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Solar PV Hints, Tips & Troubleshooting

DrPhilG

Well I've reached the point of driving everyone nuts on the PV quotes thread, and since I now have my system installed and running my endless questions no longer belong there.

So I figured I'd ask here, and also provide a home for others in the same boat, with general questions and advice on managing post-install.

My first question (of many) is how do people best manage their production in order to reduce grid export? Despite being overcast and miserable a fair bit of the day, I've produced 24kWh so far today, but ended up exporting 11.

Not too bad when we're home, as the wife did a few loads of washing and drying, put on the dishwasher etc.

But we're both at work tomorrow so other than a timed or remotely activated washer/dryer run we would end up exporting a lot more.

Extra battery capacity or a water diverter would help, but they don't tend to justify their costs in the long term.

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daughy

So I got the Eddie installed today, I have the app up and running, I also got the electrician to install the Solis hybrid grid monitoring hardware.
Very satisfying to actually see my grid use now.
Setting up the Eddie was straight forward apart from the supply grid device limit,I have a dual element in the tank, so I'm guessing it's approx 2kw for the large element and 1kw for the smaller element, it's a sink and bath setup. I have it set to bath to use the larger element. I installed a 13amp fused spur, I have the supply grid device limit set to 13amps in the Eddie, but
13 amps x 230 volts is 2.99kw..
The element in guessing is approx 2kw..?
Also the supply grid, grid limit i am unsure about.
I won't ever be using the grid unless my gas fire fails.
I am just unsure how many amps to set this at..
It says in the manual if you have a 65amp board, set the Eddie to 60 amps if your house will mostly consume 12kw with electric showers, cookers etc.. I'll give a screenshot of the manual..
Also my daily grid on the Solis app is showing 241kwh.. No idea why that's showing that amount.. Any suggestions are welcome guys.

daughy

Also, I have this yellow arrow in the menus for the house, grid etc.. The myenergi app is way off its figures at times, only using 100 watts in the house when the Solis says 1.7kw etc..

[Deleted User]

I think the grid limit is a minimum spill threshold +50W > 100W thereabouts ensures that any hysteresis cycling doesn't come from import.
That's how the immersun was setup I haven't looked at the Eddi further than the pricetag.

daughy

Apologies, I set the device grid limit to 8amps as 2000 Watts divided by 230 volts is 8.6amps,
I'm just hoping if I have let's say 3kw off solar power being produced, and the house is using let's say 100 Watts, it'll just send 2kw off excess to the element and 900 watts to the grid. Hope that makes sense

[Deleted User]

I dunno Daughy, I'd haveta RTFM. I'd set it to the minimun under the assumption to maximise self-consumption and minimise export. Answer's probably in the manual, I'm just guessing based on a similar product of yester-year.

garo

No the device limit is not to control cycling. It literally decides what is the max the Eddi will draw. Most dual immersions are 2+3kW so setting it to 13A is the right value. You can set it to a slightly higher value if you want because the draw will be the lower of this limit and what your immersion can draw.

Supply Grid Limit is to prevent the Eddi from accidentally tripping your house MCB. Most houses with normal supply have a 63A MCB so set it to 63A. It ensures that the Eddi will never be the one to push the house current draw over the limit.

But as you said, since you won't be drawing from the grid very often that value is irrelevant as long as it is not insanely low like 10A.

MAULBROOK

daughy wrote: »

So I got the Eddie installed today, I have the app up and running, I also got the electrician to install the Solis hybrid grid monitoring hardware.
Very satisfying to actually see my grid use now.

The Solis app has been acting up over the last few days.
Looks ok today so disregard the last few days.

daughy

Thanks maulbrook, Liam and garo. I appreciate your replies.

slave1

I've had the Myenergi App up and running a few days now, it appears very close to meter readings on grid consumption.
My actual meter readings midnight to midnight have been 37,37 and 39 units and the Myenergi App has read 37.4, 37.6 and 39.7.
I have a digital meter so can't record the decimal places which puts an element of uncertainty into things but if I assume a decimal place of 0.6, 0.0 and 0.4 the the Myenrgi App is accurate by a daily average of 99.6%, 98.5% and 97.5% or an average taking the three days together of 98.5%.
Bottom line is I'm happy the MyEnergi App is giving dependable Grid usage which is good to know.

unkel

There's probably rounding and also digital meters are known to be off timing wise in some cases. I think mine is 5-10 minutes late. Which is ridiculous of course for a digital watch. Combination of both of these might well explain (most of) the difference between the measurements

KCross

slave1 wrote: »

I've had the Myenergi App up and running a few days now, it appears very close to meter readings on grid consumption.
My actual meter readings midnight to midnight have been 37,37 and 39 units and the Myenergi App has read 37.4, 37.6 and 39.7.
I have a digital meter so can't record the decimal places which puts an element of uncertainty into things but if I assume a decimal place of 0.6, 0.0 and 0.4 the the Myenrgi App is accurate by a daily average of 99.6%, 98.5% and 97.5% or an average taking the three days together of 98.5%.
Bottom line is I'm happy the MyEnergi App is giving dependable Grid usage which is good to know.

I find it reasonably accurate also. Certainly accurate enough for what it is meant to be used for which is monitoring, not billing.

daughy

I'm not sure if you guys know about the extra monitoring software from myenergi, it's on the myenergi website. Just need to register your account details with them. So I just seen a Graph of my usage for overnight and its alot better than the myenergi app. Much more detailed Graphs

graememk

daughy wrote: »

I'm not sure if you guys know about the extra monitoring software from myenergi, it's on the myenergi website. Just need to register your account details with them. So I just seen a Graph of my usage for overnight and its alot better than the myenergi app. Much more detailed Graphs

Is that a heat pump clicking on and off?

slave1

Must try that out, my night rate is heavy loaded, storage heater, immersion, washing machine and dishwasher, usually 30kW at night rate and that’s excluding two EVs that haven’t been home charged in weeks due to lockdown.

daughy

slave1 wrote: »

Must try that out, my night rate is heavy loaded, storage heater, immersion, washing machine and dishwasher, usually 30kW at night rate and that’s excluding two EVs that haven’t been home charged in weeks due to lockdown.

I have two fridges running, so I'm guessing it's the compressors.
Has to be with the continuous spikes.
My immersion is set to come on with the gas fire at 4am till 5am so it's not that.
I'm impressed with the myenergi data logging software.
But honestly I could go grey shortly seeing how much grid use my family uses

irishchris

daughy wrote: »

I'm not sure if you guys know about the extra monitoring software from myenergi, it's on the myenergi website. Just need to register your account details with them. So I just seen a Graph of my usage for overnight and its alot better than the myenergi app. Much more detailed Graphs

Don't think it is the fridges going to that kind of spikes as they are extremely high unless you have a woefully inefficient fridge. I have a full size fridge freezer and a standalone chest freezer running here and only ever spikes to 0.3kw at night. Could there be a water pressure pump or something else kicking in?

daughy

irishchris wrote: »

Don't think it is the fridges going to that kind of spikes as they are extremely high unless you have a woefully inefficient fridge. I have a full size fridge freezer and a standalone chest freezer running here and only ever spikes to 0.3kw at night. Could there be a water pressure pump or something else kicking in?

I have tenants that rent a flat from me, I can't distinguish what's going on in they're place. But you right. This could be a space heater? As I see it's up and down constantly, the space heater heats up, then cools.. And continues..
Looks to me like it's on for hours. The ratings are too high for fridges..

championc

You possibly need to connect that to a timer where you have a one hour boost mode, and then disable any other options, so that it cannot ever operate 24 x 7

Either than or start investing in some serious insulation

daughy

championc wrote: »

You possibly need to connect that to a timer where you have a one hour boost mode, and then disable any other options, so that it cannot ever operate 24 x 7

Either than or start investing in some serious insulation

I'm just guessing as to what it is.
I'm assuming my tenants have a space heater on, they're insulation is 50mm thick. So it's well insulated. It I don't think it's a slow cooker as there vegetarians and they have a gas cooker. The only high appliance they have is a space heater and an electric shower.. I doubt it's a tumble dryer? They have the key for the shed for the tumble dryer but that would be a constant load in assuming.

daughy

So just reading up on space heaters,
A little bit dangerous

The biggest threat associated with space heaters is fire. In fact, each year space heaters are responsible for about 55,000 fires, 450 deaths, and more than 1,500 injuries.Feb 18, 2016

graememk

daughy wrote: »

So just reading up on space heaters,
A little bit dangerous
The biggest threat associated with space heaters is fire. In fact, each year space heaters are responsible for about 55,000 fires, 450 deaths, and more than 1,500 injuries.Feb 18, 2016

Could just be an electric oil radiator

daughy

graememk wrote: »

Could just be an electric oil radiator

Your spot on graememk.
The space between the spikes in the graph is 20 to 25 minutes apart

championc

daughy wrote: »

I'm not sure if it's available but does the Solis app have the option to calculate your imported value for the day, week, month, etc..
If I use 11kwh from the grid in a day at let's say 23 cent, it would be 11x.23= 2.53 cent for the day. Something like that

Only non-hybrid inverters are showing monetary values in the app

It may be that, going forward, you should consider installing a separate meter for the flat, and make Tennant's responsible for bills. There nothing to stop a tennant bringing in a crypto mining rig if all their power is "free" !!!

unkel

championc wrote: »

you should consider installing a separate meter for the flat, and make Tennant's responsible for bills. There nothing to stop a tennant bringing in a crypto mining rig if all their power is "free" !!!

Or 6

daughy

championc wrote: »

Only non-hybrid inverters are showing monetary values in the app

It may be that, going forward, you should consider installing a separate meter for the flat, and make Tennant's responsible for bills. There nothing to stop a tennant bringing in a crypto mining rig if all their power is "free" !!!

Hi champion, I have a meter coin box installed in the flat, it has its own digital meter and you set the payment plan up.
Thank you for the heads up though, I figured out the hybrid inverter grid monitoring graph at the bottom of the app, I'll just multiply the overall monthly grid numbers with the cost of lecky.

irishchris

Looking at self install ground mount planned for early spring. What are the requirements for work to be done. Is it ok for self install and get electrician to sign off and do the final ac connect to consumer unit. Are there any forms to be done legally for such an install?
I'm assuming a fireman switch is a legal requirement in order to automatically cut DC power in event of a power outage?
I know it's a lot of questions so thanks for bearing with me :-)

championc

irishchris wrote: »

Looking at self install ground mount planned for early spring. What are the requirements for work to be done. Is it ok for self install and get electrician to sign off and do the final ac connect to consumer unit. Are there any forms to be done legally for such an install?
I'm assuming a fireman switch is a legal requirement in order to automatically cut DC power in event of a power outage?
I know it's a lot of questions so thanks for bearing with me :-)

The only requirement is for an NC6 form to be sent to ESB Networks BEFORE you begin installation. That form needs the name of "A" sparks, but once you get the approval to commence, away you go.

The inverter must be compliant in the Irish market (EN50438IE certified) which ensures it doesn't back feed on grid loss. There is no sparks signoff of any kind after completion, nor are there any specific requirements relating to switches, breakers and cutoffs.

But common sense should prevail. You should have a DC disconnect and an AC Disconnect on either side of the inverter. DC stuff is different to AC stuff. You should also have an RCBO terminating the AC onto the board. And finally, ensure the cabling is thick enough, and DC cable is required for the panels side

irishchris

championc wrote: »

The only requirement is for an NC6 form to be sent to ESB Networks BEFORE you begin installation. That form needs the name of "A" sparks, but once you get the approval to commence, away you go.

The inverter must be compliant in the Irish market (EN50438IE certified) which ensures it doesn't back feed on grid loss. There is no sparks signoff of any kind after completion, nor are there any specific requirements relating to switches, breakers and cutoffs.

But common sense should prevail. You should have a DC disconnect and an AC Disconnect on either side of the inverter. DC stuff is different to AC stuff. You should also have an RCBO terminating the AC onto the board. And finally, ensure the cabling is thick enough, and DC cable is required for the panels side

Excellent thanks very much champion, exactly the info I needed. Running 3kw underground from panels to inverter through a solid ducting on 4mm DC, I assume that is correct thickness?
So a DC disconnect inside on DC side and AC disconnect inside on ac side would be sufficient. I assumed a fireman switch would be necessary to disconnect should there be a loss. The inverter from what i understand from your post will actually detect AC loss and disconnect? For inverter thinking of going with Solis mini 4g 3kw inverter

championc

irishchris wrote: »

Excellent thanks very much champion, exactly the info I needed. Running 3kw underground from panels to inverter through a solid ducting on 4mm DC, I assume that is correct thickness?
So a DC disconnect inside on DC side and AC disconnect inside on ac side would be sufficient. I assumed a fireman switch would be necessary to disconnect should there be a loss. The inverter from what i understand from your post will actually detect AC loss and disconnect? For inverter thinking of going with Solis mini 4g 3kw inverter

In case you add more panels later, or upgrade their size, or depending on the length of cable run, consider 6mm cable (for the sake of a few quid). I personally have a DC disconnect at the wall below my panels AND at the inverter, but that could be overkill. AC loss detection is called anti-islanding and realistically, all grid-tied inverters do this. They basically stop working if the grid goes down. I also have a 63ah DC MCB between my batteries and my Storage Inverter. Again, a DC MCB is different from AC ones

daughy

Hi Irishchris, what champion says is all correct,
The electrician will just install the cable from the inverter to the main board.
He will install an rcbo on the main board, he will then have an AC disconnect before the main board, then an AC disconnect before the inverter,
Your job is to have dc trip switches before the inverter and if you choose, lightning protection,
Then DC disconnects at the panels.
Your ground rod and grounding of the panels,
Not many electricians are dc certified and are very weary when it comes to solar, so if you have everything in place ready for him he will be fine.
Just makes sure you ground your panels with bare copper cable and an earth rod.
Just a side note, I was watching a YouTube channel called spectrumgeeks and his video from 2018 said if you do a self install you can't get a fit...
This is in the UK.. So I'm not sure if a fit will ever come here and if us self installers will be entitled.