5 kW Solar System with 10 kWh Battery
The middle of the range: 4.95 kWp and 10.24 kWh for a family home that wants the fridge, freezer, lights and a borehole pump to keep running without thinking about it.
- PV array
- 4.95 kWp
- 9 x 550 W
- Battery
- 10.24 kWh
- 9.22 kWh usable
- Inverter
- 5 kW
- 5 kW / 48 V hybrid inverter
- Daily output (South Africa)
- 20.4 kWh
- South Africa, 5.5 kWh/m2/day
Five kilowatts is the size most four-to-five person households converge on once they list their real loads rather than their breaker ratings. Nine 550 W modules give 4.95 kWp, which is enough for a fridge, a chest freezer, a borehole pump, a washing machine and the usual electronics running at the same time in the middle of the day, with the 10.24 kWh bank carrying the evening.
We sell this kit two ways. Households that already own a small generator take the grid-tie inverter variant and keep the generator for the rare long outage; households that are done with generators take the hybrid and wire the generator input as a fallback. Both use the same 4.95 kWp array, the same 2-string layout and the same F5200 battery, so the decision can be deferred until the site survey.
What's in the kit
The bill of materials below is what ships, not a wish list. Anything marked configurable is fixed at order confirmation against your grid, your generator and your load list.
| Item | Specification | Qty |
|---|---|---|
| PV modules | 550 W monocrystalline half-cell, 182 mm, 25-year performance warranty. Smaller DLXN-M10 50-230 W modules are available for outbuildings or a separate off-grid circuit. module range · DLXN-M10-230W | 9 x 550 W |
| Hybrid inverter Configurable | 5 kW / 48 V hybrid inverter, 2 x MPPT, 100 A charger. Configurable: 5 kW/48 V hybrid with grid and generator input is the default; a 5 kW grid-tie unit is offered where the customer keeps a separate diesel UPS. Both accept the 4.95 kWp array without clipping. | 1 |
| Battery | DLXN-F5200 — 10.24 kWh LiFePO4, 51.2 V / 200 Ah, 6,000-8,000 cycles, built-in BMS. If you want one-pack simplicity with room to grow, the DLXN-F5400 20.48 kWh is the same 51.2 V platform in a 400 Ah enclosure — same cabling, double the capacity. DLXN-F5400 | 1 |
| Mounting | Mounting: 9 x rail sets. For a tiled roof we use stainless hooks and aluminium rails; for IBR sheeting, self-drilling brackets with EPDM washers. Tilt is set to latitude minus 5 degrees for year-round yield, or latitude plus 10 if winter output matters more than summer. | 1 |
| DC side / AC side | Balance of system: 2-string DC combiner with 32 A breakers and Type 2 SPD, 6 mm2 PV cable, 12-way AC board with RCD, bidirectional meter with CT for export limiting, WiFi/4G dongle, and a 1.5 m battery cable set with a 125 A DC breaker. | 1 |
| Monitoring | WiFi + 4G dongle, Modbus TCP for third-party EMS, 5-year data retention on the DLXN-IOT platform. | 1 |
How it connects
One array, one inverter, one battery bank, and three possible AC sources. The drawing below is the flow an installer works from; the numbered steps are the order the work actually happens in on site.
Arrows show power flow. The inverter decides every few milliseconds whether the array feeds the loads, charges the battery, exports, or blends all three.
- 1
Mount and earth the array
Rails first, then modules, then a continuous earth bond across every frame. 9 modules at 550 W is 4,950 Wp of DC; the frames must be bonded to the same earth bar as the inverter or the surge protection has nothing to divert into.
- 2
Wire the strings to the combiner
9 x 550 W monocrystalline half-cell, 5S1P + 4S1P on separate MPPT inputs. Each string lands on its own fused or breaker-protected input in the DC combiner, with a Type 2 surge arrester on the DC bus. Check polarity with a meter before the first MC4 click — reversed strings are the most common cause of a dead MPPT on commissioning day.
- 3
Run DC to the inverter MPPT inputs
MPPT 1 takes 5 modules (Voc about 250 V), MPPT 2 takes 4 (Voc about 200 V). Both stay above the 120 V start voltage even at 40 degrees cell temperature, which matters in Nigeria where afternoon derating is the limiting case. Keep the DC run as short as the building allows; every extra 10 m of 6 mm2 cable costs roughly 0.3% of yield.
- 4
Set the battery on its own breaker
The DLXN-F5200 (10.24 kWh, 51.2 V / 200 Ah) connects to the inverter DC bus through its own DC breaker and a pre-charge resistor. Neutral, earth and the battery negative are kept separate; the BMS CAN lead is landed on the inverter comms port and the protocol selected in the menu before the first charge.
- 5
Build the AC side
Inverter AC out feeds a distribution board with an RCD, one breaker per circuit, and a surge arrestor. Grid and generator each get their own input with a changeover, so the inverter can be told which source is present rather than guessing.
- 6
Configure, then load test
Set battery type to lithium, capacity to 10.24 kWh, charge current to the value in the commissioning sheet, and export limit to the site rule (zero-export for prepaid meters). Then apply a known load — a 2 kW kettle is the usual choice — and confirm the inverter holds frequency and voltage while the array is curtailed.
- 7
Hand over the labels and the diagram
Every breaker gets a label, the single-line diagram goes inside the DB door, and the monitoring account is transferred to the owner. This is what an inspector asks for, and it is what the next technician needs two years later.
How much it generates
Daily yield is calculated as 4.95 kWp x irradiance x 0.75 system efficiency. The efficiency factor is not a marketing number: it bundles inverter conversion, DC and AC cable losses, soiling, mismatch and temperature derating at roughly 35 degrees cell temperature.
| Market | Irradiance (kWh/m2/day) | Daily (kWh) | Monthly (kWh) | Yearly (kWh) | What that covers |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| South Africa | 5.5 | 20.4 | 612 | 7,446 | about 1.7 kWh/day of self-consumption, or roughly 31% of a 20 kWh/day household |
| Nigeria | 5 | 18.6 | 558 | 6,789 | about 1.6 kWh/day of self-consumption, or roughly 28% of a 20 kWh/day household |
| Philippines | 4.5 | 16.7 | 501 | 6,096 | about 1.4 kWh/day of self-consumption, or roughly 25% of a 20 kWh/day household |
Estimates, not guarantees. Real output moves with tilt, azimuth, shading, soiling and season; a site survey typically shifts these figures by 10-15% either way. Peak-sun-hours data is long-term average, so a good month can beat the table by 20% and a bad one can miss it by 25%.
Usable battery
9.22 kWh
at 90% depth of discharge
Night autonomy at 400 W
23.1 h
excluding air conditioning
Storage per kWp
2.1 kWh/kWp
about 2 kWh/kWp suits daily cycling
How to read the table
The three markets are the ones we ship to most, and the differences are real: Johannesburg gets about 5.5 peak sun hours a year-round, Lagos about 5.0 with a rainy-season dip in June, Manila about 4.5 with a pronounced wet season from June to October. A system sized on the annual average will under-perform in Manila in August and over-perform in March — that is normal, and it is why the battery is sized on the evening load rather than on the daily average.
What it solves
Three load profiles this kit actually gets ordered for. The numbers come from our own commissioning sheets, not from a catalogue.
A family home that stops noticing outages
A 420 W evening baseline — fridge 150 W, freezer 120 W, lights 60 W, router and TV 90 W — runs for 19 hours on 9.2 kWh usable, so a two-night outage in bad weather is survivable if the array gets two hours of sun between them. The point of this kit is not a big number on a spec sheet; it is that nobody in the house has to check the battery gauge.
Daytime heavy loads on solar, not battery
A 1.1 kW borehole pump for three hours (3.3 kWh), a washing machine cycle (0.8 kWh) and a microwave at lunch (0.3 kWh) total 4.4 kWh — about a fifth of the daily yield. Scheduling them between 10:00 and 15:00 means they cost nothing from the battery, which is what keeps the evening reserve intact.
A small guesthouse with four rooms
Four rooms with lights, fans, kettles and a shared fridge draw about 900 W in the evening. The bank covers ten hours; the array covers the kettles and the laundry by day. Owners usually add a second F5200 within a year as occupancy grows — the platform is designed for that.
Where this kit is installed
This is our highest-volume size in the Philippines, where the constraint is typhoon-season wind loading rather than heat: the ballast frame and anchor pattern change, the array does not. In South Africa the same kit is usually ordered with a CoC-ready AC board; in Nigeria with a 63 A generator changeover and an oversized neutral for mixed single-phase loads.
Indicative EXW cost
Ex-works Shenzhen, USD, per kit. The inverter is quoted separately because it is the one line that changes with your grid and generator; everything else below is fixed hardware.
| Item | Specification | Indicative range |
|---|---|---|
| 4,950 Wp of PV modules | 9 x 550 W mono half-cell | USD 842 - 1,139 |
| Battery, 10.24 kWh | DLXN-F5200, LiFePO4, 51.2 V / 200 Ah | USD 973 - 1,331 |
| Mounting, cabling, combiners, AC board | Rails, clamps, DC/AC cable, SPD, DB | USD 180 - 260 |
| Hybrid inverter | 5 kW / 48 V hybrid inverter, 2 x MPPT, 100 A charger | Quoted separately — specification depends on grid and generator |
| Kit total, EXW, excluding inverter | Panels + battery + balance of system | USD 1,995 - 2,730 |
Indicative EXW only — final installed price is quoted by your local installer after freight, duty, labour and commissioning. Module pricing is based on USD 0.17-0.23/Wp and battery on USD 95-130/kWh at the time of writing; both move with cell and wafer prices, so confirm before you budget.
Upgrade path
Upgrade path: two more 550 W modules bring the array to 6.05 kWp on the same inverter; a second F5200 doubles storage; a 5 kW/48 V unit can also be paralleled for 10 kW output if you later add a second dwelling. The kit is deliberately built so that the first two upgrades need no new inverter.
Hardware in this kit
Every line above maps to a catalogue page with a datasheet:
Frequently asked questions
How much does a 5 kW solar system with 10 kWh of storage cost?
Indicative EXW: USD 842-1,138 for 4.95 kWp of modules at USD 0.17-0.23/Wp, USD 973-1,331 for a 10.24 kWh LFP battery at USD 95-130/kWh, and USD 180-260 for mounting and balance of system — USD 1,994-2,730 before the inverter, which we quote separately. Final installed pricing is issued by your local installer and includes freight, duty, labour and commissioning.
How many kWh per day will a 5 kW system produce?
Roughly 20.4 kWh/day in South Africa, 18.6 in Nigeria and 16.7 in the Philippines, using 5.5 / 5.0 / 4.5 kWh/m2/day irradiance and a 0.75 efficiency factor. Monthly: 612 / 558 / 501 kWh. Note that the array is 4.95 kWp, so a "5 kW" label slightly overstates DC capacity — we quote the real number rather than rounding up.
Will it run a borehole pump and an air conditioner together?
A 1.1 kW pump plus one 1.2 kW inverter air conditioner is 2.3 kW of running load, well inside the 5 kW inverter, and both can run at midday on solar. The limit is starting current: a direct-on-line pump can pull 3-4 times its rated current for a second. We size the inverter with that surge in mind, or fit a soft starter if the pump is older.
Grid-tie or hybrid — which variant do I need?
If outages are short and rare, grid-tie with export limiting is cheaper and simpler. If you already own a generator but want to stop running it nightly, take the hybrid and connect the generator to its AC input — the inverter will start it on a dry contact when the battery falls below your set point. Tell us your outage pattern and we will specify the right one in the quotation.
Ask about this configuration
Send us your load list, the port you ship to and whether a generator stays on site. We reply with a configuration, a drawing and an EXW quotation — usually within one business day.
- ✉ dlxn@dlxnsolar.com
- Contact details and offices
- Factory: Shenzhen, China · Ports: Shenzhen / Ningbo / Shanghai
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