@indevolt-tech @indevolt-uk 

Now we have established that the 'plug in' feature of these devices will (sadly) not become fully legal on 27th August (unlike compliant pure PV plug in), it would be helpful if you could detail here and on your website the compliant route to using these.

It strikes me that this need not add that much to the cost.  As I understand it they could (for example) be wired by any registered electrician into a switched fused spur on an existing ring.  If you have a spare socket in a convenient place that can be converted to a fused spur thats going to cost less than £250 I would guess.  G98/G99 applications are FOC. 

Some may want to go down this route, particularly if it opens up a faster discharge potential or (even if not) if this allows them to get an additional heating season in because they can connect up before the regs (hopefully) change again.

Why not make this explicit here and on your website!

It may even be cheaper for a bigger system. Remember that if an electrician buys it and installs it and wires it into the property then it may be vat exempted, whereas if you buy it and hand it to an electrician it's not.

On the other hand if you are going to pay a sparky and its 5 grand for a 40kWh battery / 5kWh inverter system in hardware costs (plus sparky time and work) there's some assessments to be done on what the right value option is.

Posted by: @etchedpixels

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It may even be cheaper for a bigger system. Remember that if an electrician buys it and installs it and wires it into the property then it may be vat exempted, whereas if you buy it and hand it to an electrician it's not.

On the other hand if you are going to pay a sparky and its 5 grand for a 40kWh battery / 5kWh inverter system in hardware costs (plus sparky time and work) there's some assessments to be done on what the right value option is.

 

Good point, although I guess most electricians will want to charge a mark up of, say 20%, for parts supplied (to reflect the fact that they are then responsible), thus potentially negating the saving,

I'd rather my sparky got it than they spent it arresting grannies for holding up blank pieces of paper

@blizzardgreen Hi, Apology for missing this comment here. There are two ways to achieve this:

1) One is a bidirectional socket on the host unit where you can plug in directing with a micro inverter that link with PV to achieve AC coupled. This basically means the Indevolt host unit is charged by AC (from the micro inverter) rather than DC. The guidance are usually shown on the product when you purchase it. This is quite straight forward.

2) Second way is having a smart meter either Shelly Energy meter (we will have a list of third party supporting meter publish on our UK website soon) or our own Indevolt smart meter clamping to the tail from existing home Solar inverter (AC side). Therefore, the battery will charge when there is a surplus solar energy (TBC - we are testing this atm in the UK)

Posted by: @indevolt-uk

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@blizzardgreen Hi, Apology for missing this comment here. There are two ways to achieve this:

1) One is a bidirectional socket on the host unit where you can plug in directing with a micro inverter that link with PV to achieve AC coupled. This basically means the Indevolt host unit is charged by AC (from the micro inverter) rather than DC. The guidance are usually shown on the product when you purchase it. This is quite straight forward.

2) Second way is having a smart meter either Shelly Energy meter (we will have a list of third party supporting meter publish on our UK website soon) or our own Indevolt smart meter clamping to the tail from existing home Solar inverter (AC side). Therefore, the battery will charge when there is a surplus solar energy (TBC - we are testing this atm in the UK)

Thanks for that.

BTW I'd be happy to test one for you. 🙂

@indevolt-tech @indevolt-uk 

In case you missed it earlier I would like to repeat my earlier question.

Now we have established that the 'plug in' feature of these devices will (sadly) not become fully legal on 27th August (unlike compliant pure PV plug in), it would be helpful if you could detail here and on your website the compliant route to using these.  One specific question which greatly affects the cost is whether the connection needs to be on the supply side (like higher power systems must) or can be on the load side of the CU.  The latter is achievable via a simple switched fused spur, often very cheap to add, the former requires intervention in the CU or a Henley block and separate dedicated CU, much more expensive.

Which is it currently or are there other routes.  Why not make this explicit here and on your website!

In short please detail what must be done, by whom, legally to use your device!  The device itself looks excellent but thats not much help if it cant be used or still incurs the same installation overheads.

Is there any reason to believe it would be any different to this. With the exception that it would be wired in. unplug able?

@blizzardgreen 

The question is what do uk regulations require not what is the product capable of.

Sofaik generators must be wired on the supply side of the cu which means a dedicated circuit.  The changes will exempt compliant pv only generators from this and several other requirements.  They don't exempt battery generators from all requirements, which us why they are not fully legal.  But what do the rules allow.  Specifically is an 800W limited battery generator treated any differently to eg a 3kW one?

To answer this you need to read the detail of all of the relevant regs which, because they are not all in the public domain, I cant.

Hence why I am asking @indevolt-tech to clarify how exactly their product can be used and how must they be connected up?

My view is that, if they don't answer this, they are hiding something.   So I hope they will answer!

Posted by: @jamespa

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@blizzardgreen 

The question is 

You'll have to excuse me, this is all new to me and I suspect most, even indevolt are not 100% sure of what our nanny state may require.

But even if it had to be wired in pre CU surely that's just a few quid to an electrician.

Maybe two CUs one for back up through the indevolt and another for heavy loads not backed up.

Posted by: @blizzardgreen

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You'll have to excuse me, this is all new to me and I suspect most, even indevolt are not 100% sure of what our nanny state may require.

But even if it had to be wired in pre CU surely that's just a few quid to an electrician.

Maybe two CUs one for back up through the indevolt and another for heavy loads not backed up.

Wiring stuff in changes one set of problems for another. It's now got to be to all the other bits of regs that wiring it in drags in, and recommendations in general like battery location (which ought to be fine). If it's wired in though by my reading since it has sockets on it which remain powered during a grid outage then it's got to have a separate earthing arrangement. If it's plugged in like a camping accessory it seems not. However it's all horribly unclear and nobody actually seems to know.

And the correct and proper thing for a sparky to do when faced with a request to do something they are not sure how to do in a proper compliant manner is to decline the job.

Anker have btw updated their website with the UK grid tied battery product line and have also gone with the "need an electrician" route and invented a new imaginary category of product that is "Plug in solar ready" so they can show pictures of it with a plug and not get the ASA on their backs 😉

"Anker SOLIX Solarbank 4 E5000 Pro is a battery energy storage system. The hardware supports plug-in functionality, and an AC supply cable is included as standard. Anker SOLIX will assess the suitability of plug-in installation in the UK as and when updated industry regulations and BSI product standards are introduced.

In the interim, installation must be carried out by a Part P-registered electrician. The system is supplied with hardwiring terminals as standard to meet this requirement."

My ideal install would have my battery installed before the CU and have my cu wired to the back up socket. If the grid went down my house would continue as normal ( for a time) and nothing would be fed to the grid.

My home uses <> 400w ave, so this would be doable. But I suppose because in theory if I put the oven, and hob on at the same time, it would overload.

So even though I would know not to do that  it's probably not permitted/allowed.

I know little, I can fantasize, I'm sure there is a way.