Solar panels and battery - any real world reccomendations?

I was thinking 10k would be a figure I'd like to aim for. We're high electricity users (wife loves to turn on EVERYTHING, I have lots of homelab gear (NAS(x2), Servers, NVR etc). Looks to be 600 kWh per month on average, but no EV.
 
Ron-ski said:
Are you adding these panels to an existing string?

Have you got T class fuses on your batteries?
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All on their own string to its own Victron CC to the busbar.

Bussmann fuses on the positive out of the batteries.

I also fuse (bussmann) at the panels on each string, as I see it as safer than having the fuses in the building. Not convenient for most people but with a ground mounted system its easy and very safe.
 
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Troop said:
Bussmann fuses on the positive out of the batteries.
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Just watch the DC AIC rating, you need a nice high rating for LifePo4 batteries, especially when you have multiple batteries in parallel.

Bussmann is a manufacture, so apart from saying quality it says nothing about the fuse type - T Class have an DC AIC rating of 20,000 amps

I've seen the make of panel around but not used them.
 
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The JK inverter BMS, very nice.

Not sure which way you're connecting up the new panels, but if 4S then the voltage is too high for the 150/45, and if 2S2P then you will need to watch voltage drop depending on the length of cable to the array.

I need to pick up a either a 150/35 or more likely a 150/45 and a 250/85 soon for my additional panels.

Pictures will be interesting, did you go with a pre-made DIY case?
 
@Ron-ski

2S2P for the 4 panels, have to do it that way due to shading.

Pre-made DIY case, bought one to see the quality , not due to arrive until Aug 10th, but it arrived in 3 weeks from china.

This Case.

www.aliexpress.com

JK Active balance Smart BMS Battery energy storage system DIY KIT Battery Box/case Eve CATL 270Ah 280Ah 304Ah 310Ah 3220AH

Smarter Shopping, Better Living! Aliexpress.com
www.aliexpress.com www.aliexpress.com


Pre fit test pic, there is a 4.3inch display under the BMS.

hn5stmXl.jpg
 
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Ron-ski said:
Looks nice, if I was doing mine again I would go down the pre-made DIY case route.
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The Pre made DIY kits were not an option/available when we built our systems unfortunately.

Case is really well made, very solid and heavy.
Makes a vary compact battery.

It has one issue though, feet/wheels way to close together, makes it unstable, it will need either fixing or a chain to a wall.

The 150/45 can be had now for a very good price compared to what it used to cost.
 
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ChrisD. said:
This was the system.

IMG-9707.jpg


Whether that’s what they actually paid or not I don’t know. They have a similar sized roof to us.
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Thats proper taking the proverbial.

The power wall alone is only £5,800 with the gateway.

Unless it’s a complex install with the battery being remove from the gateway, it’s a one man job to fit in less than a day. There is at most £300-400 of sundry items needed to fit it, the most expensive being the 2 lots of 25mm tails. £9k to supply and fit is a joke.

The worst part is Tesla just released the powerwall 3 for the same price and you’d literally delete all that solar edge kit from the bill as it’s now got an 11kw 3MPPT hybrid inverter built in.

Sure you might want optimisers if you have shading issues but you can get those for less than what solar edge want.

Don’t get me wrong, solar edge is nice kit but it’s really expensive and I see loads of installs where it’s used but just isn’t needed as there is no shading issues.
 
b0rn2sk8 said:
Don’t get me wrong, solar edge is nice kit but it’s really expensive and I see loads of installs where it’s used but just isn’t needed as there is no shading issues.
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I can't imagine them having any shading issues, it's clear line of sight from our rooftops to the sky.
 
ChrisD. said:
I can't imagine them having any shading issues, it's clear line of sight from our rooftops to the sky.
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Solar edge is adding little value then other than to the cost of the install.

Its core feature is that each panel is individually optimised but if there is no shading, it doesn’t really add anything. It will give you panel by panel stats but even a nerd like me isn’t really going to be looking at it after the first 3 months.

A basic solis string inverter would do the exact same job at a fraction of the cost, particularly when you are not using the solar edge batter and are using an AC coupled system like the power wall.

The panels they used as well are low end for 2024 as well. Standard panels are now 430w/440w.
 
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@chrisd to add to the above.

The system I had fitted at the start of the year was:
23 430w panels across east and west roofs (2x scaffolding),
8kw Solis string inverter,
GivEnergy 13.5kwh batter plus gateway (similar capability and wholesale price to an Tesla Powerwall)
Bird blocking (big margins on this, the kit costs peanuts but they bend you over as adding after the fact costs a fortune due to scaffolding costs)

The price was £6k less than the above and some people thought that was at the upper end price wise. Swapping out the Solis inverter for SolarEdge doesn’t add £6k, perhaps £1k of hardware to the job, fitting is negligible.

The 430w panels on my system will be generating circa 6% more energy.

Edit: I could have had a Tesla powerwall for an extra £400.
 
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ChrisD. said:
I can't imagine them having any shading issues, it's clear line of sight from our rooftops to the sky.
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Yep, another case of a company basically having no morals and extracting money form someone who lives in a nice house, and trusts what they are being sold. It's no wonder solar gets a bad name with regards to investment vs production.
 
Journey said:
Yep, another case of a company basically having no morals and extracting money form someone who lives in a nice house, and trusts what they are being sold. It's no wonder solar gets a bad name with regards to investment vs production.
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I agree, one of my work colleagues paid 30k for a solar edge system with 22 panels and 2 x 10 kWh batteries........ :rolleyes:
 
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