Posted by: @tworivers

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an old Farmhouse that I have been renovating for the last 10 years

Please keep this quiet.
I've been renovating my ex-farmhouse in Devon for 20 years, and don't want my family to think that anyone else could do it faster!

@editor Thanks Mars will do.

@transparent LOL Its not quite finish but i am hoping not another 10 Years

Hi, thanks for letting me join. I've just had solar+pv installed 2 weeks ago and though largely happy its now the little details have come to light that make the geek in me want to figure out. I'm from Southampton and have 10 x 450w AIKO All black panels  4.5kw with 6.5kw Growatt Agile Grid charging Battery and Growatt inverter  SPH3600. I've switched to the Octopus Flux import/export tariff. Im in the process of creating some bespoke software to use the Octopus and Growatt API's to  show my battery level and current tariff around the house to tell the family when is the best time to use high power usage appliances. 

Welcome to the forum, @graemed.

I've had a Growatt inverter and battery now for a couple of years and they have performed their basic task well so I'm sure you'll find the same yourself. That said, I've found Growatt as a company to have some major flaws that are somewhat irritating.

The main issue I have with Growatt is that they want everyone to do everything through their app and/or web portal, yet the user interface is somewhat buggy. If you look at the Home Assistant integration for Growatt kit, you'll see there are lots of issues raised by consumers that the integration's ability to use Growatt's API is unreliable. By that I mean that you can provide your details and the integration will connect and use the information but then a few months later Growatt will cotton onto the fact their API is being used like that and will amend the API to block the use in some way. The integration gets updated once the developers find what Growatt have "improved" so that the integration works again and then the cycle starts afresh.

I mention this now so that you don't spend too much time getting too reliant on the bespoke software you're putting together. Octopus are pretty good at making controlled changes to their API and publicising any breaking changes in advance but Growatt are rubbish like that. I am in the process of going through all the hassle of setting up a modbus connection directly with my inverter so that I can sidestep the Growatt API altogether, although I won't necessarily stop the inverter from communicating with Growatt independently.

Whilst I happen to be using Home Assistant it is, of course, not the only home automation application. Have you looked at the various open source alternatives? If you're looking to tell your family when to turn off or on power hungry devices, are you not also thinking about controlling those devices automatically?

@majordennisbloodnok Hi, thanks for your welcome and advice. Yeah I currently use Alexa , out of sheer laziness, but am switching to something like Home Assistant , but need to switch all my plugs /lights etc to Zigbee first. I have found a few of the Python based Growatt apis are having issues atm and raised some issues on their Github, but I am currently using a JavaScript lib which seems to login fine, for now. I'm a professional software engineer so am under no illusions about api consistency.

Hi all, Manchester based and looking to replace our combi boiler sometime soon. House has already been retrofitted with underfloor heating, decent windows, made (almost) airtight, MVHR etc. Now... trying to figure out what heat pump setup would work for us. 

Our gas usage is very low and mostly DHW. Lots of lovely solar gain helping reduce our space heating demands. 

@shk welcome to the forums. Feel free to start a new topic related to your home, where you can post specific questions about your requirements.

@editor One of the considerations will be, have you a space for a DHW tank? We weren’t using a combi boiler but only had a small DHW tank so had to consider our options for a MCS ‘compliant’ capacity tank. Regards, Toodles. (When you settle this project into a better location, we can take the matter further.)

@toodles yes, we should have space. Worst case is to put it in the garage, but starting to think there's actually space in the loft conversion that'd be better suited. We can also sacrifice our clothes-drying -cupboard if needs really must, which is more than big enough. The loft solution would be easier from a pipe-run viewpoint inside the house, as it would easily connect to the boiler's current connections, but means a longish run up the outside of the house.

I've picked up the discussion (above) between @graemed and @majordennisbloodnok regarding software control of energy storage which is connected to a Growatt inverter.

As it's too technical to have here within the Hello & Welcome topic, I've placed it elsewhere on a topic discussing Growatt inverters.
Please migrate there if that's of interest.

Hi to everybody and thank moderators for making the forums which are a vast source of information and knowledge primarily for people in the UK but also for people abroad like me. I am located in Greece and I am a new homeowner. I have installed a ASHP (air to water) with Fan Coil configuration and plan to install solar panels.