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JAS21

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    Another DIY Solar Project

    in Alternative/Renewable Energy Forum

    Posted

    18 hours ago, Eleftheros said:

    How about the cost - I guess you saved on labor costs, but can you estimate the material costs? Plus, how much do you expect to save in a typical month? Thank you.

     

    Your first question is straight foreword to answer…and you can easily price the main bits yourself.

    Hybrid Inverter ……….48Kthb

    LVTopsun Battery …..65Kthb

    Cells ……………………….58Kthb

    All other bits … rails/fitments/cable/switches/extra steel etc ….11Kthb

     

    Because we have

    …. more than enough cells for the present situation

    …. the fact that we can export  

    ….the fact that we have a battery

     

    I can make, over a period, the import from the grid match our usage or even go negative PROVIDED we have a reasonable amount of sunshine. 

     

    There is a topic discussing what sort of usage may not attract the attention of PEA/MEA.

     

    So at present it seems that we can use as much electric as we like. We leave the aircon on when we go out. I don’t ask MrsJ anymore why she fills the kettle when she is only making one cup of coffee! I suggest that she does the washing and ironing during the day so that in the evening the battery is full.

     

    Hope this goes someway to answering your question. But I would still change  to Grid-Tie if someone would buy our battery and inverter.

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    Another DIY Solar Project

    in Alternative/Renewable Energy Forum

    Posted

    With help, technical and other, and am very grateful to a friend,  we installed the system on a flat south facing roof. I also had the help from a couple of guys to locate the panels on the roof. I am just too old now to tackle that job.

     

    So ended up with

    One … Sofar ES5000 Hybrid Inverter

    One … LVTopsun LV48100 5kwh battery

    Seven … 450W Mono Panels. Kerry lost one  so only six installed at present

    Seven … 340W Poly Panels.

     

    Bit of a mixture but bought bit by bit.

     

    The system has been up and working for a couple of weeks. Some delay was caused by LVTopsun sending the wrong battery to the company from which we bought the battery. 

     

    Our minimum load is very low ie one fridge/freezer. However we have a PHEV with a 6.3kwh battery and several air con units, computers, TV’s, Coffee m/c, kettle, microwave, oven etc. Three of the aged air con units were replaced, very recently, with Daikin KTFM18WV’s. These considerably lowered our electrical usage. We are now running two units downstairs all day. Also put the bedroom one on mid afternoon, if we have spare generation. Our bedroom is at the front of the house.

     

    The weather hasn’t been great since installation. The highest daily generation has been a little over 18kwh, actually no idea if this is good or not and highest max instantaneous being 4.11kws.

     

    Sofar have a comprehensive monitoring system such that when you input your ‘Plant’ details you can access and download an amazing amount of info. It downloads straight into excel which is very handy.

     

    The only oddity found so far is that the inverter gave more output when PV2 input was changed to be the seven mono cells.  On the face of it, this doesn’t make sense. When we finally install the last 450W cell I’ll swap the inputs over and see if it is still the case.

     

    That is basically the reason why the PV1 and PV2 wires have, as yet, not been boxed in as it is much easier swapping the dc inputs at the breakers rather that at the inverter.

     

    What have I learnt/would do differently ……

     

    Yes you can install solar yourself and it would be much easier the second time. Isn’t it always the case?

     

    Would probably have bought the inverter and the battery from the same supplier, more likely to help if had a problem.  Could have bought direct from China.  I have a Chinese speaking friend who would have sorted for us, but wanted to avoid hassle with customs etc. It could have been somewhat cheaper that way.

     

    Should have understood better how to locate the rails for the panels as installation was delayed because of the need to add extra steels under the roof. Fortunately, due to the roof design MrsJ and myself managed to ‘slip in’ what was required but not without some difficulty. We put in 25mm2 galvanised pieces.

     

    That painting galvanized steel using the wash with white vinegar first method isn’t always successful.

     

    When buying steel there is in spec. and there is not in spec. What is called ‘one inch’ can come out at about 20mm. and we needed 24mm-25mm. square.  Had to buy twice.

     

    Went for Hybrid as was concerned what would be the effect of in the future being given a no export meter. Now looking at all the data realize that we would have been much better installing a Grid-Tie system.  We just don’t get power cuts, well very infrequent. So if anyone wants a Hybrid inverter and 5kwh battery we would sell. PM me if interested.

     

    It’s not that we are unhappy with the system, it is working well, just that the payback would have been shorter. I would certainly stick with Sofar though.

     

    House.jpg.cc31ae5a3488e732da4d953d5a84870b.jpg

                                                Can see the space for the last solar panel...when it eventually arrives

     

     

    Roof.jpg.ed8243bc96569f45f49e3fb828e60bc2.jpg

                                                                Additional Roof steels...painting failed

     

     

    Inverter.jpg.f17f5d9da8c894cc21ec4a156f540a50.jpg

                         Boxing of wiring still to finish    PV1 and PV2 input wiring reversed  going to raise the battery also

     

     

    948201960_DCBox.jpg.a30853dff2adef9267690118341982eb.jpg

                                                                                               DC Switch Box

     

     

     

    Plant.JPG.9221ded8fb293a44966a9445bb7d690f.JPG

     

                                           Some system info from today ...generally thinish cloud..a couple of times not quite so thin

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    Honda Civic Rs new tyres? Bridgestone/Michelin/Yokohama

    in Thailand Motor Discussion

    Posted

    28 minutes ago, kwak250 said:

    Hi yes I am told Bridgestone on the Civic are one of the worst saying that when they were new they were fine.

     

    Never had any vibrations though.

     

    Might give the primacy tyres a go.

     

    Still love the car just drove 2k on a recent trip and apart from a BMW or Merc not sure what else would be better.

     

    Fuel economy is awesome as long as your not flooring it everywhere.

    Yes, ours would do 20km/l on a run.

    The Merc we have now came on Primacy RFT's. The ride was harsh and noisy. Thailand doesn't have Primacy in conventional tyres in the size that we wanted. So went for PS5 (conventional)...and the ride and tyre noise was like night and day.

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    Wise

    in Jobs, Economy, Banking, Business, Investments

    Posted

    17 hours ago, KannikaP said:

    Yes, it really is a P I T A to press the 'Repeat this transaction' button again.

    I think if you check 3*20,000thb transfers cost more than 1*60,000thb transfer  maybe nearly £5 ...still not really worth bothering about though... is it 

     

    I didn't have any problem doing my monthly 65,100thb transfer from the UK this afternoon..

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    Retirement Visa using monthly income rather than 800k

    in Thai Visas, Residency, and Work Permits

    Posted

    5 hours ago, denis911 said:

    Hi,

    Here at Prachuap I.O, the rules are 12 x 65,000thb. On arrival at the office for renewal of extension, you have to submit a recently updated bank book, a  1-year bank statement,  (showing 12 monthly incoming credits of 65,000thb or more), and a payment advice note showing that the payments have been internationally received and also the relevant forms and photos. With Bangkok  Bank, you have to give 7 days' notice for these documents, but I believe other Thai banks will do them quicker. I am also sure other I.O's and offices have different rules, but this seems the norm here for over 3 years. 

    I get around the 7 days notice problem by getting a BB statement from their head office after about nine months and nearer the time a printout of the remaining transfers… BB will issue an up to six months printout on the day


    Nonthaburi always ask to see 13 months of transfers.

     

    Also get the printout showing the monthly transfers are international. 
     

    Then on the day update bank book and copy of that page plus the bank letter saying it is my account etc

     

    Been doing it that way for a few years now

    Any UK bank which allows a Thai address and tax residency.

    in Jobs, Economy, Banking, Business, Investments

    Posted

    On 9/7/2022 at 6:59 PM, foreverlomsak said:

    When my Thai wife came to live with me in England in 20 years ago, my UK High Street bank wouldn't allow me to open a joint account with her unless she could provide Utility Bills in her name and of course no bank account = no utility bill, catch 22.

    So it's not something new.

    Twenty years ago I didn’t have any problem making my current account with the Royal Bank of Scotland to be a joint one with MrsJ.

     

    After we came to live here full time I wanted to do the same with another account, that did require quite a bit of verification and a complete pain….

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    Best cutting compound polish

    in Thailand Motor Discussion

    Posted

    7 minutes ago, Ralf001 said:

    I would wet rub that with 1500 then using a buffing machine polish it with 3M Finesse.

    Wet sanding requires quite a level of skill, especially if you don’t know how thick the clear coat is. You have the area to practice on though … let us know how you get on … can always respray .. ????

    • Like 1

    Best cutting compound polish

    in Thailand Motor Discussion

    Posted

    7 hours ago, eezergood said:

     

    car.jpg

    O … that does not look good. So what vehicle, how old and is it a respray. I very much doubt that you will make much improvement without an orbital polisher and even then……is most of the car like that.

     

    The guy up the road has an old Merc. Had it resprayed a few years ago. It looked good… now all still looks good except the boot lid which looks a lot like your roof. I tried a little polishing compound on it by hand … no improvement at all ….

     

    I know that he didn’t put a wax or anything to protect the surface very often, if ever… could be where he parks the car that the boot lid catches the sun a lot…

     

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