Soldato
There definately isnt a universal comms but i think some brands are interchangeable, probably using the same tech underneath.
Solar panels and battery - any real world reccomendations?
- Thread starter GinG
- Start date
There definately isnt a universal comms but i think some brands are interchangeable, probably using the same tech underneath.
Associate
We went with Growatt partly because we were told we could then add further batteries if required. We could choose how many to start, 4 in my case.
Soldato
I went Pylontech for the same reason. Adding a new one tomorrow, according to the installation manual, it's just 3 cables plug and play (+ earth)
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Soldato
Thats the batteries im looking at going with next year....
I can only speak for my own setup but I've got a PV inverter in the loft and a AC Coupled inverter in the garage. I also have an Eddi for hot water.
What I did was set a limit on the Eddi to not kick in unless there was 50W excess going back to the grid. This means when I've got excess solar production it goes to the battery first, once the battery gets to 100% then the Eddi takes over and heats the water.
It's all about the CT clamps and how smart your immersion controller is, thankfully myenergi stuff seems to be pretty decent.
Soldato
Yes indeed its all in configs, mine isnt an eddi but same theory, it even says and allows adjustment upto 500w before it will divert due to potentially having to play nice with other devices.
Add in some intermittency on generation and they do an ok job it seems.
I assume the diverters briefly drop the diversion every so often so they can check if excess is still being generated, otherwise solar could drop, and the batteries would just kick in to supply.
I added a third battery pack taking me to 15kwh and while I’m not really sure it was a sound economic decision I am glad I did.
For me with the EV soon coming any tariff other than Go (or similar) just doesn’t really make sense… that means I’m limited on what I can make from exporting, and also means I’m paying a premium for any energy used outside of the off peak… so that extra capacity makes it much easier to avoid using any significant amount of power during the peak periods.
In theory the extra capacity should also reduce the number of cycles I do, which should mean the whole pack lasts longer… and it gives a bit more wiggle room as capacity reduces with age.
More psychological than financial, but happy all the same!
For me with the EV soon coming any tariff other than Go (or similar) just doesn’t really make sense… that means I’m limited on what I can make from exporting, and also means I’m paying a premium for any energy used outside of the off peak… so that extra capacity makes it much easier to avoid using any significant amount of power during the peak periods.
In theory the extra capacity should also reduce the number of cycles I do, which should mean the whole pack lasts longer… and it gives a bit more wiggle room as capacity reduces with age.
More psychological than financial, but happy all the same!
Soldato
I need to check the figures but I'm wondering if I'll be better off on a regular tariff like tracker or agile after April sort of time for the following sort of 6 months, Go is great and over the winter amazing for saving money, but the rate I am on expires around October, and after that will be paying more to stay on it.
Doing so would allow me to actually get something for exporting.
My only concern would then be getting back onto Go later in the year, I don't have an EV so I kind of snuck onto it this time around...
Doing so would allow me to actually get something for exporting.
My only concern would then be getting back onto Go later in the year, I don't have an EV so I kind of snuck onto it this time around...
Soldato
Yeah Octopus have recently clarified that Go is an Ev tariff and amended the T&Cs
Deffo a risk to come off go if you do not have the qualifying Ev to get back onto it.
Deffo a risk to come off go if you do not have the qualifying Ev to get back onto it.
Soldato
Even if you do loose Go, Economy 7 is still an option though and has no barriers to entry. How much is Go now? Economy7 is 18p/47p.
Man of Honour
The lead time of Eco 7 meters is quite long though.
Soldato
Go is 12 / 44 for new entrants give or take regional adjustments
Thats my plan come April, wifes car can charge overnight when at it's cheapest if I don't have a great solar day.
Soldato
I'll look back at what I was using in September because that is when I still had decent solar production, wasn't covering 100% of usage, but most days it was covering a good percentage.
Soldato
Is there such thing as an Eco 7 meter anymore? I've just got a Smets2 smart meter.
When I had my old mechanical one swapped to a smart meter they said it might be a couple of weeks before the Eco 7 was properly applied to my meter. It was actually working on Eco 7 the next day.
Soldato
Modern SMET2 (think 1s as well) can be an eco 7 meter.
I think the issue is that with the old old Eco 7 there was different physical connectors as well for many so simply switching the meter wouldn't have the same effect.
Like everything stuff evolved.
I don't think going on different tariffs is any issue once your on a smart meter if you have a recently modern elec install.
If prices start to come back down then agile is a nice tariff anyway with decent opportunities on many days for battery charging.
Plenty of old data about to see trends etc if you go back before the caps came in.
Really is the old min maxing going on here. Go isn't likely to be the absolute best over time, but its a very very good option with limited downside risk.
I think the issue is that with the old old Eco 7 there was different physical connectors as well for many so simply switching the meter wouldn't have the same effect.
Like everything stuff evolved.
I don't think going on different tariffs is any issue once your on a smart meter if you have a recently modern elec install.
If prices start to come back down then agile is a nice tariff anyway with decent opportunities on many days for battery charging.
Plenty of old data about to see trends etc if you go back before the caps came in.
Really is the old min maxing going on here. Go isn't likely to be the absolute best over time, but its a very very good option with limited downside risk.
Associate
I had to specify an eco7 SMET2 meter when I had mine changed.
They even phoned me to confirm it was a eco 7 meter that was needed.
It covers export to the grid as well, not that I export anything.
Soldato
Using September as my sample month from last year, as it's likely less than say June or July would be, but is a good indicator of how life without Octopus Go might be.
Consumption for the month just over 500 kWh
Solar generation 375 kWh (75%):
162 kWh from the grid, though a lot is off-peak:
Exported 31 kWh:
According to my Octopus bill (data from website only goes back 4 months) I used:
123 kWh off-peak
15.4 kWh on-peak
For 01/09 - 26/09.
Based on all of this, I would say that in September, I'd still be taking some units from the grid, at least the delta between generation and usage. It would be 125 kWh here. A decent tariff like Agile with opportunity for low rates at times would allow me to force charge during the cheapest times of day, and a good export price means I could potentially not worry about over-filling if the import rates are good enough.
I don't expect to really be making anything from export though in September.
I guess in the prior 3-4 months I'd likely be exporting more, and using very little from the grid.
I'd want to switch back to a cheaper ToU tariff like Go by sometime in October probably (300 kWh last October generation) or the delta will slip too far the other way.
Consumption for the month just over 500 kWh
Solar generation 375 kWh (75%):
162 kWh from the grid, though a lot is off-peak:
Exported 31 kWh:
According to my Octopus bill (data from website only goes back 4 months) I used:
123 kWh off-peak
15.4 kWh on-peak
For 01/09 - 26/09.
Based on all of this, I would say that in September, I'd still be taking some units from the grid, at least the delta between generation and usage. It would be 125 kWh here. A decent tariff like Agile with opportunity for low rates at times would allow me to force charge during the cheapest times of day, and a good export price means I could potentially not worry about over-filling if the import rates are good enough.
I don't expect to really be making anything from export though in September.
I guess in the prior 3-4 months I'd likely be exporting more, and using very little from the grid.
I'd want to switch back to a cheaper ToU tariff like Go by sometime in October probably (300 kWh last October generation) or the delta will slip too far the other way.
Man of Honour
I was told my smets1 would take months to either convert or swap to be eco7. Maybe they mislead me?
I'm on the flexible tariff at the moment (still toying with the idea of tracker) and the 15p.export tariff.
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Soldato
Thought the point of SMETS1/SMETS2 is they can do 30 min data reads, don't need see the need for Eco 7 variants. I'm on Go which kind of acts like Eco 7 and Octopus have no issue with it being a SMETS1 meter.