Solar panels and battery - any real world reccomendations?

Typical dutch doing it properly.
Looks like its an "in roof" system where the panels are all joined with in effect internal guttering which directs the water off and avoids it going down to the "tiles"

IMO thats what all new houses rooves should look like. Tilted to face a decent direction.
Bet some of them have some tasty generation.

That London one is interesting. I mean its either damn lucky the panels are the correct size to fit perfectly or (I would guess) there are some fillers in there made of glass but not actually panels.
The bottom row for example look too narrow.
 
Update on my ongoing issues.

Had one of the 4 batteries swapped out today. Its tricky balancing conversation with China and my installer.
When the installer changed the batteries they added a V2 and 3x V1 so they were removing the V2 today to get all to V1. There is no published difference between the specs.

We checked the 4 batteries individually and all were 97-99%. I had charged and left at 100% a bit before earliest arrival time.

The new battery was at 4x% and needed to be charged to 100% to match the 3 remaining ones. It took ages. Very odd charging curve, unlike any of the previous ones. It took ages as well. Got to 97% quite quickly but the last 3% took probably 45mins.

Will see over next few days in regards a full dump and charge test as its the only way to see if they are performing.

China want to replace all batteries, but this would be the 3rd set.

Not sure if I updated in regards battery heating, but after initially telling me it needed to be 25C not just battery but environment I said to the support guy can you please check with the designer (he had previously said he was sitting in the same office as the battery designer!) what temp the heating should work at. Ie at what temp does it switch on.
The designer came back and said only needed at zero C. I will turn it back on once we start to get cold nights, but it seemed to do nothing down to 15C as you would expect so seems pretty much a no brainer to have it switched on, and once I reinstall my insulated box properly expect it will keep temps quite stable.
 
In the process of getting solar and found we can fit 25 rather than 18 panels on the roof. Received a revised quote of £17,500 for the following fitted:

25 * 405W JA Black panels
8kW Sunsynk Inverter
2 * 5.12kwh Batteries
Bird protection mesh

How does the price seem?
 
I have three quotes as follows:

6 * 430W Longi Black panels
5kW Givenergy Inverter
1 * 5.12kwh Battery
Bird protection
£6720

or

6 * 430W 8.33 Black panels
Fox Ess 3.000 kW 1 x AIO-H1-3.0
Fox Ess 5.76 kWh 2 x ECS2900
Bird protection
£6000

Which is the better system? Any views on Givenergy vs Fox Ess. There is no room to expand the panels.

Alternatively, I also have a quote to buy a kit and then separately paying for installation as follows:

6 * 415W Trina S Black panels
Growatt 3.000 kW dual hybrid inverter
Growatt 3.3KW battery
£3500 plus £1000 installation making a total of £4500

I am reluctant to buy separately and then pay for installation as you have issues if it develops a fault. With a supplied and installed system the installer will have to deal with issues that arise. Whereas if I buy the kit and then get it installed the installer will wash their hands of any subsequent issues.

Please let me know what you think is the better system or option. Thanks.
 
Last edited:
Gut feel, whilst the bottom one looks appealing I would second your thoughts in regards issues.
From what I can tell the vast majority of issues are around batteries. They are more technical and generally something a normal sparkie cannot diagnose. They can check voltages from panel strings, inverter inputs / outputs etc

Is 6 really the max you can fit, if so then 5kw givenergy inverter seems odd. They are limited on the batteries (or certainly were) so seems an odd balance there.
Although the price difference between 3.6 and 5kw inverters is low they would IMO not bother applying for G99 anyway so would IMO limit export to 3.6 to avoid that.
Could be worth asking them why 5kw inverter?

Also an IMO but it seems more batteries = more chances of an issue. At least with one battery its a simple its working or not, rather than having see (if problems) try to work out is one fine and another dodgy or what.

Have you run some proper numbers, expected output vs cost of that import normally.

Also what direction does your roof face?
 
Capital10 said:
I have three quotes as follows:

6 * 430W Longi Black panels
5kW Givenergy Inverter
1 * 5.12kwh Battery
Bird protection
£6720

or

6 * 430W 8.33 Black panels
Fox Ess 3.000 kW 1 x AIO-H1-3.0
Fox Ess 5.76 kWh 2 x ECS2900
Bird protection
£6000

Which is the better system? Any views on Givenergy vs Fox Ess. There is no room to expand the panels.

Alternatively, I also have a quote to buy a kit and then separately paying for installation as follows:

6 * 415W Trina S Black panels
Growatt 3.000 kW dual hybrid inverter
Growatt 3.3KW battery
£3500 plus £1000 installation making a total of £4500

I am reluctant to buy separately and then pay for installation as you have issues if it develops a fault. With a supplied and installed system the installer will have to deal with issues that arise. Whereas if I buy the kit and then get it installed the installer will wash their hands of any subsequent issues.

Please let me know what you think is the better system or option. Thanks.
Click to expand...
GivEnergy is the British brand who are widely sold here and offer good support.
Fox kit is quite well known I've never interacted with it tbh so can't say.
Growatt is the cheapo option (Chinese) but seem to be realiable. You need a comparable battery to compare its price fairly.
If you buy the kit yourself you will have to pay VAT.

You want a 3.68kw inverter minimum. Don't give up the 680w for no reason, remember that is solar and battery combined.

Do you have enough battery for your needs? You will want to be charging it from the grid at night in summer and winter off Octopus GO or similar.
 
My roof faces SE. The installer says he quoted for 5KW inverter because they can limit it to 3.68 and the price difference between the 3 and 5 is negligible. A 5kw battery should be sufficient. I could decrease the panel wattage to the 350 or 375w panels and then add 8 panels to take it to a 2.8 or 3kw array. I guess the technology on the 350/375 panels is slightly older?
 
Capital10 said:
My roof faces SE. The installer says he quoted for 5KW inverter because they can limit it to 3.68 and the price difference between the 3 and 5 is negligible. A 5kw battery should be sufficient. I could decrease the panel wattage to the 350 or 375w panels and then add 8 panels to take it to a 2.8 or 3kw array. I guess the technology on the 350/375 panels is slightly older?
Click to expand...
They're just a bit smaller.
 
Givenergy now give a 12yr unlimited cycle warranty, iirc the 5.12kw battery is only 80% DoD meaning you only actually get 4kw to use where the 9.5 is 100% DoD, although they actually do set a 4% reserve level so something to think about.
 
Finally pushed the button on the below, longer to choose than expected due to my back boiler being condemned and had to be replaced.
Solar Panels
LONGi
4.5 kW Total Solar Power
9 x 500 Watt Panels (LR5-66HIH-500M) (4 on east and 5 on west)
3,319 kWh per year

Inverter
Growatt New Energy Technology Co., Ltd.
3.6 kW Total Inverter Rating
1 x SPH3600

Battery
Growatt New Energy Technology Co., Ltd.
6.5 kWh Total Battery Storage
1 x Growatt GBLI6531

Bird Deterrent Mesh

Bird Deterrent 30 Meter Roll PVC Coated Solar Mesh
1 x BIRD-MESH-BLK


EV Charger


1 x ZAPPI-2H07UW : Zappi - 7kW (WiFi) (tethered)

Due to an east/west facing roof, 2 sides of scaffolding.
£8949, survey has been completed and installation booked for 16th October.
 
Capital10 said:
I could decrease the panel wattage to the 350 or 375w panels and then add 8 panels to take it to a 2.8 or 3kw array. I guess the technology on the 350/375 panels is slightly older?
Click to expand...
I thought you could only fit 6 panels, or are the 350/375 smaller panels???

The more wattage you can get on the roof the better.
 
Hi everyone,

I have been looking at getting a solar and battery solution for a while now. I have had a few quotes and think I am going to go with the following.

16 x 405w black longi panels split equally across east and west elevations.
6kW FOX ESS hybrid inverter
12.9 kWh Fox ESS Cube battery
4 x Tigo Optimisers
2 lots of scaffolding
Bird protection

£13,600

This is the cheapest of my quotes others are £14,500 and £16,500 for roughly the same specs with GivEnergy kit and Tenka panels.

Does anyone know if the longi and fox kit is decent?

Thanks in advance
 
saf87 said:
Hi everyone,

I have been looking at getting a solar and battery solution for a while now. I have had a few quotes and think I am going to go with the following.

16 x 405w black longi panels split equally across east and west elevations.
6kW FOX ESS hybrid inverter
12.9 kWh Fox ESS Cube battery
4 x Tigo Optimisers
2 lots of scaffolding
Bird protection

£13,600

This is the cheapest of my quotes others are £14,500 and £16,500 for roughly the same specs with GivEnergy kit and Tenka panels.

Does anyone know if the longi and fox kit is decent?

Thanks in advance
Click to expand...
I have the 5kW Fox inverter and 12.25kW Fox Mira batteries and they've been flawless. The only issue is the app is rubbish. You're also limited on options as you can't force discharge at a set time for example. The hardware is good though, I can charge and discharge at the full 5kW indefinitely which is a huge plus as you rarely use the grid with multiple things running.
 
Just had my Solar install completed

8 Panels (East Facing)
10 Panels (West Facing)
7.5kw Inverter
2 x 5.8wW batteries

All working fine, actually surprised how much generated when its overcast and cloudy, so far pretty much off grid, but don’t expect this to last with winter approaching.

Im with Octopus and yesterday put my application in for the feed in payments, but im expecting some problems, as my smart meter which was installed several years ago by Npower was never commissioned i suspect due to poor network coverage - current status of the application states ‘ Smart Meter installed, were working on connecting to it - this could take up to 2 weeks’ - so we will see

does anyone know if you can provide manual export readings, in the event the smart meter cannot be connected to the network ??

Phil G
 
Phil Gr said:
does anyone know if you can provide manual export readings, in the event the smart meter cannot be connected to the network ??
Click to expand...

Its the way the old FITS system works, they may allow it if you're on a flat export rate, but not a smart tariff.

Although I wonder if the Octopus Mini would solve this problem - its connects to your meter and sends the data to Octopus via your wi-fi and broadband.

You might find this useful as well https://www.speakev.com/threads/the...t-a-smart-meter-in-a-poor-signal-area.159255/
 
saf87 said:
Hi everyone,

I have been looking at getting a solar and battery solution for a while now. I have had a few quotes and think I am going to go with the following.

16 x 405w black longi panels split equally across east and west elevations.
6kW FOX ESS hybrid inverter
12.9 kWh Fox ESS Cube battery
4 x Tigo Optimisers
2 lots of scaffolding
Bird protection

£13,600

This is the cheapest of my quotes others are £14,500 and £16,500 for roughly the same specs with GivEnergy kit and Tenka panels.

Does anyone know if the longi and fox kit is decent?

Thanks in advance
Click to expand...
Are you having the Tigo CCA and TAP installed to monitor the panels on the app?
Tigo don't recommend blind installs of the optimisers and reduce their warranty from 25 years to 5 years as a result.
 
reef said:
I have the 5kW Fox inverter and 12.25kW Fox Mira batteries and they've been flawless. The only issue is the app is rubbish. You're also limited on options as you can't force discharge at a set time for example. The hardware is good though, I can charge and discharge at the full 5kW indefinitely which is a huge plus as you rarely use the grid with multiple things running.
Click to expand...
The high charge/discharge rate is appealing. My other quotes have been limited to 3.6kW. What makes the app so rubbish? Is it possible to force charge using the app?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom