Solar panels and battery - any real world reccomendations?

Inverters in the UK must be capable of being export limited, AND behind an installer only passcode per the regs.
I guess an inverter below the 3.68kw peak might get round that to some extent as I believe 3.68 they cannot say no to (since its just advising rather than asking)
Which I believe is the key why many installers just go 3.68 inverter, they don't need to engage much or wait for permission
 
NoNameNoNumber said:
So with a 7kW array and 5kW/hrs battery, is anything gained by having a 5kW inverter over a 3.6kW?
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Yes, the charge/discharge rate of the battery may be limited by the inverter. 7Kw array seems large for a 3.6kw inverter unless its east west where essentially only half the panels are active at a time.

EDIT: if you added more battery, the inverter capacity becomes a lot more relevant for the charge/discharge capabilities of the inverter.

The cost difference between 5kw inverter and 3.6kw inverter is usually in the range of £150-200 and some paperwork.
NoNameNoNumber said:
DNO approval, is for a PV array over 6.2kW. Not inverter capacity related apparently.

We've just had another guy round.
7.2kW panels
3.6kW Sunsynk inverter
5.12kW/hrs Sunsynk battery

£14.6k
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This seems a tad expensive IMO.

I have been quoted:
20 panels
5kw inverter
9.6kw battery
£14.8k on an east west arrangement.
 
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We're split sw and se.
I've just done a load more reading, the startup voltage on a bigger inverter is higher, so on super low production days, you waste a little more by using a 5kW inverter compared to if you had a 3.6kW. Especially given our split aspect. So for the most part, I imagine 3.6kW would be able to make the most of our setup.
Whether or not that is offset by the amount over 3.6kW a 7.2kW system could produce I don't know.


Seems like I need to ask this company for their thoughts on a 5kW.
And the price difference...
Then try and knock them down some.

Does it matter if I went for Sunsynk inverter and batteries vs Lux inverter and Greenlinx battery?
 
Hi

Does anybody here have a GivEnergy setup? My brother, electrician, has self installed a 5kw Solar install and 2 x 9.5 GivEnergy batteries. He's not as technically astute as me and is struggling to get his setup working properly. Forexample he has exported over 75kWh to the grid since install (early Dec). The generation has been minimal so it's just the battery discharging for some reason. He has switched to Octopus Go yesterday (was waiting on a new smart meter). So, What he wants is soemthing like this.

Battery charges to approx 75% during the go window (or if it was flat it charges as much as it can).
Battery never discharges back to the grid.

*I've not looked at his app etc yet but I will. In the future i'll build him a Home Assistant Pi to look at automation based on predicted Solar generation.

Can what i'm looking for be done? If so slide into my DMs or post here if it wont clog up the thread with pointless chat.

TY
 
Didn't have to do anything insane to get mine working, I just switched Eco mode on (it's in the My Inverter settings of the dashboard) you can also edit the battery charge time here so that it charges in the Go window to a set % of capacity.

Not sure if self installed will have access to the GE cloud dashboard though for management stuff?

Default behaviour of battery isn't to force anything to grid, it's used for home consumption first. It almost sounds like something isn't technically setup right.
 
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flea.rider said:
hmm just sent off to octopus .. we have a east west roof .. blackpool .. lets see what price they come back with ...
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Thanks so much for putting your name down for a home solar system with Octopus Energy! Home solar is a hugely important part of decarbonising the home and reducing our dependence on dirty fossil fuels and we’re delighted you’re interested! However we want to tell you upfront that it'll likely be at least 6 months before you can get home solar from us.

We can see that your property is based in fy which unfortunately is outside of our service area at the moment. However we're recruiting new installers all the time, so we hope it won't be too long before we can get back in touch with you to start your home solar journey.

We hope you think we'll be worth the wait but if you’re looking to have solar installed more urgently then here are some trusted installers who may be able to help: https://www.renewableenergyhub.co.uk/search-installers.

Whether you decide to stick with Octopus or choose another company, we're delighted you're thinking about switching to clean green home-generated electricity. We hope to be able to support you soon!

Love & Power,

The Octopus Energy Solar Team

so thats a nonstarter ...lol
 
HungryHippos said:
Didn't have to do anything insane to get mine working, I just switched Eco mode on (it's in the My Inverter settings of the dashboard) you can also edit the battery charge time here so that it charges in the Go window to a set % of capacity.

Not sure if self installed will have access to the GE cloud dashboard though for management stuff?

Default behaviour of battery isn't to force anything to grid, it's used for home consumption first. It almost sounds like something isn't technically setup right.
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Cheers, yes he has the cloudapp. givenergy.cloud url is on any screen shot he has sent me. I'll go and take a look.

*self install but probably used my mate who has a renewable energy company to "sign off"
 
Bear in mind new batteries will go through an initial commission as well, which is full charge and discharge (to grid if house isn't using it). But should only be once per battery.

You can probably logon to the app and see the state if he gives you the credentials to use on the portal.

Then you can use the data to see what it's doing/when.
 
HungryHippos said:
Bear in mind new batteries will go through an initial commission as well, which is full charge and discharge (to grid if house isn't using it). But should only be once per battery.

You can probably logon to the app and see the state if he gives you the credentials to use on the portal.

Then you can use the data to see what it's doing/when.
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Yeah. It did that initially. Burning him at 35p/unit. Hahahhaha.

I'll get his credentials so I can monitor. Nice one, thank you.
 
HungryHippos said:
Didn't have to do anything insane to get mine working, I just switched Eco mode on (it's in the My Inverter settings of the dashboard) you can also edit the battery charge time here so that it charges in the Go window to a set % of capacity.

Not sure if self installed will have access to the GE cloud dashboard though for management stuff?

Default behaviour of battery isn't to force anything to grid, it's used for home consumption first. It almost sounds like something isn't technically setup right.
Click to expand...

I'm in. Why is eco needed to be on? Just seems like I need timed charged turned on?
 
john_smith said:
Hi

Does anybody here have a GivEnergy setup? My brother, electrician, has self installed a 5kw Solar install and 2 x 9.5 GivEnergy batteries. He's not as technically astute as me and is struggling to get his setup working properly. Forexample he has exported over 75kWh to the grid since install (early Dec). The generation has been minimal so it's just the battery discharging for some reason. He has switched to Octopus Go yesterday (was waiting on a new smart meter). So, What he wants is soemthing like this.

Battery charges to approx 75% during the go window (or if it was flat it charges as much as it can).
Battery never discharges back to the grid.

*I've not looked at his app etc yet but I will. In the future i'll build him a Home Assistant Pi to look at automation based on predicted Solar generation.

Can what i'm looking for be done? If so slide into my DMs or post here if it wont clog up the thread with pointless chat.

TY
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Quite a few on here do including myself. As said previously, set to ECO and if using Octopus Go set the charge from 00:00 to 04:29 for the cheap rate, I currently have this set to 100% for the Winter period.
I'd advise doing it from the web portal other than the app.
 
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john_smith said:
Why would it export though, Tht's what I can't understand. Somebody has written code that says...ok for no reason, lets just dump some battery to the grid.
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It could be setup wrong, issue on CT clamps etc. mine does not export unless my battery is full and solar is streaming in, so it sounds like his setup is borked.

The stats will show it though, maybe the battery isn't charging at all from the solar so it's just exporting everything?
 
HungryHippos said:
It could be setup wrong, issue on CT clamps etc. mine does not export unless my battery is full and solar is streaming in, so it sounds like his setup is borked.

The stats will show it though, maybe the battery isn't charging at all from the solar so it's just exporting everything?
Click to expand...

I’m monitoring now. I’m still none the wiser at what eco does. My logic tells me it should be off. I don’t want it to try and be intelligent. I’ll report back in a week.
 
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