Mudball
Assistant Pro
We actually generated something today (10.3KwH) .. even managed to export !!
Solar panels , would you ?
- Thread starter spongebob59
- Start date
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Deleted member 21784
Guest
Been a good day for it for sure. We produced 7.7, was exporting when I got in from golf but decided to do 2 washes. A drum clean and 2 tumble runs followed by a dishwasher so I don't have to do any jobs in the morning before work
need_my_wedge
Has Now Found His Wedgie
Forgot about this thread, just tried catching up but too many pages……. We’re two years into this property now, the panels were already in situ and we don’t have a battery. The only thing I’ve added is a solar diverter which acts as a switch for the emersion and basically heats the hot water for free. All in all we couldn’t be happier, using much less gas without the water heating, and using much less electricity if we use the appliances during daylight. I’m paying £100 a month to Octopus for gas and electric combined, and am currently in significant credit. Annually we’ve received circa £1K from Scottish Power for generation and feed in. It’s a win win situation at present. Whether that continues depends on how long the panels last I guess but for now, what’s not to like. Currently in the worst quarter for daylight though, last season was the same, very low return for Dec-Feb.
harpo_72
Journeyman Pro
I have decided to revisit this as I saw some reasonable buy back rates. I have quite a large roof area and not a bad orientation, so I may be able to generate excess amounts.
I was using the Gary does Solar calculator and seeing what I could make using certain size arrays..
Is it only Tesla that can isolate from the grid or does anyone else manage it?
I was using the Gary does Solar calculator and seeing what I could make using certain size arrays..
Is it only Tesla that can isolate from the grid or does anyone else manage it?
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Deleted member 21784
Guest
From my understanding you can get a sparkie to install your island switch for when the power goes you can switch over to battery , a way to avoid Tesla
Teslas system uses a gateway that does this for you. The switch over is automatic, it can be not noticeable or it can be 20 seconds
cliveb
Head Pro
Givenergy also do an AC coupled battery plus gateway that will switch over virtually instantaneously if the grid goes down. Search for their "all-in-one" model. I believe it's rather cheaper than a Tesla Powerwall.
Octopus are very much in bed with Givenergy. My daughter has a (different model) Givenergy battery, and after handing control of it to Octopus is very happy with how they operate it.
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Deleted member 21784
Guest
Just googled them, seems the same price as Tesla now tbh. Same battery size for the pw3 and this but this can only output 6kwh at once pw3 can do 10kwh
However much as I have a PW I'd lean to give energy just because you can prob program them to fit smart tariffs to save a fortune where as powerwall is very much hands off apple style
Not sure if give energy can go outside. I know the pw can which is useful
Mudball
Assistant Pro
Not sure i understood this question?
I wanted a Tesla, but could not afford it. So we have a GroWatt Invertor and Battery pack. The invertor switches power automatically between battery and feeding back to the grid. Equally, it will bring the battery on and off based on you load consumption
What we dont have (and did not need) is the abiity to automatically bring the battery on in case of a power failure. When they were installing it, the guys said, we will need an additional isolater. In case the mains go off, then you dont want the risk of the battery sending back to the grid - esp if there is a linesman working on it outside. In the last 10 years, we probably have lost power about 5 times, so did not make any sense to pay extra.
cliveb
Head Pro
My daughter's givenergy battery is outdoors, albeit inside a (not especially weatherproof) wooden enclosure. But hers is not the all-in-one battery, which I guess might be different.
Tashyboy
Please don’t ask to see my tatts 👍
Off-grid homeowner opposed to solar farm next door
Richard Gill, who is energy self-sufficient, is opposing a planned solar farm near his home.
www.bbc.co.uk
Fade and Die
Medal Winner
Make him right, bloody eyesore.Off-grid homeowner opposed to solar farm next door
Richard Gill, who is energy self-sufficient, is opposing a planned solar farm near his home.
harpo_72
Journeyman Pro
So I have had a little investigation and the givenergy battery looks good and can isolate or island from grid. The only problem I see is thermal management.. my wife will chew my ear off it doesn’t function 100% ! The Tesla wall 3 and gateway are good they are thermally managed and allow large out puts .. although our output demand is less than 4kwh at peak. Even with an electric car charger ? .. I need to investigate that further .. now I am looking at solar panels and what or how to calculate my minimum best or over the top, set up. I have one side of the roof that is south facing. Looking at the sun this morning they would have been exposed from 7:30 am .. my mum and wife don’t like solar panels so I need to do it discreetly or it will be a perpetual talking point
larmen
Head Pro
Don’t go minimum. The cost is in the scaffolding. Once you scaffold a side of the house, fill it.
larmen
Head Pro
January was pants. Generated 90 kWh, 30 less than last year. Prediction was 82, still above that, but just.
And we also used 30 more than last year.
Good thing is that February starts with a SUNday ;-)
(I know it started yesterday, but doesn’t fit the pun)
And we also used 30 more than last year.
Good thing is that February starts with a SUNday ;-)
(I know it started yesterday, but doesn’t fit the pun)
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Deleted member 21784
Guest
Contact a few companies, get the smallest, medium and biggest quote for what the systems you fancy
Tesla whilst are good are handing a lot of control over. They are good that my battery is completely outside my house, no house casing. Just there.
How important is charging the car off them? I think it's a waste tbh. Octopus for example 7p I pay for my energy in and 15p they give me for export ... So in summer I export everything rather than waste it going to the car. I even had my charger wired outside the battery so it can't draw from the battery. (If I had a power cut and I wanted to charge I could plug the 3 pin charger in)
Where are you based? Jps renewables did my set up and then my parents were so impressed they did them aswell. Based out of Maidstone but cover a lot of m25
Edit . Installers will explain more about inverters, optimisers, micro inverters etc what would suit you best , mine each panel had a micro inverter (under the panel) others have just an inverter that's easy to replace .. etc etc
Last edited by a moderator:
Mudball
Assistant Pro
Go for the biggest set of panels you can find.. as @larman said, it is a scaffolding job. Our 16 panels are on the back roof. Once it has gone up, no one has noticed it. Do the Mrs and mum even know the colour of the tiles? If you have the money, you can also replace the tiles and inset your panels. Stretch and get the biggest config of panels. You can go for a smaller battery at the start if your demand is not that much. You can then add more battery later. Based on our usage, i think we could add 2 more batteries to cover winter.
Car charging as @PJ87 pointed out can be done via mains overnight on cheap tariff. It will be the on-off day charging that you dont need to worry about.
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Deleted member 21784
Guest
My Mrs was dead against the panels on the front (didn't mind the flat roof ones) "they will be an eye sore. I'll see them every day" so I went on Google earth and found a house with panels all over. Really badly done tbh. Showed here and said this is bad isnt it? "Yes" do you notice it? "What do you mean" well you walk past it every morning .. turns out she didn't
Point proven, panels went up and she has never looked at the roof since lol
On the battery @harpo_72 I make sure I max charge my battery every night all year round. Can't be bothered fiddling with changing it. That way if it's sunny in the summer by time the soler kicks in the battery is full anyways and exports the lot at 15p an unit after filling up at 7p all night
larmen
Head Pro
We can’t see our panels, garden goes in an angle and we can’t step far enough out to see them. Neighbours will have a good view instead.
We can now see some arrays on houses in the other road where the council put up 40 times 6+4 panels, but they don’t bother us.
Battery event with the small 5kWh which is fine on a normal day, but when I charge my bike after work I drain it during the ‘expensive’ three hours. But for a 25p saving on what I use I don’t bother to start charging after 7pm.
In an ideal world I would have a 13 kWh power wall with gateway, but the extra expense is not worth it for us.
We can now see some arrays on houses in the other road where the council put up 40 times 6+4 panels, but they don’t bother us.
Battery event with the small 5kWh which is fine on a normal day, but when I charge my bike after work I drain it during the ‘expensive’ three hours. But for a 25p saving on what I use I don’t bother to start charging after 7pm.
In an ideal world I would have a 13 kWh power wall with gateway, but the extra expense is not worth it for us.
harpo_72
Journeyman Pro
This is interesting, I wasn’t thinking about charging the car from the battery, more the solar or what was required. My intention was to try and be less dependent on the suppliers.
I also wanted be unaffected by their problems ..
My roof can take 46 panels but that’s not all going to be optimum positioning and a bit expensive.. yes I could sell back to the grid during the summer a huge amount but I thought the buy back tariffs were fickle?
My plan was to pop in 6-8 panels in the optimum position and at 80% efficiency they would supply and charge up the Tesla wall in 5 days then it would be case of supporting me and exporting. Winter would not be so great but that’s okay.
I also wanted be unaffected by their problems ..
My roof can take 46 panels but that’s not all going to be optimum positioning and a bit expensive.. yes I could sell back to the grid during the summer a huge amount but I thought the buy back tariffs were fickle?
My plan was to pop in 6-8 panels in the optimum position and at 80% efficiency they would supply and charge up the Tesla wall in 5 days then it would be case of supporting me and exporting. Winter would not be so great but that’s okay.
harpo_72
Journeyman Pro
Does this sound reasonable
46 panels x 0.460 kWh x 25% x 6 hrs x 140 days x £0.15 by back - 6x consumption at 1.8kWh ?
46 panels x 0.460 kWh x 25% x 6 hrs x 140 days x £0.15 by back - 6x consumption at 1.8kWh ?