Solar panels and battery - any real world recommendations?

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.
Yeah Fox is definitely the system I’m leaning towards at the moment & pricing from other online quotes aren’t swaying me away from it either.
 
Yeah Fox is definitely the system I’m leaning towards at the moment & pricing from other online quotes aren’t swaying me away from it either.
You can't go wrong with Fox. Good support, frequent updates and decent hardware. I would see if you can be upgraded to the 7kW KH7 inverter though as you'll pretty much never see clipping then. Plus that battery can charge and discharge up to 10.3kW, so you'll benefit from a higher charge/discharge rate as well as a 3rd MPPT if you decide to expand in the future.
 
Clipping is when your generation is restricted, say you have 10kWp of panels but the inverter can only cope with 7kW, you'll never generate more than 7kW and thus your generation is clipped.
 
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Will the increase in inverter make a difference? Have to ask what Clipping is?

Isn’t the Fox battery 90% Discharge?
If the 16 x 455w panels in your quote are all on the same roof, then you have 7.28kW of panels but only a 6kW inverter. That means in the middle of the day in summer, your generation is limited to the 6kW so you'll lose some as your array would be capable of more. If you have a 7kW inverter then you'll pretty much never hit the limit then.

The 90% figure on the battery is the "depth of discharge" which means you can drain the battery until it is 10% full. The batteries themselves are capable of charging / discharging at up to 10.3kW (up to 27A at 384V), so much in the same way, you'll be able to charge the batteries or discharge them to the house or grid at a higher rate with the larger inverter, which is beneficial if you have many things running at once.
 
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It's also worth considering that G99 permission is basically first come first served. Also during savings sessions you can export more and during free electricity sessions you can import more.

If the price difference is minimal between the 6 and the 7 and the grid will allow you to install it then go for it.
 
Does that mean you have more roof space - fit as many panels as you, panels are cheap, and fitting more panels doesn't cost a lot more as they are already on site.
 
Does that mean you have more roof space - fit as many panels as you, panels are cheap, and fitting more panels doesn't cost a lot more as they are already on site.

I have a smaller North facing roof but it doesn't get much light compared to the rear of the house. Plus, I'm working within a budget that is already near max, with future projects needing funding too :D
 
I have a smaller North facing roof but it doesn't get much light compared to the rear of the house. Plus, I'm working within a budget that is already near max, with future projects needing funding too :D

If you can stretch a bit more do it. I wish I had done my northern roof as in the summer and late evening it would still generate enough to make it more than worthwhile.
 
When I get the survey done (eventually), I'll definitely enquire and ask about the options/cost for increasing the inverter size and the panels on other parts of the roof.
 
The slight extra investment up front will pay off imo. I'm coming up to 4 years in October and as mentioned before my DD has dropped from 200-300 down to 50. Over 3 years that's at least 5k saved. The extra investment may have put the number higher.

I personally would double my battery and add the extra panels if I would do this again.
 
Yeah, the estimates on my system, with feeding back into the grid are that roughly around Year 5 after the system has been installed that it would have paid for itself.
 
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Hello everyone, new to this part of the forum. Ive just moved into a house with roof space and my supplier is Ovo. Need to ask a silly question.
I've had a quote from ovo of £7.5k. It includes 11x Jinko, 1x Growatt 4.2Kw inverter, bird blocker and install. If I understand it correctly, they will put me on a tariff to export surplus if I go with them automatically (as they did the install)

If I go with another supplier/local supplier, do I just call Ovo and say I now have solar? what would I need to prove to them I can now export? am I locked in with ovo as the only installer of solar? I need someone to explain the interoperability of it all to me.
 
I've had a quote from ovo of £7.5k. It includes 11x Jinko, 1x Growatt 4.2Kw inverter, bird blocker and install. If I understand it correctly, they will put me on a tariff to export surplus if I go with them automatically (as they did the install)
not a good quote if it does not include the battery, well overpriced
 
If I go with another supplier/local supplier, do I just call Ovo and say I now have solar? what would I need to prove to them I can now export? am I locked in with ovo as the only installer of solar? I need someone to explain the interoperability of it all to me.
You can go with any supplier. They all have their own signup process for exporting your solar. Usually all done online and usually you need to send them your MCS certificate/number, your DNO approval and an initial export meter reading, sometimes a schematic of the system.
 
Hello everyone, new to this part of the forum. Ive just moved into a house with roof space and my supplier is Ovo. Need to ask a silly question.
I've had a quote from ovo of £7.5k. It includes 11x Jinko, 1x Growatt 4.2Kw inverter, bird blocker and install. If I understand it correctly, they will put me on a tariff to export surplus if I go with them automatically (as they did the install)

If I go with another supplier/local supplier, do I just call Ovo and say I now have solar? what would I need to prove to them I can now export? am I locked in with ovo as the only installer of solar? I need someone to explain the interoperability of it all to me.

That sounds expensive so get at least one local quote.

Process is installer asks local DNO for approval as your over 3.7kw inverter. DNo says yes (most of the time)
Installer installs panels etc
Installer helps you notify DNO its installed and now running

Assuming you have a smart meter you will need your export number setup, in order to do so you need to provide to your elec supplier some basic info.
Your smart meter is already export capable it just needs a little paperwork
You can then export with any elec suppler although most tend to keep import and export with the same one.
 
not a good quote if it does not include the battery, well overpriced

No it doesn't include battery.

You can go with any supplier. They all have their own signup process for exporting your solar. Usually all done online and usually you need to send them your MCS certificate/number, your DNO approval and an initial export meter reading, sometimes a schematic of the system.
Awesome!

That sounds expensive so get at least one local quote.

Process is installer asks local DNO for approval as your over 3.7kw inverter. DNo says yes (most of the time)
Installer installs panels etc
Installer helps you notify DNO its installed and now running

Assuming you have a smart meter you will need your export number setup, in order to do so you need to provide to your elec supplier some basic info.
Your smart meter is already export capable it just needs a little paperwork
You can then export with any elec suppler although most tend to keep import and export with the same one.
Thanks!


Thanks all! I wasn't going to progress without getting another quote so thankyou for your time and explaining it to me simply. It must has been asked many times but who is on the "must ask for a quote" company I should head towards?
 
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