Solar panels and battery - any real world reccomendations?

Doobedoo · 14 Jun 2022 at 10:33

Is it or is it just down to supply and demand?

SDK^ · 14 Jun 2022 at 11:49

SBo said:
@LordVader Imo that is about £2k over par.

Doobedoo said:
Is it or is it just down to supply and demand?

^ This - Demand is massive right now, so prices are going up (and kit is hard to buy)

LordVader · 14 Jun 2022 at 12:08

SBo said:
@LordVader Imo that is about £2k over par.

I have east, south and west roof arrays and the east and west do a good job, you get a nice full day of production.

Also get a bigger inverter if you can. You can always throttle them back if you’re not allowed to export more than 3.6kw and they cost almost the same.

What is the advantage of having a bigger inverter if you can't export more than 3.6kw?

Still learning all this PV/battery stuff

Journey · 14 Jun 2022 at 12:10

LordVader said:
What is the advantage of having a bigger inverter if you can't export more than 3.6kw?

Still learning all this PV/battery stuff

Because you can export 3.6kW, and use the excess in your home or store it in the battery that is being bought.

SDK^ · 14 Jun 2022 at 13:18

Just a shame no where has any panels in stock

Troop · 14 Jun 2022 at 16:51

Update on my DIY system.

New 7.2Kw battery added.

Batteries cover most use from 4.30am - 00.30am (20 hours)
rest of the time it's cheap rate @5p per unit

imgur.com

Discover the magic of the internet at Imgur, a community powered entertainment destination. Lift your spirits with funny jokes, trending memes, entertaining gifs, inspiring stories, viral videos, and so much more from users.

imgur.com

For the next battery.

imgur.com

Discover the magic of the internet at Imgur, a community powered entertainment destination. Lift your spirits with funny jokes, trending memes, entertaining gifs, inspiring stories, viral videos, and so much more from users.

imgur.com

My electricity use/cost for the last 31 days
Hot water at the cheap rate is 2kw a day of the total use.

imgur.com

Discover the magic of the internet at Imgur, a community powered entertainment destination. Lift your spirits with funny jokes, trending memes, entertaining gifs, inspiring stories, viral videos, and so much more from users.

imgur.com

Ron-ski · 14 Jun 2022 at 17:32

@Troop Nice, what's charging the battery? I'm considering doing my own 16S battery.

Troop · 14 Jun 2022 at 17:45

Ron-ski said:
@Troop Nice, what's charging the battery? I'm considering doing my own 16S battery.

4 panels in the garden, if you look at my post history I posted a pic of it in one of the threads on here not long ago.

Plus a charger all wired in to use in the winter months to run at the cheap rate.

gpuerrilla · 14 Jun 2022 at 17:50

Those tariff prices are awesome.

Troop · 14 Jun 2022 at 17:58

gpuerrilla said:
Those tariff prices are awesome.

Octopus GO tariff, runs out end of September I will be gutted.

@Ron-ski

Found the pic.

imgur.com

Discover the magic of the internet at Imgur, a community powered entertainment destination. Lift your spirits with funny jokes, trending memes, entertaining gifs, inspiring stories, viral videos, and so much more from users.

imgur.com

SBo · 14 Jun 2022 at 18:06

LordVader said:
What is the advantage of having a bigger inverter if you can't export more than 3.6kw?

Still learning all this PV/battery stuff

What @Journey said plus hopefully your DNO won’t limit you.
If you are getting a hybrid inverter then the battery charge is at least in addition to the 3.6kw which is the max it will feed to AC so house/external battery charger/grid (and will be on a 16a breaker in the consumer unit rather than a 32a for a 5k or 6k inverter).

Journey · 14 Jun 2022 at 18:08

Troop said:
Found the pic.

It is truly ridiculous to think that a lot of people assume you need a massive solar array to make a big difference to your bill. Small amount of panels, well positioned, with a battery will cover most of the needs of the average household.

I am producing so much excess its silly, but I am using the SEG returns to offset the upcoming winter prices, I've even been charging the car with all of the extra generation.

SBo · 14 Jun 2022 at 18:08

SDK^ said:
^ This - Demand is massive right now, so prices are going up (and kit is hard to buy)

I don’t dispute that, but I had quotes of £10k - £14k for the same system, there is a lot of variance between installers.

Doobedoo · 14 Jun 2022 at 18:15

SBo said:
I don’t dispute that, but I had quotes of £10k - £14k for the same system, there is a lot of variance between installers.

Isn’t that always the way. Some trim to the bone, some allow contingency, some just want to make more.

LordVader · 14 Jun 2022 at 19:15

Another quote come back, this time from a big national, GlowGreensolar if anyone has any experience with them?

Q Cells 395W Mono Q Peak Duo ML G9 Black Frame MC4 solar panel 20
Solis Energy Storage 6kW Hybrid inverter 1
Emlite Hybrid Only Bi-directional Meter ECA2 1
Label sheet 1
DC cable warning sticker sheet 1
Solis Wif Stick DLS-W 1
AC isolator - KN 32A 3-pole 2
PureDrive PureStorage 2 10kw
DC isolator - KG20-4 2
Pair of MC4 connectors 4
50m reel of 4mm2 solar cable 1

This comes in at £13,577.48

teknokid · 14 Jun 2022 at 19:39

LordVader said:
Another quote come back, this time from a big national, GlowGreensolar if anyone has any experience with them?

Q Cells 395W Mono Q Peak Duo ML G9 Black Frame MC4 solar panel 20
Solis Energy Storage 6kW Hybrid inverter 1
Emlite Hybrid Only Bi-directional Meter ECA2 1
Label sheet 1
DC cable warning sticker sheet 1
Solis Wif Stick DLS-W 1
AC isolator - KN 32A 3-pole 2
PureDrive PureStorage 2 10kw
DC isolator - KG20-4 2
Pair of MC4 connectors 4
50m reel of 4mm2 solar cable 1

This comes in at £13,577.48

Have a read of their trustpilot before proceeding. They were the cheapest that quoted me but their trustpilot put me off..

Ron-ski · 14 Jun 2022 at 19:43

Troop said:
Found the pic.

imgur.com

Discover the magic of the internet at Imgur, a community powered entertainment destination. Lift your spirits with funny jokes, trending memes, entertaining gifs, inspiring stories, viral videos, and so much more from users.

imgur.com

I remember it now, nice setup, and great tariff.

SBo · 14 Jun 2022 at 21:48

I excluded GlowGreen as I couldn’t get comfortable with the PureDrive battery. PureDrive are a startup and there were no online reviews. Maybe someone on here can comment. As the largest single expense and the part most likely to degrade and fail I wanted a track record. They have copied the Tesla styling (nothing wrong with that) and appear to do an AC and a more conventional DC coupled option. Good to support UK business of course.

teknokid · 14 Jun 2022 at 22:05

To those with solar - are there winter days where you produce 0kwh? What would a typical winter day look like in terms of kWh production?

Nemiyen · 14 Jun 2022 at 22:16

Troop said:
Update on my DIY system.

New 7.2Kw battery added.

Batteries cover most use from 4.30am - 00.30am (20 hours)
rest of the time it's cheap rate @5p per unit

imgur.com

Discover the magic of the internet at Imgur, a community powered entertainment destination. Lift your spirits with funny jokes, trending memes, entertaining gifs, inspiring stories, viral videos, and so much more from users.

imgur.com

For the next battery.

imgur.com

Discover the magic of the internet at Imgur, a community powered entertainment destination. Lift your spirits with funny jokes, trending memes, entertaining gifs, inspiring stories, viral videos, and so much more from users.

imgur.com

My electricity use/cost for the last 31 days
Hot water at the cheap rate is 2kw a day of the total use.

imgur.com

Discover the magic of the internet at Imgur, a community powered entertainment destination. Lift your spirits with funny jokes, trending memes, entertaining gifs, inspiring stories, viral videos, and so much more from users.

imgur.com

That looks pretty good, do you have any details on the batteries and how you sort them out? Is it one of those LiFePO4 battery setups?