@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.

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.

@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.

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.

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