Solar PV Hints, Tips & Troubleshooting

gomamochi1

DrPhilG wrote: »

Thanks @garo

I might have a lead on a second hand Eddi from the UK so if I can get that cheap I might go for it.

We don't burn much oil at the minute and we both actually had to use the electric shower this morning as there was no hot water.

I'll keep an eye out for a second hand battery too. Also a friend of mine who built his own self storage system from Leaf cells is considering adding more, I reckon I could get about 8kWh of cells running for the same price as an extra 2.4kWh of pylontech.

Eddi well worth it as it works well in conjunction with the hub and app and zappi for when u get it sorted.. mine had a clamp on the wrong way and no clamp on the pv but once we sorted that bit works a treat. Not getting anything like your generation though lot less panels and only west facing at the minute. Hoping to put up 10 easy facing though lot if shading due to trees etc
... living on the side of a mountain doesn't help!

gomamochi1

DrPhilG wrote: »

I tell a lie, no change is not correct.

No change in the Zappi, yes. Still blanks.



But the myenergi app has now copped on to the production.



Not 100% matching the Solis app but the myenergi updates far more often so I can understand a bit of a discrepancy.

Hi Phil how did you get the battery charge status on the app ? Thanks

DrPhilG

gomamochi1 wrote: »

Hi Phil how did you get the battery charge status on the app ? Thanks

On the Solis app?

championc

cubatahavana wrote: »

Buying a new build with solar panels (5) without battery. Do they usually come with a way to know how much energy you harvest or would this be a non included add on?
Would a battery be worth it? Wife mainly working from home but not me.

Make sure they are installed in one corner to allow you to add a bunch more panels later. Even better to get the roof hooks installed too under the tiles / slates. You can add the rails later

daughy

I have the idea in the future to add 8,12 volt, 200 amp hour agms, to make 48 volt, 400 amp hour. Battery bank for the 5kw hybrid Solis,
My only issue with this is, I will have 5.25kw of panels, the inverter can charge the bank at 62.5amps, 3000 watts..
Has anyone tried this with a large solar array, does the inverter limit the charge to 3000 watts.
I was hoping to add a separate off grid array of 2kw with a charge controller to charge the 48 volt 400amp, will this be possible or would the batteries over heat.

gomamochi1

DrPhilG wrote: »

On the Solis app?

yes on the solis app though mine doesnot show the battery status only the solar gain and grid in/ out. It shows on the front screeen of the inverter in the garage all right. is there some setting I am missing? Thanks

DrPhilG

gomamochi1 wrote: »

yes on the solis app though mine doesnot show the battery status only the solar gain and grid in/ out. It shows on the front screeen of the inverter in the garage all right. is there some setting I am missing? Thanks

Dunno, installer set it all up so I don't know why you don't have it.

daughy

So after some googling, the charge rate for an agm should be 30%.
Then another site says 20% of the capacity.
If the Solis hybrid charges at 62.5 amps,
And a 2kw array at 48 volts battery charging it should be 41 amps, if I'm going with a 400 amp capacity, it should be 30% of 400..which is 120 amps. So should be fine. If these details are wrong can someone let me know

championc

gomamochi1 wrote: »

yes on the solis app though mine doesnot show the battery status only the solar gain and grid in/ out. It shows on the front screeen of the inverter in the garage all right. is there some setting I am missing? Thanks

You need to go into the Intro tab > Other Info, and then change the On-grid Type to Storage System

gomamochi1

gomamochi1 wrote: »

yes on the solis app though mine doesnot show the battery status only the solar gain and grid in/ out. It shows on the front screeen of the inverter in the garage all right. is there some setting I am missing? Thanks

See screen shot of solis app. Is yours the same or does it show battery status also?

championc

daughy wrote: »

So after some googling, the charge rate for an agm should be 30%.
Then another site says 20% of the capacity.
If the Solis hybrid charges at 62.5 amps,
And a 2kw array at 48 volts battery charging it should be 41 amps, if I'm going with a 400 amp capacity, it should be 30% of 400..which is 120 amps. So should be fine. If these details are wrong can someone let me know

Have you checked if the Solis Hybrid actually supports the connection of Lead-Acid's ?

daughy

championc wrote: »

Have you checked if the Solis Hybrid actually supports the connection of Lead-Acid's ?

Yep it does, it has a manual configuration for voltages etc. I was hoping to charge a 48 volt 400 amp fairly quickly.

daughy

championc wrote: »

You need to go into the Intro tab > Other Info, and then change the On-grid Type to Storage System

I didn't know myself about this, it's actually handy if a fit comes in as the app has a fit rate and will calculate it.
Not bad.

unkel

daughy wrote: »

I was hoping to charge a 48 volt 400 amp fairly quickly.

You can. That's close to 20kWh, so even at just the 20% you mention, that's 4kW charging / discharging (80A). More than your inverter can handle (3kW / 60A), so fine.

Where are you sourcing the AGMs and how much are you planning to pay for them? You do realise that they will need to be fully charged at least once a week?

I charge them properly (specific gravity 1.28) once a month. Works grand.
Nothing but MorningStar that I've tried will do this.

So yeah...once a week for the rest of yas.

idc

Electric ireland had post on Facebook about their solar pv system and someone asked about micro generation scheme the answer was to fill out this form

https://www.electricireland.ie/microgen

To get a smart meter in advance of scheme starting

Alkers

idc wrote: »

Electric ireland had post on Facebook about their solar pv system and someone asked about micro generation scheme the answer was to fill out this form

https://www.electricireland.ie/microgen

To get a smart meter in advance of scheme starting

Only if they are your provider I think

idc

Alkers wrote: »

Only if they are your provider I think

I guess its similar to when you ask for day/night meter. You apply to your provider and they contact esb networks.

daughy

unkel wrote: »

You can. That's close to 20kWh, so even at just the 20% you mention, that's 4kW charging / discharging (80A). More than your inverter can handle (3kW / 60A), so fine.

Where are you sourcing the AGMs and how much are you planning to pay for them? You do realise that they will need to be fully charged at least once a week?

Its just a future idea for now, unfortunately the max the Solis hybrid on ac backup can discharge is 3kw, so I'm.guessing il use the batteries for night time running of the house, I have been taking notes of my electric meter and on average I use between 5 or 8kwh from approx 7pm till 7am,i honestly don't know what the hell is using all that power, i will have the Eddie installed on Thursday so il be able to use the app to track the house consumption to give a better estimate.. My electric main board is pretty full so I was unable to connect the cat 6 cable to the smart meter and inverter, in the future when I add an ac disconnect/extra loads/essential panel I will install it. For now il be fine with myenergi app..
I'l try Europe for the batteries, if not ireland. Ireland is a pretty expensive place.

unkel

You don't want energy from your batteries to power your house after night rate hours!


Championc has explained why not on this forum in recent days, have a look for his posts

daughy

championc wrote: »

So it's important that anyone with batteries ensures that you really do not discharge battery stored power during night rate hours, if you want to maximize your savings

Champion did say not to discharge on a night rate,
I myself dont have a night rate meter so it a 24/7, 1 rate tariff.
If i have 5.25kw array feeding the house during the day, and charging a 400 amp hour battery, with a 2.1kw off grid array charging the batteries also it should charge up the battery quickly depending on weather of course. I`m only going to use approx 5kwh from a usable 9.6kwh battery bank, Compared to a higher usage of the battery bank during the day, My solar can handle to house loads during the day.
Are the other guys sure there inverters can handle the required load of cookers, electric showers, Heat Pumps if they have them, Storage heaters,
Electric hot water immersions, TV`s, all the amps add up?
Dont kill your batteries during the day with them high loads.

If i was to recharge the battery bank the previous day it would be 5.25+2.1=7.35KW
Obviously the array wont get 7.35KW of power, but if it got 5KW at least it would charge the bank in 1 hour?

graememk

If you have solar, you should have night rate, even more so if you have batteries!

And if you have batteries, yes use them instead of expensive day rates.

daughy

graememk wrote: »

If you have solar, you should have night rate, even more so if you have batteries!

And if you have batteries, yes use them instead of expensive day rates.

I understand where your coming from, but if i can charge a battery bank before nightfall, power the house for virtually nothing during the day, use the bank at night and not get charged, why would i pay extra for a day rate and more for having a night rate meter?

daughy

Ok, for instance, one of the guys posted here that they had a 7kw byd battery, Your electric cooker alone has 4 rings, some are 1.5kw, some are 2kw, your cooking your dinner, the oven is on, 2kw. The large ring is on for spuds, the smaller ring is on for veg.. 1.5+2+2=5.5kwh gone from the battery in an hour. 5.5-7= 1.5KWh left.. is that your 20% DOD left?
You have a combi boiler? You want to put on the kettle? heat the immersion? Dry clothes in a dryer?
This is for people who are at home during the day, and there are alot at home all day long.

Your not doing much more for the day, the night rate doesn`t kick in till approx 11pm? till 8am?
Your back to 18 cent a KW and the extra to rent that night rate meter
Supplement that power with solar alone and your doing fine.

i`m not forgetting your solar will supplement the battery during the day, but it`s alot of pulling and pushing of power

championc

I certainly tried to say that you should not waste day generated power to replace night rate power. However, if people don't use night rate, then it doesn't apply.

It seems the maths are key here. My current hope is to run on Solar and Battery until midnight. I feel my night usage is low, at around 250w per hour, so that's about 2.5kw per night and add about another 2.5kw in battery charging.

My own electricity contract is coming up for renewal, so I need to look carefully at a low unit rate with high standing charge vs the opposite, being very mindful of low summer months vs high winter months

daughy

It`s an intersting topic to discuss, We need to discuss it if where going to achieve a break away from the fat cat energy companies.
The ultimately still have us by the short and curlies here in ireland.
In america they have a system called Net Metering, you have the option of taking the lower fit rate, or banking your KW hours sent back to the grid.
This needs to come here as i`m sick of being taken for a ride.
This would eliminate the need for a battery as if you over produce you get to use it in the evening.

graememk

championc wrote: »

My own electricity contract is coming up for renewal, so I need to look carefully at a low unit rate with high standing charge vs the opposite, being very mindful of low summer months vs high winter months

Knowing your usage will be very important working that one out. Might be time to break out a spreadsheet!

We're currently on energia, and with the EV we are definitely using enough to make up for the higher standing charge. We shall see whos the cheapest next year when we switch

championc

If anyone is interested in following @daughy idea and are interested in buying 8 x 12v Yuasa SWF2500EFR's, then send me a PM

I'll sell a full set, including bus bars, and 48v balancers

garo

Are you changing to LiFePO4 championc? Or going battery-less?

I think there are a few things you can conclude safely:
1. If you have an EV, a night rate is a no-brainer.
2. If you don’t have a night rate doesn’t matter whether your batteries filled with solar are discharged in the evening or at night.
3. For those with a night rate, it probably doesn’t make sense to discharge the battery during the night rate hours. 12-9 during IST and 11-8 from Sunday on. Some inverters can handle this, some can’t. But it’s much of a muchness. Needs too much micromanaging because what if you leave the battery partially charged only for the next day to be fine and you fill your battery up in the morning and export for free later in the day.
4. For those with LiFePO4 batteries, it probably doesn’t make financial sense to charge at night rate in the winter to discharge during the day. The battery has a finite number of cycles (6k-10k) so every unit from the battery is costing you 5-10c if you take losses into account.

unkel

garo wrote: »

4. For those with LiFePO4 batteries, it probably doesn’t make financial sense to charge at night rate in the winter to discharge during the day.

Eh yes it does! It makes as much money (roughly) to charge at night from night rate as it does during the day from PV. The latter makes sweet feck all for many months in winter. See my rough sums I did the other day

garo wrote: »

The battery has a finite number of cycles (6k-10k)

Not true, the number of cycles is pretty much infinite, but the capacity goes down with the number of cycles (and with how the battery was cycled). The lifetime of other components, like a fancy very expensive hybrid inverter (€1500 or so retail incl VAT), is finite. I wouldn't presume it lasts much longer than 10 years. So budget a replacement of the inverter during the life of your batteries.

garo wrote: »

so every unit from the battery is costing you 5-10c if you take losses into account.

That's a bit of a jump. What the payback time is of a battery system is hard to calculate and it depends on a lot of assumptions and constraints. The first of course is how much did you pay for the bloody battery in the first place