Solar for Beginners [ask your questions here]

robwen

Not getting enough kw these days to heat the water through the eddi, the heating is on & heats the water anyway, so would it be better to turn off the eddi these low producing winter days & have the 2kw or so the solar is generating go to house/ grid??

Have no battery or zappi

bullit_dodger

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119999720#Comment_119999720

Depends on a few things - but generally it doesn't matter. First and foremostly if you are on D/N meter with "deemed export", you might as well leave it switched on as you are getting an "estimated export" of electricity based on your inverter size. So if you export zero or 100Kwhr, you get paid the same.....so why not use it ?

If you are on a smart meter, then FIT does come into play a little - but it probably doesn't matter if you have it switched on/off. The reason that if you are like me, is that your heating will heat the water up to 55C. Then when your EDDI kicks in, it will (depending on what your thermostat is set to) will only heat it up to 60C.....or perhaps the central heating has already got it to temp, in which case the Eddi will do nothing anyway, irrespective of if it's on/off.

In my case it will raise the water from 55C to 60C (my immersion thermostat), so in effect my hot tank becomes a (very minor) heater for the Central heating thanks to the Eddi.

slave1

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119997053#Comment_119997053

Whilst they are there and ready to do a quick optimiser install for say €50, I'd do it, in the grand scale of things it's pittance

bullit_dodger

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119999919#Comment_119999919

Very true mate although doing it for 14, 16 or more panels and it starts to add up and you need to carefully evaluate if it's a good use of your time/money. I think optimizers are a clever little devices, but (IMHO) many people rush into installing them thinking that they are going to magically improve things, where often it's a boost for 2-3 hrs a day for a few months of the year. Granted though there are also some very useful cases for them out there.

unkel

If you own a good ladder and you like working on your aerobic fitness going up and down it all the time, then yes go for it, install those optimizers 😂

ELM327

I'm all for a bit of DIY but I'll leave anything on a roof for a roofer to do.

After all the stupid reckless stuff I did in my younger days I'm not going to die or damage myself falling off a ladder or roof trying to save a few quid!

olympicweights

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119999919#Comment_119999919

No they have to come back and fit it if I decide to go ahead so ladders etc required They are quoting €80 each.

After looking at the output with different amounts of shading on just one panel I don't think I'll bother with one. My understanding was that 1 panel would bring every other panel down but it was <20% reduction in overall output with one panel fully shaded reducing all the time as more of the panel was exposed. It only takes 30-40 minutes for the shading to disappear so I think I'll give it a miss.

bullit_dodger

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120000312#Comment_120000312

Well I won't be getting off my hoop as I've no need for optimizers on my main roof, although another thing I found which may affect your thinking.

What Happens If an Optimizer Fails? – Tigo Help Center (tigoenergy.com)

Tigo optimizers are factory-configured in the "on" position, which means voltage as high as open circuit voltage (Voc) is present at the outputs as long as a PV module is connected*. In most cases, a PV module connected to a failed optimizer will produce power just as it would without an optimizer connected.

So in theory you could install them and if one fails....well, it'll revert back to the panel without optimizer installed.

Just be clear here, I'm not proposing that people generally install optimizers. Personally I think for the vast (vast) majority of cases they are a waste of time/money for the few Kwhr that you (might!) get on a sunny day for a few months a year. No, I'm just "sharing the knowledge" and leaving it up to people to then decide what's right for them. That said, there are occasions where they are needed with very good reasons.

unkel

Good point. That said, after electronics appliances, the next most often thing to fail are connections. With optimizers you at least double the number of connections. And where electronics failures are mostly harmless, failing connectors in high voltage strings can lead to arcs. Thus fires.

And it's not like I have some sort of irrational fear / mental block about optimizers, I used one myself a good few years ago to combine a 3 panels west facing with a single east facing panel into a string that needed to have the voltage of 4 panels to reach the minimum startup voltage for the input string on my inverter.

Dozz

Hi all

I changed wifi provider and am wondering how do I connect my solis inverter (with wifi dongle) to the new wifi?

Any help is greatly appreciated.

THE ALM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120002319#Comment_120002319

handiest thing is to name your new wifi (ssid) with the same name and password. Everything connected before should connect again.

ELM327

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120002753#Comment_120002753

This is a great hack and I've done it a lot. We have starlink and any time theres a power outage of more than a few minutes the SSID needs to be renamed and the password reset in the app.

Mr Q

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120003320#Comment_120003320

Off topic but why do you have Starlink? Isn't it twice the price of most alternatives currently.

I looked into it and it was about 50 a month more than my current option for a fraction of the speed.

ELM327

We live rural and the options for reliable no limit fast broadband - 2 tech workers on 100% WFH - were either Starlink or 3-5Mbps eir.

It's 85 quid a month but very reliable. The worst speeds are far in excess of the wired options. We're on the fibre map for 2023-4 I think so if there are better options there then I will of course take them but for the moment it works well and I'm happy to pay the premium for speed and reliability.

Similar to my philosophy on DIY solar. I'm happy to cobble together some calb cells, or even a couple of 12v UPS batteries and inverters like I have in my office, but I'll leave the getting up on the roof to the professionals and I'm happy to pay for their speed and reliability and expertise!

yankinlk

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120002319#Comment_120002319

Is it solis? Look for my solis data logger thread.... Link to instructions in there.

Ginger83

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119999840#Comment_119999840

I haven't really looked into FIT yet but I am on a D/N meter and will be getting 6kw inverter.

Are you saying that the FIT is estimated regardless of what is exported?

con747

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120004832#Comment_120004832

Bottom line, yes. Have a look at the posts here https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058094040/pv-feed-in-tariff#latest post #1900 down has info on the way it is.

Ginger83

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120004929#Comment_120004929

Thanks. Going by the formula am I right here

6×0.097×0.35×8760=1784 units deemed exported

con747

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120005177#Comment_120005177

Sorry, but I hate maths 😂 But it looks ok I think. So if on .18c FIT you would be due €321.12 on deemed export?

Ginger83

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120005188#Comment_120005188

Is there a reason for deemed export? Is it because no smart meter meaning no accurate way to work out exported units?

con747

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120005249#Comment_120005249

Exactly, the CRU put that in place but it won't last long. The power companies know they are giving out free money and will sort it out as soon as possible.

Ginger83

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120005269#Comment_120005269

How? By pushing smart meters?

con747

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120005320#Comment_120005320

Yes, or maybe reduce FIT rates over time. The whole rollout of FIT has been a shambles but I don't want to derail this thread anymore so will leave it at that.

micks_address

Something annoying happened with my zappi charger today.. had the charger connected to the car and on eco plus mode for a boost tonight on night rates. Had a power cut and when the power came back on charger started in fast mode. Immediately starting to charge the car at 7.5kw at peak electric rates.. I noticed after a few minutes so no big deal but if I hadn't noticed and the car was low battery would have cost a lot more than I'd like.. any way to avoid it happening? I know it's a reasonably unlikely event having the car plugged in and then a power cut etc

jkforde

there's a Default Mode in Charge Settings

https://myenergi.com/wiki/zappi-v2/menus/

unkel

@micks_address - Yes you can set the default start up mode to whatever you want. I've mine set to eco plus. It's in the settings, you'll find it.

AckwelFoley

Had my first blackout Friday. Checked the solar on the app when I was at work.. only god only knows why i did, because the return is pretty paultry since early November.

Anyhow, got home and everything way out, we had grid power however.

I noticed we had a grid outage for a short time earlier in the day as the cctv went down too so I checked the consumer unit and the MCB for the solar there had tripped out. Flicked it back on and it went back live.

ELM327

Solar for dummies question for today. My electrician has been delayed again till after christmas.

What cable would I need, I'm looking to connect my 7kVa generator's 32a CEE output to a 48v battery charger. I don't own the battery charger yet so I'm also looking for reccomendations there. I'm not a fan of what the electrician suggested, a transfer switch to run the house on the generator. I'd prefer to run the generator to charge the batteries.

TLDR: Reccomendation needed for 48v battery charger, and also a cable to connect it to a 32a CEE female outlet

Was thinking of something like this:

3000W 24V 29.2V 80A 36V 43.8V 70A 48V 58.4V 45A Lifepo4 Charger 3KW 60V 40A 72V 35A LFP Forklift Golf Cart RV AGV Smart Charger| | - AliExpress

slave1

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120005269#Comment_120005269

Free money is right, especially for those with a hot water diverter or smart car charge point integrated into their system, like me

redmagic68

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120018764#Comment_120018764

Or Tp link Tapo plugs 😀