NoMoreTrolling:


I will post the testing when the installation is complete. Although I do not intend to put them through such rigors like a 100amp draw.

Testing will mainly be on the capacity after a few charge cycles.

With lead acid, you notice a capacity drop, sometimes as soon as after only two charge cycles, although minimal.

Properly manufactured FLA "build" capacity over the initial few cycles (up to 100 cycles) before they begin their true life.

Please who has installed and used SunPower panels or has any experience with them?

How well do they live up to their Tier1 panel claims? I am being offered 3.6kw of these at a juicy discount compared to my beloved Canadian Solar, if they are able to give me equivalent performance as my Canadian Solar array then it would be a very good deal indeed.

I am about to take my 11kw array to ~15kw (end goal) and need to choose

NiyiOmoIyunade:
Please who has installed and used SunPower panels or has any experience with them?

How well do they live up to their Tier1 panel claims? I am being offered 3.6kw of these at a juicy discount compared to my beloved Canadian Solar, if they are able to give me equivalent performance as my Canadian Solar array then it would be a very good deal indeed.

I am about to take my 11kw array to ~15kw (end goal) and need to choose

Bros, I'm unable to optimally utilise my 3kW. So efficient are my home devices that I run 2 freezers, a fridge and opportunistic loads (water pump, water heater, washing machine and some others) without crossing the 8kW utilisation on most days. Even with the occasional AC use, I rarely cross 10kW. What on earth do you plan to be doing with a 15kW array?!

It also implies you'd have a battery bank of perhaps 48V 1,000AH. Or more. That's a small factory sir.

Stay safe guys ! Protect your investment.

The block terminal is rated for 250A; the fuse is just a 100A

Yet the block gave way before the fuse;

makavele:
Stay safe guys ! Protect your investment.

The block terminal is rated for 250A; the fuse is just a 100A

Yet the block gave way before the fuse;

wow, what caused the damage, short circuit i bet, how did it happen

earthrealm:


wow, what caused the damage, short circuit i bet, how did it happen

This is what happened.

Whilst in use like every other night, the inverter tripped and it was lights-out in the whole house.

Went back to the inverter, everything was fine. Flicked the red switch off and on again, the inverter booted up and next thing I heard was " a loud pop and a spark"

Then lights-out again. That was it. So I wonder where and how "any short circuit" happened; unless some village people

have been doing things downstairs while I was up.

Perhaps the fuse blade was not properly secured to the fuse block and partial contact caused the metal to heat up.

You are lucky you weren't using this fuseblock and fuse with your MorningStar CC - imagine the block terminal heating up and giving way in the middle of a sunny day with the MorningStar putting out like 55amps - my oga na blow the MS CC go blow o with replacement cost of at least 200k

This is why I use only manual disconnects between my MS CC and battery and 35mm cables too - I do not want a repeat of my unfortunate experience way back.

If you must use a breaker or fuse, may I suggest you use a Chint DZ158-125 MCB - it is rated 100A and I have never known it to nuisance trip or fail in several applications I have used it in. It is also low cost (under 10k). Tomzn 100A breakers also do pretty well.

makavele:
Stay safe guys ! Protect your investment.

The block terminal is rated for 250A; the fuse is just a 100A

Yet the block gave way before the fuse;

NiyiOmoIyunade:
Please who has installed and used SunPower panels or has any experience with them?

How well do they live up to their Tier1 panel claims? I am being offered 3.6kw of these at a juicy discount compared to my beloved Canadian Solar, if they are able to give me equivalent performance as my Canadian Solar array then it would be a very good deal indeed.

I am about to take my 11kw array to ~15kw (end goal) and need to choose

chaiiiii see power. my broda I think we should call Fashola for you. d day I reach 5kw array, Fashola, oga George and other ogas at the top will have to come and commission it. all d best sir. Inoenvyyou may ur pocket continue to be green

makavele:



This is what happened.

Whilst in use like every other night, the inverter tripped and it was lights-out in the whole house.

Went back to the inverter, everything was fine. Flicked the red switch off and on again, the inverter booted up and next thing I heard was " a loud pop and a spark"

Then lights-out again. That was it. So I wonder where and how "any short circuit" happened; unless some village people

have been doing things downstairs while I was up.

By the looks of it the wires melted damaging the terminal. A loose connection or insufficient area contact can do that

I figured that the last post hidden on this page was by @NiyiOmoIyunade. What could have happened? Certainly 'Niyi is not into frivolities?

If the above is correct, 'Niyi, kindly repost one way or another; for all I know, it (that hidden post) may just contain some educational stuff.

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P34c3
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...

Reprobate:
solar gurus...abeg helep me b4 ny money loss
i wsn to do a small setup..for 5 12w bulbs and maybe 1 60w fan on some nights.
my budget is lean. so 1kva inverter .1 x 12v 200ah battery and 2 x 250w 36v panels. i intend to hook it up to a 30a or 40a mppt charge controller..my question is theoritically the panels shud generate 15amps at 24v...thus simce am connecting it to an mppt cc for a 12v system...i would be getting abt 30amps at 12v.

pls confirm this my analysis or plan is correct

If It the item listed above and you are using 1pc of 200Ah 12V battery. 250W is required if using mppt which is not need for this budget friendly option.
Get 150W 3pcs(parallel them, use 12V controller 30Amps) use quality gauged flex cable depending on the distance from. Panel to battery) . We sell too most of the components but your discretion.

pranil:


By the looks of it the wires melted damaging the terminal. A loose connection or insufficient area contact can do that

Yes, I am thinking along this line too.
The connections were torqued to the maximum permissible on installation.
I guess we need to check and retighten all connections after every other month or so

Saipro:

Bros, I'm unable to optimally utilise my 3kW. So efficient are my home devices that I run 2 freezers, a fridge and opportunistic loads (water pump, water heater, washing machine and some others) without crossing the 8kW utilisation on most days. Even with the occasional AC use, I rarely cross 10kW. What on earth do you plan to be doing with a 15kW array?!

It also implies you'd have a battery bank of perhaps 48V 1,000AH. Or more. That's a small factory sir.

Na money, sometimes it the feeling of having that power.

NoMoreTrolling:
Our Battleborn LifePo4 batteries have finally landed. Hopefully this will be a game changer

Will post pics this week, but installation can't be done yet.

how much. Make I close ear

starpower:


If It the item listed above and you are using 1pc of 200Ah 12V battery. 250W is required if using mppt which is not need for this budget friendly option.
Get 150W 3pcs(parallel them, use 12V controller 30Amps) use quality gauged flex cable depending on the distance from. Panel to battery) . We sell too most of the components but your discretion.

thanks, though I am looking at mppt cos of possible future expansion. 2ndly my solar mentor says he gets about 1200w avg from his 1500w panel, so extrapolating, I feel I shud be getting about 350w or 400w avg from the 2 x 250w panel = about 30amps at 12v, using mppt, so with 5hrs of sunlight, am fairly certain of the battery going into float daily

Reprobate:


thanks, though I am looking at mppt cos of possible future expansion. 2ndly my solar mentor says he gets about 1200w avg from his 1500w panel, so extrapolating, I feel I shud be getting about 350w or 400w avg from the 2 x 250w panel = about 30amps at 12v, using mppt, so with 5hrs of sunlight, am fairly certain of the battery going into float daily

great, learning too.

Saipro:

Properly manufactured FLA "build" capacity over the initial few cycles (up to 100 cycles) before they begin their true life.

I keep hearing about all these "properly" built lead acid batteries, but it seems the ones available in Nigeria do not fall into that category.

Check out this capacity test below. Two lead acids were drawn down and could not provide the same capacity on the next cycle as it did on it's initial cycle.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tM0Ot9HCCzc

starpower:
how much. Make I close ear

lol, bro no be just me buy am oo, na our family.

anyway sha, it's about $999 for one, but they claim 3,000-5000 cycles, after which the batteries should still retain about 80% of their initial capacity.

I think it works out, cause I've never been able to get more than 200 "TRUE" cycles from our lead acid batteries so far. After about a 100 cycles, our typical 200ah lead acids become say about 70ah and they just keep degrading. Well at least the ones that I've used so far. I can't speak for the expensive lead acids made by Trojan and other top companies.

So if we can do some math here:

Say I buy a cheap naija 12v 100Ah battery for 50k. I get a useable capacity of about 50ah and a cycle life of 100

so over the life of the battery, we would have 50ah x 100 = 5000ah.


For the lithium, we get a useable capacity of about 80ah, or 100ah in my case and a cycle life of 3000 at minimum.

so over the life of the battery, we would have 100ah x 3000 = 300000ah.



Price of lithium Battery: N360,000
Price of Cheap AGM: N50,000

Amphour life of Lithium Battery: 300,000AH
Amphour life of Cheap AGM: 5,000AH

Hence, it would take (300,000/5,000) cheap agm batteries, that is, 60 cheap AGM batteries to make up for the one Lithium battery.

60 X N50,000 (cost of cheap AGM) = N3,000,000
Cost of Single Lithium battery = N360,000

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Thank you my Oga. The NairaLand antispam bot apparently does not care about quality of posts or track record

What I posted that got deleted was that Makavele's issue with burnt out fuse block/holder was probably due to partial contact at the terminals and he might consider a large DC rated breaker (Chint DZ 158-125 rated 100A or similar TOMZN DC MCB) as an alternative.

Essentially thesame thing Oga Pranil later reinforced. I added as well that this random failure is the reason I use only manual disconnects and thick cable gauges with my MorningStar CCs - a fuse holder giving way on a sunny day with the CC putting out 55a could be calamitious indeed!

duwdu:
I figured that the last post hidden on this page was by @NiyiOmoIyunade. What could have happened? Certainly 'Niyi is not into frivolities?

If the above is correct, 'Niyi, kindly repost one way or another; for all I know, it (that hidden post) may just contain some educational stuff.

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P34c3
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NoMoreTrolling:


lol, bro no be just me buy am oo, na our family....
...
...
Price of lithium Battery: N360,000
Price of Cheap AGM: N50,000

I've been eyeing the Battle Borns vs building my own LiFePO4 banks, but I shiver when I think about the added costs and hassle of safe-shipping the BB's to Nigeria and their clearance/delivery. Could you please throw more light on the hows/costs of these twin issues of shipping and clearance/delivery in your own case?

Thanks.

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P34c3
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For your Industrial Power Back Up Solution call/watsapp us on 08066332919

NiyiOmoIyunade:
Please who has installed and used SunPower panels or has any experience with them?

A quick comparison check seem to put SunPower over Canadian: https://news.energysage.com/solar-warranty-sunpower-canadian-solar-solarworld-lg/

viazi:
@George D, one of my good friend on Lexus group based in Warri is seriously of the opinion that Solar energy batteries are designed to last for only 2yrs. That he actually changes batteries every 2 yrs. After alot of argument, I told him I will beg u for a meeting. Pls he is a responsible citizen. I will like him to call u but yr no. that I have is not available. Kindly find time to lecture him.

hello viazi,
sorry I'm just seeing your post. I've been unavoidably busy.
my zenith agm batteries are 6yrs already and still counting and from their
current stellar performance they would easily cross the magical 7yr mark come
september. like I said in an earlier post, solar power isn't rocket science:
know the basics and apply the principles and you'll keep smiling while others continue battling with self-inflicted issues born out of ignorance.
that said, I'll be happy to meet with your friend one on one and discuss.
send me a pm through nl and i'll avail you my contact details.

ceaser:


I think these electronics manufacturers have begun making power saving versions of most gadgets.

During one of my hunts for such, I came across a 203 litres haier Thermocool deep freezer that was rated to consume 120 watts. .

Can you let me know the model/spec of this freezer?
Thanks

NiyiOmoIyunade:
Lolz

Oga Dapsyra wants to set me up o.

But I will do the experiment and report back by March ending - would be interesting to see how the matchup works out.

I will like to hear update about this? Am seeing new flames for 40k which may meet my current budget but am still wondering whether a Canadian may be worth further wait for me or even a SunPower.

GeorgeD1:


hello viazi,
sorry I'm just seeing your post. I've been unavoidably busy.
my zenith agm batteries are 6yrs already and still counting and from their
current stellar performance they would easily cross the magical 7yr mark come
september. like I said in an earlier post, solar power isn't rocket science:
know the basics and apply the principles and you'll keep smiling while others continue battling with self-inflicted issues born out of ignorance.
that said, I'll be happy to meet with your friend one on one and discuss.
send me a pm through nl and i'll avail you my contact details.

Baba ooooooo,I hail you!
I gbadu ur style......
We still dey learn from you ....
Keep the fire burning....
FTA,Free sun/Solar rules!
One love all....

duwdu:


I've been eyeing the Battle Borns vs building my own LiFePO4 banks, but I shiver when I think about the added costs and hassle of safe-shipping the BB's to Nigeria and their clearance/delivery. Could you please throw more light on the hows/costs of these twin issues of shipping and clearance/delivery in your own case?

Thanks.

........
P34c3
.....
...

The freight forwarder handles clearing and all that hassle

They had to be shipped by sea, as they were declared "Hazardous Goods".

Not sure about the shipping cost, my sis in the U.S handled that. I asked her for the info, but she is having a hard time retrieving it. If I can get the exact figure, I'll let you know.

Super excited to begin this installation.

For anyone that is going to go this route, please ensure that if you connect smart batteries to inverters larger than 4kw, that you have a current limiter in series with the battery, to protect the internal BMS, from the large current spike that comes from the large capacitance of a large inverter.

More information to follow this weekend.

GeorgeD1:


hello viazi,
sorry I'm just seeing your post. I've been unavoidably busy.
my zenith agm batteries are 6yrs already and still counting and from their
current stellar performance they would easily cross the magical 7yr mark come
september. like I said in an earlier post, solar power isn't rocket science:
know the basics and apply the principles and you'll keep smiling while others continue battling with self-inflicted issues born out of ignorance.
that said, I'll be happy to meet with your friend one on one and discuss.
send me a pm through nl and i'll avail you my contact details.

Wow, 6 years on an AGM battery? That is uber impressive!!

Honestly, with batteries in Naija, solar can sometimes feel like Rocket Science, lol.

The last batteries we got (from JiJi) were babied and put through a C0.1 discharge, but still couldn't get past about a 100 cycles before they began massive degradation. All this while not going past the so called 50% limit on lead acids and fully going through a complete three stage charging regimen every time they were recharged.

So what is your secret with your AGMs? Is your discharge lower than C0.1? Did you oversize your bank? Are you sure that you still have the same capacity you did as day one? or have they degraded, but still possess enough capacity for your needs?

btw, how is your solar system doing? Last time I read your posts, you were generating upwards of 25kwh per day which just blows my f**king mind.

Are all those cartons Battle Born batteries? If yes then you indeed must have entered this project with family money o. Looking forward to your experience, I think my GK MPPsolar series has capability to charge these batteries

NoMoreTrolling:
Super excited to begin this installation.

For anyone that is going to go this route, please ensure that if you connect smart batteries to inverters larger than 4kw, that you have a current limiter in series with the battery, to protect the internal BMS, from the large current spike that comes from the large capacitance of a large inverter.

More information to follow this weekend.

ojeysky:
Are all those cartons Battle Born batteries? If yes then you indeed must have entered this project with family money o. Looking forward to your experience, I think my GK MPPsolar series has capability to charge these batteries

You could try shop to my door.
They charge $1 per lbs for ocean freight.clearing inclusive dont think a 100amp lipo4 battery would be more than 70lbs
You could contact them for more details