Solar panels and battery - any real world recommendations?

I've got GivEnergy, it has it pro's and conns.

On the software side, it has a nice dashboard and they actively support an 'open' software platform in that it's got a pretty comprehensive cloud API and full local home assistant integration. It also works with Octopus Intelligent Flux (Tesla and GivEnergy Only) and they have linked Agile into their cloud platform so you can set buy low, sell high price signals. The software makes it both noob friendly and advanced user friendly with Home Assistant etc.

On the hardware side, it is more expensive and its locked into an installer only model. I have no access to the installer configuration meaning if I wanted to say add an extra battery, I need to get an installer in to do it despite their being no legal requirement to do so. The older first gen products are not the best in terns of specification in 2025 but they latest stuff is nice.
 
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b0rn2sk8 said:
I've got GivEnergy, it has it pro's and conns.

On the software side, it has a nice dashboard and they actively support an 'open' software platform in that it's got a pretty comprehensive cloud API and full local home assistant integration. It also works with Octopus Intelligent Flux (Tesla and GivEnergy Only) and they have linked Agile into their cloud platform so you can set buy low, sell high price signals. The software makes it both noob friendly and advanced user friendly with Home Assistant etc.

On the hardware side, it is more expensive and its locked into an installer only model. I have no access to the installer configuration meaning if I wanted to say add an extra battery, I need to get an installer in to do it despite their being no legal requirement to do so. The older first gen products are not the best in terns of specification in 2025 but they latest stuff is nice.
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Yeah I've asked regarding the Intelligent Flux tariff specifically, and by that a GivEnergy system. I work from home, just above average household electricity use and I love my tech so any way I can maximise output and minimise cost the better :D
 
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Ron-ski said:
Hanchu seems to be a South African brand, not one I've heard of before, but that doesn't mean its not any good.

@alphaomega16

What @DarkBahamut says is correct, most solar panels are wired in series, so the voltage adds up and the current doesn't.

Just to really fry your brain, they can also be wired in parallel, usually strings of series panels wired in parallel with another identical string of the series panels. I have a 4S3P array on my roof, so that's 3 parallel strings of 4 panels in series. So you get 4 times the voltage of one panel, and 3 times the current for the 3 parallel strings.

Its well worth creating an account on the DIY solar forum, there is a lot of information there, I'm also on there, not that I visit very often these days.
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Yeah, as with anything new before taking a punt at it do plenty of research, if I feel a little too over my head ill just get something built in back garden that can take 6x500w panels and begrudgingly get who installed my current system back.
 
Technically every system should have an installer menu, or at least a locked out section to users.
The UK law says that the export rate etc must be behind a user locked out area otherwise its pointless to apply restrictions.

However in regards Solax the installer code* is fairly easy to find, in fact they actually sent it to me at one point. Guess its different in China where the top level tech support and dev team (who I was conversing with) are based.
It was funny as they said I could start connecting and disconnecting the batteries to help them diagnose a potential issue. My installer didn't agree ;)

*There is actually another but the sparky who visited me a few times told me the code and said its the same menu unless its a 3 phase install.

One of the oddities for me was that the battery heating settings are in that installer menu. Its why they gave it to me after a back and forwards email of them saying switch these settings and me saying they don't exist :)
 
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Unfortunately having a user locked out section is one of those rules which is made with good intentions but completely falls down in practice.

It fails to take account of where these produce come from and who is actually supporting them. There are far too many fly by night installers out there who have got zero interest in supporting the entire life of what they install. There is also a lot of movement in the market with manufacturers coming in and no doubt some will leave the market in time. Those users are going to be in the **** if the system ever needs to be maintained.
 
Mercenary Keyboard Warrior said:
The UK law says that the export rate etc must be behind a user locked out area otherwise its pointless to apply restrictions
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Export rate is only part of it, and is only really applicable for G100 systems.

There are also the grid codes, which include various safety settings such as upper and lower voltages, frequency limits and probability other stuff.

Even though I setup my Victron system I got caught out a while back, updated the firmware without realising it reset the grid code on that occasion, something to do with the way it stored it. As a result it wouldn't allow export, no problem I thought I'll change the code, after all I set it up. Turns out you can only do it once, after that you need the installer password, 15 minutes of Googling and I found it.
 
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Ron-ski said:
Export rate is only part of it, and is only really applicable for G100 systems.
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Yep thats why I said etc ;)

There is two sides to it. The statutory stuff that is the requirement in the UK which many countries also have.
And the stuff you probably don't want a dumb user playing around with, like min and max battery voltages that are technically not required to be controlled in the UK by law.

b0rn2sk8 said:
Unfortunately having a user locked out section is one of those rules which is made with good intentions but completely falls down in practice.

It fails to take account of where these produce come from and who is actually supporting them. There are far too many fly by night installers out there who have got zero interest in supporting the entire life of what they install. There is also a lot of movement in the market with manufacturers coming in and no doubt some will leave the market in time. Those users are going to be in the **** if the system ever needs to be maintained.
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Yeah its a real risk for sure.
Not sure there is a better way though since it would need to be an actual hardware limitation if not software and would probably mean anyone export restricted that doesn't align with a common inverter size would simply round down the inverter as a custom limited one would be more expensive.

Solax for example like most things nowadays relies on the solax cloud servers for a lot of stuff. The TOU stuff for example that is really powerful can only be modified on the app (cloud linked) or browser (cloud linked).
I would guess any significant manufacturer would have someone step in, even if its a paid for service.

GE are a little diff from what I can tell as my installer (who I think is also yours) said they hated GE as they could sometimes be waiting on site for hours for GE to do their stuff.
So its probably a lot more secure without installers having access to some stuff, but its also a pain as you say in that stuff you really could do as a "normie" is limited to needing to be done by an installer who then phones it through.
 
Interestingly I've just had a reply from the company who quoted me, regarding GivEnergy.

"Personally I would steer away from GivEnergy at the moment as their after sales service is completely non-existent. Hanchu and Fox both work perfect with all tariffs (not just Octopus) and have no restrictions."

If I did want a GivEnergy 9.5kwh battery and 5kw Gen 3 Hybrind inverter, the price would go up to £9,500.

Looks like at least one installer doesn't have faith in GE currently.
 
The way I see it is, if you need any kind of installer code (that can't be found after a Google search) to change settings, etc., then you don't truly own the system, and I would avoid buying such a system.
 
Gazanimal said:
Interestingly I've just had a reply from the company who quoted me, regarding GivEnergy.

"Personally I would steer away from GivEnergy at the moment as their after sales service is completely non-existent. Hanchu and Fox both work perfect with all tariffs (not just Octopus) and have no restrictions."

If I did want a GivEnergy 9.5kwh battery and 5kw Gen 3 Hybrind inverter, the price would go up to £9,500.

Looks like at least one installer doesn't have faith in GE currently.
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GE also works with all other Tariffs (not just Octopus) but you also have access to some tariffs that are not available to other brands right now (intelli flux) so in that sense it is an advantage for GE when your installer is painting it as a negative. So beware your installer pushing you towards what they want to to install rather than what you actually want.
 
200sols said:
GE also works with all other Tariffs (not just Octopus) but you also have access to some tariffs that are not available to other brands right now (intelli flux) so in that sense it is an advantage for GE when your installer is painting it as a negative. So beware your installer pushing you towards what they want to to install rather than what you actually want.
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To be fair to them they have given me a quote with a GivEnergy inverter and battery, even with the seemingly negative opinion of the company. £9,500 all in for the GE system.
 
Gazanimal said:
To be fair to them they have given me a quote with a GivEnergy inverter and battery, even with the seemingly negative opinion of the company. £9,500 all in for the GE system.
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They basically want £700 for installing something they don’t want to install. The fox kit is at this level anyway. The GE has a battery import/export limit of 3.6kw I think (or it did). You need to step up to the AIO or stackable batteries to access the higher charge rates.

GE had a complete service meltdown recently which was highly concerning, although I understand it is back on track.
 
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Journey said:
Couldn't have phrased it better myself.
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The latest video is massive cringe. The cynic in me would suggest it’s an attempt to try and get all of their competitors to raise their prices to not make theirs look less ridiculous.

He explained you need to account for not all of your time being chargeable and you need to account for that in your rate - fine. That includes things like quotes, sourcing materials, calls back etc - all reasonable.

He then went on to say that they also charge a mark up on their materials to account for things which are not chargeable like going to the wholesaler to get materials. Hang on a minute… you said you already factor that into your rates…

I get it, companies need to make a profit but the video was just full cringe.

Edit: oh yeh and you are also paying them to film a video on your property which they’ll also monetise.
 
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