inverter was Totally change later(we suffer for this work sha)

Continuation

Few weeks after fixing the sukam Inverter, it started making something like a buzzing sound mostly at night time..

Cause of the buzzing like sound can be faulty fan or lost of voltage(from battery to inverter)
We had to check all that but everything was okay...
At that point we advise our client to get a new inverter(different brand though (we are major distributor of the brand product. Panels, inverters, Charge controller, Tubular/Gell batteries and AVR ) for 100% satisfaction)

Note: The previous 4 batteries that was on the sukam system was later connected back(in parallel) with the new 4 gell batteries we bought, the run out time of the system was increase drastically.

Pic1. New inverter Unboxing carton
Pic2. New inverter in place
Pic3. New inverter installed (check 5kva nexus inverter with same 5kva sukam inverter )

Connected batteries with 10mm wire cause of increase in amps, due to the parallel connection.

Installation successful..

Next 1.5kva installation in Enugu...

terrymason:
series was via mc4 connectors, while for parallel, the mc4 connectors was cut off to enable us run a linking 6mm wire to all panels...

how do you link these wires? twisting them together or ?

Pls and pls place price ranges for these..there are some of us here who are already saving to install one this yr..my self included

dragnet:

how do you link these wires? twisting them together or ?

Will draw the connection later today...

saxwizard:




sunkam low grade?



how?

Well, if you want rest of mind with solar, leave all those Indian and China products and buy premium quality.

terrymason:
Will draw the connection later today...

I'm referring to the ones you cut of their mc4, how did you connect them to the linking wire?

dragnet:

I'm referring to the ones you cut of their mc4, how did you connect them to the linking wire?

Remember that all positive/negative head of Mc4 connector has same shape, so it will be impossible to fit 11 panels positive/negative connectors together, when it being connected in parallel way... check the diagram below.

terrymason:

Remember that all positive/negative head of Mc4 connector has same shape, so it will be impossible to fit 11 panels positive/negative connectors together, when it being connected in parallel way... check the diagram below.

Ok, so you cut off the mc4 and twisted the wires together, right?

dragnet:

Ok, so you cut off the mc4 and twisted the wires together, right?

Correct sir.

terrymason:
Correct sir.

Ok, I was asking because many people always advise against twisting wires due to loss of energy.

dragnet:
Ok, I was asking because many people always advise against twisting wires due to loss of energy.

That's their opinion.
After the panel installation, we always check with multimeter to see the amp and voltage results, which is always perfect.

terrymason:
That's their opinion.
After the panel installation, we always check with multimeter to see the amp and voltage results, which is always perfect.

Ok, thanks.

Nice thread Terrymason. What is your opinion on Hybrid Inverters (inbuilt charge controllers), will you advise against getting them? Also, what are the advantages of having many Solar panels (20+). Thanks

primusmaximus:
Nice thread Terrymason. What is your opinion on Hybrid Inverters (inbuilt charge controllers), will you advise against getting them? Also, what are the advantages of having many Solar panels (20+). Thanks

Most people believe a standalone cc is more robust and does a better job compared to the hybrid. That may be a subjective belief as some hybrid are pretty good, like in things of this nature you always get what you pay for. If you pay for premium quality, you'd still get that premium performance. The benefit of having many solar panels is your batteries get to be fully charged faster, and also gets charged on cloudy days. Also, the number of batteries determines how many solar panels you'd require for sufficient charging. E.g. if you install 24 numbers of 12V 200AH batteries, there is no way the size of solar panels will not be more than 20 250W, unless of course, you have a small load that it is catering for, in that case, you do not really need to size that battery bank that large to handle it.

mctfopt:


Most people believe a standalone cc is more robust and does a better job compared to the hybrid. That may be a subjective belief as some hybrid are pretty good, like in things of this nature you always get what you pay for. If you pay for premium quality, you'd still get that premium performance. The benefit of having many solar panels is your batteries get to be fully charged faster, and also gets charged on cloudy days. Also, the number of batteries determines how many solar panels you'd require for sufficient charging. E.g. if you install 24 numbers of 12V 200AH batteries, there is no way the size of solar panels will not be more than 20 250W, unless of course, you have a small load that it is catering for, in that case, you do not really need to size that battery bank that large to handle it.

Thanks for the clarification. I'm considering getting 12 250W solar panels for four 12V 200AH batteries (5 KVA Inverter, 48V), is this an overkill?

terrymason:

Remember that all positive/negative head of Mc4 connector has same shape, so it will be impossible to fit 11 panels positive/negative connectors together, when it being connected in parallel way... check the diagram below.

Cutting off isn't necessarily na, you could use female and male mc4 and link with 3 or 4 in one mc4 splitter

primusmaximus:


Thanks for the clarification. I'm considering getting 12 250W solar panels for four 12V 200AH batteries (5 KVA Inverter, 48V), is this an overkill?

There is never an overkill when it comes to solar panels, the more the merrier.
It means you'd have no problem getting your batteries to float (charge full) in almost virtually any weather condition. My neighbor uses 16 nos of 300W panels for his 48V inverter system comprising of 24 nos of 2v 500ah batteries. He's still planning to add more panels.

mctfopt:



There is never an overkill when it comes to solar panels, the more the merrier.
It means you'd have no problem getting your batteries to float (charge full) in almost virtually any weather condition. My neighbor uses 16 nos of 300W panels for his 48V inverter system comprising of 24 nos of 2v 500ah batteries. He's still planning to add more panels.

Your neighbor is really vexing lol. Do you know much about 'icellpower' and 'ipowerplus' Inverter brands? They both have Service Centers in Nigeria which I feel is a good thing

dreamwords:

Cutting off isn't necessarily na, you could use female and male mc4 and link with 3 or 4 in one mc4 splitter

thanks for the info, at that moment it was not available...
One thing is to get those stuff around you, when it's not close by you need to improvise and still get the best result.

mctfopt:


Most people believe a standalone cc is more robust and does a better job compared to the hybrid. That may be a subjective belief as some hybrid are pretty good, like in things of this nature you always get what you pay for. If you pay for premium quality, you'd still get that premium performance. The benefit of having many solar panels is your batteries get to be fully charged faster, and also gets charged on cloudy days. Also, the number of batteries determines how many solar panels you'd require for sufficient charging. E.g. if you install 24 numbers of 12V 200AH batteries, there is no way the size of solar panels will not be more than 20 250W, unless of course, you have a small load that it is catering for, in that case, you do not really need to size that battery bank that large to handle it.

primusmaximus
To add to it, just imagine the CC is faulty, it means the inverter won't be available to supply power to the client, were as stand alone CC can go for repair while the inverter can be used and nepa power can still charge the batteries...

For the panels my oga mctfopt has said it all .

primusmaximus:


Thanks for the clarification. I'm considering getting 12 250W solar panels for four 12V 200AH batteries (5 KVA Inverter, 48V), is this an overkill?

the panels will take 3hours to fully charge the batteries... bring money for the calculation... kidding oh...

primusmaximus:


Your neighbor is really vexing lol. Do you know much about 'icellpower' and 'ipowerplus' Inverter brands? They both have Service Centers in Nigeria which I feel is a good thing

A friend once bought an inverter that looks like the type sold by iCellpower from PSCSOLARUK in Lagos and inverter had lasted for three years with no issues. However, I've heard great feedback on Felicity inverter on excellent after sales support. There is this annoying feeling that comes when you tried to resolve an issue and get only stories. So, I think it is worth buying from people who may not turn their backs on you as soon as the money hits their account.

terrymason:
primusmaximus
To add to it, just imagine the CC is faulty, it means the inverter won't be available to supply power to the client, were as stand alone CC can go for repair while the inverter can be used and nepa power can still charge the batteries...

For the panels my oga mctfopt has said it all .

Thanks. That's a good point raised.

terrymason:
the panels will take 3hours to fully charge the batteries... bring money for the calculation... kidding oh...

Thanks.

Q(Ah)= 200
I(A)= P/V=3000/48= 62.5
T=Q/I= 3.2hrs (assuming 100 percent efficiency)

mctfopt:


A friend once bought an inverter that looks like the type sold by iCellpower from PSCSOLARUK in Lagos and inverter had lasted for three years with no issues. However, I've heard great feedback on Felicity inverter on excellent after sales support. There is this annoying feeling that comes when you tried to resolve an issue and get only stories. So, I think it is worth buying from people who may not turn their backs on you as soon as the money hits their account.

Thanks for the info bro

primusmaximus:


Thanks.

Q(Ah)= 200
I(A)= P/V=3000/48= 62.5
T=Q/I= 3.2hrs (assuming 100 percent efficiency)

primusmaximus:


Thanks.

Q(Ah)= 200
I(A)= P/V=3000/48= 62.5
T=Q/I= 3.2hrs (assuming 100 percent efficiency)

Charging deep cycle battery in 3 hours is an over Killing, deep cycle battry are not designed to charge that fast, u need to respect the rule of c10 unless u plan to b replacing ur battery every now and then

dreamwords:

Charging deep cycle battery in 3 hours is an over Killing, deep cycle battry are not designed to charge that fast, u need to respect the rule of c10 unless u plan to b replacing ur battery every now and then

This was actually my concern with having a high number of solar panels. I also noticed lots of installers recommend four 300/330W solar panels for 5KVA inverters (four 200Ah batteries).

But shouldn't the charge controllers regulate the amount of voltage/current assigned to charging the batteries? If not, current from PHCN should charge batteries from empty to full in less than an hour. I feel there should be a max charge rate from the charge controllers and what's left over should be sent to the Load (at least for hybrid Inverters)