Crossy

Yeah, I should have bought more panels in November 2021, 340W @ 2,890 Baht.

This spreadsheet may be of use for your energy audit. https://diysolarforum.com/resources/system-energy-audit-and-sizing-spread-sheet.12/

Addendum:- I note that the inverter is 3-phase, do you need 3-phase? That's only 3.3kW per phase! https://www.deyeinverter.com/product/hybrid-inverter-1/sun5-6-8-10-12ksg04lp3.html Two 5kW single-phase units running in parallel would be about the same cost and would allow the full 10kW on a single phase. An added advantage would be that if one unit fails you still have the other available.

The inverter is 98k on Lazada so your installer is marking up nearly 40% on an already close to retail price. https://www.lazada.co.th/products/solar-hybrid-inverter-deye-sun-10k-sg04lp3-euau-i4546733675-s18499916427.html I would certainly be getting other quotes. I agree, before doing anything else do an energy audit. You don't actually need to have bills but knowing just what you want to run is the starting point. A/C how many / how big? Are you really wanting to be off-grid totally, or are you looking at some form of grid-assist (so you use the grid when the solar is off due to no sun and drained batteries)? Soooo, many questions before diving in with a significant investment. As a quick and dirty guesstimate. Your system should generate about 47kWh per day = 1,400kWh per month. At 4.5B/kWh that's 6,300 Baht's worth of juice each month meaning a simple ROI would be 119 months (10 years). Energy prices will go up no doubt and reduce that. Do you plan to have an EV at some point? For a non-DIY system I suppose that's not too bad.

No, those are the 25kV distribution wires which have no neutral. The ones to check are lower down the pole and arranged vertically, there are usually 4 wires (3 phases plus the neutral) although some small branches may just have one phase plus neutral. Something like this, note the top wire is uninsulated, this is the neutral.

Checking if the neutral (usually the top wire) has a ground rod every 3rd pole is a good start.

PLEASE send them more!! ALL of it!

Yup, no problem. What you can't do is have two active re-entry permits at the same time. So, you can't buy two singles at the same time.

Maybe something like this, no dam etc. required, just flowing water https://www.smart-hydro.de/renewable-energy-systems/hydrokinetic-turbines-river-canal/

What sort of head and flow rate are you seeing? Restricting the flow / damming is almost certainly illegal or would need a permit (even on your own land), so you may be looking at low-head hydro. As above, there's very little hardware available off the shelf so it's likely DIY job. The key equation to remember is the following: Power = Head x Flow x Gravity Where power is measured in Watts, head in metres, flow in litres per second, and acceleration due to gravity in metres per second per second. The acceleration due to gravity is approximately 9.81 metres per second per second.

If you have the spinning-disc type 3-phase meter it will sort out any excess on one phase for you. The electronic "smart" meters won't, so you could be losing out. If you have an electronic meter best you get all your daytime loads on the same phase as the inverter.

Or using the wire brush

If I told you, you would want to kill me!

Yeah, you are in somewhat uncharted territory stacking your cells like that rather than the conventional "terminals on top" arrangement. EDIT By the way, you will need some insulation between the two vertical stacks too.

I would avoid running with no insulation between the cells. The outer metal of the cell is connected to one pole, the blue plastic is very thin and any breach could result in a short!! You could use thin (I used 0.5mm) acrylic or FR4 between the cells, it's rigid and may be more friendly than the foam.

Promises that will evaporate faster than a snowball in hell if they actually win the election ???? My youngest (in the UK) suggested that all election manifestos should be made legally binding! Never going to happen anywhere, at least not in this universe.

Low-energy lighting doing anything untoward whilst turned off is invariably due to the switch being in the neutral line rather than the live. It's not an immediate hazard but needs looking at, it's easy enough to check if you have basic electrical tools (a neon screwdriver and a multimeter).

The April numbers are in. If nothing else they demonstrate the main disadvantage of solar, variability ???? Overall generation wasn't bad mind ????

Our place was Fraser Towers in PJ. We didn't actually have a balcony ("too high"), only lower floors had actual balconies so our usable space was bigger ???? The "best" thing about Fraser was the cooled pool, kept the locals out (too cold) and was great after toasting in the sauna for the Scandinavian feeling!

Our place in KL had a separate "mini-balcony" for the A/C outdoor units and clothes drying rack, it wasn't visible from outside the building or from other units (except from their own A/C balcony). See the circled "notch" in the building. Clever eh? Our condo here had the units mounted above the balcony doors, not ideal but at least they didn't take up the (minimal) balcony space.

Wikipedia has a good description of the various earthing schemes in use around the world. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earthing_system Thailand is 3-phase, 4-wire, TNC-S with MEN (multiple earthed neutral) or PME (protective multiple earthing) in UK speak. Generally, the neutral is held down near ground by the multiple grounding points (your and everyone else's local rod plus a rod at every third power pole). Problems can occur when there has been "work" done to your meter and the person has managed to swap L and N on the outgoing side. There was a thread a while back where a member noticed his kitchen floor above the earth rod was getting warm. This turned out to be a reversed supply! TNC-S with MEN is actually very safe (the Aussies use it and they have one of the safest electrical systems on the planet), but things can go awry when inexperienced people mess with it. Back on-topic, there's nothing to stop you using 2-pole MCBs or RCBOs, but, just like the UK, it's not really necessary.

This ^^^. Or ask if they can ship "Thailand Special Line" (same, same but different), either will ensure all the charges / fees are handled before you get involved.

I think 90% of us would say Qcon, purely for the better insulation properties (lower A/C energy costs). Built correctly there really aren't any disadvantages.

Definitely keep it above ground if it's going to be bolted. Cinch it all up then coat the whole lot with spray-galvanising or a couple of coats of acrylic paint.

Your existing UPS probably just needs batteries, usually readily available sealed lead-acid. The Voltronic unit is effectively a hybrid solar inverter with batteries in a UPS shaped box. Nice simple solution in one box. Nothing really comparable available locally, you'd be looking at a small hybrid inverter, battery pack and solar panel(s).