Solar panels and battery - any real world recommendations?

1. A valid MCS or Flexi-Orb Certificate.
2. Proof of address.
3. A photograph of your smart meter or export meter.
4. Schematic diagram.
5. DNO approval/acceptance letter/email.
 
rtho782 said:
Yeah, the bit that gets me is the whole "panels must be 400mm from roof edge" bit. I got so many people initially telling me how my garage didn't comply with "regs" (read: rules of a private organisation) and would obviously fly off into the distance at the first gust of wind (it's pretty sheltered, basically in a courtyard), and how I'd have RAIN on my head if I stood near the edge of the building (if it's raining, I'm going inside mate).

I wonder how many people have had far fewer panels than they could have had due to this.
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Trickysy one that.
Mine have a gap, around that for sure.
When I had an issue with my bird protection that gap meant there was enough space for the guys to get up via a ladder, fix the issue and also check around the top.
Without a gap that would have been a scaff job. So I can certainly see some benefit in there being a gap around the edge for access.
Obviously single story is a little different.

I thought the main issue was wind loading though and not an MCS specific thing but them taking something else and adding it.

No reason any energy company need to care about MCS (as Octopus trial demonstrates) but its a short cut to "competent install" being proven, again not sure why they would care either, its the DNO who should be interested (well and the fire brigade!)
 
tamzzy said:
1. A valid MCS or Flexi-Orb Certificate.
2. Proof of address.
3. A photograph of your smart meter or export meter.
4. Schematic diagram.
5. DNO approval/acceptance letter/email.
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Cheers, so its exactly the same as I had with Octopus.
Its this sort of thing they could/should just get together and have a shared database of.
I can probably find the email I sent to Octopus and reuse it.
I had a clear up not that long ago and deleted all the stuff for solar like DNO forms etc. that were saved on my PC.

Did you switch to them or were you already with Eon before?
 
Mercenary Keyboard Warrior said:
Have you got some links to it, assume its forums or something, I am intrigued. :)
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Eon next drive group and solar panel group on Facebook.
Mercenary Keyboard Warrior said:
Was thinking about the brown export thing earlier.
Surely they can just look at the timings rather than comparing to vs MCS cert.
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Yes they probably could but sounds like a lot of work as currently they are doing most of it manually, they should have the 30 minute data so its just a case of somehow processing and sorting the data.
 
Ron-ski said:
Very nice system, is that total bill for the month, or just export credits?

I'm currently at £271 exported for the month, with £78 imported.
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Total bill for the calendar month of may so far, net of import. Export credit 380 or so.

Billing month is 11th to 10th so slightly offset.

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Ron-ski said:
Did you manage to take admin control of your system, add the extra panels in etc?
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Still ongoing. Support don’t know how to handle me it seems, I sent them all my certifications and they told me today they’ve had to escalate it to a “senior engineer”.

I’m not sure what the boggle is. It’s a transfer to a new installer, I am now a certified installer (using their provided training)… what gives? :D (I am being awkward as hell I know, but it’s the principle at this point).
 
randal said:
Still ongoing. Support don’t know how to handle me it seems, I sent them all my certifications and they told me today they’ve had to escalate it to a “senior engineer”.

I’m not sure what the boggle is. It’s a transfer to a new installer, I am now a certified installer (using their provided training)… what gives? :D (I am being awkward as hell I know, but it’s the principle at this point).
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Greatest thing about pw3 is that the installer is whoever has access to the qr code under the panel!
 
rtho782 said:
Greatest thing about pw3 is that the installer is whoever has access to the qr code under the panel!
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It's certainly made me think twice about using SolarEdge in the future, which is a shame as they make some really nice kit with some good features.

After doing their training (the course entitled "Learn to Earn" in particular) it's pretty plain to see that their want to limit access to installers and then use said installers as salespeople for their kit. I appreciate there is an aspect of not wanting any old Herbert going through the admin page and berking around with stuff (fewer support calls, and less support strain on installers), but that feels like a secondary concern.

It all feels very much like DRM but for solar kit to me.
 
randal said:
It's certainly made me think twice about using SolarEdge in the future, which is a shame as they make some really nice kit with some good features.

After doing their training (the course entitled "Learn to Earn" in particular) it's pretty plain to see that their want to limit access to installers and then use said installers as salespeople for their kit. I appreciate there is an aspect of not wanting any old Herbert going through the admin page and berking around with stuff (fewer support calls, and less support strain on installers), but that feels like a secondary concern.

It all feels very much like DRM but for solar kit to me.
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The rules around G99 do insist that some settings (e.g. export limits) shouldn't be adjustable by the end user, and should require some sort of technical control (e.g. password, installer account) to modify.

Different manufacturers have taken that to different lengths to ensure!!
 
rtho782 said:
The rules around G99 do insist that some settings (e.g. export limits) shouldn't be adjustable by the end user, and should require some sort of technical control (e.g. password, installer account) to modify.

Different manufacturers have taken that to different lengths to ensure!!
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I prefer the Solax approach personally. Create an installer menu then tell you the code when you speak to them.

Admittedly it was Solax China that gave me the code so possibly not every country is quite as strict as the UK in regards access to the installer menu.
I already knew the code as TBH you can just google it, but I was surprised when an email from them said go into the installer menu using code XXXX and change this setting.
If anyone happens to have Solax and wants the code Pm me.
Or considering they were started in 2012 consider that it seemed to take them 2 years to create the installer password. Figure that one out Gollum ;)
 
The installer code for my heat pump is in the manual for said heat pump.

Happy days in my mind.

I get why it’s there, I still think it’s entirely unhelpful, anti consumer and risks locking people out from being able to legitimately maintain or update their systems.

Let’s also be realistic with the advent of smart meters, it’s blatantly obvious if someone has removed their export limit and therefore violating their G98/G99/G100.
 
b0rn2sk8 said:
The installer code for my heat pump is in the manual for said heat pump.

Happy days in my mind.

I get why it’s there, I still think it’s entirely unhelpful, anti consumer and risks locking people out from being able to legitimately maintain or update their systems.

Let’s also be realistic with the advent of smart meters, it’s blatantly obvious if someone has removed their export limit and therefore violating their G98/G99/G100.
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Yeah I don't think anyone actually particularly cares about the export limit, the dno set it somewhat arbitrarily based on a lot of guesswork, what they are really concerned about is voltage rise, but even if they give you a limit of X, your neighbour can start exporting 16A tomorrow and only notify the DNO not ask for consent.

The energy provider just pays for the generation as per the meter, the export limit isn't really their concern either.

The DNO will only care if they start getting complaints due to voltage.
 
Just mapped out the "new" site, all 24 panels etc in SolarEdge designer for the lols whilst I wait for the existing site to be transferred over. Will be easier to add the 6 panels to that as I get to keep all the metrics and do a good comparision.

I'll be annoyed if I have to setup a new site as losing that data will be a pain. However, plan B and all that.

Closer... ever closer...
 
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