Solar panels and battery - any real world reccomendations?

Journey said:
They just used the wholesale builder tool, its pretty much all automated for them. I've used Pylon to design a few systems which is much more involved, and provides a lot more data, and allows you to provide much more data to the client.
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Sorry think I have confused you

I didn't post all the pack up here, I have all sorts of data in it, roof loading, electrical drawings etc
 
Mercenary Keyboard Warrior said:
Ive got a query on the batteries as they state working temp 0-50 and they will be outside. Waiting a reply on that, ie cold winter night would they refuse to charge
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LiFePO4 batterries shouldn't be charged below 0 degrees, if you did it would damage them, only way around it is to fit heating pads to raise the temperature, but given they are outside not sure how much difference it would make.
 
Ron-ski said:
LiFePO4 batterries shouldn't be charged below 0 degrees, if you did it would damage them, only way around it is to fit heating pads to raise the temperature, but given they are outside not sure how much difference it would make.
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Would assume the batteries oen internal temp would keep them above 0c. Mine are inside under the stairs but most days sitting 20c above the temp outside the cupboard.
 
Problem is you can't just assume, charge them when the actual cells are below zero and they will likely be damaged. The BMS (battery monitoring system) will monitor cell temperature and stop charging.

I have read of people building insulated cupboards with heating pads for external batteries, mine will be going in the garage but may still require heating pads, although I've never had the tap's freeze in there.
 
Ron-ski said:
Problem is you can't just assume, charge them when the actual cells are below zero and they will likely be damaged. The BMS (battery monitoring system) will monitor cell temperature and stop charging.

I have read of people building insulated cupboards with heating pads for external batteries, mine will be going in the garage but may still require heating pads, although I've never had the tap's freeze in there.
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Thanks and yeah this was my risk/assumption
I would expect there is a fair chance they would be below zero at the prime charging time if you had say a very cold day and then temps dropping at night. I am sure the batteries will be self warming to some extent as all do, but maybe not enough, especially if they have run down during the day.
The battery specs also say they should not be in direct sun which they would be, for a fairly short window, but covering mid day.

They could go in my loft, I have a lovely breeze block wall where the inverter etc would be anyway, but I think they are trying to avoid going inside, even then still a reasonable chance of below zero if we had a sustained cold period.
But a lot less than being outside.

I wonder if these batteries are somehow different to what the installers have been using and haven't picked up on specs, the are listed as new on the manufacturers site so maybe they changed something, but then manufacturers often list "new" for years.

I emailed them about it but only just before their closing hours, plus suspect the person who does the emails is not the most technical so probably needs to refer.

Interestingly I wouldnt expect many of the manufacturers to have a large deviation from 0-50 seeing as they are all using the same tech, so maybe this company is very cautious on specs, or others are risking it.
Or installers are just not paying proper attention. I think with the sizing I may be able to fit them in my utility room, as they are 5.8 they are quite small so may be able to be wall mounted internally quite close to where the cabling would all travel for incoming (from inverter) cable would travel to meter and trips etc
 
Just looking at the givenergy 9.5 and guess what
Charge range 0-50 centigrade
Discharge is wider, -10 to 50

Which I find is funny as they seem to prefer putting them outside, but in the UK there is a fair risk your going to have issues with 0 degree charge if your charging overnight.

I can see why they so no direct sun as well, could easily exceed 50 degrees in direct sun on a hot day.

Maybe its just something that could happen but is unlikely and as such there is a minor risk of some shutdown in extreme circumstances.
Will report back when I get the chance to discuss with them, or get some kind of reply.
 
Can you not build an insulated cupboard for them?

Another thing to bear in mind is distance from the inverter, this will have a limit.
 
Ron-ski said:
Can you not build an insulated cupboard for them?

Another thing to bear in mind is distance from the inverter, this will have a limit.
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In theory yes but my issue is they would be on the wall down my side passage which isn't that wide, I couldn't for example add another 10cm in depth, 2-3 sure. So I could if they think it would be enough add say 25mm of PIR with some 6mm external cladding just to tidy it up.
But then I suspect it would need to be well ventilated to cope with the UK summer heat so not sure how effective it would end up being at preventing them getting properly cold in depths of winter when they are only slowly discharging.
The location is directly below the wall where the inverter would be mounted and the cables running to the loft would come down, which is where the incoming mains and meter are, and the trips are just offset on the internal wall, so all is very close

Im going to see what they say, they both deferred to external as default (2 quotes) so maybe its not really an issue in the UK, I am kind of surprised its not, but then maybe the batteries do some stuff like pre heating or something like EVs.
 
Its not that often it gets below zero nowadays, I suspect the installers just fail to mention the fact, most would be oblivious.

This shows there were just 61 days in 2021 below zero, and as it states UK, presumably somewhere in the UK (Scotland gets a lot colder than the rest of the UK) fell below zero on 61 days of last year.

If it is a problem you could make an insulated cover with 25mm Celotex or similair and just slot it over and fix it to the wall for the winter period. An aluminium housing with rubber seal to fit to the wall would be pretty straightforward, bond the insulation on the inside.
 
Ron-ski said:
Its not that often it gets below zero nowadays, I suspect the installers just fail to mention the fact, most would be oblivious.

This shows there were just 61 days in 2021 below zero, and as it states UK, presumably somewhere in the UK (Scotland gets a lot colder than the rest of the UK) fell below zero on 61 days of last year.

If it is a problem you could make an insulated cover with 25mm Celotex or similair and just slot it over and fix it to the wall for the winter period. An aluminium housing with rubber seal to fit to the wall would be pretty straightforward, bond the insulation on the inside.
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Yeah thats what i thought 25mm PIR, thing is they also mention no direct sun so I would probably want a permanent cover so for say April - Sept its just a thin timber cover, and then Oct-Mar its insulated. Which then makes me think, maybe just simple sheep wool insulation or something that i can stuff inside would be easier.

This wall is south facing (my house is east/west) so they would deffo need some kind of shade for the peak summer. That wall is HOT in the evening after a days sun.
 
Oh well, after 9 years 3 months looks like the Fronius inverter has died at our rental property, typical it had to be in peak Summer!.
Showing error 301 no output.

Going over to try a reboot, but not very hopeful .

Hope there is no shortage/wait for new inverters.
 
@Troop Don't forget it will need to a close a match as possible to your existing inverter, IE the same kw rating for your FITS to still be valid - probably best to run it past your FITS provider prior to replacement. Wouldn't be surpised if you had to get an MCS registered company to replace it. Mind you if production stays the same I don't suppose they'd ever know, but you do have to declare there's been no alterations each time you provide a reading.
 
Ron-ski said:
@Troop Don't forget it will need to a close a match as possible to your existing inverter, IE the same kw rating for your FITS to still be valid - probably best to run it past your FITS provider prior to replacement. Wouldn't be surpised if you had to get an MCS registered company to replace it. Mind you if production stays the same I don't suppose they'd ever know, but you do have to declare there's been no alterations each time you provide a reading.
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As its a rental property, all has to be done via a MCS registered company (same company that installed and sorted the FIT side)just to make sure I'm covered legally.
Just hope there no shortage of inverters, loosing close to £100 a month in FIT payments until its sorted during Summer, plus can't see it costing less than a grand to fix (3.6Kw inverter)

Think the heatwave finished it off.
 
Troop said:
No, unfortunately 5 year cover on the Fronius as standard, first issue in over 9 years is good going though.
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Yeah, they used to sell an extended warranty, think it was about £120 for 10 years. Not sure if they still do it now though.

Question though, what is the model number? - As it might not be the inverter it could be the solar PV/generating side of things, as the fault codes aren't always the same for every model (annoyingly) so best to check thoroughly
 
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