Considering installing Solar.

[PR3]

Okay brief update, first blue sky day here in KK so checked panel output of PV2 and was 162v, most I ever saw was 167v out of that array so seems the shattered glass has had a negligible effect on output.

I thought I'd finally sorted the CT problem thus had it switched on for meter reading day.

Meter reader came and we got a "there seems to a problem with your readings" (translated by the missus) on the bill and no other details or amount.

So I suppose Monday will bring more news and will update as we go.

Turns out the CT wasn't doing as I thought so it may have been spinning in reverse when he took the reading.

Hard to see why as we had 3 aircons rolling and a washing machine and it was only making 1.5kw at the time.

Perhaps was unlucky and the air con compressors weren't spinning and the washing machine was having one of those pause for thought moments like they seem to have sometimes. Lol

Have contacted the supplier of the Sofar inverter (Sofar never replied to my enquiries for assistance btw and neither did Bluesun the panel manufacturers); he has been most helpful thus far in terms of guidance, and also assured he'd send someone local round next week to assist FOC if needs be. 

So after all the excitement of Songkran another episode awaits albeit perhaps one I don't want.

It's peeing down outside and can hear the thunder, going to grab a wine bottle and watch the lightning.

Update soon with hopefully not too depressing news.

All the Best

PR3

 

[MJCM]

11 hours ago, PR3 said:

I thought I'd finally sorted the CT problem thus had it switched on for meter reading day.

Meter reader came and we got a "there seems to a problem with your readings" (translated by the missus) on the bill and no other details or amount.

My guess (I could be wrong) is that you went into negative territory.

 

What I mean by that is:

 

Suppose

 

Meter reader came on the 20th March and recorded current Meter reading as 9500 Units.

Meter reader came (again) on the 20th April and recorded current Meter reading as 9495 Units.

 

So you were 5 units under the previous reading and that is an absolute NO NO together with the Meter reader seeing your Meter spinning Backwards.

 

Edit: During the Cool season (Nov - Feb) we were sometimes 20+ units in to negative territory (BUT never on Meter reading day), but as we check the meter often we stopped our Solar production and only started it up again after we were back into positive territory.

Edited April 23, 2023 by MJCM

[PR3]

Hi, that's the odd thing, we were 1125 kw/h used, the solar made around 400 kw/h also; so that makes 1500+ usage which is way above the most we ever used by 35%.

I know it's hot but wow.

We have never been close to negative readings as we use use quite a bit of energy, additionally  we make sure it's (solar) always isolated when we go away for a night or so.

We have 2 fridge freezers and another fridge upstairs so there are plenty of things eating the power, I notice night time temperatures are 30ish degrees which wont help either.

Perhaps it's time for an energy audit.

Anyways I'll keep updating as things take shape.

All the Best

PR3

[Crossy]

If your CT is in the right place and "Export" is set to 0% then the only variable is if the CT is the right way round.

 

With all your load turned off and no-export enabled your meter should not be moving.

 

If it is moving, swap the CT connections, re-start the inverter and check again.

[MJCM]

12 minutes ago, PR3 said:

Perhaps it's time for an energy audit.

A simple solution (what I do) is walk every morning to your PEA Meter (good exercise as well ) and record the meter reading. Rinse and repeat every day.

 

That is how you will find out if your going (inadvertently) into negative Territory. 

 

And also note the days that the Meter reader is coming and SHUT off Export the day before, and after he has been turn it on again

 

 

[Encid]

19 hours ago, PR3 said:

Sofar never replied to my enquiries for assistance btw

I am yet to receive a reply to any of my emails to them too... 

 

19 hours ago, PR3 said:

and also assured he'd send someone local round next week to assist FOC if needs be

I am building close to KK too and will be installing a solar system too... I would be interested to know the name of the local company if you don't mind.

It's always good to know that there is local support if needed.

 

[Encid]

Just now, MJCM said:

A simple solution (what I do) is walk every morning to your PEA Meter (good exercise as well ) and record the meter reading. Rinse and repeat every day.

Not a bad idea!

I was thinking about sending the drone over the snake-infested uneven ground of the rice fields to the meter instead, but I do need the exercise! 

[PR3]

@Crossy I have been playing with the CT again the last 2 days trying it on both cables both ways round its been a stressful experience Lol.

The best it will do is cut the power output to 0.03kw then it just sits there and doesnt change regardless of what loading we put on it or take off.

In fairness I am doing this midday so i dont know if it makes any difference?

Sofar never got back to me with a solution or suggestions so we have contacted the supplier, he was most helpful but all his suggestions were things I had tried already. He will speak to his engineer contact at Sofar to try get more information.

We also spoke to a 3rd party solar installer who was also helpful and seems to think the unit is faulty as it should still produce power with the CT activated. 

The manual I got with the unit gives little info on parameter settings, maybe the unit is bad, maybe one of the settings is causing the problem I really don't know.

It's a bit like being in limbo. 

I prefer to deal with definitive situations its easier to strategise..... if the Inverter is toast then I either get it repaired or replace and sell the repaired unit, or use it on the other house with a few panels.

At the moment it's like walking round a 4 metre room in the dark banging off the walls.5555555.

Hopefully tomorrow will bring some clarity or at least a direction.

 

Yes, I agree brain it's time for a vodka. 5555...sorry thinking out loud. 555

 

All the Best

 

PR3

 

 

 

 

 

 

[PR3]

25 minutes ago, Encid said:

I am yet to receive a reply to any of my emails to them too... 

 

I am building close to KK too and will be installing a solar system too... I would be interested to know the name of the local company if you don't mind.

It's always good to know that there is local support if needed.

 

I'm not sure which company it was there are a few here i think she did a Google search and just started calling until one answered then acted as a translator while i did the button pushing,

I dare say there are some English speaking technical staff here too but I haven't found them yet.

If i get any more info I'll gladly share it on the Forum.

Cheers.

PR3

[PR3]

Woke up this morning with a damaged fascia board, roofing panels off an outside walkway and the water tank enclosure, and a garden full of someones leaves, quite a storm last night it was nasty.

After performing most the repairs a set about again trying to get the CT to work.

In order to do this, I first relocated it back to where I had it the first time (at the insistence of the supplier) which involved running cable 20m of 2x1 yet again Lol taking all the trunking covers off and the rest of it.

Even then it still wouldn't work, same thing 0.03kw.

But, the supplier was great we video called about 4 times there were other tech staff there suggesting stuff too, the swapping direction was basically a "just try it see what happens" thing after we changed settings and tried other things..... and eureka it worked...it bl**dy well worked!!

Still a little confusing as I tried that before and still had problems maybe the setting changes helped too.

So I'm leaving it that way permanently, no switch or anything.

 

Just goes to show though, given what we all understand to be correct ended up not so in this case.

The arrow points at the house not the meter....in fairness it could very well be an etching error on the CT unit itself. 

Bit of a mystery that one.

Anyways it is of course time for a beer.

Cheers All.

PR3

[Crossy]

11 hours ago, PR3 said:

The arrow points at the house not the meter....in fairness it could very well be an etching error on the CT unit itself. 

Or a wiring error on the CT or your wiring. What settings did you change?

 

Great that it's working as intended.

 

Which Sofar inverter do you have?

[PR3]

I have a  Sofar 5KTLM-G2, most the setting changes were messing around with power reflux and they all ended up the same as before in the end. 

The only one IIRC which ended up permanently changed was set power derate, this was switched to disable. 

By that stage I was just being a robot pushing buttons on request and I'd just about given up I wish I'd have paid a little more attention now .

Yes the wiring could have been wrong on the CT, I know my side was ok as I only used a single length cable each time and continuity tested it prior to fitting.

Either way it's something what's finally been put to bed and I'm happy for that.

 

All the Best

 

PR3

[Crossy]

11 minutes ago, PR3 said:

The only one IIRC which ended up permanently changed was set power derate, this was switched to disable. 

 

In user manuals (not just Sofar) often functions are not adequately (or at all) explained. We have the 6kW version of the same inverter and that function isn't even in the installed version of the software. "Disabled" seems to be a sensible option.

 

You might want to go through all the menu options recording what they are set to, just in case something forgets.

[TimeMachine]

I'm ready to purchase 10 x solar panels with delivery to Udon Thani Nam Som area.

Any wattage from 250 to 400 watt is ok. I'll be there on 20th May. Anybody know of where I can get some. Preferably second hand at discount rate. I don't need anything else and would like cash on delivery without a deposit as too many scammers ruining it for the decent businesses.

 

I've seen a few Facebook market place ads but no deal yet. 

 

It really seems like the government is doing the opposite of helping solar but stifling it. Why are these so hard to come by at reasonable monies. Aren't there any companies shipping container loads for the benefit of the planet? 

 

Thanks for any recommendations.

Edited April 25, 2023 by TimeMachine

[Pink7]

1 hour ago, TimeMachine said:

I'm ready to purchase 10 x solar panels with delivery to Udon Thani Nam Som area.

Any wattage from 250 to 400 watt is ok. I'll be there on 20th May. Anybody know of where I can get some. Preferably second hand at discount rate. I don't need anything else and would like cash on delivery without a deposit as too many scammers ruining it for the decent businesses.

 

I've seen a few Facebook market place ads but no deal yet. 

 

It really seems like the government is doing the opposite of helping solar but stifling it. Why are these so hard to come by at reasonable monies. Aren't there any companies shipping container loads for the benefit of the planet? 

 

Thanks for any recommendations.

Have you Check Global? I got mine 330w 2990 each, delivered to home

 

Pink

Edited April 25, 2023 by Pink7

[PR3]

6 hours ago, Crossy said:

 

In user manuals (not just Sofar) often functions are not adequately (or at all) explained. We have the 6kW version of the same inverter and that function isn't even in the installed version of the software. "Disabled" seems to be a sensible option.

 

You might want to go through all the menu options recording what they are set to, just in case something forgets.

Totally agree, I will do that soonest, I have been testing it today and I'm pleased to say its functioning correctly. So as you say a video of the current set up going through the parameters will be done soonest.

Unfortunately the storm we had the other night seems to have fried the tv coaxial that runs under the road along with my tv signal booster, we had no cable tv since then so assumed it was a network issue, they came today and tested and gave us the wonderful news. 

I ran a patch cable to the KTV house just to make sure and sure enough its true...sigh.

 

Ah well Netflix until that gets sorted.

 

All the Best PR3

[TimeMachine]

5 hours ago, Pink7 said:

Have you Check Global? I got mine 330w 2990 each, delivered to home

 

Pink

Have you got a link? Google brings up varied results.

Cheers.

[Pink7]

1 hour ago, TimeMachine said:

Have you got a link? Google brings up varied results.

Cheers.

That sale was only in stores, not online. I posted the sale board in a tread here

 

Pink

[TimeMachine]

12 hours ago, Pink7 said:

That sale was only in stores, not online. I posted the sale board in a tread here

 

Pink

Seems like nothing available at the moment.  Looking like I'll have to put my lab coat on and develop some new tech to make my own solar panels. And when I succeed I will share with the world and save the people from this harmful energy dilemma. Power to the people! will be my slogan.

 

[Crossy]

47 minutes ago, TimeMachine said:

Seems like nothing available at the moment.  Looking like I'll have to put my lab coat on and develop some new tech to make my own solar panels. And when I succeed I will share with the world and save the people from this harmful energy dilemma. Power to the people! will be my slogan.

 

 

Have a look at the work of George Cove ???? 

 

https://www.lowtechmagazine.com/2021/10/how-to-build-a-low-tech-solar-panel.html

 

[Encid]

On 4/22/2023 at 10:43 PM, PR3 said:

Sofar never replied to my enquiries for assistance btw...

I have now got a contact at Sofar if you want... they finally replied to me and this person is quite helpful.

 

Linda Lu

卢 颖 娴  Linda Lu   +86 186 5246 6610

亚洲其它区域  |  ROA负责人Head of ROA sub-region  |  www.sofarsolar.com

 

[email protected]

 

ROA = "Rest of Asia"

[PR3]

2 hours ago, Encid said:

I have now got a contact at Sofar if you want... they finally replied to me and this person is quite helpful.

 

Linda Lu

卢 颖 娴  Linda Lu   +86 186 5246 6610

亚洲其它区域  |  ROA负责人Head of ROA sub-region  |  www.sofarsolar.com

 

[email protected]

 

ROA = "Rest of Asia"

@Encid Thank-you kindly for that information.

I'll make a note of her details; I hope not to need it but great to have it.

 

Been watching the solar performance on no export mode, think I'll have to make use of the good daylight hours to get things done that require power.... laundry, cooking, ironing etc. 

 

Because it only makes what you use; today it only produced 8.5kwh rather than the 17ish it's been doing recently. 

 

Not spinning the meter backwards is certainly going to put some time on the ROI that is a fact.

 

Of course there are ways of making the most of the solar game, they involve heavier investment in a hybrid inverter, storage and the other bits and bobs required with such a set up.

 

Food for thought I suppose.

 

Regards.

PR3 

[TimeMachine]

Ordered 5kw powmr inverter off Lazada , but order got cancelled. Prices gone up. I'm thinking better off just setting up a few of those small AliExpress over exaggerated inverters. Will work out cheaper and if one inverter dies I won't lose power to everything. The best I've found though is real values ending up being about 1kw which isn't enough for small ac or microwave. Need to get probably closer to real 2000jw continuous . Any recommendations? Also the issue with that way is a charge controller that can handle 500v(series panels) input like the all in one expensive inverters.

 

 

[Pink7]

31 minutes ago, TimeMachine said:

Ordered 5kw powmr inverter off Lazada , but order got cancelled. Prices gone up. I'm thinking better off just setting up a few of those small AliExpress over exaggerated inverters. Will work out cheaper and if one inverter dies I won't lose power to everything. The best I've found though is real values ending up being about 1kw which isn't enough for small ac or microwave. Need to get probably closer to real 2000jw continuous . Any recommendations? Also the issue with that way is a charge controller that can handle 500v(series panels) input like the all in one expensive inverters.

 

 

What are the price now? I see 13k or something..

 

Pink

[TimeMachine]

7 hours ago, Pink7 said:

What are the price now? I see 13k or something..

 

Pink

I ordered at around 12 and now around 14. Also not sure if shipped from outside of Thailand will be asked to pay duty tax. Not really prepared to go higher monies for what it is. I'd like to stick to a pay off period. Finances do matter. That's why we do solar , right? Haha not because we give a hoot about the planet. Keep it simple .keep it happy chaps and chicks.

Edited April 28, 2023 by TimeMachine

[Pink7]

6 minutes ago, TimeMachine said:

I ordered at around 12 and now around 14. Also not sure if shipped from outside of Thailand will be asked to pay duty tax. Not really prepared to go higher monies for what it is. I'd like to stick to a pay off period. Finances do matter. That's why we do solar , right? Haha not because we give a hoot about the planet. Keep it simple .keep it happy chaps and chicks.

A smart and economic setup without batteries can be super economic and very fast payback time !!!. My brother in law who assist me on my setup with some welding work etc need something like that for their shop and home.. Just need the free daytime power at low cost.

 

Pink

[TimeMachine]

7 minutes ago, Pink7 said:

A smart and economic setup without batteries can be super economic and very fast payback time !!!. My brother in law who assist me on my setup with some welding work etc need something like that for their shop and home.. Just need the free daytime power at low cost.

 

Pink

Agree. I liked the spec of the pow Mr. Says it can work without batteries. And I'd just add free used car batteries into it as I gathered them. It's real easy to get ripped off in the Industry though. You gotta have ya smarts. I am prepared to leave it if I don't get the fair pricing on stuff. 

 

[Pink7]

2 minutes ago, TimeMachine said:

Agree. I liked the spec of the pow Mr. Says it can work without batteries. And I'd just add free used car batteries into it as I gathered them. It's real easy to get ripped off in the Industry though. You gotta have ya smarts. I am prepared to leave it if I don't get the fair pricing on stuff. 

 

Is this the same as was canceled? Its 12k ( without wifi)

 

Pink

[TimeMachine]

1 hour ago, Pink7 said:

Is this the same as was canceled? Its 12k ( without wifi)

 

Pink

Same inverter but different store. I had asked the store you linked if item was already in Thailand but they didn't answer that question. I've asked them again. Thanks 

[Pink7]

43 minutes ago, TimeMachine said:

Same inverter but different store. I had asked the store you linked if item was already in Thailand but they didn't answer that question. I've asked them again. Thanks 

When you order on Lazada there is no vat or other import expenses.

 

Pink