Solar for Beginners [ask your questions here]

slave1 · 06-02-2022 2:55pm

You don't get any grant with a Hybrid inverter (which is ~twice the price), it's the battery you get the Grant for

THE ALM · 06-02-2022 2:56pm

Also, once all the heavy lifting is done, the kit is fairly plug and play so if there was an issue with an Inverter/Sols Panel e.g. it wouldn't be a big job to unplug one and plug in a new one.

Installing all the kit, roof brackets etc is the hard part and once all that is done and all the cable runs are in place the rest is just connecting it all up.

I am saying that as someone in a bungalow who can easily access the roof and attic where it is installed.😀

bullit_dodger · 06-02-2022 3:16pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118590403#Comment_118590403

+1 on that. The batteries are bomb proof. The chemistry in these things has come on so much in the last couple of years that these are different from your Sumsung Galaxy Note issue.

As for pluggin things out and fires ...... at the risk of sounding negative to you, you may be overtly paranoid there. Sure, plugging out things has other benefits (other than reducing fires) such as reducing your usage on devices which many claw away 10's of watts when not in use .....but nahh. Unless you are like pluggin out electric fires, irons, etc or some other obviously dangerous applicance you can rest easy.

The thing that always gets people when they hear this is that one of the "Top5" causes of electrical fires every year is, wait for it (!) ..... fridges. Yup, that's right....that innocuous thing in your kitchen keeping things cold. Since you probably previously never thought about plugging that out when you go to bed, your xbox is way down the list.

Bellie1 · 06-02-2022 4:17pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118590536#Comment_118590536

Ah jaysus , I'll never sleep again thinking about the fridge 😃. Even my partner, who is a big risk taker thought the batteries were a risk so I'll get him to check out re newer technology . The roof that will have most panels is NE facing and both of us are WFH so won't be generating too much excess I'd imagine. Is there any point in getting both a hot water diverter and battery? Or just get a 2.5KW battery ? My poor head is about to explode.

cute geoge · 06-02-2022 5:36pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118590403#Comment_118590403

I used 10,000 units on my farm but 70% was night rate as all ice building for milk refrigration and hot water heating is on night rate as well as morning milking .Refrigeration compressor and parlour running together is a big draw so may as well let that be

Bellie1 · 06-02-2022 5:45pm

Re planning, we are close to an airport ( about 3km as crow/plane flies).Will there be an issue with having solar panels ? We're in a terraced estate and would be the first house to have solar panels so possible could be reported to council. Outside of that , I guess I don't want to cause a plane crash.

TaurenDruid · 08-02-2022 11:53am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118591145#Comment_118591145

I am at a loss to understand how putting solar panels on your roof might cause a plane crash? 🤔

slave1 · 08-02-2022 12:21pm

Reflection glare I would imagine which I suppose could hinder pilots/ground controllers/radar

Deagol · 08-02-2022 1:21pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118599243#Comment_118599243

Did a quick bit of checking on this and it's a ridiculous premise - apparently some people are speculating that solar panels could cause glare that could 'distract' pilots. And what are supposed to believe, that velux style windows don't? They've been fitted to houses for 50+ years and I've never heard of plane crashing because of them.

And isn't the entire idea of a solar panel to adsorb light?? How reflective could it possibly be?

TaurenDruid · 08-02-2022 2:12pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118599243#Comment_118599243

That's not how radar or ATC works, though. I'd say there'd be more glare from swimming pools on a sunny day but I've never heard of them causing an incident in the south of France, Spain or Italy. Still, no harm in asking, and no doubt I'll have a few odd questions myself.

Number 1 being people are talking about putting panels on a particular roof, usually a south- or west-facing one if available; is there any reason you can't put them on both sides? Our house gets the sun in the front in the mornings, in the back in the evenings. Can we put panels on both sides so we maximise input, or do we run into a problem whereby they only take in the energy available to the side in shade (I've seen it mentioned that shadows can cause problems).

slave1 · 08-02-2022 2:21pm

Hey, never said it did, pure speculation is all

Deagol · 08-02-2022 2:31pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118599845#Comment_118599845

Most of the inverters have 2 MPPT's so you can set up two different 'sets' (called strings in solar parlance) that are independent of each other. So you can put 2x sets of panels on 2x different roof's. Shading is only an issue if you have one or more panels in a string shaded and the others not, they are wired in series so effectively they are all one giant panel in electrical terms.

Hope that explains!

TaurenDruid · 08-02-2022 4:34pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118599958#Comment_118599958

I think so, yes! So basically we could put panels on the east side to catch the sun from 4 or 5 in the morning in the summer, in the afternoon it'll be hitting both sides of the roof, and in the evening it'll be hitting the panels on the west side until 9 or 10. If there's shadow from the chimney on one side, input will drop from that side. It'd be tempting then to remove the chimney - though it's shared with the house next door, so wouldn't be an option.

MAULBROOK · 08-02-2022 5:31pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118591107#Comment_118591107

Solar could help alot and as a farmer the grants are very good, far better than the domestic grants.

What part of Ireland are you in as not all companies cover nationwide.

MAULBROOK · 08-02-2022 5:36pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118591145#Comment_118591145

Personally I wouldn't worry about planning. You are heading down the rabbit hole of over thinking it. Trust me this happens alot to many in the planning stages.

Pick 3 companies that I'm sure you have been sent to you by us on Boards.ie. Talk to a local company as they will know the area better. They would have a good bearing on local issues.

Deagol · 08-02-2022 7:15pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118600876#Comment_118600876

If you have any issues with the chimney shading some panels you can put optimizers on each panel that is shaded. An optimizer allows panels to function individually (to an extent) so that panel is 'dropped' out of the circuit. They are ~€55 each though so best to figure out which ones are likely to be shaded and put them on those panels rather than just put them on all (though that is an option if you're not bothered about costs).

MAULBROOK · 08-02-2022 7:27pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118600876#Comment_118600876

A East West setup works very well and shading can easily be solved with optimizers. They are far cheaper than removing a chimney.

AckwelFoley · 11-02-2022 4:34pm

I've applied for the grant, I've decided after much deliberation to go with the gents from Fermanagh. While i could have got it done with a direct labour approach for a about a grand cheaper, these guys are claiming the grant and invoicing me for the nett price which takes alit of the headaches out of it and from a warranty standpoint you're better off with supply and fit because one can't blame the other if there's an issue.

Probably will add a couple of panels to make it a 6kw system

puntypower · 16-02-2022 12:21am

When you are generating from solar and feeding it to your house, how does the house know to use the solar power instead of grid or is it a combination of you are using less that what you are generating?

bullit_dodger · 16-02-2022 12:37am

Good question. The answer is pretty easy.

An appliance will always take the power from the highest voltage on your local circuit. The inverter has a sensor for what the current grid voltage is coming into the house. Let's say it's 230v, then the inverter will pump out 240v (or something) and your house will use that over the 230v coming from the grid.

AckwelFoley · 16-02-2022 1:45pm

If you have a power cut from the grid and you have a full battery or the day is rather bright and is generating am I to assume you will have power from your solar within its capabilities?

I'm tentatively assuming the answer is yes?

bullit_dodger · 16-02-2022 2:03pm

This question comes up pretty regularly, sadly the answer is no. Virtually all the inverters we install are "grid-tied" in. This is good so when your producing more than you need, you can export to the grid, and your neighbor or the shop down the road can use your excess power, and hopefully when a decent FIT (Feed-in-Tariff) comes in you'll get paid.

The problem in a power cut is that your inverter doesn't know how or why there is no power coming in. Let's assume a tree has fallen down the road and broken the wire on top of the pole. So ESB sends out a technician to fix the line, and they power down the subnet FROM THEIR SIDE, so that the broken line is safe to work on.

However, if your inverter was working away happily pumping out electricity, then that same line that the technician is attempting to fix is now live FROM YOUR SIDE, and you could kill the guy. So for this reason, all grid-tied in inverters auto-shut down when no incoming grid voltage is detected.

Exception: A lot of the inverters have an "EPS" outlet (emergency power) which is typically enough to run a few essential devices, but it would have to be wired as a separate circuit from the main fusebox.

AckwelFoley · 16-02-2022 2:35pm

OK. Thanks @bullit_dodger that makes sense, never thought about that!

graememk · 16-02-2022 2:42pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118640448#Comment_118640448

And to add to this.

Nearly every install has a fireman switch too, which is a ac powered relay that disconnects the panels if there is a powercut/fuse pulled/no grid

So generally the EPS can only run from batteries.

AckwelFoley · 16-02-2022 2:49pm

We're getting the solis hybrid inverter. Does this come with an app to monitor usage or is that someone I need to ask for extra?

slave1 · 16-02-2022 3:28pm

You just need a wifi dongle, the App is free

MAULBROOK · 16-02-2022 3:54pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118640729#Comment_118640729

It would be a poor show if it wasn't included.

cute geoge · 18-02-2022 5:12pm

I am contemplating the best location for solar .My roof would be approx 45° east/ west but would have some space for ground mounted .If they were ground mounted could you place sv panels on frame which you could manually swivel to the east in morning ,lay flat daytime and swivel to the west in evening .Would it be much of big benefit for solar production?

bullit_dodger · 18-02-2022 5:21pm

I've an East/West split myself. Works out pretty well for most of the year. It's not great in the winter, you still get some production, but have a look in the daily PV thread and you'll see those folks with a south facing array rock in double digits while my max daily output for December was 3.3Kwhr on Dec14th.

Still a East/West split tends to have longer more stable production range. Earlier morning produciton and later in the evening than the south facing array. This can be benifical if for example there was no one in the house during the day at "peak output" time. You can also charge your batteries typically later in the day. Given the choice between south and an East/West split, the south will generate more over the course of the year......but the east/west has it's own usefulness with that long output during the day. (It's about 85% of the production of south)

As for ground mounting. Technically it's possible to do what you suggest and swivel, but you'd probably only boost production by 15-20% and it's a sophisticated gimble to do that. Cheaper (and way more simple) just to add 1-2 panels to the array and have it as fixed mount. No swivelling, and you get the same production.

One thing that could be useful though is on a ground mount to have 2-3 angles (slope). That's an easier thing to do, panels closer to horizontal plane in the summer and more vertical in the winter when the sun is low on the horizon. You need to be a little careful here, especially considering the day that's in it..... wind. You don't want the panels blowing away if they are like 60-70 degrees to the horizontal.

slave1 · 18-02-2022 6:12pm

Agree with last piece of that post, adjustable ground mount not that difficult once planned in, in theory you can do three positions

A Spring/Autumn

B Summer

C Winter

I'm doing 12 for the craic as it's easy to do now and very hard later, I may never use all 12 positions but at least they are there.

Re heavy winds, my mount is all metal and buried into 90cm concrete base for stability

Solar for Beginners [ask your questions here]

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