Domestic solar PV quotes 2018

wexfordman2

niallers1 wrote: »

@wexfordman Do you have a clothes line out the back. This would save you using the dryer as much. I find i'm using the line and just finishing them off in the dryer for half an hour. I'm soooo domesticated these days , constantly doing the clothes wash and dish washer . My wife thinks it's brilliant:D

They should advertise solar PV as a labour saving device for the ladies:D

:-)

But if we use the clothes line, we waste all that free energy. I think the drum might wear out actually :-)

garo

One more quote:
4.2kW power 14x300W panels
Solis 5kW inverter
Pylontech 3.5kWh battery

7,000 after grants deducted and VAT added.
Battery can be upped to 5.9 for another 1000.

sligo_dave

wexfordman2 wrote: »

:-)

But if we use the clothes line, we waste all that free energy. I think the drum might wear out actually :-)

Could you PM details of your PV supplier please? Thanks

jspuds

sligo_dave wrote: »

Could you PM details of your PV supplier please? Thanks

Me too please

Charlie-Bravo

What monitors are good to monitor to put on a system to see the energy usage in the home? One that's WiFi enabled and is decent to view on a home network?

johnjacob

Is anyone diverting to unused solar leccy to heat the hot water say instead of using a battery for the excess?

How would that works vs say solar thermal collectors?

Evd-Burner

johnjacob wrote: »

Is anyone diverting to unused solar leccy to heat the hot water say instead of using a battery for the excess?

How would that works vs say solar thermal collectors?

You mustn't have read any of this thread. Lots of people are doing it, a lot of people are doing both, filling the battery first and then diverting to water. Only thin is that the payback on diverting to water is long as you need to divert 4mwh just to break even on the diverter!

unkel

Evd-Burner wrote: »

You mustn't have read any of this thread. Lots of people are doing it, a lot of people are doing both, filling the battery first and then diverting to water. Only thin is that the payback on diverting to water is long as you need to divert 4mwh just to break even on the diverter!

Indeed. But it's more like 10MWh before break even. One kWh used to heat water with gas or oil costs €0.05

A diverter costs about €500 installed

500/0.05 = 10,000kWh

Nice day for the solar anyway. For hours on end I was producing >3kW today. In the next few days I'm coming up to 1MWh produced in my 3.8kwp system that was only installed in February :cool:

Evd-Burner

The quick maths have failed me today ðŸ˜

NoBread

How does the system cope during a power cut? Had a couple recently and was wondering. I guess in both scenarios, one with a battery system, and the other without. Assume a bright sunny day in both scenarios and mains power gone for 3 hours!
What happens if the draw exceeds supply?

AidenL

unkel wrote: »

Indeed. But it's more like 10MWh before break even. One kWh used to heat water with gas or oil costs €0.05

A diverter costs about €500 installed

500/0.05 = 10,000kWh

Nice day for the solar anyway. For hours on end I was producing >3kW today. In the next few days I'm coming up to 1MWh produced in my 3.8kwp system that was only installed in February :cool:

Days like this, it makes me wish I had it on the roof.

unkel

Decide what you want to do / how much you want to spend. And then just bite the bullet, Aiden. I doubt you'll regret it and you'll be doing the right thing. For yourself and for everybody else.

AidenL

unkel wrote: »

Decide what you want to do / how much you want to spend. And then just bite the bullet, Aiden. I doubt you'll regret it and you'll be doing the right thing. For yourself and for everybody else.

Yep you are right. So many good reasons to do it.

niallers1

I don't have a diverter yet but today on the way out to work I put the Immersion on bath and left it on all day (I know, crazy or what) .. didn't use anything from the grid. Came home to full hot tank of water.

Wouldn't do that normally, twas just an experiment like

4.2kw east/west PV with 4.8kwh Pylontech batteries.

gally74

Signed today. 3.6 kw solaredge

unkel

niallers1 wrote: »

today on the way out to work I put the Immersion on bath and left it on all day (I know, crazy or what) .. didn't use anything from the grid.

I like your style niallers1. In a similar experiment I'm going to charge my EV from my solar from about 10AM tomorrow and see how that goes

niallers1

gally74 wrote: »

Signed today. 3.6 kw solaredge

Good man, well done.
We're you tempted to go for 3.9kw or 4.2kw to get max grant?

gally74

niallers1 wrote: »

Good man, well done.
We're you tempted to go for 3.9kw or 4.2kw to get max grant?

not really, im getting a 5K inverter and will expand when a FIT some in in 2021, i initally was going for a battery but if FIT does come in and i think it will, it will not return the investment,

i also got the solar edge imersion setup etc. We have activity during the day in the house, so consumption should be high enough,

secondly we used oil for heating the hot water during the summer, the burner is located in the garage about 12m away from the house, so quiet inneficiecnt to heat water in the summer,

iits not all about the money here, its the right thing to do,

as the king once said, "The time is always right to do the right thing"

KCross

unkel wrote: »

I like your style niallers1. In a similar experiment I'm going to charge my EV from my solar from about 10AM tomorrow and see how that goes

What’s the plan, connect via granny cable?
Can the Ioniq also set the granny cable to the min of 6A?

That combination would be ideal.

unkel

Just plug in as usual with my EVSE. End point of my charging cable is literally centimeters from the charger in my car for maximum convenience. Why would I bother using a granny cable?

Limiting the current from within the car alright. Can't remember what settings I have, but I know the minimum is 6A. Currently the base load of the house is about 1.4kW so that would be ideal if like today I will produce >3kW steadily for hours on end (tiny bit hazy now and then but no clouds), so I should charge 100% from PV and 0% from the grid

rolion

You will not be able to fully charge from PV...you lose the money compared with charging at night rate.
The Sun will not stay up there and "wait" for the car to fully charge, it will be covered by clouds and that alone will fluctuate over the couple hours and few minutes. Been there,done it and i say it never do again but .... well,i hate sometime giving the free electricity to mr grid.

@Gally... on this land we will never get the FIT you are talking about.
No offence intended, but plan your system around maximising consumption and in-house efficiency.

unkel

rolion wrote: »

You will not be able to fully charge frpm PV...you lose the money compared with charging at night rate.

Not necessarily. On a cloudless (but slightly hazy) day like yesterday, where my production was a steady >3kW for hours on end without dipping below it, I could have charged my car at 6A or even 10A without ever buying from the grid. No, not from 0-100%, but I think I have only ever charged from 0-100% once in the well over 2 years I have the car...

And even on a mixed cloudy / sunny day if you charge say two thirds of the time on PV and one third of the time you have to buy from the grid at the expensive day rate, it is still cheaper than charging at night rate overall

rolion

unkel wrote: »

Not necessarily. On a cloudless (but slightly hazy) day like yesterday, where my production was a steady >3kW for hours on end without dipping below it, I could have charged my car at 6A or even 10A without ever buying from the grid. No, not from 0-100%, but I think I have only ever charged from 0-100% once in the well over 2 years I have the car...

And even on a mixed cloudy / sunny day if you charge say two thirds of the time on PV and one third of the time you have to buy from the grid at the expensive day rate, it is still cheaper than charging at night rate overall

You know what...i owe you a nice bottle of Maynards's Port !

Just went in to my mobile app for my charger and found that i can adjust the charging rate / output amperage !
So, if i can setup a timer to start charging when car arrives at home and stop charging when i feel the appliances will start the work,i can use the PVs to feed a steady 6Amps / 1kwhish to my battery RATHER than free to mr grid bonuses !!!
Then,readjust it overnight if necesary,back to 16Amps.

That way,the diverter finishes its work and cylinder hot by lunch time so the excess 10KWh afternoon rather than "wasted" in bonuses goes in to MY battery !
Oah,it's amazing if that will work...

BobFedora

rolion wrote: »

You will not be able to fully charge from PV...you lose the money compared with charging at night rate.

Glad i read this - long time reader first time poster!

i'm getting quotes in at the moment. my intention is to put in solar pv, divert excess to hot water (which in itself will rtequire a new HW cylinder) and, going forward to charge the electric car that i reckon will be purchased in the next 12 months (waiting for me diesel to die...)

i thought with one of those fancy zappi chargers i'd be good to go with EV charging? the car is left at home twice a week so could daytime charge.

thanks to all have you that have posted useful/interesting information here.

unkel

rolion wrote: »

Just went in to my mobile app for my charger and found that i can adjust the charging rate / output amperage !

Not quite sure about the Leaf, but in most EVs you can adjust the charging rate / input amperage from within the car too!

KCross

unkel wrote: »

Just plug in as usual with my EVSE. End point of my charging cable is literally centimeters from the charger in my car for maximum convenience. Why would I bother using a granny cable?

Limiting the current from within the car alright. Can't remember what settings I have, but I know the minimum is 6A. Currently the base load of the house is about 1.4kW so that would be ideal if like today I will produce >3kW steadily for hours on end (tiny bit hazy now and then but no clouds), so I should charge 100% from PV and 0% from the grid

The min for the charging standard is 6A but I believe some cars dont accept a rate that low.

I dont know what settings the Ioniq has but it might be better to use the granny charger to get the lowest Amp setting possible..... if you can use your 32A EVSE but limit that to 6A in the cars settings then thats perfect too.... as I said, I dont know what the Ioniq menus allow.

Does it just have one setting regardless of whether its the granny cable or the 32A EVSE?

KCross

unkel wrote: »

Not quite sure about the Leaf, but in most EVs you can adjust the charging rate / input amperage from within the car too!

Not configurable on the Leaf menus.

Evd-Burner

BobFedora wrote: »

Glad i read this - long time reader first time poster!

i'm getting quotes in at the moment. my intention is to put in solar pv, divert excess to hot water (which in itself will rtequire a new HW cylinder) and, going forward to charge the electric car that i reckon will be purchased in the next 12 months (waiting for me diesel to die...)

i thought with one of those fancy zappi chargers i'd be good to go with EV charging? the car is left at home twice a week so could daytime charge.

thanks to all have you that have posted useful/interesting information here.

It really isn't worth buying a diverter and a new hot water tank just to divert the hot water. It will take years just to pay off the diverter, nevermind the tank!

johnjacob

unkel wrote: »

Indeed. But it's more like 10MWh before break even. One kWh used to heat water with gas or oil costs €0.05

A diverter costs about €500 installed

500/0.05 = 10,000kWh

Nice day for the solar anyway. For hours on end I was producing >3kW today. In the next few days I'm coming up to 1MWh produced in my 3.8kwp system that was only installed in February :cool:

So what are you doing with the excess?

Be much handier if we could just feed it back into the grid rather than buy batteries

One neighbor has a very old meter and it runs backwards, so they are quids in

rolion

unkel wrote: »

Not quite sure about the Leaf, but in most EVs you can adjust the charging rate / input amperage from within the car too!

im playing from within the charger' mobile application... setting the minimum charging current. Waiting for the LEAF to come home...
Issue is what if i forget to up it back overnight ?

unkel

johnjacob wrote: »

So what are you doing with the excess?

At the moment, mostly sending it back to the grid for free. Apart from some cryptomining (which I plan to stop now the weather is getting warmer) and perhaps charging my car on the granny cable on a sunny day (but that's a pain)

Getting an AC attached battery system connected soon. Cost me hundreds, not thousands. More as a hobby than anything else. And like the rest of you, hope for either a half decent feed in tariff or a huge decrease in the cost of lithium batteries or (my favourite) a V2G system provided by the utility company as a pilot / sans the setup costs

unkel

Quick test and my measurements are very flaky as I'm just using an Owl for overall consumption / feed back to grid (can't even really tell which is which from the face of it )

KCross wrote: »

Does it just have one setting regardless of whether its the granny cable or the 32A EVSE?

There are two settings, but it looks like one setting for DC charging and one for AC charging. So yes, one setting regardless of whether it's the granny cable or the 32A EVSE

And the minimum setting when using the EVSE is still drawing about 4.2kW, so no good to me (a good bit more than my solar PV can provide)

The maximum setting when using the granny cable is a bit over 2kW, so perfect. Were it not for the fact I have to be using the granny cable, which flies in the face of the max convenience setup I have with my EVSE

On the sunny side, the car will be charging up to 100% over the next few hours, purely on PV, so 100% clean and 100% free

rolion

Evd-Burner wrote: »

It really isn't worth buying a diverter and a new hot water tank just to divert the hot water. It will take years just to pay off the diverter, nevermind the tank!

johnjacob wrote: »

So what are you doing with the excess?

Be much handier if we could just feed it back into the grid rather than buy batteries

One neighbor has a very old meter and it runs backwards, so they are quids in

Well,this has been discussed here a lot... plus and minus, even friendships have been broken for it...lots of verbal fightings.

After having a system working for the past 2 years, i can say that there are two options:
-buy the PV system without the diverter and all the excess electricity goes to Mr Grid while you enjoy the weather;
-buy at the same time and install it at the same time the PV system with diverter and ... save any excess to your own personal owned in-house hot water cylinder,while enjoy it the weather to your own comfort.

Now,unless you work for one of the big industry companies out there, i guess is easier to see which one has a "personal touch" advantage.

Please note that there will not be a FIT payment system around here for a couple of goooood years...
I mean think about it...i pushed 11Kwh yesterday free in the grid. Multiply that with few more hundreds of PV installs across the country... ask yourself:why in my right mind i will approve FIT when i can get surplus of "negative energy" from the grants' happy owners of the PVs !??

And,don't forget ..think about the environment,change begins from within yourself (while big guys are fcukign up this planet)

unkel

Charging completely from the sun

KCross

unkel wrote: »

And the minimum setting when using the EVSE is still drawing about 4.2kW, so no good to me (a good bit more than my solar PV can provide)

The maximum setting when using the granny cable is a bit over 2kW, so perfect. Were it not for the fact I have to be using the granny cable, which flies in the face of the max convenience setup I have with my EVSE

Little confused.... what settings does the car give you?
Can you set all AC charging to 6A?

Why did the 32A charger pull 4.2kW if the car was set for a lower amount?


EDIT: Ah, I see this about the Ioniq... it has 3 charge speeds on AC...
Maximum = 30 Ampere (=6,7kW)
Medium = 26 Ampere (=5,87kW)
Minimum= 17 Ampere (=3,94kW)

The 3.94kW is what you were getting by the looks of it.

So, yes, my original thought of a Granny cable being needed if you want to ensure you dont pull from the grid unless you had a smart charger that would allow you to limit it at the EVSE side.

unkel

Where did you get those settings from, couldn't find it myself

But yeah they seem spot on. I'm disappointed I can't set the minimum below 17A. That indeed forces me to use a granny cable (or partially import from the grid)

Smart charger is not a financially smart option for me. And I'm not impressed with all the stories here on this forum alone about issues with the Zappi chargers. And open EVSE seem overpriced too.

I would need a ground mount to increase my PV and also upgrade my inverter. Or just partially charge from the grid. Would still only cost 0.9 kWh * 18c per 4kWh charged, so roughly half the night rate

KCross

unkel wrote: »

Where did you get those settings from, couldn't find it myself

Just a google.... came up on some forum post from a guy who tried all 3 settings and posted what his monitor was showing.

unkel wrote: »

I'm disappointed I can't set the minimum below 17A. That indeed forces me to use a granny cable (or partially import from the grid)

Thats disappointing alright. You'd think they'd at least allow you to set it to 10A the same as the granny cable.

I think one of the reasons they dont is that the charger in the car is designed for max efficiency at a particular Amperage. Taking it all the way down to 6A is probably woefully inefficient. They werent thinking of free PV electricity!

Some other cars do allow it though.. Kia PHEV allows 3 settings on its granny cable.. 12A, 10A, 8A.

unkel

Ioniq has 3 settings on the granny cable too. I'm using the max charge rate

KCross

unkel wrote: »

Ioniq has 3 settings on the granny cable too. I'm using the max charge rate

Must be 10A, 8A and 6A then?

Did you try them to see what they pull?

rolion

Enjoy the free charge... oh no,i pay for... no is free,well, i'm not sure...
If you not sure, just "play safe" and "unplug / pull" it at the right time, man !

That's the fcukign difference between a proper EV charger and a "different" one that is being promoted a lot around here.
Let's move to EV topic as here cant see any connection with the PV quotes...

unkel

KCross wrote: »

Must be 10A, 8A and 6A then?

Did you try them to see what they pull?

Yeah max is a bit over 2kW, I guess that's the max the granny charger can handle

BobFedora

well, thats it really. i know that paying for PV and a new cylinder isn't the smartest thing to do with my money financially. i could pay circa 8k off my mortgage instead.
but,
-small change environmentally is better than nothing
-i (or some combination of me, wife, child) wil be in the house for another 20+ yrs minimum so long term planning
-i like the idea of having 200L of hot water mostly for free (my current HW cylinder is 120L)

i also don't forsee any FIT being introduced so the alternative is no PV or PV and give away the bulk of the electricity.
like i said, i plan on an electric car sooner or later so hope to get more value out of the installation with that too (although dicussion just above has me now wondering).

lightson

Hi I have been trying to get some quotes and seemed a good way to judge the price.
Systems and prices and grants vary according to size and options

so far 1 rough quote is

1.8kw system including 2.4 kwh battery and diverter...
€1630 per Kw after grant.
or €1.63 per watt

that seem expensive?

and is this a silly way of looking at the figures?

Thanks

Evd-Burner

BobFedora wrote: »

well, thats it really. i know that paying for PV and a new cylinder isn't the smartest thing to do with my money financially. i could pay circa 8k off my mortgage instead.
but,
-small change environmentally is better than nothing
-i (or some combination of me, wife, child) wil be in the house for another 20+ yrs minimum so long term planning
-i like the idea of having 200L of hot water mostly for free (my current HW cylinder is 120L)

Adding the diverter and adding the hot tank is not making any difference environmentally by having the inverter. You would environmentally make a bigger impact giving the juice away to the grid for free!

You also aren't saving any money on the inverter and new water tank either, it's actually costing you! The break even point would be 30+ years! That's without anything breaking or you getting an electric car in the future.

Now getting an electric car and getting a Zappi charger that can use exactly what you would be exporting to the grid will make a difference both financially and environmentally, you would need a charger for the car irregardless.

unkel

lightson wrote: »

1.8kw system including 2.4 kwh battery and diverter...

Do NOT get a battery and do NOT get a diverter if you're only installing a 1.8kwp system. Both are a complete waste of money in such a small setup.

BobFedora

"Adding the diverter and adding the hot tank is not making any difference environmentally by having the inverter. You would environmentally make a bigger impact giving the juice away to the grid for free!" - surely the world is better off if i get hot water from solar rather than gas? you're probably right about the bigger environmental impact being to give it back to the grid but hey, i want to get something for me too!

"You also aren't saving any money on the inverter and new water tank either, it's actually costing you! The break even point would be 30+ years!" - yep, i get that, but its not just the cash. currently my HW comes only from gas and any issue with the boiler/system means i wake up to no hot water. and every time i take a shower i'm thinking 'fossil fuel'.

'Now getting an electric car and getting a Zappi charger that can use exactly what you would be exporting to the grid' - this sounds like good advice.

thanks for the feedback Evd - like i say, i'm feeling my way around this, getting quotes, trying to pick a solution from battery/hot water/car charging that makes sense to me.

unkel

Evd-Burner wrote: »

Now getting an electric car and getting a Zappi charger that can use exactly what you would be exporting to the grid will make a difference both financially and environmentally, you would need a charger for the car irregardless.

If you don't already have a charger and you get the Zappi installed it might make some sense, but still a bit of a payback period. Let's say the Zappi costs €400 more than a basic charger. That still means you have to charge the car with

€400/€0.08 = 5000kWh through the Zappi on 100% free solar for break even. That's 35k km. Let's say you have a large PV array and you can't use it for anything else and your car is at home most of the time then optimistically you can maybe charge it 50% through Zappi and 50% at night rate. Which makes the payback period 70k km, or almost 5 years for someone doing average mileage. That payback would go up big style if we ever get a FIT

If you work away from home during the day, the Zappi will never pay for itself

Like so many other (quasi) renewables - it looks like a great idea, but if you start doing some realistic sums, in many cases it turns out to be pie in the sky

rolion

AND...i have my own battery now,thanks @unkel about your brilliant earlier test / suggestion.

Setup charger at 6A and charging rather than diverting to grid AND still left excess for the house and diverter !

Happy PVing... sorry for off_topic !

KCross

unkel wrote: »

Let's say the Zappi costs €400 more than a basic charger.

Zappi v1 is €585 delivered to your door from ElectricAutos.ie

A dumb Rolec is £400+ from the UK, so there is ~€100 between them. And if you add on optional kWh meters and locks etc to a Rolec you are up to Zappi money.


Zappi v2 will be more expensive for the new UK regs but if you spec a Rolec with the new regs they are also more expensive. There isnt much between them to be honest.

unkel

You can get a second hand charger for around €200 if you are prepared to be on the lookout for a while.

And if you already have a charger installed, replacing it with a Zappi (with no subsidy) would make no sense at all. Sure if you have a large array, get the €600 subsidy and if you're home during the day most days, it might still make sense. If not, then not. Certainly not if you expect a FIT in the next few years.