Solar PV battery options

graememk

SD_DRACULA wrote: »

Ok so the solis hybrid can do that then? That's pretty cool, I have all my network gear in the attic and wouldn't be a crazy idea to just wire that extension lead to it but only if safe to do so as Deagol mentioned (should be little power from virgin router/netgear switch/raspberry pi and camera DVR)

Mines a Sofar, but the solis has similar outputs.

That is what I actually have, to switch over my network stuff I unplug from the mains and plug into the backup. It's simple but it works.

Deagol

SD_DRACULA wrote: »

Ok so the solis hybrid can do that then? That's pretty cool, I have all my network gear in the attic and wouldn't be a crazy idea to just wire that extension lead to it but only if safe to do so as Deagol mentioned (should be little power from virgin router/netgear switch/raspberry pi and camera DVR)

You could use something like this I think to do it automatically: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Automatic-Transfer-Intelligent-Electronic-Circuit/dp/B07H7C1T4V/ref=asc_df_B07H7C1T4V/?tag=googshopuk-21&linkCode=df0&hvadid=256110712503&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=1283223417698007866&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=20475&hvtargid=pla-598209131648&psc=1

Just an educated guess but i think you could wire the output from the grid side of the inverter to this and offgrid supply to the other side of it and it should work in the event of a power outage.

championc

samdeluxjones wrote: »

True, the installer is me.

Well done. Like several others of us who have also gone that route, given that you go a sparks, you're obviously not in that trade. Hopefully you'll be able to join the encouragement chorus when others look for support when thinking about going the DIY route.

Were you not tempted to go the DIY Powerwall route ?

samdeluxjones

graememk wrote: »

The backup socket goes live when the grid goes down.

If that was simply wired back to the fuse box it would back feed into the grid. And could hurt/kill anyone working on the lines.

.

That's true, so a trailing socket for the minute and eventually a separate mini board for essentials.

You sure that ac backup is not live all the time, so a mini board would be live at all times and just cut from the grid when the power goes down?

Good day yesterday in the sunny south east.
I got 6kw panels and inverter & 9.6kw battery
Panels on top and battery below.

Inverter graph.jpg

graememk

samdeluxjones wrote: »

You sure that ac backup is not live all the time, so a mini board would be live at all times and just cut from the grid when the power goes down?

My batteries are connected to a Sofar me3000. I think the solis is the same,(totally open to correction here)

The EPS isn't live if the grid is live, when the grid goes down, it waits 5 seconds before turning on the eps supply. Mine is battery only, completely separate from the solar panels.

(Oh and anyone who has a fireman's switch in, that's run from the grid, so when the grid goes down, your panels are shut off too.)

samdeluxjones

Solis app.jpg

According to the screen and the app there seems to be power being sent to it even though is has no plug yet.

I'll will get the auto shutoff isolator between my fuse box and meter too to be doubly safe.

championc

samdeluxjones wrote: »

According to the screen and the app there seems to be power being sent to it even though is has no plug yet.

I'll will get the auto shutoff isolator between my fuse box and meter too to be doubly safe.

I don't quite understand what you mean - Have you got that connector connected to something ?

irishchris

championc wrote: »

I don't quite understand what you mean - Have you got that connector connected to something ?

I think he is mentioning that in the app it is still showing power going to backup but he has not wired it yet.
I notice similar on mine but put it down to an inaccurate working of house load by the Solis inverter

samdeluxjones

championc wrote: »

I don't quite understand what you mean - Have you got that connector connected to something ?

Just wired it today and it's showing permanent 220v, the other end is on a double trailing socket in the sitting room.

Sparks will put in a mini board next visit for essentials so no need for the trailing socket.

Deagol

irishchris wrote: »

I think he is mentioning that in the app it is still showing power going to backup but he has not wired it yet.
I notice similar on mine but put it down to an inaccurate working of house load by the Solis inverter

The app assigns any unallocated power to the backup. I assume you get unallocated power from the rounding and timing of the values from the system back to the server but not sure. Never seems to be more than a few tens of watts at most.

championc

samdeluxjones wrote: »

Just wired it today and it's showing permanent 220v, the other end is on a double trailing socket in the sitting room.

Sparks will put in a mini board next visit for essentials so no need for the trailing socket.

Interesting - so it's on irrespective of whether the inverter has grid or has lost grid ? That would make it worth considering for stuff like lighting and wifi kit and the main tv - just the essentials 😆

samdeluxjones

championc wrote: »

Interesting - so it's on irrespective of whether the inverter has grid or has lost grid ? That would make it worth considering for stuff like lighting and wifi kit and the main tv - just the essentials ��

Yup, handy yoke that.

Like having a massive UPS that powers the house basics.

sebdavis

To give you a laugh, seen online this morning:

Hi Guys
Exciting News.
New and Exclusive to ireland Solar Energy Ireland have introduced the brand NEW Squirl pods which instead of getting your electricity from the sun you can now produce your own electricity by charging your storage batteries from the grid in off peak hours where you will generate a lot more FREE Electricity than you would with PV Solar.
If interested in getting your hands on one of these AMAZING systems.
PM me for more details etc.

Asked the guy for pricing: €4200 for a 2.4kWh battery and you get 600 back :-) thats some f**king rip off

Deagol

sebdavis wrote: »

To give you a laugh, seen online this morning:

Hi Guys
Exciting News.
New and Exclusive to ireland Solar Energy Ireland have introduced the brand NEW Squirl pods which instead of getting your electricity from the sun you can now produce your own electricity by charging your storage batteries from the grid in off peak hours where you will generate a lot more FREE Electricity than you would with PV Solar.
If interested in getting your hands on one of these AMAZING systems.
PM me for more details etc.

Asked the guy for pricing: €4200 for a 2.4kWh battery and you get 600 back :-) thats some f**king rip off

I’d lol except they’ll probably sell a bunch to people who know no better.

sebdavis

Deagol wrote: »

I’d lol except they’ll probably sell a bunch to people who know no better.

Told him I wanted 20kWh system, what would you need that for was response muppets

I did just get the following clarification
"2.4kw is 2400kwh every year of electricity so depends what your spending on your bills at the moment"

graememk

sebdavis wrote: »

Told him I wanted 20kWh system, what would you need that for was response muppets

I did just get the following clarification
"2.4kw is 2400kwh every year of electricity so depends what your spending on your bills at the moment"

There's 1000 days in a year now? News to me!

There might be a case for it in GB, with octopus agile - at least this one comes with 2 pylontechs!

https://homeenergygroup.co.uk/product/lux-power-single-squirrel-pod-4-8kw-battery-storage-system/

My numbers from January, charging at night and discharging during the day, saved €14 euro. Taking charging/discharging losses into account.

And that's with a 10kwh battery.

samdeluxjones

So we had a planned power cut the other day.

I hooked up the comms cabinet to the a/c backup output on the inverter beforehand.

As the power was cut the comms cabinet never skipped a beat, Vodafone modem, 24port poe switch, internet radio, 8 cameras, sonos connect, nvr, naz drive & niles zone amp all drew average of 100 watts straight from the panels for 3 hours.

Line to the grid was cut so we were completely off grid for the 3 hours.

Grid .jpeg

SD_DRACULA

samdeluxjones wrote: »

So we had a planned power cut the other day.

I hooked up the comms cabinet to the a/c backup output on the inverter beforehand.

As the power was cut the comms cabinet never skipped a beat, Vodafone modem, 24port poe switch, internet radio, 8 cameras, sonos connect, nvr, naz drive & niles zone amp all drew average of 100 watts straight from the panels for 3 hours.

Line to the grid was cut so we were completely off grid for the 3 hours.

Grid .jpeg

Interesting, I'm getting a Solis Hybrid installed tomorrow and wondering about how it's wired in.

- Is the inverter wired a certain way in relation to the grid?
- How did you wire the AC backup did you just wire a socket at the end of it and then plugged in an extension lead with all the gear?
- When the grid is live does it draw power from the grid or always from the inverter/battery if wired this way?

samdeluxjones

SD_DRACULA wrote: »

Interesting, I'm getting a Solis Hybrid installed tomorrow and wondering about how it's wired in.

- Is the inverter wired a certain way in relation to the grid?
- How did you wire the AC backup did you just wire a socket at the end of it and then plugged in an extension lead with all the gear?
- When the grid is live does it draw power from the grid or always from the inverter/battery if wired this way?

a/c out wired direct to the board.

I already had a gang plank to the comms cabinet so just stipped the plug and joined it with 2.4sq flex to ac backup in a junction box.

That's a good question. In theory it should use the grid when it is there but because it's a backup probably not.
I'll find out next week when I put more stuff on it, few lights and sockets in living area.

SD_DRACULA

Had a quick chat with the installer and he said that yeah if connected to AC backup it will always use PV/battery power and then move to grid if those two are out (i.e. it will use the battery at night - but so what the whole house will anyway?)
Would be nice if there was some setting you can set on the inverter to make it grid always and then PV/battery when grid is down

samdeluxjones

SD_DRACULA wrote: »

Had a quick chat with the installer and he said that yeah if connected to AC backup it will always use PV/battery power and then move to grid if those two are out (i.e. it will use the battery at night - but so what the whole house will anyway?)
Would be nice if there was some setting you can set on the inverter to make it grid always and then PV/battery when grid is down

Yea we need custom firmware with all the missing settings.

At least in the morning when the battery is gone and the sun not up the backup will keep up the power..

irishchris

samdeluxjones wrote: »

So we had a planned power cut the other day.

I hooked up the comms cabinet to the a/c backup output on the inverter beforehand.

As the power was cut the comms cabinet never skipped a beat, Vodafone modem, 24port poe switch, internet radio, 8 cameras, sonos connect, nvr, naz drive & niles zone amp all drew average of 100 watts straight from the panels for 3 hours.

Line to the grid was cut so we were completely off grid for the 3 hours.

Grid .jpeg

Interesting I thought the AC backup would only use the battery, didn't realise it would continue to use the pv panel power too?

DrPhilG

OK it's 11pm and I'm not about to head up into the attic, but with regards to connections for my pending DIY battery, I wonder how much of the stuff I need is already there. Presumably since it's connecting in the same way, the same switches, isolators etc should already be there?

Anyway, still a few weeks to wait for the batteries and then I'll need to find time to do the work, so I'll get my ass up there this weekend and examine the current setup.

Ubbquittious

samdeluxjones wrote: »

So we had a planned power cut the other day.

I hooked up the comms cabinet to the a/c backup output on the inverter beforehand.

As the power was cut the comms cabinet never skipped a beat, Vodafone modem, 24port poe switch, internet radio, 8 cameras, sonos connect, nvr, naz drive & niles zone amp all drew average of 100 watts straight from the panels for 3 hours.

Line to the grid was cut so we were completely off grid for the 3 hours.

Grid .jpeg

NVR?


What voltage goes into the PoE switch? You could nearly run all that stuff off DC permanently if you had the right setup, no need for inverter

samdeluxjones

Ubbquittious wrote: »

NVR?


What voltage goes into the PoE switch? You could nearly run all that stuff off DC permanently if you had the right setup, no need for inverter

Network video recorder same as DVR but for network cameras.

Switch is 12v and each poe is 8v, I only have 3 cameras direct and few poe wifi access points so not as much as I thought.

Yea in the states you can but DC appliances now that bypass the inverter that wastes a huge amount of energy/power.

Mine runs worryingly hot sometimes, measured 85 degrees Celsius first day I had it running thought the thing was gonna blow.

SD_DRACULA

Was wondering about the heat of the inverter in the attic in the summer.
For my other network gear that's in there I MacGyvered a wooden frame and slapped 6 120mm fans on it which keeps everything cool, surely the same can be applied to the inverter.

ciotog

Ubbquittious wrote: »

NVR?


What voltage goes into the PoE switch? You could nearly run all that stuff off DC permanently if you had the right setup, no need for inverter

What would you use to move towards that setup? I'm looking to use PoE wherever possible these days but also look at various bits like the Huawei 4g modem/router and other kit where it would be nice to skip out DC -> AC -> wall wart DC conversion

championc

DrPhilG wrote: »

OK it's 11pm and I'm not about to head up into the attic, but with regards to connections for my pending DIY battery, I wonder how much of the stuff I need is already there. Presumably since it's connecting in the same way, the same switches, isolators etc should already be there?

Anyway, still a few weeks to wait for the batteries and then I'll need to find time to do the work, so I'll get my ass up there this weekend and examine the current setup.

Have yours not landed in Poland yet ? Check the tracking number on the UPS website

Ubbquittious

ciotog wrote: »

What would you use to move towards that setup? I'm looking to use PoE wherever possible these days but also look at various bits like the Huawei 4g modem/router and other kit where it would be nice to skip out DC -> AC -> wall wart DC conversion

A separate panel for all those & perhaps for 12V lighting, Ideal diode board & DIN rail 12v supply. Am not too terrible far off it, have the hardest part done (built a working charge controller). Twould let me get rid of a fairly inefficient UPS and a whole load of those sh1tty Chinese "wall wart" power supplies


It is a nuisance that most PoE switch needs quite a high DC voltage input. I'm not using PoE at the minute but do have a few things that support it maybe I should get a PoE switch first and design around that, though even with 40V panels it will probably need a boost converter to run

DrPhilG

championc wrote: »

Have yours not landed in Poland yet ? Check the tracking number on the UPS website

Not yet. They said 6 to 9 weeks for arrival in Poland and I purchased on March 8th so technically it could be May 10th before they hit Poland.