Domestic Solar PV Quotes 2022 - No PM requests - See Mod note post #1

championc · 11-03-2022 11:09am

Two comments on this

1. People need to know that a "normal" solar setup cannot support a house in a power cut

2. Batteries are only worthwhile at the right price-point

AndyBoBandy · 11-03-2022 11:37am

I couldn't imagine not having the battery as part of my set-up.. (I should point out I also have a day/night meter).

During the day when I'm running the washing machine, dishwasher, or even boiling the kettle, these devices will spike the house usage above what the Solar PV is producing (over the last couple of months anyway), so having the battery there to take up any slack is much better than pulling that additional demand from the expensive daytime grid.

Also if it's going to be a very productive day, and I know I'll have excess, the battery charging up gives me about 2 hours to plan what to do when it gets full - stick on extra washes, plug car in etc...

From Nov 1st to about last week, I was charging the battery at night on cheap rate, and using that to supplement the weak winter PV production meaning feck all expensive daytime rate was used over the last few months...

Lastly, We had a planned power outage about 3 weeks ago (had about 3 now over the last 12 months), and as both of us are WFH, we really need to stay connected, so I was able to power the fibre modem, and both our offices (laptop, dock & 2 screens per offie), for the 5 hours the power was off, and only used 11% of battery (5kWh)

Here's yesterday's grid usage; used 0 from 8am-11pm (day rate period), and could not have achieved that without the battery!

MAULBROOK · 11-03-2022 12:19pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118766946#Comment_118766946

shoehorn · 11-03-2022 12:27pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118746785#Comment_118746785

Can someone PM me the same please - top few suppliers by consensus of this group? Including the 'Enniskillen crowd' that I've seen mentioned a few times.

Also thinking of getting EV. Any reasons to get that before vs after the panels or it doesn't matter? Do solar companies install EV chargers?

MAULBROOK · 11-03-2022 12:38pm

Majority of them install chargers.

thespecialon · 11-03-2022 1:13pm

Hi,

Would appreciate if someone could PM some reasonable suppliers that would serve the Kerry area. Just looking for panels really and as many as feasible. Hopefully get an EV then in next few years to soak up the excess

Thanks

JimmyVik · 11-03-2022 1:15pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118767113#Comment_118767113

Is it a case with solar that you cant just forget about it, or do you have to be constantly tweaking and babysitting it.

I think I would just prefer it be install and forget about it.

MAULBROOK · 11-03-2022 2:18pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118767653#Comment_118767653

Sent

AndyBoBandy · 11-03-2022 2:36pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118767666#Comment_118767666

Definitely install and forget about it for the vast majority of folk.... but because I have the day/night electricity meter, it's worth my while charging it during winter on the night rate so I can then use that 'cheaper' electricity the following day in conjunction with the solar production.

The only tweaking I've done is set the battery to charge at night from the beginning of November. Then about a month ago I set it to charge a little slower (so when it stops charging at 07:59am its at 55% as opposed to fully charged to 100%). I'll set it to completely stop charging at night in the next week or 2 and then I won't have to touch it again til November* when I need to start charging again at night for the following day.

*If a storm was forecast during the summer months, or I had notification of a power disruption, I might go and manually charge up the battery the previous night to have it there as a backup.

JimmyVik · 11-03-2022 2:52pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118768127#Comment_118768127

Might sound like another silly question.

I heard you can ruyn solar when there is a power cut, but if you have a battery in the system then does it work during a power cut?

AndyBoBandy · 11-03-2022 3:12pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118768237#Comment_118768237

No, the opposite.

Solar PV system shuts down in the event of a power cut (so you can’t back feed power upstream and fry the guys working on a system they think is off)

if you have a battery, most installers fit a socket next to the battery that you can use in the event of a power cut. This is safe as it’s an isolated circuit downstream of the battery, and can run some basic appliances, but you couldn’t have it connected to your fuse board hence the socket they install.

championc · 11-03-2022 3:12pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118768237#Comment_118768237

You need a specific (and somewhat expensive) setup to run the whole house off battery if the main power fails.

Some inverters have an emergency power outlet which can be presented maybe to a double socket or dedicated circuit.

But generally, Solar PV systems are grid-tied. They need the grid or else they are completely dead. Simply explained, if you stayed generating, you will be still connected to the grid and you don't want to electrocute a workman outside your house who expects the mains cable to be dead.

spose · 11-03-2022 5:46pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118767666#Comment_118767666

you can forget about it but there is a risk is if you’re tech minded it sucks you in and becomes a bit of a toy or pet project and you keep looking at adding bits and pieces to it or getting more information out of it!

con747 · 11-03-2022 6:48pm

Got my install a few weeks ago and a neighbour down the road was asking about it so I told him to let me know if he was looking to get a system so I could guide him like the folks here done with me. He paid a deposit for 16 x 340w panels and an eddi off a very Active company who I warned him about. They wanted €11,000 off him after the grant! I got him to ring them and cancel before they could "Activate" the install and got him a quote of €6,000 as an example to show him and told him to get more quotes in. A lucky man.

niamh_connolly · 11-03-2022 8:34pm

Hi everyone, thanks a million for this thread, you've already saved us '000s (first quote was 3kWp, 3kW inverter, 2.4kW battery, EDDI for 9800 after grant and marketing discount...).

Our current electricity usage seems v low - <150 units/month (240 for last 2 months). I even rang SSE to make sure I was reading the bill right😁... we are two people, smallish house with no EV or heat pump, water/heat/cooking is currently gas, but we are both WFH and have all appliances etc. Not sure why it's so low, but my question is should we "go big or go home" or is there no point? Is a 3kW system enough or will more capacity now futureproof us? I realise payback might take a while, but that's not really my primary motivation. I can imagine getting an EV in future, but not for a year or so at least, and the house is not ready yet for a heat pump (low BER).

Best value quote so far (I think) is 5.92kWp, 5kW inverter, 5kW battery, EDDI for 9500 after grant - presume I can reduce capacity there, but do you think I can do better than that? Will post some quotes when I gather a few more!

MAULBROOK · 11-03-2022 10:24pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118769958#Comment_118769958

I would always say go big, yes in the now the smaller setup might look good but when the ev arrives you will kick yourself for not going big.

Up the inverter to a 6kwh, virtually no difference in price.

The €9500 quote is good. Imo

Bobeagleburger · 11-03-2022 10:36pm

Go big and move away from relying on gas (cooking and water anyway) if possible.

Your usage is tiny (1800 kWh per year) so definitely worth doing the sums.

Will the EV be at home during the week for example?

Can you switch your gas usage to electric?

If the answer is no to both you'll be a long time paying back 9.5k. Decades!

If the answer is yes, then it's a different conversation.

The price could be improved too btw.

magootoo · 12-03-2022 11:21am

Hi all,

thanks so much for this thread learning lots. Could someone please pm me the appropriate details for getting the right quotes please. Am in the Dublin area.

many thanks