Solar panels and battery - any real world reccomendations?

Nathan said:
I’m signed up to the trial but awaiting contact, how did you get on it? :)
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I went the long way around, arguing with them and then resorting to Ofgem support, this was long before the present announcement. I lobbied hard with several stake holders in Octopus via connections I have from elsewhere stating that MSC was not fit for purpose and was harming the UK's net zero targets by enabling money to be taken out of the system for almost no gain to the end user or the grid.
 
I moved onto flux early last week without MCS. Switched onto import that day, 2 days later export was up and running.

I'm dead impressed! Shame the weather hasn't been great.

The system was installed a month ago. Designed by an ex work colleague who has been a great help!!
5.8kw array south facing (14 X 420w panels)
5kw gen 3 givenergy inverter
9.5 kWh battery

I've currently got it set to charge to 100% during cheap hours as the cost to import electricity then is 18p per unit. The price I get for exporting is 19p per unit during the day, so it's best I figured, to minimise battery charging by solar... Is my thinking too simplistic here?

I then force discharge for an hour or so once the prime time comes, and that seems to give me enough juice to cope with cooking tea, and then getting to the next charge time with about 30% battery left.
 
Journey said:
I went the long way around, arguing with them and then resorting to Ofgem support, this was long before the present announcement. I lobbied hard with several stake holders in Octopus via connections I have from elsewhere stating that MSC was not fit for purpose and was harming the UK's net zero targets by enabling money to be taken out of the system for almost no gain to the end user or the grid.
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Thats great news, and on behalf of everyone, thank you for all the work you've put it - can we expect an official announcement from Octopus, or are they just going to phase it in?

Pickers said:
I've currently got it set to charge to 100% during cheap hours as the cost to import electricity then is 18p per unit. The price I get for exporting is 19p per unit during the day, so it's best I figured, to minimise battery charging by solar... Is my thinking too simplistic here?

I then force discharge for an hour or so once the prime time comes, and that seems to give me enough juice to cope with cooking tea, and then getting to the next charge time with about 30% battery left.
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You're thinking is spot on, you do loose a little due to efficiency losses, but its overall a win I think.

Charging as much as you can in off peak also gives you nicely charged batteries should it be a bad solar day.

I myself charge at about 6.5 to 7kW or at 106A to the batteries for three hours, which takes me to about 80%, I could turn the charging up to 140A but haven't been brave enough yet. Once the peak period hits, I force discharge at around 4.5kW from the battery, actual export depends on AC use and how much solar there is, once the batteries hit 45% SOC I stop discharging, this is nearly always near enough 19:00.
 
Journey said:
I went the long way around, arguing with them and then resorting to Ofgem support, this was long before the present announcement. I lobbied hard with several stake holders in Octopus via connections I have from elsewhere stating that MSC was not fit for purpose and was harming the UK's net zero targets by enabling money to be taken out of the system for almost no gain to the end user or the grid.
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Well done!

If I ever get our batteries sorted, I intend to see if I can complain to someone higher up about MSC as they were totally useless:
"Sorry, you installer is not registered to install battery systems, and hence we cannot help" despite the installers sales person saying they never sell the "basic" (i.e. without batteries) system and with the way MSC is plastered all over our cowboy installer's webiste, you would think a regulator would be interested.
Probably would put in a complaint about HIES too. Unsure whether it will make any difference but the "harming the UK's net zero targets" was the angle I was going to take too.
 
Ron-ski said:
I myself charge at about 6.5 to 7kW or at 106A to the batteries for three hours, which takes me to about 80%, I could turn the charging up to 140A but haven't been brave enough yet. Once the peak period hits, I force discharge at around 4.5kW from the battery, actual export depends on AC use and how much solar there is, once the batteries hit 45% SOC I stop discharging, this is nearly always near enough 19:00.
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So using the GivEnergy dashboard, I don't have an option to discharge to a specific % (which would be useful) but I can set the time to begins and stop discharging. As discharge power is 3.6kw and assuming the battery is near full, one hour should take me to 60% but as you say, this would be higher is the array is pumping out some Watts over this time.

I do however have the option to select a charge to % overnight, which I have to 100.
 
Discharge and Export are not the same thing, I'm on G1 inverter but if I set Discharge mode it does not export, it just doesn't charge from solar anymore.

To Export I need to set mine to Export mode, which also disables some other stuff like Eco mode, so I need to cancel Export mode and re-enable Eco afterwards.

For this level of automation you can't really do it via the in-built tooling, that's why I have Home Assistant running with the GivEnergy local repo https://github.com/cdpuk/givenergy-local

I don't know if this works well with G3 either, but there are a couple of local GE repos that HA can use, think another is called GivTCP.
 
I have HA and givTCP installed, but not set it up yet.

Yes sorry, I meant times export. Although for me timed.discharge seems to do the same thing.. I'm still trying to work out the eco mode as sometimes it stays on, other times it doesn't - it's a bit clunky really.
 
Ron-ski said:
Thats great news, and on behalf of everyone, thank you for all the work you've put it - can we expect an official announcement from Octopus, or are they just going to phase it in?
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It is now in the official SEG T&C's - https://octopus.energy/policies/export-tariffs-terms-conditions/

They are phasing it in slowly, but I thing they will have a massive influx of SEG applicants now, especially given their generous standard tariff and the Flux offering. I don wonder how long it will be before the other big players follow their lead. :)
 
Thank you journey - tho it seems customer support aren't aware. I phoned them up last week and they said you needed MCS, then I emailed asking the same.thing and 4 days later they reply saying no MCS needed, just complete the form.

The online form required MCS certificate number or an upload of the certificate to progress however, so I just uploaded the G99 again to get the form to send. Later that day, I'm on flux. Two days later I'm being paid.



Ok so this is driving me nuts. If I set a time for timed export and hit enable and submit, it knocks the inverter out of eco mode right then (not at the time that export commences). If I then enable eco mode, it disabled my scheduled export setting.
 
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is it usual when you put an sales query in to get the push from some companies insisting they send a salesperson out. I've had a couple of calls and they are very pushy and wont give an approximate figure, discuss type of panel or battery etc. They want a salesperson to visit.

Others are happy to give an approximate online estimate subject to a surveyor visiting for final numbers, answer any questions I have etc. This is starting to remind me of the Kirby vacuum cleaner salespeople that I once had to physically remove from my house!

Any company recommendations appreciated even if it needs to be via PM.
 
Ron-ski said:
You'll likely get a much more realistic quote from someone that visits. Yes you can see the roof from Google, but you can't get an idea of where to put the inverter/ batteries, or how difficult cabling will be etc.
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Yes, I agree. I'm trying to suss out some of the offers then get someone round. But I'm literally getting the same script from many even before they discuss what I could possibly have. "we have a new offer just started this week"
I'm also realising having understood zero about this a week ago. That the warranty's, and manufacture of the batteries varies significantly. One company told me they offer a lifetime warranty. Others between 10 and 25 years some on panels others on batteries. That's before you read reviews...
 
Bagged a cheap 6 inch fan off Amazon and placed it under the inverter pointing upwards towards the rear heat sink. The difference is really positive, temps have dropped significantly. Recommend it for longevity. Be interesting to see how long the cheap fan survives being on 24/7 running off a USB.
 
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Nathan said:
Bagged a cheap 6 inch fan off Amazon and placed it under the inverter pointing upwards towards the rear heat sink. The difference is really positive, temps have dropped significantly. Recommend it for longevity. Be interesting to see how long the cheap fan survives being on 24/7 running off a USB.
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Ohh interesting. Since I've done forced charge and timed export, my inverter max temp has gone from 54degrees to mid 70s during those cycles... Is that worryingly high??
 
Nathan said:
Bagged a cheap 6 inch fan off Amazon and placed it under the inverter pointing upwards towards the rear heat sink. The difference is really positive, temps have dropped significantly. Recommend it for longevity. Be interesting to see how long the cheap fan survives being on 24/7 running off a USB.
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I got an old 4 inch PC cooling fan and a W1209 temperature controller board, set it up on top of the Inverter pulling air up through but only when the temperature probe senses higher than 33degC. Total cost around £5.
 
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