Solar for Dummies.

yknaa

Hello all, Has anyone experienced an issue with water temp with the Eddi. I'm getting' max temp reached' on the app but no hot water. The system was installed a few months ago and was working fine up to today. The ole 'turn off/on again' didn't work its magic. I guess it might be an issue with the thermostat on the cylinder but before calling a electrician I was wondering if it happened to others and of there was a quick solution. Thanks for any help.

big_show

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122133040#Comment_122133040

check the top of the immersion element that's sticking out the tank, there should be a button you can press. press it. eddi can trigger the max temp on those elements and you need to press the button to reset it.

raspberrypi67

whats a kind of a ball park cost for an install with say 12 panels. No batteries here. I'd be getting a new water tank. I still have an old copper one…

yknaa

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122133276#Comment_122133276

Thanks a lot- will give it a go. One last thing, should I cut the power in the house before resetting? Thanks again

idc

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122133301#Comment_122133301

Take a look at the quotes thread for better info

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058329045/domestic-solar-pv-quotes-2024-no-pm-requests-see-mod-note-post-1

Also this is Solar PV so doesn't matter what water tank you have! Heating water from PV is just a side effect of having excess and using an immersion.

big_show

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122133437#Comment_122133437

There should be no taking off of safety covers. the button should be visible and should give a click when pressed.

graememk

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122133864#Comment_122133864

I have immersions where its under a cover.

slave1

It's the temp stat that is being "reset", this is under the metal "cup" that covers the immersion, usually with a small nut to undo

bunderoon

This might sound like a silly question, but is there any impact to an array of panels that is generating DC, but where its not connected to an inverter? Say the DC switch has been opened, separating the live PV DC feed into the inverter.

10-10-20

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122149562#Comment_122149562

No, solar is self-limiting in that respect and the panels just don't generate when there is no load.

ColemanY2K

I've the maximum allowed under the ESB rules i.e. 25amp export (5kW hybrid inverter).

Is it possible to add more panels but have them solely feed batteries which could then be used in the evening to feed the house? The thinking is that when the batteries are full the array would shutdown.

I'd like my current setup to continue exporting the maximum possible while at the same time the new setup would charge the batteries for the night. Have my cake as such.

10-10-20

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122152631#Comment_122152631

Yes, for sure. It's a DC coupled system and you would use an MPPT to charge the batteries while leaving the inverter to perform the AC coupling. Here's an example product:

https://www.victronenergy.com/solar-charge-controllers/smartsolar-mppt-ve.can

How both devices would manage the charging of the battery cells between them is another issue though, you might need to research on similar integrations - or maybe it's plug-and-play, I'm not sure.

mjatkey

Guys, looking at the below based on the data in our HDF file, is there anyway I can see what the addition of a 6.96KW panels and 10.4KW battey system that is being installed next week will make to the figures.

What I’m looking for is some sort of pointer to which would be the best TOU deal to sign upto, I’m assuming one that has maybe a small EV window (to make sure batteries are always full first thing in morning) is the right sort of direction, its just some of the high peak rates that scare me.

Currently we are with EI on 22% 24hr rate works out at 25cent ex vat.

Thanks

DC999

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122160876#Comment_122160876

What I did was run everything at 2am. Then I downloaded the HDF file after maybe 2 weeks and imported into enerypal.ie. It confirmed what I expected. Then I moved provider. In our case the Energia Smart Drive (2-6am cheap rate) was the best. No peak rate on that one.

I'd suggest take a little time. There's a learning curve with solar. And you'll get FIT on units you don't use. So there is less rush to change.

mjatkey

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122162116#Comment_122162116

Perfect, yeah thats what I figured, one thing though that I'm again not sure about, does your supplier have to give you FIT even if you aren't on a TOU tarrif (we have the smart meter)? Thanks

DC999

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122162232#Comment_122162232

Yes re "does your supplier have to give you FIT even if you aren't on a TOU tarrif [but are on a smart meter]"

ColemanY2K

I just had a zappi installed. I have a harvi with the CT around the main incoming feed. It is reporting double the generating figure that is being reported by my Solis inverter.

Any idea why the myenergi device is doing this?

Also the myenergi app isn't showing any export even though the house is only using a few hundred watts at most.

A snip from shelly showing there is in fact export occurring...

slave1

Can you take a photo of the CT setup from the Zappi screen

ColemanY2K

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122164636#Comment_122164636

Is this what you are looking for?

slave1

Yeah, you have the Grid clamped, not your PV generation so that CT1 needs to be changed to GRID

slave1

If you want to see your PV generation (no real need, the Zappi will work fine by tracking export if you want to divert) then you will need to add a CT clamp to the live wire cable feeding from your inverter to CU

ColemanY2K

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122164820#Comment_122164820

Thanks Slave1

I'll make the change after lunch and report back 👍

Edit...change made. It doesn't show what the house is consuming. I thought it would. Do I need additional CTs and relocate Harvi to the distribution board?

slave1

Sometimes the ME app does not see house load, could be all is working correctly and you are exporting 2.2kW to the Grid right now.

A kettle is always a good test and it's quite a while since I had just one CT clamp in place so maybe that's all you're going to see, just either import or export

graememk

Yeah for it to see the house load it needs a CT on the solar too.

ColemanY2K

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122165159#Comment_122165159

Thanks Graeme

So I moved Harvi inside to the distribution box and clamped the CT to the garage where the inverter is. This is now showing generation and house. A second CT is connecting the zappi to the meter cabinet, this is showing export.

Unfortunately only the export figure is correct. Harvi is still saying I'm generating double what I really am generating and I know this from the inverter.

It seems there could be a fault with Harvi or it's set up incorrectly which is causing it to near double up the generation figures for some odd reason.

slave1

Show us the Zappi CT config menu again

graememk

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122165540#Comment_122165540

You are using the CT that came with the harvi/zappi? A different CT could have a different ratio.

ColemanY2K

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122166268#Comment_122166268

Interestingly this morning at 5:42am the zappi screen didn't show any import...

ColemanY2K

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122166509#Comment_122166509

Myenergi don't provide a CT with the Harvi so I bought a 100A CT from Amazon. Spec below...

Another issue I've since encountered relates to the app. It's been frozen since 3pm yesterday. I've deleted and reloaded the app, removed the zappi and reconnected it but to no avail. Every time I open the app I see the same screen.

allinthehead

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122168035#Comment_122168035

Whenever that happens to me, turning power to Zappi off solves it.

Do you know the current ratio on your ct clamp? Needs to match the original Myenergi.