Just one note - if you are Dutch then Deye and Sunsynk are basically the same (the relationship is a lot more complicated) but it's basically the same hardware sold as Sunsynk in some countries, Deye in others and in a slightly modified form Solark in the USA.

Posted by: @etchedpixels

↑

Just one note - if you are Dutch then Deye and Sunsynk are basically the same (the relationship is a lot more complicated) but it's basically the same hardware sold as Sunsynk in some countries, Deye in others and in a slightly modified form Solark in the USA.

Don't mean to be a party pooper, but at some stage I ran some gooogle searches and I saw reports of Deye kit was being found outside the area where it was supposed to be installed. So in case of any cloud services or warranty claims, there could be some hickups. 

From what I saw the hardware was the same but the app and maybe the UI were different?

The hardware is the same, the UI is a bit different. Deye do not sell into the UK market or I believe have UK certifications. There's a very complicated story behind it all. 

But if you are telling someone Dutch about Sunsynk (or indeed many bits of the world) it's worth telling them it's the same hardware as Deye, which is how they will know what hardware you are talking about.

Posted by: @etchedpixels

↑

The hardware is the same, the UI is a bit different. Deye do not sell into the UK market or I believe have UK certifications.

Hope this is not another case of British exceptionalism.

In any case, kit being used here will have to work with g98, g99 etc 

Posted by: @batpred

↑

Posted by: @etchedpixels

↑

The hardware is the same, the UI is a bit different. Deye do not sell into the UK market or I believe have UK certifications.

Hope this is not another case of British exceptionalism.

In any case, kit being used here will have to work with g98, g99 etc 

 

No - it's Sunsynk in South Africa for example. Sunsynk sell into some markets (and thus have G98/G99 etc), Deye directly into others, Solark in the USA, and I believe there's now another brand selling a customised version of the product in Australia.

Ningbo Deye actually make the hardware, the software varies a bit.

Makes sense.

Although if the inverter firmware is different, it is a different product as far as certs are concerned ..

I have spoken to a SunSynk Director (from South Africa).

Yes their inverters are manufactured for them by Deye.

But SynSynk not only have additional Q&A, but also specify parameters for all the components used. In short, that means their units are built to the standard you'd normally expect from a European factory.

SunSynk's firmware is written by them, and therefore wholly under their control. Only their product range can connect to the post-sales support network and receive remote diagnosis of any fault.

Indevolt put their pre-orders for the powerflex3000 up yesterday btw. https://www.pluginsolarexplained.co.uk/blog/indevolt-powerflex-3000-uk-preorder/

• Base unit at the £799 pre-order price, 2kWh: £399.50 per kWh
• Base unit at the £999 full price, 2kWh: £499.50 per kWh
• The PFA4000 expansion on its own, £899 for 4kWh: £224.75 per kWh
• Pre-order plus expansion, £1,698 for 6kWh: £283.00 per kWh
• Full price plus expansion, £1,898 for 6kWh: £316.33 per kWh

Ok so let's start off by saying that anyone who reads the high level blurb and thinks they will get continuity of home electricity supply when the grid fails will be disappointed.  The 'backup' is a separate socket on the device into which you need to plug the items you wish to protect from grid failure.  That, however, is also true of many, perhaps most, professionally installed systems (if indeed, they provide grid backup at all)

With that out of the way am I right in thinking that this and like products will devastate the lower and even middle end of the 'professionally installed' pv and battery market?

I have pv from 2011 but a battery, until the advent of plug in, simply doesn't make sense given the installation costs.  This changes the picture radically (once it's fully legal of course) and getting one to augment my existing solar looks like. no brainer.

If I didn't already have pv this product plus say 2kWp of panels, say another £1k, looks equally irresistible.  Ok if I have space for 4+kWp then maybe professional installation makes sense, but at lower capacities, I can't see it.  The middle ground will struggle too.

That said I'm not sure how big the _current_ market is for say 2kWp PV or 5-10kWh battery banks that aren't installed at the se time as pv.  Perhaps both are small so actually this will open up a new market rather than cannabilising from existing.  Does anyone know?  For those, like me, who already have PV, or for people only have room for 1-2kWp, it feels like a revolutionary development. 

Of course at least some of the credit for making this and like products available (assuming it does happen) should go to DENZ (IE government) which has robustly repudiated the attempts by the established industry to block it.

Posted by: @jamespa

↑

With that out of the way am I right in thinking that this and like products will devastate the lower and even middle end of the 'professionally installed' pv and battery market?

There's a market for plug-in storage which I think needs serious consideration - medical equipment at home.

The UK isn't well prepared for the sort of power-cut which Spain and Portugal suffered in April'25.
Eleven people died as a result of the Iberian Outage.
Seven of those were the result of generators failing when they should've provided power for medical equipment.

As a result of the Covid pandemic, we know that people should be moved out of hospital as soon as they can be accommodated at home.
An Indevolt battery could be provided immediately, without waiting for home 'modifications' to be undertaken by a professional.
Simply plug the medical kit into the 'Backup' socket, and set up some sort of Notification to alert the District Nurse Team if the battery is running low.

Ofgem have published their Decision Notice on Sector Specific Methodology, which lists factors which must be addressed in the RIIO-ED3 Agreements with DNOs (for April'28).
Section 3.183 onwards states the requirements to address Consumer Vulnerabilities.
This goes wider than those on the Priority Services Register, who are already known to DNOs.

Proposals under discussion include

• targeted welfare during storms
• local resilience planning to provide extreme weather response in rural communities
• 'Warm Spaces' and 'Cool Spaces' in community buildings to be supplied with power during outages
• intervention for those who are medically dependent, including continuity of communication
• reliable/backup power for community hubs, to include provisions for food preparation and emergency accommodation
• outreach vehicles to support communities who are cut-off during power cuts

It doesn't take to much to see that reliable battery storage options of varying capacities are going to play a big part in delivering these targets.

But...

• DNOs are forbidden from owning or controlling generation and storage assets under the terms of their Ofgem licences
• Councils already have the remit to provide community resilience and emergency support for their residents

This is going to require local authorities and DNOs to work collaboratively.

Parish Councils become increasingly important.
At that level of government, Councillors actually know those in their area.

Word-of-mouth is adequate to alert them of a householder who has just arrived home from hospital.

Transportable storage batteries could be placed in strategic locations, pre-charged and ready for deployment.

If they want councils to think about batteries and aircon they'll need to give them a budget exclusively for it, otherwise it will be put on the gee, if only we had money pile and vanish forever.

@etchedpixels - as these are provisions which DNOs are required to implement, then it is they who have to provide for this in their budgets.

RIIO is an Agreement which constrains the revenue income to a DNO unless it fulfils the targets.
ED3 refers to the third such contract for the Electricity Distribution operators.

It's basically a set of pathways which put customers first, rather than shareholders.

DNOs are also required to demonstrate public involvement in the targets being proposed.
My own DNO (NGED) has held two public meetings in each of its four Licence areas.
There will be another in September.

Now is the right moment to have input to these discussions.

DNOs may not necessarily see the practical outworkings of such a strategy in the same way that a local Parish Councillor might, for example.

I see the need for three possible levels of community battery support during an outage:

• Static Battery in excess of 300kWh to power a Community space; provides air-cooling and warm-space plus capability to cook meals.
• Transportable battery 2kWh to 5kWh for home use by vulnerable people, including operation of medical devices
• 12v UPS to keep a phone and WiFi router alive, thereby addressing the emergency communications requirements

If we don't tell the DNO that these three different types of emergency power provision are needed, then they aren't going to magically appear in the proposed RIIO-ED3 document.

Some Councils aren't even turning up to the RIIO-ED3 workshops when they occur, whilst others are actively participating.

When we next have a region-wide power-outage, we'll be able to see which Councils have placed IndeVolt Powerflex batteries in homes of vulnerable residents, and which weren't even aware that the provision was required!