Solar for Beginners [ask your questions here]

Last time I used it you needed to input the horizon on a plot… a little bit tricky without a theodolite from the vantage-point of the panels, if you ask me.

OK! But sadly my phone is too thick to use dioptra.

But yeah, thanks for the pointer.

If you’ve no battery but have an EV and can load shift other stuff to cheap night rate (dishwasher, washing machine, immersion), you might find a smart tariff (on a smart meter) is really cheap! Download your HDF file from ESB portal, upload to https://energypal.ie/ and it tells you the tariff rate you should move to.

I paying ~8c from 2am-6am on Energia and ~33c the other 20hrs. And get ~25c export on FIT. If I use the bulk of my energy during that 4 hours…you can see the benefit.

Another option is DIY more panels yourself and ignore the battery. Assuming the inverter can take more, that will be inexpensive. Cost of panels is under 80 quid each at mo. Need rails too.

Hmmm you're lucky, my esbn account only goes back to March 2023, maybe I'm missing something?

Im trying to do the same ROI calcs as you.

For me on installation a battery couldn't be justified as as it was an extra 6k for a hybrid and 10kW battery. The FIT is too good at the moment but I know that will fade at some stage, but for me it makes sense as I'm paying .2344 buying from the grid and selling for .2 cents. I also work from home so the EV rate plans didn't make sense because of the high cost outside of the 4 hour window at night.

That's a great deal of 2200 for hybrid and 5kW battery. I'll also DIY the inverter and battery if FIT gets hammered down in the years to come. Curious to see how you get on, good luck with it.

I have a smart thermostat and can turn on boiler to heat water using gas. Should I still get the eddi for the hot water?

Question for a newbie - system in since earlier in the week - and getting familiar with the apps etc.

I have charge from grid configured on alphaess app for the battery, between 0200 and 0500 - for cheap rate. However at the moment (8.30pm) it still seems to be pulling from grid to recharge the battery, so not sure why it would do that? Any help to understand be much appreciated.

Thanks!

dw

Nothing wrong with how its configured at the moment - only thing i would do is change discharge cutoff from 10 to 11. Weird bug/issue in Alpha if below 11 it can fully discharge down to 2-4% but set at 11 then it won't discharge below that.
As for the charging issue you'd be far better submitting a service ticket to AlphaESS via the App/website

Hi there, complete noob here just getting quotes from a few different suppliers and will hopefully install in July.
We are high users of electricity, no oil, no gas, underfloor heating, air to water, EV. We currently use nearly 20,000KWH per annum.

We are looking at a 8.6kW system (18 panels), a hybrid inverter and a battery.

Is this the optimum system or should we go bigger?? Any advice appreciated.

But what does that mean Eleusis? 25 panels? 50 panels? Does the cap on the inverter make it pointless to go too high?

Thanks Graememk. So we are looking at about 20 x 420w panels, about 8.5 KWH?

The inverter size seems non-negotiable. What size battery?

Wow 😶

..do you have to use the official app that corresponds with the make of your inverter (Renac) or is there a way of trying other monitoring apps….

I'd like more statistics…. Renac's app is basic

Panels are glass so won't get moss growing on them

Yeah it was more so the what's going on below the panels with moss growing under then. Should I get the roof cleaned and treated before putting up the panels. Does the shade give rise to extra moss on the sides that usually don't get it (it's normally on the north side as it gets the least sun)

I may be blind but I thought there was a thread on the best energy suppliers to move to if you've solar with batteries and an EV charger and will sell back to the grid, can anyone point me towards it?