Solar panels and battery - any real world reccomendations?

Been really impressed with Spectra Solar tbh, they gave open and honest advice and didn't mither us one bit.
I was going to go with the first quote, then decided to ask them if they did the Tesla (after advice on here and the late quote from Effective Home coming in).
They probably thought I was another 'pain' customer, but they got the new quote out sharpish.

Would reccommend.
 
father-ted said:
Been really impressed with Spectra Solar tbh, they gave open and honest advice and didn't mither us one bit.
I was going to go with the first quote, then decided to ask them if they did the Tesla (after advice on here and the late quote from Effective Home coming in).
They probably thought I was another 'pain' customer, but they got the new quote out sharpish.

Would reccommend.
Click to expand...
They quoted me way over the odds for a 12 panel install. They wanted 8k without a battery included. Needless to say I didn't bother calling them back.
 
I paid £11581 for 15x430w panels, 5kw sunsynk inverter and 2x5kw batteries, but that was from myenergysolutions.
Then a few months later, £1400 for a third battery fitted by Spectra (saving £800 on the quote from myenergy for the same battery).

Before I had the 3rd battery fitted, I was also quoted in the 7500-8500 range to add 4x 500w panels, swap the inverter for an 8kw version and a third battery.

If I could do it all over again, I'd definitely go for the power wall instead, if only for the increased output.
 
Last edited:
Hi Hive mind help needed.

I have a roof w/ potential of 20 panels but 1 panel space gets 1/3-1/2 day soft shading from a TV ariel and 7 get some hard shading from chimneys (3 would clear the hard shading by 10am the other 4 by 11:30am ish thats in June)

I have quotes for 14-17x 440 (JA bi-facial solar) w/ a 5k Giv hybrid gen 3 inverter (17 panels eliminates the 1 soft a 1 hard 10 am shading) but the inverter:panel ratio is ~ 5kw:7.5kw on the 17 end. Given some shading and a 50 degree off south (UK) orientation how bad will my clipping be?

I was intending a Giv 9.5 battery, so as long as I don't use octopus intel flux, I believe that will absorb much of the excess over >5kw (assuming I force discharge each evening in the peak price period to have space each morning)

My alternative is a 6k fox inverter and batteries w/ up to the max 20 panels (8.8k) Will the inverter difference will be worth it at 17 panels? And if I go to 20 the extra shading (I was planning no optimisers - they seem a point of failure - hoping the bipass diodes would deal with the hard shading) may hurt the ROI.

I think I prefer the Giv app and octopus integration side but I'm not set in stone. I'm a bit worried about the clipping.

Prices on the two options are not miles apart ~11k.

(To to cover off: Demand is way under either panel option atm but a heat pump will come eventually so I'd prefer to have the spare (to net metre summer for winter not expecting it to run the HP off the panels!)
 
Alci said:
Hi Hive mind help needed.

I have a roof w/ potential of 20 panels but 1 panel space gets 1/3-1/2 day soft shading from a TV ariel and 7 get some hard shading from chimneys (3 would clear the hard shading by 10am the other 4 by 11:30am ish thats in June)

I have quotes for 14-17x 440 (JA bi-facial solar) w/ a 5k Giv hybrid gen 3 inverter (17 panels eliminates the 1 soft a 1 hard 10 am shading) but the inverter:panel ratio is ~ 5kw:7.5kw on the 17 end. Given some shading and a 50 degree off south (UK) orientation how bad will my clipping be?

I was intending a Giv 9.5 battery, so as long as I don't use octopus intel flux, I believe that will absorb much of the excess over >5kw (assuming I force discharge each evening in the peak price period to have space each morning)

My alternative is a 6k fox inverter and batteries w/ up to the max 20 panels (8.8k) Will the inverter difference will be worth it at 17 panels? And if I go to 20 the extra shading (I was planning no optimisers - they seem a point of failure - hoping the bipass diodes would deal with the hard shading) may hurt the ROI.

I think I prefer the Giv app and octopus integration side but I'm not set in stone. I'm a bit worried about the clipping.

Prices on the two options are not miles apart ~11k.

(To to cover off: Demand is way under either panel option atm but a heat pump will come eventually so I'd prefer to have the spare (to net metre summer for winter not expecting it to run the HP off the panels!)
Click to expand...

I would say a bigger inverter is worth it. I have 18x 440w panels in your approximate orientation facing South East and I have been well over 5kW for large parts of the day for 5 of the last 7 days. There isn't a big cost difference between 5 and 6kW inverters so I think that's a no-brainer personally.

I think I would personally fit optimisers in your situation - yes they are a point of failure but you should be covered by a warranty. Check with your installer but I'd not discount them on that basis. 8 Tigo optimisers will only cost you a few hundred quid and if you're getting shading in June you're probably going to be getting worse shading in winter so it might make it even more worthwhile?
 
father-ted said:
Solar PV System Size: - 9.68kW
Battery Storage Size: - 13.5kWh
Total price for installation: - £16,265.76

22 X Jinko Tiger Neo 440W N-Type All Black Mono Panels
Price includes all cable & electrical sundries
(25yr Product Warranty- 30yr Linear Power Warranty)
1 Emlite NET Gen meter
1 Tesla Powerwall 3 Inc Gateway
13.5kWh Battery Storage (100% Usable)
(NEW 2024)
(10yr Manufacturer warranty)
1 Renusol Roof Mounting Kit
1 Wi-Fi Dongle for Cloud Access/Mobile App
1 Consumer Unit + SPD
1 Bird Protection + Installation
1 5X Tigo Optimisers
1 Armoured Cable + Ducting
1 7kW MyEnergi Zappi Untethered Charger
1 Description of Services Qty Unit Price Total Price
Design, Installation & Setup
1 MCS Cert, DNO(G98/G99), Elec Cert (EIC), HIES Warranty IBG
1 Free Site Survey prior to Installation
1 Free Online Monitoring
1 24 Months defects “return to site” warranty
1 Goods & Services Sub Total: £15,285.76
Scaffolding: £980.00
VAT @ 0%: £0.00
Total: £16,265.76

They have told us that nobody has stock of the Powerwall3 at the moment, expected in the next couple of months - they could guarantee the Powerwall3 install for November latest (most probably a lot sooner).
I asked which they would advise, they said the Powerwall3 is the premium system, however paying extra for the name and extra functionality is a personal choice (so depends if we value that, which we do tbh).

Your thoughts please?
We can get the Sunsync fitted in a few weeks / or wait until the Powerwall3 is in stock? (could be Sept/Nov latest)
Click to expand...
Was just about to pay the deposit for this, but then at a family event was speaking to the wifes cousin (that we haven't seen for years), for him to tell us that he could fit the same for us through the company he works for, at near enough cost (they let them do this for family members).
Got 23 x panels, plus a Powerwall3, plus a 7kw EV Zappi charger - £12k all in (including scaffolding).
Couldn't say no to that.

Felt bad giving Spectra the back word, as they have been fantastic throughout (their quote was just over £16k, so a significant saving).
They understood our reasoning, no hassle at all from them - they even provided a bit more advice on what to look out for (with the letter applications etc).
Will definitely keep recommending them, we just fell very lucky with the wifes cousin.
 
DRZ said:
I would say a bigger inverter is worth it. I have 18x 440w panels in your approximate orientation facing South East and I have been well over 5kW for large parts of the day for 5 of the last 7 days. There isn't a big cost difference between 5 and 6kW inverters so I think that's a no-brainer personally.

I think I would personally fit optimisers in your situation - yes they are a point of failure but you should be covered by a warranty. Check with your installer but I'd not discount them on that basis. 8 Tigo optimisers will only cost you a few hundred quid and if you're getting shading in June you're probably going to be getting worse shading in winter so it might make it even more worthwhile?
Click to expand...

I'd been told that the wide hard shading (panels under chimney stacks) will activate the bypass diodes so an optimiser won't help much? But it would help on the soft shaded panel - but thats the one I could remove. (Anecdotally in addition to the install cost recovering the full cost of scaffolding if an optimiser fails appears difficult which rather put me off) Installer hasn't recommended them. But I can ask.

I did look at some solar edge options but with all panels opti the costs really added up.

the 5kw->6 forces an inverter and battery brand change and the fox warrantee is 5yrs not 12 at Giv. If I could just bump to 6 and change nothing else it would be an easy choice. I suppose I could reduce the panels a bit more then the Giv option gets me intel flux (export day/peak 20p/26.5p -v- flux 15p/22p) which is easily the best solar export rate. Potentially a better ROI.

Oh for simple choices.
 
Last edited:
Nothing is simple these days.

I'm in the process of expanding my Victron system, one of the benefits is you can have multiple small strings in parallel, so shading issues are further limited. But then you have other complications. It's always the way.
 
Personally I would max out the number of panels your roof can take to maximise the generation.

Giv Energy have their all in one battery if you want to stick with them. You can use any string inverter with that battery as it’s AC coupled rather than hybrid. I’ve got mine paired with an 8kw solis inverter.

Left field suggestion given you are going for a big system: Tesla power wall 3.
 
Last edited:
Alci said:
I'd been told that the wide hard shading (panels under chimney stacks) will activate the bypass diodes so an optimiser won't help much? But it would help on the soft shaded panel - but thats the one I could remove. (Anecdotally in addition to the install cost recovering the full cost of scaffolding if an optimiser fails appears difficult which rather put me off) Installer hasn't recommended them. But I can ask.

I did look at some solar edge options but with all panels opti the costs really added up.

the 5kw->6 forces an inverter and battery brand change and the fox warrantee is 5yrs not 12 at Giv. If I could just bump to 6 and change nothing else it would be an easy choice. I suppose I could reduce the panels a bit more then the Giv option gets me intel flux (export day/peak 20p/26.5p -v- flux 15p/22p) which is easily the best solar export rate. Potentially a better ROI.

Oh for simple choices.
Click to expand...
The Fox Inverters have a 10 year warranty when registered.

As you're looking at 8kW+ of panels, have you considered their KH8 inverter? It has three MPPTs so you could have the panels which might be shaded on their own MPPT and use the other two for those that won't?
 
b0rn2sk8 said:
Personally I would max out the number of panels your roof can take to maximise the generation.

Giv Energy have their all in one battery if you want to stick with them. You can use any string inverter with that battery as it’s AC coupled rather than hybrid. I’ve got mine paired with an 8kw solis inverter.

Left field suggestion given you are going for a big system: Tesla power wall 3.
Click to expand...
I thought about the same but the PW3 quote was c3k more.

And your setup works fine with intel flux etc? How does the solis + AIO inverter interact with the DNO limit? A quick google suggests the solis hardware is about £400 cheaper than the Giv hybrid. And Giv hybrid + 9.5 battery is about £1400 cheaper than the AIO. (+ additional for the gateway install)

I need to chat with my installer clearly!

@reef: three MPPTs might indeed minimise the shading issue as splitting them via 2 would have been circuitous [ed. although if 1 or more switch off due to heavy shading then the whole 'bad panel' string of 4 ish might drop below minimum voltages and shut down?]

Fox EP11 battery is 5yrs afaics with a +£200 charge for 10yr. Some of the smaller batteries are 10+ but they look more expensive in matched capacity. Doh.
 
Last edited:
Alci said:
And your setup works fine with intel flux etc? How does the solis + AIO inverter interact with the DNO limit? A quick google suggests the solis hardware is about £400 cheaper than the Giv hybrid. And Giv hybrid + 9.5 battery is about £1400 cheaper than the AIO. (+ additional for the gateway install)
Click to expand...

I don’t use intelligent flux, I’ve got an EV so use intelligent Go.

I think flux is marginally cheaper for the 3-4 peak summer months but I’m too lazy to change for what is only a few £ in reality. If I did a lot of miles over the summer months then IOG would be cheaper.

Ive got an 8kw export limit so I don’t really much constraints on the export side.

The solar inverter could have a grid monitoring CT and an export limit applied in the inverter settings. The battery has this built in directly. In theory one or both should back off if you are hitting your limit.

In practice it would be rare that you are generating significant solar at the same time as maxing battery exports.
 
Just had a SolarEdge system fitted. 12x 450w panels and a 10kW battery. Couldnt get any more on really, without putting them on the rear roof which is north west facing, which didnt really add up. South is pretty much where the first photo is taken from. Early days but seems to be making a good dent into our usage! We are above average electricity users but below average gas users thanks to the woodburners. Need to box the battery / inverter in on the corner of the patio, firstly for asthetics and secondly to keep the UV and heat off of them. Happy with the install, and the Solaskirt helps blend it to the roof IMO.

 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom