rjj04 wrote:Glalt - we have found that, when there is a power outage, calling the local PEA is almost useless. Calling the Bangkok PEA number seems to get much faster response. This has happened a half dozen times or so, so I think it is more than coincidence. Perhaps the response times don't get reported to HQ when the call comes in locally and thus there is less pressure for them to get off their collective behinds! BKK will actually call you back to see if the problem is resolved. Give it a try next time.

Just start the generator, problem solved.

Okay, I get it. Easier to flip a switch than to go through the hassle of dealing with the PEA. For those people without the god-like powers of a generator... call BKK PEA # not the local PEA #

If you live here and don't have a generator, god help you.

when our power goes out and stays out for over an hour we usually call the Puyaiban (village chief) who generally knows why it is out and can give an estimated fix time..

rjj04,
Your inverter, what type is it, PIP HS, MS or MSX 4048 or?

PIP4048MS (parallel ready version) 4KW/5KVA inverter, 60A solar MPPT, 60A AC charger, 48V battery bank

A couple of days after I paid for it on AliExpress I saw a few new videos were posted on youtube. They scared the daylights out of me regarding the quality of the unit. But so far, knock-on-wood, she is running fine. After a couple of days of working I used a IR temperature gun to find the hot-spots on the unit and mounted external PC fans to cool that area (they burn maybe 200Wh/day...24/7). Like I said before, at $750, if it only lasts five years and then goes tits up it will still be a damn good deal. Fingers crossed.

I thought I'd do a report on the PIP4048 after it had been running for one year (about six months now). I would not want to be partially responsible for somebody else buying a piece of garbage so I thought I'd wait

The unit and it's PC software have some quirks, and it took me a couple of months to understand them.

Certainly I am saving time by not having to reboot my PC's, etc every time the power goes out I never even know when the power goes out these days... it's like I am back in the USA again

I am planning to use those too. How many batteries and panels do you have? You have one inverter?

One inverter??...
Yes, one inverter/charger. The issue for me is that the current system I have provides enough power to allow me to run 24/7 in battery mode during the dry, cooler, relatively cloudless months. If I add more solar, then all that power would be wasted during those months, making the system say 60% efficient. When my batteries get full and I see the MPPT controller skewing the panel voltage up to Voc range, it means I am wasting power... don't like that much. So, it is cheaper for me to supplement my needs during the hot and hot/rainy months by using PEA power. Grid-tie is much more efficient, and if you can get away with it (PEA doesn't lock your meter), then that is the way to go... from a purely financial point of view. Or grid-tie and the PIP4048 with a few batteries being used in UPS mode might make sense... but probably cheaper to get a generator... but a generator is not "uninterruptable"... so decisions decisions.

What might make me decide to get another parallel inverter...
I just got a well put in (45m drilling), and had a Hitachi jet pump installed (30m). It was supposed to be 300W which is what is says on the face plate and spec. When I connected it up to the inverter (running in line mode), I saw that it was actually sucking nearly 600W. That is a big problem for a 4KW inverter as a 600W pump's surge power is probably close to 6KW. Even at 300W it would be a push to get it to run conveniently with the rest of the appliances in the house. For instance, today, it is a sunny day. I had 2 inverter type A/C's running AND a conventional A/C unit running. When all three compressors are going at the same time (as is sure to happen from time to time) that is about 2400W. A 300W on demand pump would probably have a surge to 3KW. The inverter has a surge power rating of 8KW, and this scenario would be pushing on that boundary for sure. The PIP4048 has two modes to deal with overload, an "overload bypass" mode and a "overload shutdown" mode. I certainly don't want my inverter shutting down multiple times a day... then what is the point of it all? The "overload bypass" mode is where if the power consumption goes over 4KW, the unit will switch to line mode. This happens even if the 4KW threshold is exceeded for only an instant. This mode is useful for sure (and my inverter probably goes into bypass once or twice a day...it is seamless so you don't know unless you check the data or hear the relay trip), but I don't want it kicking over to line mode every 15 minutes. Now, finding out that the well pump is 600W (which I will complain to somebody about for sure), it is going to screw-up my plans for sure. Every time the pump turns on the inverter will kick over to line mode. That will happen even with ZERO other loads on the inverter. Once in this bypass mode, the inverter seems to stay there (there is no explanation of the algorithm used in the manual) for about ten minutes. This is one issue that might drive me to add another inverter/charger, and batteries in the future. If I do decide to add another inverter in parallel to deal with the above mentioned problem, I may not even add additional solar... as I said... the power is wasted during a good portion of the year. Not sure what to do at the moment. Another possible solution is to automate/synchronize the well pump usage with the inverter/charger. For instance, if automated, I could switch the inverter to line mode, switch on the 600W pump, then switch the inverter back to battery mode. So the inverter would not see the surge power. This requires a lot of time to design and build though.

Off-grid system...
~2600W solar, 3 strings of 3 panels each
strings: (2x275W + 1x280W) SunTech panels, 2x3,295W Schutten (not recommended!!)
A couple of years ago I started with a small grid-tie system. So I had 2x275W and 1x280W Suntech panels already. I suppose I lose some power because the 275/280W string's Vmp point is lower than the 295W panel string's Vmp point, but I don't think it is much of a loss.

-2 banks of 4x12Vx150Ah deep cycle batteries (total of 14.4KWhs @C20 "supposedly
4x150Ah Globatt Inva batteries (1 had to be replaced after two months...so, I would not recommend these)
4x150Ah Globatt Volta batteries (these are more expensive than the Inva batteries but are more closer to the advertised 150Ah @ C20 rating. An experiment I did on the Inva batteries showed that they are closer 100Ah
batteries, and that is being generous)

I was asked not to mention where I got the Volta batteries and what price I paid... so I shall not do it publicly.
Inverter was ordered over AliExpress from MPPT solar themselves.
Except for the Volta batteries, most the rest of the items came from Amorn, which I have to say, have honoured their guarantee a couple of times already.

Thanks for your update. Interesting. We are planning on three inverters with a 3 phase system, off grid. PEA graciously offered to pull a single phase cable 1 km to our house for 750.000. I don¨t think so. We look at NC EB deep cycle batteries.

750,000 THB??? Or am I misreading that? That's around $25,000 USD... what a bunch of BS. You could build a small house for that much. Is that with Al wire or Cu? If that 1km run is within your property line you could just buy some concrete poles and string a wire up yourself!

As I mentioned before, the quality of the components inside this inverter is highly suspect. Since you will have no PEA line, and will be truly off-grid, I'd definitely have a good generator. The inverter has a gen-set output. I don't have a generator so can't tell you whether it works with the PIP or not. With three phase, I'm not sure how you would wire in a generator? Three phase generator? Three generators in parallel? But then how would the generators create sine waves 120 out of phase... assuming you have some 3 phase loads somewhere? Hmmm. I suppose that you can wire up the outputs such that you can switch/route any phase to any sub-panel, just in case one of the inverters goes bad (certainly at some point). Anyway, I suspect you have figured these things out already. Still, for 750,000 THB you could buy a hell of an off-grid system and not have to pay the PEA a penny in the future. What do they take us "foreigners" for... complete fools Good luck!

http://siamcbm.com/product.asp#how

JR, can you share with us where you found these batteries for purchase? It looks like this is a Thai company, Globatt come from Bangladesh I believe.

just bought an old suitcase big enough to carry my new solar panels, which I could have purchased in Udon, but is easier for me to just lugg it over, throw it in the back of the tuk tuk / bus, and once in village throw it all together...even taking the screws..hahaha. ....dib dib dib.
this is my second parts trip ( NZ / Thai ) and all but the battery is on site....sounds like Amon will have one of those..where are they located??

First floor, inside Big-C at the Ring-road/Sakon Nakhon junction.

rjj04 wrote:First floor, inside Big-C at the Ring-road/Sakon Nakhon junction.

They are actually on the ground floor, as you go in turn right and walk as far as you can and they are there. 1st floor is the Big C store.

Not sure where you are from but in the USA the 1st floor and ground floor are synonymous. We are the top dogs in the world now, so...

rjj04 wrote:http://siamcbm.com/product.asp#how

JR, can you share with us where you found these batteries for purchase? It looks like this is a Thai company, Globatt come from Bangladesh I believe.

That website is not updated due to they are looking for a new webdesigner. But the owner is Khun Wuthichai Naothaworn and his email: [email protected]. He also had another with the same before the at and after @siamcbm.com. Rung Seng is the company I have contact with.
He attends an exhibition now at Thong Thani but will be in office from Aug 23.