Solar for Beginners [ask your questions here]

I would think it's more of the installer not explaining it very well. The inverter has a maximum limit it can supply which is determined by the model of the inverter itself and how much power the panels are producing at that time which can dramatically differ at different times of the year. Of course you will pay more for an inverter than can output more but the panels have to be there to support bigger inverters.

Irrespective of how much power is being produced, the ESB has limited the maximum output of an inverter on domestic single phase supply to 6KW in this country.

That figure is significantly less than you can draw from the grid through your consumer unit/main fuse.

The point is that with some research you should be able to get some more realistic expectations on the limitations of solar power in Ireland.

I've seen a few posts asking about immersion times for using night rate on the thread & a couple of others.

Recently got an immersion after never having one in this house & it was just fitted with a fused spur.

After researching I purchased a 15amp Sonoff Powr2 Switch & connected it up myself. The Powr4 wasn't available when I bought. That's a 20amp which is probably better suited to the more continuous high load. It's only a single 3kw immersion.

It was extremely easy to fit. I practised on an old bit of electrical lead first. Obviously make sure you isolated the power& switched it off at the fuse.

Connect it up using the ewelink app,which in turn I have connected to alexa & Google.

Scheduled to heat only on nightrate.

It also has inching which I have set at 30 mins so if anyone turns it on it will turn off the immersion after 30 mins regardless which is great when you have 3 teens & 2 absent minded parents.

I also have the scheduling set to take this into account & give it 5 to 10 mins in between heating the immersion as its only a 15amp to avoid possible issues.

It also monitors consumption. We use an average of 555kw a week heating the water for 5 of us. In saying that we also use the gym & shower there when possible.

The teen girls are the worst culprits by far. Will shower till its stone cold.

Its a 250l tank & the immersion is half way.

Our previous tank burst & that had a heat pump attached which took great from the underfloor heating at 330w.

It was very slow & should have had an immersion to boost it really.

We had planned on fitting the mini heat pump as well as the immersion but we couldn't get the same again so when the tank came it looked quite narrow for it & we would have had to take it to a steel fabricator to make it for. Plumber reckoned at least 400 euro & I wasn't sure it was worth it so its sitting in the attic for the moment.

The new tank also has coils that are connected to the underfloor heating so it's bringing the bottom of the tank to about 23 degrees at this time of the year anyway

You could get it up to about 3-4 weeks ago - a good few of us jumped on that. Fixed for 12 months too! Since then (Oct 1st) the rates have gone up, but you can still get ~10cents via Energia.

Price Plans - Energia

I'm on the EV price plan with a day/night meter, and no.....I don't have an EV! (No mention of asking/proof required, just signed up online and that was that)

Demon electric shower, LOL! Yes most of them use 9 or 10kW which seems huge, but if you use very little hot water it could make sense. If you're on your own or a couple using 5 minutes showers, it's fine. But you don't want to have a bunch of teenage daughters who like to have 30 minutes showers. Sometimes twice a day 😁

A question I should have checked earlier, but does the inverter need to be wired all the way back to the consumer unit? I had the impression once there was access to a circuit it would be fine.

I'm now wonder about the best placement of the inverter as the consumer unit is in the middle of the house.

Is there a maximum distance the batteries can be away from the inverter. Does it lose efficiency the further away it is for example? Is say 3 or 4 meters ok?

Ship has sailed on that rate. I called Energia last week. New night one will be around 12.98c with price rise in early Oct. Day around 43c

Thanks for that. Right next it is then.

Our installation is stalled at moment, waiting on a part. We ordered Eddi as will have excess with 16 panel set up and thought nice to have it stored there rather than export. But having a wobble as am told we will lose the timer control for immersion that we presently have and use daily ( 30 mins or less is enough for two showers with sink element.) A dull day here today and maybe nothing would go to water heating. I am told there is a boost button on the Eddi but that is for an hour and not on timer? We have boost on gas boiler too. I never could decide if gas was more efficient for that small amount of water so had stuck with electric to waterheat. The timer with 15 minute slots that we have at the moment seems so uncomplicated especially with other people visiting the house. It is located in the hotpress and has override 'on/off' setting as well. Can the Eddi be added at a later date without too much trouble?

All set for for final installation tomorrow... they were short of clamps for the battery. 🤞 Thanks all.

Oh the roofers were here 3 days and did a certain amount of wiring so await the arrival of the Electrician, he seems the prima donna of the team. I think there is a learning curve in this gang as the bossman is getting his team trained in! So inverter, battery and Eddi are all in their boxes still. Leap of faith to go with this lot as were able to offer me Sept date and assured all items in stock! We took note of distant dates and parts shortages with others.

Thats pretty normal, company I had the roofing team came out first and literally only did the panels on the roof (and i expect just the wiring in through the roof) but then a day or two later the electrician team took over and they did all the install of inverter/batteries/eddi etc.