Associate
Interesting the big problem is tha garage is about 10m from the house and about 20m from where the first array would be. I will definitely ask the question, cheers
Solar panels and battery - any real world reccomendations?
- Thread starter GinG
- Start date
Soldato
In general need to be able to run something back to the main consumer unit, or a spin-off connected to the consumer unit.
At some point I was going to look at adding power to my garage, which would mean running something from house to garage anyway to allow that + potential EV charger down the line.
You could try and get all that kind of thing prepped at the same time, so you have power in the garage and a mini consumer unit to connect everything to there without having to send a bunch of cables back the other way?
At some point I was going to look at adding power to my garage, which would mean running something from house to garage anyway to allow that + potential EV charger down the line.
You could try and get all that kind of thing prepped at the same time, so you have power in the garage and a mini consumer unit to connect everything to there without having to send a bunch of cables back the other way?
Associate
That was my plan, I was thinking of getting the batteries in the garage if I could and have a 10mm supply cable back to the house so I could run the house from it
Soldato
Battery + Inverter in garage would make sense, though for temps I know battery likes being inside more. Have to be careful as super cold battery doesn't work quite the same, depends how cold your garage gets and if you can insulate it.
Soldato
Installer should make the DNO application really, and then based on that decide how much you can connect and then spec the solar to match.
When designing how it can work and quoting I suppose the best method is plan around 4-5kW of panels and the appropriate battery etc, and then see if you can go bigger and how much that may cost to do.
That way if DNO says no or it's too expensive, you fall back on the smaller setup.
When designing how it can work and quoting I suppose the best method is plan around 4-5kW of panels and the appropriate battery etc, and then see if you can go bigger and how much that may cost to do.
That way if DNO says no or it's too expensive, you fall back on the smaller setup.
Soldato
do you need battery stores, will selling to the grid be better option, so less cost up front. How much do you use a day on average, thats where i would be starting
Associate
We are looking at replacing the car in the next year with an electric one and the battery was more of a bit of provisioning for the future when the house would move to full electric I am thinking the boiler will be considered replacing in about 5 years with a heat pump and when I replaced the rads 3 years ago they we oversized accordingly. We both wfh 3 days a week so are fairly high users of elec (120-150 ish a month)
Associate
Hit a problem, my DNO won't pass this as we live on a private estate and there will be extra charges involved as they have to 'upgrade infrastructure'.
I might need to do a G98 system, anyone advise on my options please? Can I have a 5Kwh GivEnery inverter for G98 and only export 3.68?
I can't believe I am going from options around 10kWh to 3.68kWh.
Thanks
Yes, you can have a bigger inverter and limit the export to 3.68. You will clip during peak summer time output (E.g. days like today) but it will produce a lot more over the winter than a smaller system.
How much is the reinforcement fee? If it’s only a few hundred I might be tempted. If it’s thousands then I wouldn’t bother.
How much is the reinforcement fee? If it’s only a few hundred I might be tempted. If it’s thousands then I wouldn’t bother.
Associate
No idea what the fee is, they say I will get billed automatically.
Soldato
When I had letter from DNO it said how much it would cost to add, bit weird if they're not telling you?
You should be able to find out, you can also ask the DNO directly.
I'm done with my measurements for now.
Individually the batteries were a bit more consistent but overall they are way at most half their rated capacity.
Going to contact Pytes with those figures and see if they have any solutions.
Also going to contact Citizens Advice to see if they can help us with what to do next.
I want to write a final letter to our installer about only the battery and nothing else using the wording from the Sales of Goods Act / Consumer Rights Act. Don't hold out any hope of them doing anything unless ordered by a court.
Certainly we paid for a system with 10 kWh but have got less than half of that, that's certainly "not of satisfactory quality" nor "fit for purpose".
Was just reading their complaints process on their website again. Such gems "Acknowledge the complaint in writing promptly" is right at the top, this from a company who are functionally illiterate! Their website also still claims that their system will provide you with power when the grid is down, so any nonsense to get sales.
| Battery # | Qty | Date | Charge start | SOC % start | Daily Charge at start | Charge end | SOC% end | SOC % change | Daily Charge at end | Calculated battery capacity | vs rated (5.12 kWh each) | Avg for bat# | [Daily Charging Energy(kWh)] from logs | Octopus between 01:00 and 04:00 |
1 | 1 | 2023-08-01 Tue | 01:00 | 16 | 0 | 02:18 | 99 | 83 | 2.4 | 2.9 | 56.5% | 2.2 | 2.4 | 2.8 |
1 | 1 | 2023-08-03 Thu | 01:00 | 11 | 0 | 01:58 | 100 | 89 | 1.5 | 1.7 | 32.9% | 2.2 | 1.5 | 1.4 |
1 | 1 | 2023-08-04 Fri | 01:00 | 11 | 0 | 01:55 | 100 | 89 | 1.7 | 1.9 | 37.3% | 2.2 | 1.7 | 1.6 |
2 | 1 | 2023-08-05 Sat | 01:00 | 11 | 0 | 01:55 | 100 | 89 | 2.4 | 2.7 | 52.7% | 2.7 | 2.5 | 2.3 |
2 | 1 | 2023-08-07 Mon | 01:00 | 11 | 0 | 02:20 | 99 | 88 | 2.3 | 2.6 | 51.0% | 2.7 | 2.5 | 3.0 |
2 | 1 | 2023-08-08 Tue | 01:00 | 13 | 0 | 02:20 | 99 | 86 | 2.5 | 2.9 | 56.8% | 2.7 | 2.4 | 3.0 |
| both | 2 | 2023-08-09 Wed | 01:00 | 11 | 0 | 03:50 | 99 | 88 | 3.6 | 4.1 | 40.0% | 4.7 | 3.6 | 4.7 |
| both | 2 | 2023-08-10 Thu | 01:00 | 11 | 0 | 03:50 | 98 | 87 | 4.6 | 5.3 | 51.6% | 4.7 | 4.7 | 0.3 |
Individually the batteries were a bit more consistent but overall they are way at most half their rated capacity.
Going to contact Pytes with those figures and see if they have any solutions.
Also going to contact Citizens Advice to see if they can help us with what to do next.
I want to write a final letter to our installer about only the battery and nothing else using the wording from the Sales of Goods Act / Consumer Rights Act. Don't hold out any hope of them doing anything unless ordered by a court.
Certainly we paid for a system with 10 kWh but have got less than half of that, that's certainly "not of satisfactory quality" nor "fit for purpose".
Was just reading their complaints process on their website again. Such gems "Acknowledge the complaint in writing promptly" is right at the top, this from a company who are functionally illiterate! Their website also still claims that their system will provide you with power when the grid is down, so any nonsense to get sales.
Soldato
Yes I think chief issue should be "paid for 10 kWh of battery, got 5 kWh".
They must be able to tell you the cost, it could literally be thousands or tens of thousands of pounds.
Associate
We would like to make you aware that your application will likely attract Connection Offer Expenses (COE). Whilst GTC do not charge up front for connection offers, we have had to apply for additional load from a DNO who does and we will pass these costs on to you regardless of whether you choose to accept our quotation.
We are unable to confirm the exact costs at this stage as these are subject to change depending on the assessment by the DNO, however further information is provided on their websites on how these are applied.
If you do not wish to continue with your application please let us know within 2 working days to allow us to cancel with the DNO and avoid the COE, if we do not receive a response we will assume you agree to pay and you will be invoiced for the costs.
We are unable to confirm the exact costs at this stage as these are subject to change depending on the assessment by the DNO, however further information is provided on their websites on how these are applied.
If you do not wish to continue with your application please let us know within 2 working days to allow us to cancel with the DNO and avoid the COE, if we do not receive a response we will assume you agree to pay and you will be invoiced for the costs.
Just contact the DNO yourself and see what they have to say.
Soldato
Personally unless your going bonkers large and unless the fee is tiny I would just export limit.
Get a 5kwh inverter and limit to 3.68
Bear in mind the 3.68 is in excess of anything your using. So if you were generating 4.5kw and using 700w you would have 3.8 available for export.
So what your base load would be during your peak generation times is worth considering.
What heating system do you have? If you have a hot water tank then a diverter to that will cost about £400 fitted. You can dump your excess into that as well, in advance of grid export.
Mine dumped 350kwh into my water over April-July
Its only saving the gas in effect vs the export you would have received, but every penny counts
Get a 5kwh inverter and limit to 3.68
Bear in mind the 3.68 is in excess of anything your using. So if you were generating 4.5kw and using 700w you would have 3.8 available for export.
So what your base load would be during your peak generation times is worth considering.
What heating system do you have? If you have a hot water tank then a diverter to that will cost about £400 fitted. You can dump your excess into that as well, in advance of grid export.
Mine dumped 350kwh into my water over April-July
Its only saving the gas in effect vs the export you would have received, but every penny counts
Soldato
Thats a bit of a brave statement. It depends on the differential between the gas price (after increasing for gas inefficiency) and the export price you can get.
Its not going to have a quick payback, though. Probably 8-10 years, maybe more.
Biggest issue for sure will be what happens to gas pricing.
I am not sure if without solar I would have risked the gas tracker tariff. Potentially will be quite expensive in winter.
Mine was only just over £300 fitted and I wouldn't have skimped on it for basically free fitting when buying my solar system.