Solar for Beginners [ask your questions here]

anyone use BGE website to get a quote?

Yup - you should be able to charge the battery and still heat the hot water at the same time on your cheap EV rate.

While you didn't specify if you have an EV or not (just that you were moving to the EV tariff), if you were additionally charging an EV at the same time, then that might be pushing the limits of your standard house load.

5kw (solar battery) + 2.8Kw (immersion) + 7Kw (EV charger) = 14.8Kw

which is in about the limit of what the typical house fuse will handle. If you don't have an Electrical vehicle in the mix, your fine.

They were a bit vague about it, but it obviously involved installing a CT clamp in the proper direction. I didn't push it as they had sent the electrician, it was fixed, and it seems to be reliable.

It's not witchcraft - you tell the system what the priorities should be. So in my case, solar PV power goes to the house first, battery second (if not already fully charged), grid third. I do this because I want the battery charged during the day to power the house at night.

If I was export oriented I would set it the priorities at house>grid>battery (effectively not charging the battery from PV as the grid will always accept). Battery charge at EV night rate (or any other times you like from grid) can be programmed into the inverter.

Not witchcraft, just boring observation and prioritisation.

No intention to judge. Sure I'm only a beginner myself. Building your own rig and batteries - now that's witchcraft! 😉

Doesn't it depend on your tariffs and the size of the battery?

In my case, the battery is charged at EV rate, but at 10kWh it doesn't have the capacity to last all day. Need recharge during the day to prevent drawing from grid at day rate and peak rate hours. New system, still learning, still collecting data, but it seems the simplest way is to keep battery topped up during the day at the moment, so I have the inverter in Self Use mode. Most of the PV production still goes to the grid, on sunny days at least.

In summer it may well be a different story of course, with no heating load meaning battery beyond peak tariff times off single EV rate charge, in which case I'll switch to max Feed In mode.

Hi all, I have some questions I am hoping some of you more knowledgeable people can help me with.

I have been offered a free installation of what I believe is a basic 2kw / 5 panel solar system by Bord Gais, as part of the Medically Vulnerable Solar PV Scheme.

My house has already been assessed and found suitable, (one storey, 2 bedroom, mid terrace) and according to the stats they've given me the 5 panels will generate approx 50% to 60% of my electricity. The only thing I need to pay for is an upgrade of the meter tails from the meter box to the fuse box, the cost of which should be recouped in 18/24 months. Everything else is covered by BG.

So, any advice? I am hoping to go ahead and was wondering if I should add more panels (and how much do they cost, approx?) Also should I add a battery? (and what do they cost?) Any additions to the basic system on offer, is at my own expense.

Are you registered as a priority user? Is this scheme for energy independence during a future potential outage or what is the intended objective, may I ask?

I'm thinking of adding another five panels, a neighbour down the road in the same house has ten panels, so I'm thinking maybe I should get the same?

BG and their contractor are handling all the grant stuff. I don't have to do anything. If I want to just get the basic system they're offering me, all I have to pay for is the meter tails upgrade.

Apologies if these are stupid questions, I am literally clueless in this area.

Thanks con747. Definitely think I will be adding an extra 5 panels.

Good advice, thank you!

That's good to hear. My questions were only to determine whether this might have been some hair-brained scheme to increase resilience during a power-loss by offering solar-only with no storage, nothing else intended (sorry if it came across another way).

A much better offering would be the battery backed system alright. 👍️