Random Renewables Thread

DC999

@the_amazing_raisin, 1st of welcome to the club :)

Second, you can get the bill down to practically zero for many months of the year. But it goes up and down. In Aug I bought about €10 quid of units and that includes the EV (bar cooking which is gas). Was a freak of a blue-sky month though to be fair. But then my Dec+Jan bill was €450 (excluding the Gov credit). Largest bill ever of course. I’m okay with that as was house electricity, EV and (most of our) heating. from electric rads.

With deemed export, if you don’t export you’re quids in. Zappi is your battery / friend for that, and house battery will help when it comes down the line. Set the Zappi to Eco++ so it only charges when there is X% of solar excess available. You decide what X% is. That won’t affect any recurring charging schedules in the app. 

the_amazing_raisin

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120275841#Comment_120275841

Thanks @DC999, glad to finally be a member 😁

The Zappi was doing awesome work a short while ago, putting 2.7kW into the car and keeping the export close to zero

It had to shut down a while ago as a big grey cloud rolled over and put me down to a measly 200W 😭

Still, it's covering the base load so I shouldn't complain.

I'll be referring to those clouds as bastard clouds from now on 🤣

unkel

So today was your first day with your PV system? Enjoy 😁

DC999

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120275923#Comment_120275923

Zappi is a class piece of kit on how quickly it responds and drops the charge to the car.

You can set the time it waits to have some excess available before it charges. Default is 30seconds I think. And same for how long it waits before it rechecks. Someone here said they lowered it to 'reduce wear on the contacts' - not really sure what the impact of that is. I guess it could cause issues to start and stop a charge every 30secs if there are clouds, sun, clouds.... But don't tweak that for at least a few weeks until you're happy it's working away good-o.

con747

A full year since the install today and the lads connected my extra 4 panels and put in the change over switch taking out the fireman switches so I can run the panels in a power cut. I generated 3451kWh with 5 east 345w panels and 7 south 345w panels and only used 156 units for the full 12 months due to the backwards spinning meter.

I have 4 new 345w panels now on the west so that's the roof maxed out and is enough for what I use to do me. Total now of 5.5kWp of panels and 10kWh batteries on a 5kW inverter.

paulbok

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120275784#Comment_120275784

"Ask yourself, is it windy sunny out?"

I usually put on the washing machine first when there is enough surplus production to run it, then the dishwasher. That allows me to maximize drying time on the clothes line.

It take a while to get used to managing your production, and as it changes up and down during the course of the year, use priorities will change as well. Then throw in the often unpredictable nature in Ireland of that yellow thingy in the sky, and the best laid plans of mice and men etc. Reducing usage and making the most of production will become an obsession now for you.

Ginger83

The installers came back today to fit the remaining panels on the back. Delighted with the quality of the work and looking forward to getting it connected now.

I wonder should I run a cable to the inverter for broadband as wifi can be poor?

20230222_170807.jpg

The devils

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120276859#Comment_120276859

Yes I would or if you have a socket nearby, use a ethernet tp link 😉

unkel

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120276859#Comment_120276859

Would they not have put up a few more panels while they were up there? You are going to regret that!

Ginger83

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120277378#Comment_120277378

Had originally been quoted for 15 panels and stretched it to 20 so it's 8kw. That's not to say that you are not correct. You've a very valid point but budget is at the limit unfortunately. I could probably get 3 more but unsure about shadowing from the chimney.

unkel

8kwp is a fine system anyway. And you're right if there was to be any shadowing, there's no point putting panels there as you'd make things more complicated and expensive with micro inverters, optimizers, stay well clear!

But if you're any way like me, or plenty of other people like me that I know, that free space will start to annoy you in years to come. It's an addiction this 😁

slave1

Free space = micro inverter

the_amazing_raisin

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120276628#Comment_120276628

Yeah we're having a lot of fun today trying to get the self consumption levels up

I queued up the appliances to run one after the other this morning. Dryer first since it only seems to use around 700W max (heat pump FTW)

So far I've run the dryer and heated the water both free of charge. Washing and dishes are running now almost free of charge, a cloud rolled over at an unfortunate moment

Unfortunately I ballsed up and didn't turn off the night boost on the Zappi (actually I did, but it didn't sync) so the car is fully charged now

Been exporting 4kW into the grid for the past hour and nothing I can use as a diverter 🤦‍♂️

Gotta get on that battery before I die of stress 🤣

silver_sky

Has anyone here using Solcast started to get random emails from Chinese Solar PV manufacturers?

Solcast was recently sold and these spam emails started to come in just afterwards, so I'm wondering if they're related.

Jonathan

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120279051#Comment_120279051

Got a few solcast emails about the purchase/merger, but no spam from manufacturers.

Jonathan

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120278807#Comment_120278807

Welcome to the club. Either hook up your HP to consume surplus like @buzz11, or get an oil radiator to use the surplus.

unkel

Installed the Solis 4G 6kW inverter that I bought last night for €200 😁

Finally split my house string in two. It had 5 * 290W panel and 5 * 355W panel all in one string, effectively meaning that I lost about 335W as the more powerful panels only ran the same current as the less powerful panels. So I gained 335wp for free. Nice.

Also extend my back wall string and install one more 380W panel in it. Then pickup and install the Sunsynk 8.8kW inverter. Then the only big job left is the 12 panels on my north facing roof, that would bring me to 16kwp (44 panels), 19.4kW inverter power and 45kWh storage (plus 40 thermal tubes). That's me maxed out then!

And I'm not counting a flexible 50W panel that I have on a micro inverter west facing vertically 😂

ELM327

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120279347#Comment_120279347

So are you planning to AC couple the existing setup to the Sunsynk, or would you be replacing?

I'm a big fan of AC coupling, and of separating charge controllers and batteries from the inverter/s leaving them to do their best inverting without losing efficiency trying to do several things. That link shared here about the off grid guy in canada really had a good setup in that regard.

If you can go direct from panels to charge controller to battery, you don't suffer the DC to AC to DC to AC loss, same for running a string inverter that is not operating as a hybrid, it doesnt have to watch for demand changes, just generates AC from DC as needed. (or sends to the battery)

I think your setup - or what I managed to see of it anyway - is a good few stages ahead of mine so you're doing very well indeed. Whenever we are forced onto smart meters, you'll do well from actual FIT. I just ticked over 1mWh of generation and exported 60kWh total to the grid.

slave1

That's super self consumption rate, ironically the higher your generation the lower your self consumption rate will be (but absolute consumption will be better)

unkel

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120279808#Comment_120279808

I don't really care about conversion losses. The hybrid inverter and battery are in my shed / garden room / office anyway which has no heating installed in it. The losses all go to heat, which is welcome there for most of the year. Also there are fewer losses using a hybrid inverter than an AC coupled inverter plus conventional inverter. The most efficient setup is charge controllers and then separate inverters and ideally direct DC loads, as used by people in campervans, boats, etc. Although it's much of a muchness! Just go big and not worry about losing 10% here or there 😁

Picking up my new Sunsynk 8.8kW tomorrow, so I've just put up my 3 month old Sunsynk 5.5kW on adverts and linked to it in the for sale / wanted thread.

ELM327

@unkel Nice! Where did you get the 8kw sunsynk? I like the ease of paralleling they offer over the solis hybrids, not to mention the proper 100A charge and discharge. If I can find a retailer for another 5kW I might be interested in taking your one too. I'd prefer 2 parallel 5.5kW with 4 strings as opposed to one large 8kW with 2 strings.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120279923#Comment_120279923

Yes that crossed my mind, the export will indeed go up as a percentage, simply because I'll run out of places to put the power. I think it's 1800kWh per annum on deemed export so once I export less than that in 12 months I'm happy.

Down the line, we'll be changed to smart meters anyway (current plan is a new set of RM107 smart meters configured for MCC02 use). If that ever happens I'll be exporting as much as possible and make money from it before going off grid. Gas thing is, I'll probably make a profit from being connected to the grid this year. Between CEG/FIT and the government credits, it would have cost me money to remove the ESBn connection.

Before I get fully off grid, my aim is to build a system across various aspects that can export a constant 3-4kW all day most of the year - once I'm not on deemed export. Until that happens my aim is to minimise exports completely as it costs me money to export.

unkel

I'm not quite sure where or how my mate found them. But it took months. And they weren't cheap either. And you know how to find me if you want to buy it. I'll do you a good deal for Sunsynk + Fluence Z.E. that I still haven't put up for sale yet 🙄 😁

the_amazing_raisin

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120280945#Comment_120280945

The TCO on that Fluence is probably zero, I suspect it'll be you getting the good deal 😉

the_amazing_raisin

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120279051#Comment_120279051

I think after I asked some questions to Seplos I started getting emails from random battery manufacturers. Data protection literally doesn't exist over there, you give your email to one company and it immediately gets shared to 10 others

unkel

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120281116#Comment_120281116

The total cost of ownership of all the EVs I have owned over the last 6 years is probably zero. Including two Tesla Model S 😁

Don't let my great deals get in the way of you getting a good deal off me 😉

the_amazing_raisin

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120279923#Comment_120279923

Yeah I'm sickened by it, didn't even manage to self consume 50% today and exported 11kWh 😭

Did all the laundry, dishes, hot water and cooking for free though 😁

At one point I was sending 4kW to the grid and probably powering the whole street 🤦‍♂️

unkel

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120281157#Comment_120281157

Ah don't worry about it, you're doing all you can. And remember it's only a matter of time before you will get paid for every unit you export!

the_amazing_raisin

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120281182#Comment_120281182

True, the annoying part is that the electricity company is selling those kWh I export to the neighbours at probably a 15-20c markup. For doing literally nothing!

I'd run a few extension leads but I'd probably get busted by the taxman for running an unlicensed business 😬

silver_sky

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120281135#Comment_120281135

Interesting as one of my Solis tickets has been assigned to the China team - that could be it otherwise.

unkel

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120281362#Comment_120281362

One of the regulars on here lets his neighbour - a single mother - charge her electric car for free on his drive when he is exporting otherwise :-)