Full marks to the OP @karischoonbee for this one!
The choice of the optimal system at the outset is a challenge of note. I made my own mistakes but are insignificant to others that have had some big budgets.
As an example check out this post: https://www.4x4community.co.za/forum/showthread.php/363489-Grid-tied-to-help-during-load-shedding
This is clearly a fairly old system that was installed when hybrid inverter options were not available (?) and this seemed like a good design at the time.
Maar kyk hoe lyk dit nouâŚ
My one MLT Powerstar unit is over 10 years old and itâs hybrid and I did used it in Hybrid when I run a Solar MPPT via the MPPT input on the rear side of the unit.
You also buy for the problem youâre trying to solve. If they bought grid-tied inverters, they were trying to keep costs down. You donât do that by adding unnecessary batteries.
If they now want to go hybrid / micro-grid they can, but itâs a different use case. Doing either of those when youâre trying to solve the other problem is silly and could get you fired in the right business.
As far as I understand, they can get 125% back on their altpower spend back in tax deductions since care homes are primarily a business. That wasnât there when the grid-tied stuff was installed.
Fit for purpose. You can always add batteries to grid-tied or solar to offgrid, maybe not with just wires, but itâs always possible.
2 Likes
Indeed! But I wonder if those who designed and built the system nurse it along to the next level.
I reckon if the design was as thorough as possible at the time then the chances of a less costly migration must be more feasible. I know nothing of the SIs who design and do these big installations but I have seen many industrial automation systems and I can relate quite a few horror stories.
The OP is clearly unimpressed with the the money that was spent and I sympathise with the man.
With my mini UPS offering for broadband router backup power I configured 7odd years ago I opted to use a 7Ah battery (when Li-Ion batteries prices were prohibitive)
Given the cost of these SLA batteries and the promising data on the specifications sheet this wasnât a bad choice. Also LS wasnât as frequent so it worked for a while but no longer:
I installed one of these a year ago in a tame clientâs home and itâs battery is kaput.
So my NY resolution this year is never to buy another LA battery again unless itâs for starting an ICE.
1 Like
It is not that simple. What Marius said.
Surprise!!! ⌠not. 
1 Like
You misunderstand. My question is whether the original SI typically stays with that client or do they go and get another bunch of smart alecs who will rubbish every decision that was made originally (as is the South African way)
Misunderstand ⌠how do you, or any of us know if the âŚ
⌠ask the client. 
Maybe this has hit a raw nerve but what Iâm enquiring about is whether on large installations such as this one does the client typically stick with a specific SI that they trust to navigate them through the ongoing challenges.
Or do they get another company in (that more likely than not is in bed with another vendor) who then proceeds to rubbish the entire installationâŚ
No nerves ⌠sometimes you stick to the OESI (Original Equipment Supplier/Installer)
Sometimes you move on.
Sometimes you sit back and do nothing, stop scratching the itch.
Only the client, their budget, their relationship with the OESI can determine the best course of action.
This thread has been SO derailed. 
I will help getting it back
So I recently started looking around for a solar solution for the warehouse I work in and I got quotes for multiplus, phoenix, easy solar and quattro all 5kva units and interestingly enough I thought the phoenix would be the cheapest of the lot but was pleasantly surprised that the multi was by far the cheapest. So if you going grid tied or off grid just get the multi its best bang for buck, then you have option for grid or no grid. No comment on the axpert, I would stick with Victron it just works and works and works.
2 Likes
Iâm actually running effectively off-grid since Sept, so yeah, could have saved a lot of moneyâŚ
But production for the last 3 days has been abysmal â winter in Cape Town! So that equation flips on its head for the next couple of months where Iâm very happy. And then in Sept I could have saved a lot of money again
If only there was some arbitrage we could do, many even helping out the country as a whole while saving money, but alas.
Everyone acting in their own self interest but also in the interest of the larger group, reminds me of this scene
2 Likes
The thing that is stuck in my head ⌠when the sun shines, we all want to sell back and âhelpâ.
But when CoCT winter hits, o boy, we have nothing to sell, dang, we struggle to keep the batts going.
This off-grid thing ⌠I donât know. Eskom is my generator.
Every year Cpt winter it comes up year after year after year.
Like now, 5.2kw array and I get this ⌠and it is now 2h LS.
I sometimes envy the Summer time generation you guys in CPT get, butâŚ
Your Winter generation is a joke, up here in the north I produce only slightly less in Jun than I do in Dec mainly because Dec-Feb is our rainy season
But its better to have crappy Summer weather than crappy Winter weather with PV.
There are good reasons to stay in the Western Cape. Such as the fact that things do, for the most part, work a bit better. There are also good reasons not to stay here. For myself, the extreme cliqueness is a good reason to stay in the North. Itâs not necessarily unique in that sense, I get the same sort of vibe up in Europe (intensely private people, you can be deeply alone in the middle of a crowd), but it certainly is different.
(Ask any âinkommerâ who their best friends are. Chances are their best friends are also inkommers).
2 Likes
I agree, I think local government in the WC is for the most part functioning (Unlike other provinces)
But having only been to the WC for weddings / holidays there is a certain âfakenessâ about it, I canât really put my finger on it, but I like coming back home.
Cape Town specifically just feels like a bad âvalueâ to me, lower salaries generally compared to PTA/JHB and about a 20% higher cost of living on top of that (Maybe thatâs changed in recent years?)
Edit: Let me just add, I do love CPT, the nature and everything just working is really nice, but I donât want to live there
1 Like
Iâm in the wonnerlikke Kaap and itâs great for life beyond your career. Gauteng is the business centre of SA and it should remain so. But Iâve hear Michael Avery (who spends his time between the two cities) suggesting that the Western Cape could overtake Gauteng. This is rediculous if you give it some thought.
But why stop at Gauteng? Both my kids are overseas for this very reason.
1 Like
I thought as much, till I saw thisâŚ
I have a small theory that says cities always remain as they started, in CTâs case, a trade port with a castle, i.e. Youâre either in, or youâre out.
1 Like