Solar panels and battery - any real world reccomendations?

200sols · 8 Dec 2022 at 09:59

TNA said:
That LG CHEM battery package looks juicy. Those batteries are not cheap and from what I understand one of the best on the market. The battery being 16KW means even after 10 years it should have over 10KW capacity.

Anyone have the Chinese Longi panels? They any good? I wonder if it is worth paying the extra for sunpower ones? They seem slightly better, but also never know when the Taiwan issue will escalate and possibly make the warranty worthless? Thoughts?

From £14,495!
16 x 355w Longi All Black Solar Panels
1 x SolarEdge Hybrid Solar Inverter + Optimisers
1 x 16kW LG CHEM Prime Battery
1 x SolarEdge Monitoring App
1 x Mounting Kit
1 x MCS Certification
1 x HIES Workmanship Insurance
1 x Installation & Commissioning 25yr Panel Warranty/10yr Battery&Inverter Warranty

It does look good. I messaged them this morning and they replied with some brochure, no mention of the LG package so I have enquired. They offered this

£13995
10 x 410w Longi Panels
1 x SolarEdge Inverter
10 x SolarEdge Optimisers
1 x WiFi Monitoring
1 x 10kW SolarEdge Energy Bank
1 x Installation & Commissioning

£10295
10 x 410w Longi Panels
1 x Fox ESS Hybrid Inverter
1 x WiFi Monitoring
1 x 8.06kW Fox ESS Battery
1 x Installation & Commissioning

Extra panels are £300.

We now have these systems back in stock, after major supply/demand issues in the U.K.

All of the packages include scaffolding, MCS certification, Distribution Network Operator (DNO) notification and HIES backed insurance.

With all of our installations, we only require a £100 deposit to place your order, with the remaining balance only due upon installation completion

Ron-ski · 8 Dec 2022 at 10:16

Just goes to show the extra cost of a SolarEdge system, is it worth t, probably only if you have shading issues.

SoliD · 8 Dec 2022 at 10:17

Think my inverter has died (sort of hope it has in some ways) Smelt a slight wiff of electrical burning yesterday morning from under the stairs where everything is, had a look in everything all lit up and seemingly working, smell went away. Smelt it again this morning, poked my head in and no lights on the inverter. Typically I'm changing broadband supplier and messed up the dates so don't have any internet currently so can't check the portal to see when it last reported but smell coincided with the sun coming out. Company going to come out later today to have a look and see what's what. Not been generating much anyway so not missing out on a great deal, but be good if it is replaced with Gen2!

HungryHippos · 8 Dec 2022 at 10:31

SoliD said:
Think my inverter has died (sort of hope it has in some ways) Smelt a slight wiff of electrical burning yesterday morning from under the stairs where everything is, had a look in everything all lit up and seemingly working, smell went away. Smelt it again this morning, poked my head in and no lights on the inverter. Typically I'm changing broadband supplier and messed up the dates so don't have any internet currently so can't check the portal to see when it last reported but smell coincided with the sun coming out. Company going to come out later today to have a look and see what's what. Not been generating much anyway so not missing out on a great deal, but be good if it is replaced with Gen2!

I think no lights and burning smell is a bad combo it does sound like it might be dead. Good they'll come out pretty quick to look at it though.

Did they get you to turn off the breakers?

I'm not really sure what to do with mine if I get a major issue like that. Presumably the panels could still be trying to send down live current into the inverter so probably advice is to turn them all off?

200sols · 8 Dec 2022 at 10:36

Ron-ski said:
Just goes to show the extra cost of a SolarEdge system, is it worth t, probably only if you have shading issues.

Also givenergy package.

10 x 405w Longi Solar Panels
1 x GivEnergy Hybrid Inverter
1 x 9.5kW GivEnergy Li-Ion Battery
1 x MCS Certification & HIES Ins
1 x Installation & Commissioning
£10,495

Dont really have shading but house roof faces slightly North east/South west. Other houses with similar position round here seem to have 10 on the southwest side and 6/8 panels on the other side to catch the morning sun.

SoliD · 8 Dec 2022 at 10:36

I was mid way through turning it off anyway, but Luke just confirmed which breakers to close. luckily all in one place, but had to clear out the rubbish in the cupboard to get to it.

Journey · 8 Dec 2022 at 10:40

SoliD said:
I was mid way through turning it off anyway, but Luke just confirmed which breakers to close. luckily all in one place, but had to clear out the rubbish in the cupboard to get to it.

Looks like GivEnergy inverters may have some QC issues, wonder if corners are being cut due to demand, but hopefully we have just both been unlucky.

SoliD · 8 Dec 2022 at 10:44

Journey said:
Looks like GivEnergy inverters may have some QC issues, wonder if corners are being cut due to demand, but hopefully we have just both been unlucky.

Hopefully! As I say luckily I'm not using it much currently with the shading been hitting maybe 4kwh a day, so if I can get on to a v2 I'll be very happy rather than adding a second inverter later down the line. Will ask him what he suggests for shading whilst he is here!

HungryHippos · 8 Dec 2022 at 11:03

SoliD said:
I was mid way through turning it off anyway, but Luke just confirmed which breakers to close. luckily all in one place, but had to clear out the rubbish in the cupboard to get to it.

Do you remember the order?

I'd guess it's PV breaker to 0 and then the big yellow other one to 0 after?

katie279 · 8 Dec 2022 at 11:10

HungryHippos said:
I think no lights and burning smell is a bad combo it does sound like it might be dead. Good they'll come out pretty quick to look at it though.

Did they get you to turn off the breakers?

I'm not really sure what to do with mine if I get a major issue like that. Presumably the panels could still be trying to send down live current into the inverter so probably advice is to turn them all off?

My guys left a helpful guide/diagram laminated above the inverter - you a Givenergy person HH? Could send you a photo if helpful, imagine it's pretty standard.

HungryHippos · 8 Dec 2022 at 11:14

katie279 said:
My guys left a helpful guide/diagram laminated above the inverter - you a Givenergy person HH? Could send you a photo if helpful, imagine it's pretty standard.

Please do, yeah Givenergy here

Your stats not submitting today via HA Katie!

Freefaller is hacking. Actually must be South East/South ish because his production is very high for this time of day.

Peteronthesouthcoast · 8 Dec 2022 at 11:35

TNA said:
That LG CHEM battery package looks juicy. Those batteries are not cheap and from what I understand one of the best on the market. The battery being 16KW means even after 10 years it should have over 10KW capacity.

Anyone have the Chinese Longi panels? They any good? I wonder if it is worth paying the extra for sunpower ones? They seem slightly better, but also never know when the Taiwan issue will escalate and possibly make the warranty worthless? Thoughts?

From £14,495!
16 x 355w Longi All Black Solar Panels
1 x SolarEdge Hybrid Solar Inverter + Optimisers
1 x 16kW LG CHEM Prime Battery
1 x SolarEdge Monitoring App
1 x Mounting Kit
1 x MCS Certification
1 x HIES Workmanship Insurance
1 x Installation & Commissioning 25yr Panel Warranty/10yr Battery&Inverter Warranty

Immediate reaction is buy the best (and as many as you can possibly fit). Panels almost never fail but are the most expensive item to fit, so replacing them later is not a viable option. The more expensive 400W Longi are more efficient This will boost your output from 5.6kw to 6.4kw. They take up less room per kw output. We have a large system (14.4kw). On bad winter days we fail to produce enough to keep us going and yes the batteries ( 4 x 6.5kw) keep us from solar overdraft some of the time. The BMS (Battery management system will close down your ability to draw down electrcity at 10% to preserve the long life of the battery. It will also reduce the rate of charge at about 80%. At 90% it will seriously reducve the rate of charge. One day I happened to look at my rate of charge for my batteries. Each one is capable of charging/discharging at 3KW. I knew they were very nearly full and 99% was the answer with just 128 watts going into all 4. You will have read about charging times for EV's these are quoted as 20-80% and now you know why. The useable amount of a battery is really only 80% for most of the time

Look at last winter. Total output from all 3 of our systems is the right hand column

1	Dec-21	8h 10m 59s	16.7°	5.9	5.5	8.6	44031.3	14.1	20.0
2	Dec-21	8h 09m 00s	16.5°	13.9	6.9	18.4	44045.2	25.3	39.2
3	Dec-21	8h 07m 07s	16.4°	2.9	2.7	3.8	44048.1	6.5	9.4
4	Dec-21	8h 05m 19s	16.3°	10.2	4.8	14.8	44058.3	19.6	29.8
5	Dec-21	8h 03m 37s	16.1°	2.3	2.2	3.2	44060.6	5.4	7.7
6	Dec-21	8h 02m 00s	16.0°	1.3	1.0	1.6	44061.9	2.6	3.9
7	Dec-21	8h 00m 28s	15.9°	0.4	0.3	0.2	44062.3	0.5	0.9
8	Dec-21	7h 59m 02s	15.8°	8.5	5.7	11.5	44070.8	17.2	25.7
9	Dec-21	7h 57m 42s	15.7°	8.2	4.5	10.6	44079.0	15.1	23.3
10	Dec-21	7h 56m 28s	15.6°	10.8	6.0	16.4	44089.8	22.4	33.2
11	Dec-21	7h 55m 20s	15.5°	1.3	1.6	1.9	44091.1	3.5	4.8
12	Dec-21	7h 54m 18s	15.5°	0.8	1.0	1.1	44091.9	2.1	2.9
13	Dec-21	7h 53m 22s	15.4°	0.9	1.4	1.6	44092.8	3.0	3.9
14	Dec-21	7h 52m 33s	15.3°	1.0	1.4	1.5	44093.8	2.9	3.9
15	Dec-21	7h 51m 49s	15.3°	1.0	0.8	0.6	44094.8	1.4	2.4
16	Dec-21	7h 51m 12s	15.2°	0.5	0.8	0.7	44095.3	1.5	2.0
17	Dec-21	7h 50m 42s	15.2°	2.4	1.9	3.8	44097.7	5.7	8.1
18	Dec-21	7h 50m 18s	15.2°	6.8	2.4	10.1	44104.5	12.5	19.3
19	Dec-21	7h 50m 00s	15.1°	3.4	2.3	4.8	44107.9	7.1	10.5
20	Dec-21	7h 49m 49s	15.1°	0.7	1.1	1.1	44108.6	2.2	2.9
21	Dec-21	7h 49m 44s	15.1°	1.4	1.8	2.2	44110.0	4.0	5.4
22	Dec-21	7h 49m 46s	15.1°	2.0	2.3	2.9	44112.0	5.2	7.2
23	Dec-21	7h 49m 54s	15.1°	0.2	0.2	0.2	44112.2	0.4	0.6
24	Dec-21	7h 50m 09s	15.2°	1.3	1.4	1.4	44113.5	2.8	4.1
25	Dec-21	7h 50m 30s	15.2°	0.8	1.0	1.0	44114.3	2.0	2.8
26	Dec-21	7h 50m 58s	15.2°	1.6	1.2	2.4	44115.9	3.6	5.2
27	Dec-21	7h 51m 33s	15.3°	0.9	0.9	1.2	44116.8	2.1	3.0
28	Dec-21	7h 52m 14s	15.3°	2.9	2.3	4.3	44119.7	6.6	9.5
29	Dec-21	7h 53m 01s	15.4°	1.3	1.1	1.8	44121.0	2.9	4.2
30	Dec-21	7h 53m 54s	15.4°	0.2	0.0	0.3	44121.2	0.3	0.5
31	Dec-21	7h 54m 54s	15.5°	0.4	0.1	0.5	44121.6	0.6	1.0
1	Jan-22	7h 56m 00s	15.6°	1.9	1.9	2.6	44123.5	4.5	6.4
2	Jan-22	7h 57m 12s	15.7°	1.3	1.4	1.8	44124.8	3.2	4.5
3	Jan-22	7h 58m 30s	15.8°	1.3	1.6	1.8	44126.1	3.4	4.7
4	Jan-22	7h 59m 53s	15.9°	1.3	1.2	1.8	44127.4	3.0	4.3
5	Jan-22	8h 01m 23s	16.0°	11.6	6.1	16.6	44139.0	22.7	34.3
6	Jan-22	8h 02m 58s	16.1°	1.1	1.4	1.4	44140.1	2.8	3.9
7	Jan-22	8h 04m 39s	16.2°	2.9	3.2	3.9	44143.0	7.1	10.0
8	Jan-22	8h 06m 25s	16.3°	0.3	0.5	0.2	44143.3	0.7	1.0
9	Jan-22	8h 08m 17s	16.5°	9.3	5.8	12.6	44152.6	18.4	27.7
10	Jan-22	8h 10m 14s	16.6°	0.9	1.1	1.3	44153.5	2.4	3.3
11	Jan-22	8h 12m 16s	16.8°	0.6	0.9	0.7	44154.1	1.6	2.2
12	Jan-22	8h 14m 23s	16.9°	12.6	6.1	16.9	44166.7	23.0	35.6
13	Jan-22	8h 16m 35s	17.1°	13.8	6.8	18.4	44180.5	25.2	39.0
14	Jan-22	8h 18m 51s	17.3°	14.0	6.8	18.4	44194.5	25.2	39.2
15	Jan-22	8h 21m 12s	17.5°	2.8	3.0	3.9	44197.3	6.9	9.7
16	Jan-22	8h 23m 38s	17.7°	8.2	4.1	10.6	44205.5	14.7	22.9
17	Jan-22	8h 26m 08s	17.9°	14.6	7.0	18.8	44220.1	25.8	40.4
18	Jan-22	8h 28m 41s	18.1°	4.5	2.9	6.0	44224.6	8.9	13.4
19	Jan-22	8h 31m 20s	18.3°	2.4	2.0	3.2	44227.0	5.2	7.6
20	Jan-22	8h 34m 02s	18.5°	14.1	7.5	18.3	44241.1	25.8	39.9
21	Jan-22	8h 36m 48s	18.7°	6.6	6.5	9.0	44247.7	15.5	22.1

From the 20th December to the 4th January we were having to buy electricity. However what you have to pay for is only the difference between what you generate and what you use. We run an electric car so on the 5th January we were able to make use of all that juice. In the winter the biggest factor is the height of the sun. On the south coast where I am, we do much better than someone only 100 miles north. Once the sun gets to 19 degrees we are almost guaranteed to be off grid

Look at what the the battery can be charged at and discharged at............normally the same figure. Also look at the spec of the inverter and how much it can charge up the battery and draw from it. This is normally a lower figure that the kw output it can handle

Peter

Welshman · 8 Dec 2022 at 11:40

HungryHippos said:
Please do, yeah Givenergy here

Your stats not submitting today via HA Katie!

Freefaller is hacking. Actually must be South East/South ish because his production is very high for this time of day.

i manually upload, but i'm at 4.7kwhs at the moment, im hoping for double figures

Peteronthesouthcoast · 8 Dec 2022 at 11:44

SoliD said:
Think my inverter has died (sort of hope it has in some ways) Smelt a slight wiff of electrical burning yesterday morning from under the stairs where everything is, had a look in everything all lit up and seemingly working, smell went away. Smelt it again this morning, poked my head in and no lights on the inverter. Typically I'm changing broadband supplier and messed up the dates so don't have any internet currently so can't check the portal to see when it last reported but smell coincided with the sun coming out. Company going to come out later today to have a look and see what's what. Not been generating much anyway so not missing out on a great deal, but be good if it is replaced with Gen2!

Last Summer I bought off Ebay an Aurora 3.6 which handles 4kw. It was a twin of mine (but 6 years old). The guy was selling as he had just upgraded to a 6kw system and installed a Hybrid inverter and battery at the same time. My Aurora was still working fine after 10 years, but I swopped it over to the ebay one, just to check I had not been ripped off. If you get stuck and a 4kw inverter would help you out, give me a call on 02392 612698. I only live in Havant.

Peter

SoliD · 8 Dec 2022 at 11:44

HungryHippos said:
Do you remember the order?

I'd guess it's PV breaker to 0 and then the big yellow other one to 0 after?

Didn't give an order, just said turn off both battery DC Isolators and the AC one. had already turned off the AC one as first port of call.

HungryHippos · 8 Dec 2022 at 11:48

Peteronthesouthcoast said:
give me a call on REDACTED. I only live in Havant

I'd be careful about putting your phone # on a public forum!

BUDFORCE · 8 Dec 2022 at 11:49

I think today might be a good day to test the solar generation on a full clear day for this time of year, or more or less "best case scenario" unless it clouds over later.

Its..more or less...the shortest day of the year

SoliD · 8 Dec 2022 at 12:00

HungryHippos said:
I think no lights and burning smell is a bad combo it does sound like it might be dead. Good they'll come out pretty quick to look at it though.

Coming tomorrow now! Hopefully a quick diagnosis. Thanks @Peteronthesouthcoast system was only instlaled in July so I'll be hoping for it to be resolved without any pain, albeit no doubt dependent upon supply.

katie279 · 8 Dec 2022 at 12:00

HungryHippos said:
Please do, yeah Givenergy here

Your stats not submitting today via HA Katie!

Freefaller is hacking. Actually must be South East/South ish because his production is very high for this time of day.

Ok, will have a look after work and PM them

Re Stats - oh dear, think I know what's happened (I was rebuilding espHome within HA last night so I can build temperature sensors around the house - why spend £30 on them, when you can plug a £6 chip into USB and do it yourself!).
But forgot after I was rebooting HA to turn it back on, have fixed now, so hopefully coming through. Snow here, but turned sunny - pushing 4kw already for the day, although panels generating @ 3.9kw at the moment, so hopefully get a reasonable number by the end of the day!

FF - yes, hence I've also emailed our fitters to add some extra panels in Feb - I think I'll get to 10-11KW of panels, that should keep that Ron-ski in second position even after his build completes..... :cry:

HungryHippos · 8 Dec 2022 at 12:35

katie279 said:
But forgot after I was rebooting HA to turn it back on, have fixed now, so hopefully coming through

Nope not yet, still borked as you're missing from the live view.

Actually FF and Redfist both having great days today, my generation definitely ticks in later. My west facing roof probably shades the south facing ones at an angle until later in the morning so my peak generation seems to be after 11AM currently.

Solar panels and battery - any real world reccomendations?

From £14,495!​

From £14,495!​

From £14,495!

From £14,495!