Posted by: @chandykris

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@indevolt-uk Keen to know more about the pricing and when this would be available in the UK.

Indeed. Without that, it is just loose marketing.. 

In fairness I don't think that plug in batteries are legal yet and a definite date has not been published.  EU pricing is available online but if course there is potentially ak UK premium (or discount) to account for.

Fundamentally you are right though, until we have price and availability then it's just marketing.

Posted by: @editor

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The risk is real in some configurations (particularly with permanently wired, non-compliant or islanding-capable inverters), but for a plug-in device with fast anti-islanding shutdown, the practical risk appears to be negligible. It’s a remarkably complex subject.

That said, I’d still encourage anyone installing any battery or solar kit to specify bidirectional RCBOs as standard. The cost difference is marginal and it removes the question entirely.

Yes, the cost difference may be marginal, if you are lucky with your CU brand. All electricians I had round complain when they find different brand MCB/RCD/RCBOs.

And most justified a new CU based on needing specific brand for the new components. It is complicated. 

And the human factor makes it complex and so more time consuming..

Posted by: @editor

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@transparent’s point about going direct to manufacturers when the guidance is unclear is also well taken.

Absolutely agree. And for as long as many need to go to manufacturers, it will continue to be a significant barrier to adoption of plug in solar. 

Any further update on this? 

@sonosppp not as yet. I think everyone's waiting on the finalised guidelines so that products can be marked as "compliant". I'll follow up and see where things stand.

Thanks for that, very much on edge of my seat to find out what "priced competitively" means! 

Posted by: @indevolt-uk

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Our inverters are all designed and developed in strict compliance with local grid-connection regulations, and are equipped as standard with compliant anti-islanding protection.

Regarding the conditions you mentioned, such as a mains power outage or severe undervoltage, these will not cause impact, nuisance tripping, or any long-term safety hazard to the upstream single-direction RCBO. Under normal and compliant installation and use, there is no related safety risk in these scenarios.

I'd like to re-visit this information from Indevolt.

Outside of this Forum, I've received communication from a householder with a relatively new EV charger.
At this stage I don't know the make/model, but I do have access to the grid maps for their location.

Their charger has sporadically been disconnecting itself from the mains.

It has an integral feature by which it uses the internet to send status data to the manufacturer.

The manufacturer responded by sending a table which lists the date & time whenever the mains voltage rises above 250v.
Whenever the recorded voltage rises a fraction of a volt above 253v, the EV charger shuts down.

The GB Designated Voltage is 230v, and the operational envelope is +10% to -6%.
That equates to 216.4v to 253v.

It is not usually the case that a device will assert that requirement immediately the voltage goes outside 216.4v to 253v. More commonly they obey a wider range to instigate disconnection, which is linked to a time-interval. Typically it might look like this, where Vφ is the designated line voltage of 230v:

This wider envelope prevents spurious tripping/disconnection due to spikes and surges on the line caused by devices switching on/off at nearby houses.
However, device manufacturers may implement a tighter voltage envelope if an under- or over-voltage might cause damage to their equipment.
It’s possible that this is the case for the particular EV-charger which has been reported to me.

Merely asserting that the PowerFlex 2000 battery complies with the grid connection regulations doesn't give me enough information to appreciate how it handles line voltages which rise above 253v.

@transparent 

May I ask if this is Ohme? I had a similar "issue" and they resolved it. 

Posted by: @batpred

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May I ask if this is Ohme?

Not known yet.

I've asked a local Councillor to follow it up and see if we can get more information.

Good morning.

I just came across your website. Was hoping someone could answer my question.

I have a 3 phase supply at my house. Solar panels connected to a 3 phase inverter. 17 x 400w panels. So L1, L2, L3 each get 1/3 of my solar generation.

I also have a Powerwall2 connected to L1.

This means L2 runs off solar during the day but because my Powerwall is connected to L1, anything running on L2 costs me the full 30p kWh during the evening.

I'm thinking of getting the indevolt 2000 battery when it's released to connect to a socket in my utility which runs off L2. I won't be connecting any solar panels directly

Would 1/3 of my solar generation which goes to L2 automatically charge the battery via the socket during the day for use in the evening?

Thank you.

Posted by: @iradiate

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Would 1/3 of my solar generation which goes to L2 automatically charge the battery via the socket during the day for use in the evening?

That's almost correct, but not quite.

The Indevolt storage battery would be ignorant of anything else in your home.
Thus it won't know how much solar is being made available on L2 by your existing 3ph inverter.

If you configured the Indevolt 2000 to charge at a certain current between 10am - 4pm, it would be taking self-generated solar on a sunny day, but would still recharge at the same rate on an overcast day. That would invariably be using some portion of grid-supplied power.

You could remedy that by re-configuring the Indevolt battery every day manually, and making informed decisions about the level of solar generation according to the weather forecast. But that's going to take daily effort to maintain the required balance.

The whole point of 'plug-in solar' and 'plug-in storage' is that it doesn't have the Current Transformers and control interfaces which you'd expect to see on a hard-wired installation.

Have a think about the priorities of what you'd like to achieve.

Do you want to utilise more of your own solar generation?

Or are you seeking the benefit of having a small amount of stored charge which would still be available during a power-cut?

Since the Powerwall depends on management tools provided by Tesla across the internet, are you wanting to spread your risks, and invest in equipment which remains fully functional in the event of Tesla's service being unavailable?

There are multiple ways of achieving the above, and at widely varying price points.

@transparent yes I understand. The indevolt wouldn't know whether the electricity coming into it via the plug is from solar or grid. It would blindly charge itself. In summer great. In winter not so great. 

So what if I configured it to charge as much as it could during the cheap tariff period (00:30 to 05:30) in winter and switch to charging by day in summer.? That would be a configuration change say twice a year or even 4 times a year depending on season though I guess that doesn't resolve the overcast scenario. Needs some more thought. 

What other ways are there to achieve this? We talking CT clamps etc? Was trying to avoid wiring but thank you for your input sir.