I assume the rather loose limits is to prevent all the inverters dropping off the grid when there is a “small” disturbance in the force? I can’t really think of any good reasons here - it would actually be better if the limits are stricter?
Here’s mine after loadshedding (seeing how we’re show and telling) I’m up North in Johannesburg.
Basically hanging around 207V immediately after power returned at 8am this morning:
Or last night’s evening peak (between 2x loadshedding events) where you can see how it builds up from ~210V to ~230V:
Same thing during the day after the power returned at 8am:
Personally, I understand why insurance companies (like mine) suggests installing surge protector plugs in front of expensive items (they specifically mention the Ellies TV Safe & Fridge Safe), but I don’t see them going as extreme as requesting voltage based disconnects for devices.
Did they specify what protection is required?
Are we talking surge arrester in the DB, surge protector plugs, or did they go as far as specifying voltage based disconnects?
I’m really just trying to understand what’s required. I for one won’t get separate UPS’ for expensive devices, but seeing how I have a fridge, TV, home office and gaming PC I’d ideally like to stay working I just want to get an idea of what should be done or what is suggested.
- In my case I have surge aresters in the DB. Is that enough?
- I also have TV / Fridge safe plugs which I can add, but as that’s generally a cause for nuisance earth leakage trips I removed them.
See the conundrum?
I get that something can happen after loadshedding, Eskom & municipalities often posts about disconnecting devices during loadshedding and only reconnecting them afterwards, but obviously we don’t do that.
I think my last tidbit would be:
- If something goes wrong with the inverter does Victron repair it?
Again, my thinking is that in my case I have an inverter that’s set up with our grid code and I have surge arresters before the inverter.
I understand that adding a voltage regulator may reduce the chance of an issue, but at the end of the day the inverter is configured with the grid code, disconnects when it should and has a surge arrester in front of it (and is obviously installed correctly)
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My communication was not prescriptive, no, very broadly mentioning “appropriate protections”. Looked for the mail, already deleted.
I can see where they are going, not being prescriptive gives more options for the clients, at least something was installed to mitigate their risk, I would guess.
Yes, always.
Right, no editing once a grid code is selected. Doh.
You can set the grid code to “other” and then set your own values. I know that you are then technically not compliant anymore, but maybe just as an experiment it could have value.
@plonkster - any thoughts on why the grid code is so relaxed about the upper and lower limits?
All I know is NRS097 is a copy/paste of VDE-AR-N-4105 (the German code) with relaxed limits. I can only imagine that we need wider margins because our grid isn’t quite German quality, but I am speculating. Not really my area of expertise 
Let me think on that for a moment … just hold …
No.
Ai, and here I thought all is well and the Multi is giving my appliances great protection by “testing” the grid before it allows it to connect.
So presumably it tests the frequency and the voltage amongst others and if these fail, it wont connect. So my appliances are safe, or so I thought.
What am I missing? is all this talk about surge arrestors and related devices then to protect the inverter itself? Or is the issue when the grid spikes and the Multi cannot react quickly enough to drop it?
So grid spikes vs grid stabilizing (after a power outage), biggest issue being the former?
Yes.
Maybe we should ask for an inverter with its own surge arrrestor already built in? A plug and play type. When it pops eventually, pop in a new one in a dedicated slot like you would a light bulb.
Now wouldn’t that be an idea!!! How come no one has ever thought of this?
Now you guys may tell me why I’m smoking my socks and why it cant be done. 
Costs … take a good quality pure sine wave UPS, the same size as your inverter.
Now, take all its build in protectins, and add all into a solar inverter, that which it does not cater for.
The cost would get very expensive … not to mention more points of failure.
Just get surge protection in your main DB, it is so much cheaper.
Not for me. No more space left in my DB. Huge costs to rectify that.
But it makes sense.