EcoFlow Stream 800W Micro Inverter 800W PV Panel Grid Tied Balcony Solar System is available for £314 on eBay. Looks like a good way to join the solar revolution for people who rent or live in an apartment. 2 × 400W solar panels with a micro inverter. Upgrade anytime with EcoFlow STREAM battery.
Solar panels and battery - any real world recommendations?
- Thread starter GinG
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Most installers won't install north facing panels, they are rather out of date with their thinking. My own 5.2kWp west north west array has generated 3.475 MWh since installation last October.
This is a care home built in our area recently, north is up, every direction is covered, they also have on sight battery storage and I think a ground source heat pump.
Some videos from YouTubers I follow, panels are now so cheap, it is worth doing north facing roofs, you can buy 450w panels for £50 exc vat as that's not applicable.
Yeah Solar panels is so cheap now you may as well cover every direction of your roof
What is not cheap is the inverter and batteries though
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If you use main stream systems and batteries, then they aren't cheap, but I can buy a ready assembled 16 kWh battery for £1750 which is significantly cheaper that what i paid two to three years ago, inverters have come down in price as well.
Fogstar Energy/Seplos 48V 16.1kWh Solar Battery
Fully assembled 314Ah 48V (16.1kWh) lithium battery from Fogstar Energy. Seplos BMS. Scalable, reliable solar storage for homes and small businesses.
www.fogstar.co.uk
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Maybe in the country you live they are expensive, but not in the UK. You can get a single phase 10kW Hybrid inverter for just over £1k with 4x MPPT inputs, and large capacity 48v batteries for just over £100 kWh.
Don
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These commercial quotes look crazy especially when compared to DIY costs/Specs!
For reference I am running 32kwh of storage, with a 5kw hybrid inverter (no solar yet) for about £4k all in. With some other wiring/house improvements included in that too!
For reference I am running 32kwh of storage, with a 5kw hybrid inverter (no solar yet) for about £4k all in. With some other wiring/house improvements included in that too!
Soldato
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Looking at solar again, hoping the price is a little cheaper now. I'm after 12 panels, 5kw inverter and maybe a 10kw battery. Any idea what sort of price I'd be paying? Any recommendations?
about/under £8k
the battery is the killer, that alone sets you back ~£3k per 10kw if it's not a self-install
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Soldato
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I see purevolts are offering this setup for £7500 which is about in line with your estimate. Not heard of them before though. Might see if I can get a few more renowned companies to quote me. Cheers.
Just watched another misleading Heatable video.
My YouTube comment:
This is purely a sales video, and we all know how misleading salesmen are. There is so much wrong with this video on so many levels. I can guarantee this customer massively over paid for this system. Only shading issue was the soil pipe vent, and that could very easily be dealt with, so absolutely no need for micro inverters. Startup voltage is also very misleading, 16 panels in series will be around 640v and it will take very little light to produce that, low light equals low power, not low voltage. Charging the battery from DC to AC to DC to introduces efficiency losses, 6kW inverter means at night/winter you need to pull from grid when using heavy loads, thus cancelling out another of his arguments, and the maths is way off, I could go on.
My YouTube comment:
This is purely a sales video, and we all know how misleading salesmen are. There is so much wrong with this video on so many levels. I can guarantee this customer massively over paid for this system. Only shading issue was the soil pipe vent, and that could very easily be dealt with, so absolutely no need for micro inverters. Startup voltage is also very misleading, 16 panels in series will be around 640v and it will take very little light to produce that, low light equals low power, not low voltage. Charging the battery from DC to AC to DC to introduces efficiency losses, 6kW inverter means at night/winter you need to pull from grid when using heavy loads, thus cancelling out another of his arguments, and the maths is way off, I could go on.
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Well aware of that, posting it here to educate people, rather than just accept the salesman's spiel, Heatable make a convincing argument for those that don't understand it.
For example my panels were generating 11v per panel at 5:20, he said the Sigenergy inverter has a startup voltage of 100v, well 16 x 11v = 176v, so it would start generating before the Enphase inverter which requires 18v. But the real take away is that there is no energy available until later, you don't need much light to generate voltage, but you need a fair amount to generate energy.
Not all channels are awful, obviously you get the complete range, with different motivations behind them.
For example my panels were generating 11v per panel at 5:20, he said the Sigenergy inverter has a startup voltage of 100v, well 16 x 11v = 176v, so it would start generating before the Enphase inverter which requires 18v. But the real take away is that there is no energy available until later, you don't need much light to generate voltage, but you need a fair amount to generate energy.
Not all channels are awful, obviously you get the complete range, with different motivations behind them.
Appreciate your insights Ron, a bit of a minefield. Come across Gary Does Solar on YT? I've also found a handy crib sheet of questions at Solar Sherpa to ask companies around number of installs, who does the work, warranty, insurance, certification etc.
Yes, I've watched a far bit of his stuff, a pretty good channel IIRC.
It is a minefield, which is why in the end for my second and third system I designed it myself, and with a willing electrician who did the AC work, and help fit the panels, I did my own additional systems, as no one wanted to install what I wanted.
It is a minefield, which is why in the end for my second and third system I designed it myself, and with a willing electrician who did the AC work, and help fit the panels, I did my own additional systems, as no one wanted to install what I wanted.
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I'm getting very much into this solar and battery malarkey. Our current home is not our forever home so tempted at the moment to just get some batteries and hybrid inverter and charge off the ridiculously cheap off peak power. At least we can take them with us if/when we move.
But then again solar panels are so cheap.
Fogstar's rack batteries are looking the best option or their 16.1kwh freestanding unit.
But then again solar panels are so cheap.
Fogstar's rack batteries are looking the best option or their 16.1kwh freestanding unit.
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Man of Honour
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Since using predbat my usage and management of energy has been so good didn't expect so much of repayment!
I don't get what it is with heatable and the REA fusion panels and micro-inverters. They literally use them everywhere. It's totally pointless, as they pair them with the emphase IQ8HC, which can do no more than 384w AC. It means that they become a worse sell as you go up in panel size. For example, if you had 12 of the 450w panels, you'll have 5.4kWp, but be limited to a maximum of around 4.6kW generation. Compare that to 12 x 475w Aiko 3S panels at half the price with a normal string inverter and you'll have 5.7kWp and probably be able to generate >5kW reliably. They also quote inflated efficiency numbers due to the panels being bifacial, which makes little difference on a roof.
If you really needed micro-inverters due to shading, you'd surely just get a cheaper panel at half the price and get the same generation.
Because they've discovered that BS sells, it sounds good to those that have no understanding, so they pay the extra for what they think is a better system. The other thing with Heatable is they always use contractors (I'm not sue if they do local installs - they may), so that's two companies taking a profit, which means a higher price.
There is some evidence micro inverters can outperform a string inverter.
This person has new 3 panels on a small string inverter and 3 on micro inverters. Both sets of panels get the same level of shading (fairly minor).
However, the heatable marketing (and margin) well over eggs any potential benefit and offer a lower ROI which is the main relevant measure.
This person has new 3 panels on a small string inverter and 3 on micro inverters. Both sets of panels get the same level of shading (fairly minor).
However, the heatable marketing (and margin) well over eggs any potential benefit and offer a lower ROI which is the main relevant measure.