simple diy setup

User567363

if i buy a 350w panel, and 350w micro inverter, plug it in, point it at the sun, is that me now reducing my electricity bill?

graememk

Yep that's it

Fantana2

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058269553/simple-diy-setup

I’ve done exactly this, 400w panel and micro inverter into an out door socket on my shed. Also have it on smart plug to monitor the production. Instant base load covered during the day for very little money.

hick

Nice!

any kit recommendations that can be sourced locally, or is it a alibaba purchase.

going to use my 10x12 shed to do a small DIY panel install. Before jumping at at 20kW diy battery

Fantana2

I just rocked up at Kellihers electrical and bought a panel and micro inverter, after that it’s a a small amount of cabling and a plug. Got L brackets off Amazon as my shed is not long left for this world so probably drier now with the panel on than before.

maxpet

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119807527#Comment_119807527

Do you have to fill in an NC6 form to do this legally???

Fantana2

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119810713#Comment_119810713

Yes and with an electrician, and obviously back feeding into the socket wouldn’t be allowed. Plug and play solar seems more acceptable in mainland Europe.

Ubbquittious

I had a setup like this years but got rid of it. Don't know why its not more popular even 1 panel will knock about 100 quid off your bill throughout the year.

who what when

I have loads a space in the back garden in which i would like to put in a ground array of around 20 panels.

I'd like to do as much myself as possible. Would it be acceptable to set up everything, bring a cable back to the meter box and get an electrician to take it from there?

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119828512#Comment_119828512

Yes, as long as you stick to regulations a spark should be able to test and certify. Is10101 is what you need to follow. Finding a spark willing and available will be the issue.

slave1

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119828512#Comment_119828512

Best to do your research in advance and know exactly what you are intending to do before you bring a sparky around to your house, if you are clueless then if the sparky is any good he should refuse, at the end of the day he needs to sign off e.g. are you going to have your PV inverter next to the meter box?

who what when

From the bit of research I've done building a frame, mounting the panels, connecting the panels, bringing a duct back to the meter box is all quiet straightforward and I believe I'm more than capable. But that's a far as I can go. The rest I am clueless about and its exactly why i'd be hiring him. Surely its simple enough for them to check and test the panels are connected correctly. And the rest would be up to them.

Can you put the invertor outside?

Can you connect through the meter box?

Would adding future battery storage be possible if I go this route.

These are some of the things I'm not sure about.

Can you put the invertor outside?

Yes, you can get outdoor rated inverters.

Can you connect through the meter box?

No, AFAIK you must go to the consumer unit (fuseboard)

Would adding future battery storage be possible if I go this route.

Yes, again you can get outdoor rated battery storage.

paulbok

I've been musing on adding a single panel with a micro inverter to my setup, but can't find much info of how it would work in parallel with it.

Current setup, 18 panels, 6.9kWh on a 6kW hybrid inverter, and 4.8kwh battery,south facing.

How would, for example, a 400w panel on a micro inverter work along side that? It would be a cheap and quick addition and facing it east (only room on that side of the hipped roof for one such panel) would give the setup a kick start in the mornings, esp from March on. It would definitely cover the small gap in the summer mornings between the battery emptying and production meeting demand.

Baseload is about 350w so would it be safer to spec the panel lower than that or go as big as possible?

My main concerns are how the power from the micro inverter gets used if the main inverter is able to cover consumption, or is charging the battery/ zappi/ exporting? E.g. if the micro was producing 150w, the main system 3kWh and the house was consuming 1kWh, what goes where? Is the 150w "in the system" anyway and would the inverter know it only needs to supply 850w and divert/export the rest?

Also could add a second such panel on the west side of the roof, either on it's own micro panel or one that could handle 2 strings (if such a thing exists).

Would self install as far as the consumer box and get a suitable sparks to connect for me.

bullit_dodger

I've got a separate 6x panels plugged in on my shed. The answer is..... it depends.

I can tell you for me that the shed covers the base load before the original main installation on the roof. So if the house load is 1Kw, and the shed is doing 2Kw, then on my original installation, the house would appear as "0kw" as the shed covers it, and the extra 1kw that the shed produces gets exported. The original installation is unable to "see" the shed surplus, all it can put into the battery is what it has from it's own 12-14 panels.

It sounds like a drawback, but it's not so bad. If you can cover the base load of the house, then everything that the initial installation has PV wise can go into the battery.

You don't have to go into the consumer board, you could simply plug the micro-inverter into a 3pin socket. Personally I like to have a dedicated isolator switch, but that's not really necessary for 1 panel.

Big Lar

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119830416#Comment_119830416

I have inverter and batteries in the utility and I reckons this is the way to go:

Any heat loss from the inverter goes into the house.

The batteries say at a nice even temperature, reading from here and FB there seems to be issues in the cold weather with batteries refusing to work in the attic.

Big Lar

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120038038#Comment_120038038

Out of curiosity would it not be possible to add a 3Kw inverter in the shed and tie the two inverters together ?

graememk

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120038038#Comment_120038038

On solis hybrid inverters. It can see the export and charge batteries accordingly.

Eg. Hybrid inverter has 2kw of solar

House load 500w.

Second inverter output 2kw.

Batteries will be charging at 3.5kw.

paulbok

Thanks bullit_dodger and Graememk, it now looks like there isn't any reason to go ahead and do it so. My main concern that the secondary system could impact the running of the main one. Can get the biggest (wattage) panel so, have a Solid Hybrid inverter but if the excess was to get exported it would be ok.

It's as easy to go to the board as a 3 pin plug the way it's all situated. But will stick an Isolator on it. Will stick one on the east side so in spring, when I free up a bit of cash, and do the west side the following year, though it'll be relatively inexpensive.

bullit_dodger

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120038188#Comment_120038188

In theory, yes. However, the way that I did it was 2x1 panel micro-inverters, and 2x2 panel micro-inverter.

I originally had 2 panels and then added 2 more, and finally the last 2. With a string inverter, you start to run into issues about startup voltages with only 2 panels. String inverters has some advantages over micro-inverters if the number of panels is largish (10+) not least of which that its more cost effective, but lot to be said for a micro-inverter.

bullit_dodger

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120038355#Comment_120038355

Someone was selling a 4 panel hoymiles micro-inverter there recently on the forums, might still be for sale for you?