Solar panels and battery - any real world reccomendations?

Pyr0m@nI@]{ said:
Chased Octopus up and they've sent an estimate over:

Your Solution

JAM54S31 AB Half-Cell
4.86kW of Solar Power
12 x JAM54S31-405/MR
405 Watt panels
12 Year Product Warranty & 25 Year Linear Performance Warranty
4,207kWh per year


GivEnergy Hybrid 3.6 Gen 3
3.6kW of Inverter Power
GivEnergy 1 x Giv-HY3.6 V3
12 Year Warranty

Giv-Bat5.2
2 x Giv-Bat5.2
10.4kWh of Storage
12 Year Performance Warranty

£13,094
Purchase Price

Opinions?
I think it seems a bit expensive for what would appear to be a lesser system than offered by MyEnergy Solutions.. But I'm a complete novice when it comes to this stuff. Are GivEnergy better than Sunsynk?
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Hi

I have been offered the following system
  • 18 430W Longi panels
  • 5kW GivEnergy hybrid inverter
  • 5.2KWh GivEnergy battery
Could someone please advise if the inverter size is adequate for the size of the solar panel system of 7.74kW?

I understand that the inverter does not have to the same size as the panels but would a 5kW inverter result in loss of energy from 7.74kW panels?
 
ashna17mathur said:
Hi

I have been offered the following system
  • 18 430W Longi panels
  • 5kW GivEnergy hybrid inverter
  • 5.2KWh GivEnergy battery
Could someone please advise if the inverter size is adequate for the size of the solar panel system of 7.74kW?

I understand that the inverter does not have to the same size as the panels but would a 5kW inverter result in loss of energy from 7.74kW panels?
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It's normal to oversize the PV - are all panels in the same direction or are they split East West for example?
If it's all in one direction, South for example, you will get some clipping in the better months once your battery is full ( any reason why you've not gone with a 9.5kWh battery?).
If the inverter is Gen2 or Gen3 they can take up to 7.5kW per string ( two on each inverter) depending on the panels open voltage - it would be a waste in the summer but can be beneficial in the Winter period but will affect your ROI.
 
Thank you for your reply.

All panels are in the same direction which are South facing. The panels are spiky between roof and garage with 9 on the garage and 9 on the roof.

In terms of battery size I have gone with 2 x 5.2kW GivEnergy batteries totalling 10.4kW battery.

Alternatively I do have choice to go with a Fox ESS 6kW inverter and was wondering if you had a view on whether GivEnergy is a better inverter and battery system than Fox ESS (batteries are 4 x HV2600).

In other words I have choice between a 6kW Fox ESS inverter & 10.4kW Fox ESS batteries or 5kW GivEnergy inverter & 10.4kW GivEnergy batteries. Which one would you suggest I go with.

Also could you explain what you mean by “2 on each inverter”. I am only offered one 5kW GivEnergy inverter.

Also can you please help me understand how would it be a benefit in winter please.

Thanks in advance for your guidance.
 
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ashna17mathur said:
In terms of battery size I have gone with 2 x 5.2kW GivEnergy batteries totalling 10.4kW battery.
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The givenergy 5.2 have a depth of discharge of 80%, meaning the useable battery is only 4.16. Makes more sense to go for a single 9.5 unit which will give you more useable usage then 2 x 5.2 batteries as it has a 100% depth of discharge (actually 96% as they set a 4% reserve).

ashna17mathur said:
I understand that the inverter does not have to the same size as the panels but would a 5kW inverter result in loss of energy from 7.74kW panels?
Click to expand...
It will on some days when its sunny, mainly in the summer months while the sun is at the optimum angle to the panels. My understanding is this under sizing of inverters was done when inverters were not as efficient as they are now.
 
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ashna17mathur said:
Thank you for your reply.

All panels are in the same direction which are South facing. The panels are spiky between roof and garage with 9 on the garage and 9 on the roof.

In terms of battery size I have gone with 2 x 5.2kW GivEnergy batteries totalling 10.4kW battery.

Alternatively I do have choice to go with a Fox ESS 6kW inverter and was wondering if you had a view on whether GivEnergy is a better inverter and battery system than Fox ESS (batteries are 4 x HV2600).

In other words I have choice between a 6kW Fox ESS inverter & 10.4kW Fox ESS batteries or 5kW GivEnergy inverter & 10.4kW GivEnergy batteries. Which one would you suggest I go with.

Also could you explain what you mean by “2 on each inverter”. I am only offered one 5kW GivEnergy inverter.

Also can you please help me understand how would it be a benefit in winter please.

Thanks in advance for your guidance.
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The "Two on each inverter" was meant as a reference for whether you have a Gen2 or a gen3 inverter ( Gen1 also have two but you shouldn't be quoted the Gen1's now).
All Givenergy single phase inverters have two inputs for PV.
Also the 5.2kWh batteries have a depth of discharge of 80% of the capacity, so on the batteries you'll only see 8.32kWh max usage, with a 9.5kWh battery it's 100% depth of discharge.(Note: one 5.2kWh battery data sheet I've seen refers to 90% but it would still be better having a 9.5kWh battery.)
The charge and discharge rates are limited (reduced) on anything below 8.2kWh batteries and you won't see the maximum of 3.6kW/3.3kW the inverter can achieve.
I'm only an end user, with Givenergy equipment, so someone else hopefully will provide feedback on the Fox equipment.
 
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Not been about much of late, wondering if someone can help with my Givenergy inverter. My internet died and was out for over a week and now when trying to connect to the inverter locally to get the live readings it won't find it on the app. Wonder if anyone had any tips on how to get it back connected. Inverter shows up in the app and on the web dashboard but can't find it doing a local search.
 
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200sols said:
The givenergy 5.2 have a depth of discharge of 80%, meaning the useable battery is only 4.16. Makes more sense to go for a single 9.5 unit which will give you more useable usage then 2 x 5.2 batteries as it has a 100% depth of discharge (actually 96% as they set a 4% reserve).


It will on some days when its sunny, mainly in the summer months while the sun is at the optimum angle to the panels. My understanding is this under sizing of inverters was done when inverters were not as efficient as they are now.
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I've got nearly 15kW of panels split across two 5kW Givenergy inverters. It works for me because of the orientation of panels and with empty batteries you can be charging them and still have 5kW going to the house if needed per inverter.
 
SoliD said:
Not been about much of late, wondering if someone can help with my Givenergy inverter. My internet died and was out for over a week and now when trying to connect to the inverter locally to get the live readings it won't find it on the app. Wonder if anyone had any tips on how to get it back connected. Inverter shows up in the app and on the web dashboard but can't find it doing a local search.
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Have you reset the inverter since the internet went out? You on Wi-Fi or ethernet these days?
 
SoliD said:
Not been about much of late, wondering if someone can help with my Givenergy inverter. My internet died and was out for over a week and now when trying to connect to the inverter locally to get the live readings it won't find it on the app. Wonder if anyone had any tips on how to get it back connected. Inverter shows up in the app and on the web dashboard but can't find it doing a local search.
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Have you gone into the settings menu under the 3 lines top left of the app.
Then press local monitoring, then select scan for my Inverters.
If it's found then select it.
 
Journey said:
One of the biggest things missing is you average annual/daily energy use, sizing a system especially with a battery you need to know this to get the best configuration.
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This half the problem with quotes, but to answer the general question - winter provides generally a considerable reduction of solar generation, so having a larger surface area will harvest more energy when the panels aren't running optimally.
 
Journey said:
Have you reset the inverter since the internet went out? You on Wi-Fi or ethernet these days?
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94JDH said:
Have you gone into the settings menu under the 3 lines top left of the app.
Then press local monitoring, then select scan for my Inverters.
If it's found then select it.
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Yes to both of these inverter gone through restart and tried the manually add, can't seem to find it in my list of devices on my network oddly, so wondering if because it's hidden it now can't find it.
 
SoliD said:
Yes to both of these inverter gone through restart and tried the manually add, can't seem to find it in my list of devices on my network oddly, so wondering if because it's hidden it now can't find it.
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Just a thought, have you tried restarting the router - I know this has worked for some others previously.

Edit: there is also a couple of bugs on the app (android) where home isn't working correctly and also quick settings needs to be off instead of on to see the cog at the top right of the dashboard.
 
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94JDH said:
The "Two on each inverter" was meant as a reference for whether you have a Gen2 or a gen3 inverter ( Gen1 also have two but you shouldn't be quoted the Gen1's now).
All Givenergy single phase inverters have two inputs for PV.
Also the 5.2kWh batteries have a depth of discharge of 80% of the capacity, so on the batteries you'll only see 8.32kWh max usage, with a 9.5kWh battery it's 100% depth of discharge.(Note: one 5.2kWh battery data sheet I've seen refers to 90% but it would still be better having a 9.5kWh battery.)
The charge and discharge rates are limited (reduced) on anything below 8.2kWh batteries and you won't see the maximum of 3.6kW/3.3kW the inverter can achieve.
I'm only an end user, with Givenergy equipment, so someone else hopefully will provide feedback on the Fox equipment.
Click to expand...
Thanks for clarifying the point on 2 inputs.

On your point about single 9.5kW battery being better than 2 x 5.4kW is it because the 9.5kW GivEnergy batteries have a better DOD than the 5.4kW batteries?

I understand that GivEnergy batteries typically have 20% more capacity than the label so the 5.4kW is infact 6.8kW which has DOD of 80% making it 5.1kW. Is this correct?
 
Any views on which is a better system GivEnergy or Fox ESS. I have heard that GivEnergy inverters are more user friendly and configurable although Fox ESS are better hardware. Any thoughts on whether I should choose a 6kW FoxESS vs 6kW GivEnergy inverter given my panel size of 7.7kW
 
Any views on which is a better system GivEnergy or Fox ESS. I have heard that GivEnergy inverters are more user friendly and configurable although Fox ESS are better hardware. Any thoughts on whether I should choose a 6kW FoxESS vs 5kW GivEnergy inverter given my panel size of 7.7kW and battery of 10.4kW
 
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ashna17mathur said:
My total annual consumption is 10kW
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In which case you likely want more storage, this obviously depends on where/when you consume most of your energy, but solar generates most in the hours when people are usually not in to use it, and it ends up getting exported. 10k kWh per year is nearly 28kWh per day (as an average) so 10kWh of storage isn't going to offer you what you need unless the usage is during the sunny hours.
 
ashna17mathur said:
Thanks for clarifying the point on 2 inputs.

On your point about single 9.5kW battery being better than 2 x 5.4kW is it because the 9.5kW GivEnergy batteries have a better DOD than the 5.4kW batteries?

I understand that GivEnergy batteries typically have 20% more capacity than the label so the 5.4kW is infact 6.8kW which has DOD of 80% making it 5.1kW. Is this correct?
Click to expand...
The 9.5kWh battery is 100% depth of discharge - it is effectively a bigger battery giving you the full 9.5kWh available. This isn't the case with the 5.2kWh batteries which is why they are listed as 80% depth of discharge.
 
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