Solar panels and battery - any real world recommendations?

Dandle said:
That's certainly something to think about. Does the installer need to configure the powerwall MPPT or would it be a matter of turning off and removing the string and just connecting to the other powerwall and powering both back up?
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When adding solar panels to my Powerwall 3 it was just a matter of connecting the DC cables from the panels. There is an option in the Tesla One app to configure if solar panels are connected, but (from what I've seen) that only affects the picture of the home in the app - it starts showing panels on the top of the house.

Obviously be very careful - those DC cables have live voltage during the day, that can kill a person. Better call the installer and ask them to send someone to do it. Or hire an electrician.
 
SkyTerran said:
You are robbing your energy supplier in plain day light :)

If you have panels and battery, you should look into getting a heat pump and cutting the gas off. Octopus Energy have 15% off this summer and the Heat Geak guys have 500 quid discount.
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It's on the cards - but we're not at the point we can do it yet - if all goes well and we do our extension next year which will also install significant underfloor heating then we will do the switch then.
 
Guys, can you knock some sense into me and make sure I’ve got this right?

Until I got my export up and running with octopus I was doing my best to load shift so I only used the majority of electricity when generating as otherwise it was being wasted and everything was free in my head.

Now I’m being paid 15p/kwh I need to rethink a few things. I’m on go with a 10kwh battery. Recently I’ve been running low on battery and sometimes wake up in the morning depleted. So should I now be setting my battery to charge during the 8.5p hours rather than trying to get by on charging the battery from solar?

I should right? Because otherwise any solar I don’t use is paying me 15p and all the washing I’m doing right now I could have done first thing this morning using the battery storage which only cost 8.5p. For some reason I’ve been thinking just use the energy during the day when generating plenty.

It’s pennies, yes but I’m keen to be sensible and have it work for me!

Doh!
 
Yes, charge the battery fully every night, it costs 8.5p per kWh, then excess solar is exported at 15p per kWh. It might be pennies, but it adds up.

I even export what's left in the battery every night (I have 29kWh of batterries though) so that it's down to 15% SOC by 23:30, then start charging the battery as I'm on IOG.
 
Hello!

I'm about to pull the trigger on a solar install:
12.93kW system (26 Panels)

The supplier I'm talking to wants to put the install through G100 rather than G99. Presumably this route is faster and they can start work sooner?

Is there a disadvantage to me in this?

Thanks
 
G100 is the limiting standard, not something you apply for. If you have a G99 with a lower export limit than your inverter, then you use a G100 compliant device to ensure you don't export too much.

There is G99 fast for quicker applications, but your inverter needs to be < 7.4 kW to do that. If it's more then you need to have a full G99 application.
 
Ron-ski said:
The future doesn't look bright for GivEnergy (if the info in link below is correct), hopefully they can sort themselves out.

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I found it strange that none of the quotes I've had recently (5 different installers) used GivEnergy, as I've seen them mentioned a fair bit in this thread. Maybe this is why.

The only brands installers have quoted me are Fox and/or Sigenergy (and one mentioned EcoFlow). Not sure if there are any others worth considering?

Fox seems more common but the Sigenergy looks like a smart bit of kit. Not convinced the home backup gateway and the sleekness is worth the ~2k increase I'm being quoted though.
 
Sigenergy are the current influencer favourite brand, not dissimilar to how Tesla and GiveEnergy have been in the past.

The main issues with Giv is the support is pants and has always been pants. That comes from massive growth and not so much reinvestment in things like support and service.

Sig are very new to the market so they don’t really have much of a track record when it comes to support. They are also very expensive and could well suffer like Giv has done should they grow rapidly and not reinvest.

The other issue with Giv is its product line up is getting very messy and its core hybrid inverter with 48v battery hasn’t kept up with the market despite going through 3 generations of revisions.
 
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Finally the scaffolding company came back yesterday to take the scaffold down from the house after the install in late June.
I wasn’t in, but had notification on the security camera that someone was at the house.
They were there only 30-40 mins which I thought was a bit speedy, but the team that turned up only took down the front scaffold and seemingly not the rear part. (Not home to check) :(

Out of the whole installation this has been the most frustrating part and Future Proof Solar really need to use a better and more professional company for their scaffold needs as it’s dragged them down a little.
(They use a local company to them)

That, plus the nagging for the paperwork I had to do to get the completed stuff sent over, even though I’m still waiting on the G99 to complete.

Sent FPS a “fun” email to get it sorted asap as it’s quite farcical.

So word to the wise. Scaffolders will use your house as free storage and the scaffold will be up for 3-4 weeks even if it’s only needed for 1 week max.
 
Gazanimal said:
Finally the scaffolding company came back yesterday to take the scaffold down from the house after the install in late June.
I wasn’t in, but had notification on the security camera that someone was at the house.
They were there only 30-40 mins which I thought was a bit speedy, but the team that turned up only took down the front scaffold and seemingly not the rear part. (Not home to check) :(

Out of the whole installation this has been the most frustrating part and Future Proof Solar really need to use a better and more professional company for their scaffold needs as it’s dragged them down a little.
(They use a local company to them)

That, plus the nagging for the paperwork I had to do to get the completed stuff sent over, even though I’m still waiting on the G99 to complete.

Sent FPS a “fun” email to get it sorted asap as it’s quite farcical.

So word to the wise. Scaffolders will use your house as free storage and the scaffold will be up for 3-4 weeks even if it’s only needed for 1 week max.
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I never had issues with them removing the scaffolding on mine, but Northern power take ages with G99s. I've heard some have had to wait 2-3 months potentially. They're also notoriously tight with their export allowances, so don't be surprised if it's on the low side. That's assuming the installer has done it by the book (which I'm guessing not as they've installed first!). My previous installer did it before install but said there was no export limit imposed. It appears they just did an SGI-2 G99 application for two 3.6kW inverters but imposed no cap. Highly dodgy.

I'm about to go through all of that again for the new inverter that's going into the garage (properly this time). I'm applying for 10.5kW but expect they won't allow anywhere near that.
 
Gazanimal said:
Finally the scaffolding company came back yesterday to take the scaffold down from the house after the install in late June.
I wasn’t in, but had notification on the security camera that someone was at the house.
They were there only 30-40 mins which I thought was a bit speedy, but the team that turned up only took down the front scaffold and seemingly not the rear part. (Not home to check) :(

Out of the whole installation this has been the most frustrating part and Future Proof Solar really need to use a better and more professional company for their scaffold needs as it’s dragged them down a little.
(They use a local company to them)

That, plus the nagging for the paperwork I had to do to get the completed stuff sent over, even though I’m still waiting on the G99 to complete.

Sent FPS a “fun” email to get it sorted asap as it’s quite farcical.

So word to the wise. Scaffolders will use your house as free storage and the scaffold will be up for 3-4 weeks even if it’s only needed for 1 week max.
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Scaffolders all over have always done this
 
Gazanimal said:
Oh that’s true, doesn’t make it correct and I’m more frustrated that they’ve been inept when they came to take it down after I had to ask FPS to get them to remove it.
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I find scaffolders and skip hire companies are the same. You can get them out pretty sharpish, and they're quite relaible. But, when it comes to collection, it is very much on their terms. Ring up as many times as you like, they'll come and collect when they're ready.

No, it's not right, but I've yet to find a company that operates any differently.

I now try not to get wound up over skip and scaffolding hire :cry:
 
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