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new PV, iboost, battery info- esp Powervault

alex · 2022-03-08T11:05:56Z

We've just started seriously looking at solar PV for sunny north London It's turned out to be more complex than I thought- and suprisingly installers seem to be tied to one type of battery/system, so any advice is appreciated. It's 4 of us - with 2 of us working from home in the day- annual electricity usage approx 3500kwh 2 story house- so needs scaffolding south facing roof with 2x windows from loft extension & slight shading in the mornings from one part of the roof & a flat roof from the loft extension Just got our first quote from Which recommended PSC electrical. With Battery and Inverter £8,950+VAT (5%)Without Battery and Inverter £5,950+VAT (5%) 4 JA 385W Solar Panels Mono on the flat roof 1.540KW7 JA 385W Solar Panels Mono on the pitched roof 2.695KW Fox Battery 5.2KW HV2600 Fox 3.7KW Inverter HYBRID/AC Solar panels on flat roof are due to be fitted with bucket & ballast designing my own system /setting up the batteries is definitely beyond me (despite helpful diagrams people have discussed on the forum) I was interested in the Powervault eco 3 system - due to it providing an independent electricity supply- but reading through their literature, this is a'paid for add on' for some time in the future. The SMARTSTOR - Optimising battery to take advantage of time of use tariffs - seems interesting/useful though I'd appreciate any advice on: Powervault- any experience of Smartstor- is it worth the extra cost? Are there alternative batteries that can also match topping up cost to cost of electricity? solar on flat roofs- anyone had experience? Is a bucket & ballast system reasonable (can't help but be cautious given the high winds we've had recently) Is it worth it in this context for the additional KW? It seems the 3.7KW inverter may be the limiting factor with a 4.2kw solar panels costings- quote seems on the higher side compared to other commentators- useful to know of people's london experiences? & if anyone has London based recommendations Batteries - does 5.2KW seem a reasonable storage size for 4.2KWpanels/3.7KW inverter- is there a magic ratio to calculate a good battery size? Iboost- we do have an immersion heater and are looking at the iboost as a cost effective way of reducing gas usage when solar electricity is plentiful. I've found less information on this. Do people ask their solar panel installers to install at the same time? Have people found it works ok alongside a battery? Lots of questions I know- thanks to anyone who can help with any!

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Solar Photovoltaic (PV)

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batalto

(@batalto)

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Joined: 4 years ago

Posts: 1091

15/03/2022 12:29 pm

@derek-m I'd be interested to see how you get on. My main concern would be that a lead acid UPS isn't really designed for cycling rapidly, as your use case proposes. They are designed for the occasional power cut to give an operator time to shut equipment down as to not damage things or cause data losses.

I'd be very worried about degradation in the battery capacity.

12kW Midea ASHP - 8.4kw solar - 29kWh batteries
262m2 house in Hampshire
Current weather compensation: 47@-2 and 31@17
My current performance can be found - HERE
Heat pump calculator spreadsheet - HERE

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Derek M

(@derek-m)

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Joined: 4 years ago

Posts: 4427

15/03/2022 1:04 pm

Posted by: @batalto

@derek-m I'd be interested to see how you get on. My main concern would be that a lead acid UPS isn't really designed for cycling rapidly, as your use case proposes. They are designed for the occasional power cut to give an operator time to shut equipment down as to not damage things or cause data losses.

I'd be very worried about degradation in the battery capacity.

Hi Batalto,

Thank you for your input. For the limited cost it is a way of testing different methods of improving the operation and resilience of my home heating system.

When I had the solar PV system installed many years ago, I looked into installing battery storage, but decided at the time that it would not be cost effective, as we did not use that much electrical power throughout the evening and nighttime. Now with the addition of the A2A ASHP, battery storage is looking much more desirable, not only to lower costs, but also to help reduce our gas consumption.

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alex

(@alex)

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Joined: 3 years ago

Posts: 7

Topic starter 15/03/2022 2:01 pm

@Derek M an external battery is a good idea, with an AC charger it would provide a few hours emergency laptop support - as well as us being able to use it when out and about. Thanks for the idea!

@batalto yes the powervault etc do seem expensive- even with them including the inverter. I was intially attracted by the powervault eco reusing car batteries. But we haven't got the space for it, even with the other practicalities to consider.

We're going to keep it simple with regards to the system/battery for now & go with the original quote alongside an iboost.

Fingers crossed it we can get it installed!

Depending on how the system performs, it does look like we can change things as needed. Thanks for your help.

👍

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Epuksolar

(@epuksolar)

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Joined: 3 years ago

Posts: 1

18/07/2022 11:12 am

A single solar panels uk cost 2022 £300-£500, but it can vary depending on the size and type of system. The cost of solar panel installation to predict it's very difficult, but you can easily know about it through our solar contractor.

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alex

(@alex)

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Joined: 3 years ago

Posts: 7

Topic starter 30/08/2022 2:45 pm

signal-2022-08-30-142336_002.pdf

Thanks @batalto & @derek M & everyone for your help.

We did get 11 solar panels fitted with Tigo optimisers (due to partial shading)

& are due to get some long awaited Fox ess batteries fitted this week - exciting!

There is an odd phenomenon I'd appreciate thoughts/experience on:

This is happening with the inverter/battery system though (error message 28) where periodically there is no yield showing from the panels (it's difficult to work out where exactly this comes from as the information from the Tigo optimisers is only periodic, and the Foxcloud has around 15 minute delay - but it does seem to be real interruption in energy production

This happens particualarly during very sunny periods/where the panels produce over 3KW electricity or when there's higher energy draw goods working- like the washing machine.

t=The solar panel company advised me to ask the energy supplier to 'turn the voltage down on the grid supply to the house'

Does that make sense/does anyone have advice on how to explain this to electricity supplier

& has anyone come across the same issue.

I've attached an image/pdf of the daily energy production showing these sudden drops

I was hoping fitting the batteries may magically sort the problem - perhaps naively- but it would be great to get your advice in advance to discuss with the fitting company again!

Thanks so much again

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