Hi from South Africa

[mje]

Hi Guys.
I have two projects. In the house, I have a Victron MultiPlus 48/5000/70, 4 x 48V Dyness 2.4KWH batteries, MPPT 250|100 and Color Controller. There are only two panels - as my roof is thatch and I plan to replace it with IBR. Its more a "load schedding" preventative system to power everything except Geyser & Stove. Works very well.
Also have a Multiplus 12/1600/70 for my Caravan along with 2x 12V 100AH Blue Nova, Color Controller, MPPT 75|15 and BMV-712. That still all needs to be installed - lazy as there is a lead acid system, PWM system already working - but so want mains voltage when boon-docking.

 

[iamrich]

How did you mount panels to a thatch roof? I would love to see pics.

 

[svetz]

Welcome to the forums!

 

[mje]

I didn't. I have just two (Deserv 3M6-315 Watt MultiCrystal) (2Mtr x 1Mtr) PV's mounted. Made brackets to fit to the side of the house. This is just for testing. I aim to change my roof to IBR (Steel) - a large, single, north facing (southern hemisphere) 15% sloping roof. Have space to fit up to 15KW of PV's. Simply having a giant UPS gets me over the 2 - 4 hour rolling blackouts that Eskom (our utility) imposes. Cool thing is that the two 315W PV's usually generate enough energy for the house so the Batteries are not touched - assuming sunlight hours.

 

[iamrich]

How do you have it wired? Is the house going through your solar batteries with assist from the grid, or do you have to switch over manually? I think the future may see a lot of solar/battery setups powering the house with assist from the grid, but with no back feed or auto cutout of back feed if the grid goes down.

 

[mje]

Like I said in my intro - its more a Giant UPS. As soon as Eskom disappears, (there is a relay click) I'm on Battery power. The Batteries (or the 48Volt DC side) are also fed from Solar pannel via an MPPT controler - if the sun is shining. No light flickers or anything. When power is restored, there is a short time lapse (a few seconds), you hear the click of a relay and the house runs from Eskom. The Batteries are then recharged for the next outage. There is no sign of a flicker in the lights. Power is never fed back to Eskom - when they go down. Everything is Automatic and very convenient.

 

[iamrich]

That's awesome! Are your neighbors jealous?

 

[DerpsyDoodler]

Hi Guys.
I have two projects. In the house, I have a Victron MultiPlus 48/5000/70, 4 x 48V Dyness 2.4KWH batteries, MPPT 250|100 and Color Controller. There are only two panels - as my roof is thatch and I plan to replace it with IBR. Its more a "load schedding" preventative system to power everything except Geyser & Stove. Works very well.
Also have a Multiplus 12/1600/70 for my Caravan along with 2x 12V 100AH Blue Nova, Color Controller, MPPT 75|15 and BMV-712. That still all needs to be installed - lazy as there is a lead acid system, PWM system already working - but so want mains voltage when boon-docking.

Hi from the US ?. Did you have a question or was that show and tell? get your lazy but up and work on that caravan! or don’t. ??

nice system/plan, btw.

 

[Supervstech]

Welcome!
This is similar to how I have my mother’s setup wired, but her setup is small, and only powers the internet and lights in a few rooms.
Someday I will add a larger setup that will power her well pump, and a bit more of the house. But it keeps her sane as it is when the power drops out.
We don’t have rolling blackouts yet here, but lots of trees and storms take down the lines frequently.

 

[McGuywer]

Like I said in my intro - its more a Giant UPS. As soon as Eskom disappears, (there is a relay click) I'm on Battery power. The Batteries (or the 48Volt DC side) are also fed from Solar pannel via an MPPT controler - if the sun is shining. No light flickers or anything. When power is restored, there is a short time lapse (a few seconds), you hear the click of a relay and the house runs from Eskom. The Batteries are then recharged for the next outage. There is no sign of a flicker in the lights. Power is never fed back to Eskom - when they go down. Everything is Automatic and very convenient.

I am also in SA.

Can you please explain the relay setup/config in a bit detail?