Thx for sharing! i have a question. how do you size the breaker feeding the inverter when the grid power is present? because it will be actualy used the charge the batteries and power the loads connected on out 1 and 2 when the inverter is in bypass mode.
That is correct. The inverter/charger will have a number behind it, that is the DC charging current. Like this: victron multiplus 48v 3000VA 35A. This means the DC charger is 35A. 35Ax58.4V=2000W. 2000W/230V=8.7A.you can use a standard 20A AC breaker to feed the multiplus, ensure your wires can carry the 20A, usually 2.5-4mm². You can limit the ac input current with dip switches on the multiplus.
Hey CleverSolar, the Multiplus 3000Va 48v Here is R9250.00+-, 5KW 48V battery (SVOLT)R15900.00 x2, Fuses, Wires, Breakers, breaker box R4000.00max Total R45050.00. Spot on
@@cleversolarpower Awesome, but for reference.R45000 is quite expensive over here. 3 or 4k in Dollars might not seem like much but R45000 is considered the monthly middle to upper class salary here. For me for instance I can spare around R500/month of my salary to save towards this. So it would take me roughly 2 years to buy. without incurring loan.
I see the allure of having a very simple system without solar panels, but it makes for a very, very expensive system when you do that. And the multiplus is overkill if it is only going to run a few loads. It doesn't really make any sense to try to run the whole house with a system like this due to the small amount of battery storage. So I see it as a bit of a mix of components that don't fit well with each other at small scales. How about this. I'll describe a system revolving around 24V but the same thing can be done at 48V for about the same price except the battery charger solution might have to be a bit different (Victron doesn't make a low-cost 48V battery charger). * 2 x Residential solar panels in series (300W or higher each for 600W+ total). Roughly $500 in total (probably less). This will work for both 24V and 48V system voltages. The open circuit voltage needs to be less than around 85V via the labeling on the panels, to be safe. As I specify Victron 100/20 charge controllers below (100V maximum VOC, but subtract a bit for margin). * Victron SmartSolar 100/20 charge controller. Roughly $80. This will also work for 12V, 24V, or 48V system voltages (the 75/15 is only 12V or 24V). Each unit caps out at roughly 500W at 24V or 1000W at 48V. A bit more as the battery voltage rises. You can have as many as you need... no need to parallel larger panel configurations. (unit is setup with a normal charge profile for the battery and the series configuration for the panels will work for both 24V and 48V systems as well). (again, I'm assuming a small-scale system, not a huge solar system). * Victron Phoenix 500VA 24V inverter: $150 (Victron also makes a 48V for about the same). Increase to 800VA if you need more power but the whole point is to only power the fridge and a few small loads. The smaller the inverter you use that is still sufficient for the loads, the less idle power the inverter will consume. The smaller inverters consumes roughly 5W at idle. (this will depend on the fridge's startup needs. The Phoenix is pretty beefy for surge loads but if you are worried you might have to up it to the more expensive 800VA version). (note: Some phoenix inverters have a GFCI or AFCI built-in, but the fridge-startup might trip it so be prepared to change it out for a normal plug and put the real protection in your breaker box instead... or better, buy a Phoenix that just has a normal plug and not a GFCI/AFCI). * Victron Energy Blue Smart 24V 12A Battery charger: $180. There is no decent Victron equivalent for 48V so you are on your own in terms of finding a grid load-support solution at 48V. I use a complex setup with a Mean Well HLG-320H-54A power supply run through four schottky diodes in parallel on my 48V system. (Basically for the battery charger I put the Victron charger in "power supply" mode and just set the voltage to a decent load-support level that still leaves room for the solar to handle most of the energy needs. For example, I'll set the power supply to roughly 26.2V on a 24V system or 52.5V on a 48V system). (While you can have the power supply fully charge your battery, you want to leave room for the solar to provide most of the energy rather than the grid). * One 100Ah x 25.6V LiFePO4 battery: Roughly $500. Can easily be expanded by paralleling more batteries. If you go 48V, then the minimum is one 50Ah x 51.2V LiFePO4 battery. Similar price. (I recommend 2 AWG battery cabling. Up to 2 batteries can be paralleled with one main 120A fuse. If paralleling 4 batteries, a slightly different fusing configuration is needed or one can use thicker cables). (So, 2560 Wh of storage with one battery, up to 10240 Wh with four). * Fuses wires, breakers, etc: $300 (same as described in video) Total: $1710 (USD) -- There are a couple of advantages to this sort of setup. * Loads are always on the inverter and basically immune to bad grid power. * Not having a transfer switch is considered a good thing in many situations. * Relatively cheap discrete components that can be easily maintained when things inevitably break. * Easily expandable. For the 24V system, up to around 2000W of solar (at least if you stick to 2 AWG battery cabling). For the 48V system, 5kW is easy (again sticking with 2 AWG cabling). And storage can be expanded indefinitely with appropriate fusing as long as the system total amperage is within the cable specs. * Your grid consumption is lower, saving you roughly $0.50 (USED) a day = $180/year, or a 10-year break-even on the equipment. This is better than not having a break-even at all without solar. -Matt
Great system. I would go for the 800VA inverter to run a fridge. Don't think you can use the eco mode when it's a thermostat controlled fridge. You would need to have the system close to your appliances or run extention cords in the house to router, fridge, computer,... The hard part is balancing the charging from solar and the grid, depending on your risk tolerance and hours of autonomy.
Then you can only use AC-out 1 as the essential loads output. However, make sure this doesn't connect to your main electricity panel as it will be dangerous.
Yes indeed, but i thought it was necessary because i had a lot of people asking for it. The watch time of this video is one of the better ones of the channel 😉
![MV วิถีชีวิตใต้ - ผา อัยย๊ะ [Official MV HD]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/nODlkOUu9B0/mqdefault.jpg)
My man, been a subscriber for a while. Happy you making content for this shitty country 😂
I got so many requests for this recently. It works very well in my home. Glad you liked it.
I grew up in Swaziland in the early 60's. In those days we had a paraffin fridge. A bit of a smelly old thing, but pretty fool proof
With the multiplus II and grid feed, do you need an energy meter like in your diagram, or does the external current sensor clamp work?
I have the energy meter, not the clamps. Maybe it works with the clamp meters. The manual should tell you. I'm not sure.
Thank you
Thx for sharing! i have a question. how do you size the breaker feeding the inverter when the grid power is present? because it will be actualy used the charge the batteries and power the loads connected on out 1 and 2 when the inverter is in bypass mode.
That is correct. The inverter/charger will have a number behind it, that is the DC charging current. Like this: victron multiplus 48v 3000VA 35A. This means the DC charger is 35A. 35Ax58.4V=2000W. 2000W/230V=8.7A.you can use a standard 20A AC breaker to feed the multiplus, ensure your wires can carry the 20A, usually 2.5-4mm². You can limit the ac input current with dip switches on the multiplus.
Hey CleverSolar, the Multiplus 3000Va 48v Here is R9250.00+-, 5KW 48V battery (SVOLT)R15900.00 x2, Fuses, Wires, Breakers, breaker box R4000.00max Total R45050.00. Spot on
I did my research 😉
@@cleversolarpower Awesome, but for reference.R45000 is quite expensive over here. 3 or 4k in Dollars might not seem like much but R45000 is considered the monthly middle to upper class salary here. For me for instance I can spare around R500/month of my salary to save towards this. So it would take me roughly 2 years to buy. without incurring loan.
I see the allure of having a very simple system without solar panels, but it makes for a very, very expensive system when you do that. And the multiplus is overkill if it is only going to run a few loads. It doesn't really make any sense to try to run the whole house with a system like this due to the small amount of battery storage. So I see it as a bit of a mix of components that don't fit well with each other at small scales.
How about this. I'll describe a system revolving around 24V but the same thing can be done at 48V for about the same price except the battery charger solution might have to be a bit different (Victron doesn't make a low-cost 48V battery charger).
* 2 x Residential solar panels in series (300W or higher each for 600W+ total). Roughly $500 in total (probably less). This will work for both 24V and 48V system voltages. The open circuit voltage needs to be less than around 85V via the labeling on the panels, to be safe. As I specify Victron 100/20 charge controllers below (100V maximum VOC, but subtract a bit for margin).
* Victron SmartSolar 100/20 charge controller. Roughly $80. This will also work for 12V, 24V, or 48V system voltages (the 75/15 is only 12V or 24V). Each unit caps out at roughly 500W at 24V or 1000W at 48V. A bit more as the battery voltage rises. You can have as many as you need... no need to parallel larger panel configurations.
(unit is setup with a normal charge profile for the battery and the series configuration for the panels will work for both 24V and 48V systems as well).
(again, I'm assuming a small-scale system, not a huge solar system).
* Victron Phoenix 500VA 24V inverter: $150 (Victron also makes a 48V for about the same). Increase to 800VA if you need more power but the whole point is to only power the fridge and a few small loads. The smaller the inverter you use that is still sufficient for the loads, the less idle power the inverter will consume. The smaller inverters consumes roughly 5W at idle.
(this will depend on the fridge's startup needs. The Phoenix is pretty beefy for surge loads but if you are worried you might have to up it to the more expensive 800VA version).
(note: Some phoenix inverters have a GFCI or AFCI built-in, but the fridge-startup might trip it so be prepared to change it out for a normal plug and put the real protection in your breaker box instead... or better, buy a Phoenix that just has a normal plug and not a GFCI/AFCI).
* Victron Energy Blue Smart 24V 12A Battery charger: $180. There is no decent Victron equivalent for 48V so you are on your own in terms of finding a grid load-support solution at 48V. I use a complex setup with a Mean Well HLG-320H-54A power supply run through four schottky diodes in parallel on my 48V system.
(Basically for the battery charger I put the Victron charger in "power supply" mode and just set the voltage to a decent load-support level that still leaves room for the solar to handle most of the energy needs. For example, I'll set the power supply to roughly 26.2V on a 24V system or 52.5V on a 48V system).
(While you can have the power supply fully charge your battery, you want to leave room for the solar to provide most of the energy rather than the grid).
* One 100Ah x 25.6V LiFePO4 battery: Roughly $500. Can easily be expanded by paralleling more batteries. If you go 48V, then the minimum is one 50Ah x 51.2V LiFePO4 battery. Similar price.
(I recommend 2 AWG battery cabling. Up to 2 batteries can be paralleled with one main 120A fuse. If paralleling 4 batteries, a slightly different fusing configuration is needed or one can use thicker cables).
(So, 2560 Wh of storage with one battery, up to 10240 Wh with four).
* Fuses wires, breakers, etc: $300 (same as described in video)
Total: $1710 (USD)
--
There are a couple of advantages to this sort of setup.
* Loads are always on the inverter and basically immune to bad grid power.
* Not having a transfer switch is considered a good thing in many situations.
* Relatively cheap discrete components that can be easily maintained when things inevitably break.
* Easily expandable. For the 24V system, up to around 2000W of solar (at least if you stick to 2 AWG battery cabling). For the 48V system, 5kW is easy (again sticking with 2 AWG cabling). And storage can be expanded indefinitely with appropriate fusing as long as the system total amperage is within the cable specs.
* Your grid consumption is lower, saving you roughly $0.50 (USED) a day = $180/year, or a 10-year break-even on the equipment. This is better than not having a break-even at all without solar.
-Matt
Great system. I would go for the 800VA inverter to run a fridge. Don't think you can use the eco mode when it's a thermostat controlled fridge. You would need to have the system close to your appliances or run extention cords in the house to router, fridge, computer,... The hard part is balancing the charging from solar and the grid, depending on your risk tolerance and hours of autonomy.
We dont freed back power back into the grid here Eskom is the poblem.
Then you can only use AC-out 1 as the essential loads output. However, make sure this doesn't connect to your main electricity panel as it will be dangerous.
I already have a small victron muliplus setup the bigger victrons are nice but expensive another thing is the import tax is allot.
I'm trying to understand solar, but my mind fogs up like a mirror in a hot shower.
It can be overwhelming at first, but actually its quite simple ;) read my starters guide on my website. (Second button in the navigation bar)
Oh WOW - this is your 2nd least watched video!
It seems nobody wants to know about South Africa's problems? (as Trump called it ... "the sh!thole!)
Yes indeed, but i thought it was necessary because i had a lot of people asking for it. The watch time of this video is one of the better ones of the channel 😉
@@cleversolarpower Sorry, I didn't mean to be disrespectful. I am from SA and it's true - nobody gives a sh!t! Thank you for the video.