Solar PV Hints, Tips & Troubleshooting

Bobeagleburger

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117941069#Comment_117941069

Cool, thanks.

FYI, I just checked the Solis Home app and seems to be working. Will use that until the Cloud app is back up to speed

randomname2005

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117940796#Comment_117940796

From PMs I know you don't work directly in the field, but from your PMs and comments you probably have seen and heard more that most of us!

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117940832#Comment_117940832

Thanks

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117940532#Comment_117940532

I think the cost of being able to vary the angle, either manually or mechanically, would outweigh any benefits. By using brackets like above and mounting them to the side of the house I would be able to get them facing due south. I would be thinking of angling them at 45 degrees to the ground so they would get the most sun.

Apologies for my photoshop skills, and the fact that this is the front of a house rather than the back of a semi detached house like I have, and scale of the panels is wrong, but wanted to put a picture out there.

It is very easy to find the 50%/12m2 planning guideline for panels on a roof, but I haven't been able to find any for walls. Is there, or where have I not looked yet?

KCross

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117944479#Comment_117944479

Apologies for my photoshop skills, and the fact that this is the front of a house rather than the back of a semi detached house like I have, and scale of the panels is wrong, but wanted to put a picture out there

I think the neighbours might have an issue if you put them up like your picture anyway! 🤣

randomname2005

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117944739#Comment_117944739

:) Hopefully at the back of the house they wouldn't really care too much.

Jonathan

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117944797#Comment_117944797

Why not put them on the roof?

randomname2005

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117944953#Comment_117944953

The idea is to have some on the roof, but because of roof size am limited to 7, maybe 8 depending on the dimensions of the panels. These would be an extra, producing more into the afternoon. Only if sensible costwise of course.

MAULBROOK

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117944479#Comment_117944479

If thats your house then forget it they will bring nothing but trouble from the neighbours and the council.

Out in the sticks this could work but not here.

Just go for the roof front and rear.

randomname2005

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117945018#Comment_117945018

Its not, it was just a random semi detached house in an estate that I found online to retain some semblance of anonymity online. Front roof would be next to useless given the angle of the house and neighbouring houses. Will stick with the 7 or 8 panels and diverter.

slave1

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117945018#Comment_117945018

I wouldn't be so quick to discount, it's not front elevation change, it's at the side, you should see what changes folk make around town with huge objections from neighbours and the council want to know nothing about it.

Done neatly I would have no issue, I mean we have to break some eggs somewhere along the line

randomname2005

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117945077#Comment_117945077

I probably should have posted a pic of the house first time around and said feck it to the anonymity.

Looking at PVGIS I would get about 600 units from the two panels each year (assuming 2x 375 panels = 750w). Not unreasonable, but perhaps not worth the hassle.

slave1

The number one single regret on virtually all installations (after having not getting it done sooner) is not putting in more panels upon initial installation, when you're doing it I'd just go ahead and do it max you can

bullit_dodger

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117945215#Comment_117945215

Can we make that a sticky ? :-)

bullit_dodger

But to the point on mounting panels on the side passageways of semi-detached houses, I've no experience here, but I think you could definitely get it to work. However, I suspect the trouble may not be worth the effort. Shading will be a lot in there and the very nature of the panels being effectively a "big sail" and decent amount of wind will put some forces on the brackets/mounting. Nothing of course that you couldn't deal with, but then there's the whole neighbours to deal with etc.

Perhaps an easier idea would be ground mount 4-5 panels next to the fence with the neighbor out the back. Ground mounting would also allow you to change the angle from say 20deg (winter) to 50deg (summer) and maximize your production.

Yeah, I know you'd have to give up a little bit of the garden, but you could build a little structure underneath which you could use for storage so not a complete waste of space. Rakes, brushes, etc might even be able to do it tastefully so that it looks the business rather than someone abandoned some panels there. :-)

mun1

I put 4 panels at 45 deg onto side of my shed, south facing. Works a treat . The complication was putting them onto a string which already had 8 panels @40 deg. Works out great in the end.

got solar panel brackets on amazon

randomname2005

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117945877#Comment_117945877

The garden is not a runner. It is quite small and we would have to go quite high to get any decent amount of sunlight on them. Maybe I can convince the other half we need a pitched pergola covered in panels to embrace outdoor living in the cold wet damp west of Ireland.

bullit_dodger

I obviously don't know your layout and what overhangs you have casting shadows etc, but you don't have to have sunlight on the panel 100% of the day for it to be worthwhile. Even a panel which produces early morning to say noon would be useful and payback over it's lifetime.

As for a base, your bog standard shed from Woodies would make an excellent mount for 2-3 panels. Might kill 2 birds with one stone? Always solutions to problems although some solutions you may not want to pay the price. E.g. while you might get the panels to work, if the back yard is tiny.....you may not want the little space you have taken up by a shed. :-)

randomname2005

You are all a bunch of enablers! All encouraging me to spend more and more on solar panels (which makes sense in the long run but which gets more and more expensive time I come into the thread)

We have a wooden shed, but I never considered the roof which faces 30 degrees west of north to be suitable for solar panels and electricity generation. If it was a brick shed with a solid roof I would consider it, but I don't think I would trust the felt roof and joints to hold, say, 4 panels and the wind lift that comes with it. Down the line if there are some funds available it might be reasonable to build a structure over the shed with panels, but that would be way down the line.

Time to put a stop to the schemes for the moment and just go with the roof surface, 8 panels most likely, a hybrid inverter (future proofing) and an immersion diverter. Possibly a battery if they can be got cheaply but that is unlikely for a while.

graememk

With 8 panels I'd stick with just a straight inverter, you can always sell the inverter in the future and buy a hybrid if you need a battery.

They are double the price of a normal inverter.

randomname2005

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117946205#Comment_117946205

Yikes. I didn't realise they were that much more. That adds a huge chunk to the battery payback times too.

SouthWesterly

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117946283#Comment_117946283

I found that out myself looking at midsummer.

I've 9 panels in 2 months and am already considering an upgrade. With a grant of 600e a battery is doable plus 300 for every extra KW of panels

randomname2005

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117946452#Comment_117946452

Nice if you have the roof space. Only slightly jealous

SouthWesterly

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117946624#Comment_117946624

I'm east west but I've also nearly 5 acres.... Please don't hate me🤣

seandugg

Here is a place in cork that has done it

randomname2005

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117947266#Comment_117947266

But they are mounted differently to what I wanted to do. Assuming that the wind blows mostly down or horizontal they wont be lifted off the brackets.

If you turn that do it is vertical then you have pretty much a sail for any wind, half the time trying to push the panel off the bracket.

Leaving out the shade and possibly issues with the neighbors!!

AndyBoBandy

Can someone advise if the below 2 scenarios are correct & doable with a SolarPV system + Battery & Eddi;

When production is high (Summer) and there is excess being generated - The Solar PV provides 100% of house load, then the excess goes to both the Eddi & the battery (or will it prioritise the Eddi first until a set temp is reached? and then send excess to the battery?). Then let's say I turn on the electric oven & boil the kettle, and the house demand suddenly spikes above what the Solar PV is producing, will it draw that power back from the battery before going to the grid (assuming the battery can cover the excess demand?). Likewise then when it gets dark, will it gradually draw available power back from the battery as the Solar production ramps down before going to the grid? (the hope being the battery gets you to at least 11pm when the night rate starts).

then..

When production is low (Winter) and there's no excess, and not even enough to cover house load - Can I then simply time the battery to fully charge at night rates, to then use it to supplement the reduced Solar PV for the following day? again hoping to make it back to 11pm on both Solar & Battery alone.

If it's doable, is it easy enough to tell the system what to do (scenario 1 or scenario 2)? I'll have a Solis inverter, and plan on having the MyEnergi Hub. Do I instruct the system what to do in the Inverter? Would it be at the unit itself, or can it be done via an app?

slave1

Inverters will feed battery before EDDI, they are all like this and you cannot change.

Yes on your kettle scenario but only to the max the Battery can provide e.g. a 2.4kWh Pylontech can produce 1.2kW instantaneously max (open to correction)

Yes on your Winter scenario, it's called peak shaving. You wont make it through the day in Winter on both PV and battery, PV gen in Winter is brutal. Peak shaving will need to be via the Inverter touch screen, no app to do that.

AndyBoBandy

Cheers for that.

The battery will be a Puredrive 5kWh, so not sure what it's max output rate will be, but guessing similar to the 1.2kW in the above example, but irregardless of what additional load is on the house, it will always take it's first ~1.2kW from battery first before taking from the grid. What sort of load is an oven pulling, or a kettle?

Think I worked out before the house uses an average of 7kWh per 24 hour period (when not charging the EV), so I'd hope a 5kWh battery would see me through most of the day bar any periods when demand exceeds battery output.

SD_DRACULA

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117954755#Comment_117954755

I got one of them batteries and yeah don't expect it to last the day if you have an electric cooker and oven, very rarely it lasted until the next day during the peak of summer but only because the sun was up for longer. And only 4.5kwh usable. Two of them might see you through the night.

slave1

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117954755#Comment_117954755

You can get a plug meter for around a tenner that will tell you your device draws, for me it was as follows

Dishwasher 1.7kW, peak 2.16kW

W Machine 1.3kW, peak 2.2kw

Your kettle will tell you it's draw e.g. 2kW kettle is.....2kW peak draw

bullit_dodger

+1

For those of you who want to know , these guys are cheap(ish) and cheerful to know what your using energy wise

Nevsetpo Power Meter UK Plug Power Monitor Watts Meter Electricity Usage Cost Meter Monitor Plug : Amazon.co.uk: DIY & Tools

Lots of similar makes, but all seem to use the same bits internally. Great way to help shave your usage. For example, I didn't realize that my home theater box which I left running 24x7 was consuming 50-60 watts when sitting idle. I also use it remotely when I'm abroad as a filestore so I need it on. Ok, 50 watts isn't massive like a washing machine, but being on all the time wasn't great. Scheduled task to shut off at 2am and then back on at 6pm and 2/3rd of it's usage stopped!

Can't improve it, if you can't measure it :-)