Solar Panels?

[NMNeil]

Jambo85 said:

NMNeil said:

Not really, unless the total load on the system with all the appliances turned on is below 3.6kw, and it's surprising how fast those numbers will add up when you add the start up surge current.
https://generatorist.com/power-consumption-of-hous...
My power consumption is about average and I run two 3Kw inverters in parallel, not just to cover the load on the system but if one quits I can still run the house, albeit carefully on just one inverter while I fix the other one.

You're off-grid though, if I recall correctly?

Sorry about the delay, but yes, off grid with 6Kw of panels and about 70kWh of LiFePo4 batteries.

[OutInTheShed]

Arnold Cunningham said:

I have a question too.

Now we have a decent amount of solar generation, I'd like to use excess power to heat the hot water - We're on the givenergy setup - I assume I need some kind of wifi switch or timer I can use to turn the HW on once the batteries are full if there is excess power being produced.

Is there a "best" way to do this?

There are gadgets which turn the immersion on and off second by second, so that nett import/export is as close to zero as possible.
Crude understanding is that the meter goes back and forth a bit but never clicks over to register.
These were popular before batteries, I don't think anything more complex would be needed because of the battery.

[dmsims]

Arnold Cunningham said:

I have a question too.

Now we have a decent amount of solar generation, I'd like to use excess power to heat the hot water - We're on the givenergy setup - I assume I need some kind of wifi switch or timer I can use to turn the HW on once the batteries are full if there is excess power being produced.

Is there a "best" way to do this?

There is the Givenergy Eddi

Fo DIY better use a suitably rated relay e.g. Shelly

[Jambo85]

Buzz84 said:

Hello, does anyone know of a good way to display solar generation info in a nice way etc? We have just had a solar system installed at work using Solis inverters. The app and website is good and shows a wealth of information available and we thought it would be nice to have this on display in the reception foyer if possible.

The Soils website is good and has a "large screen plant" which would be ideal to display, but annoyingly the website times out and needs logging in regularly so its not really good as a set and forget display).

I then considered having a tablet setup to show the app, but while the app is good its quite busy not really suited being a form of "glance at" display at. But the bigger issue is that the tablets I looked at at work wont let you set the display to always on (15 mins max).

So I guess it may need a 3rd party app/website that avoids the above issues? or any work around people may know?

I think Solis have an API that you can connect to, do you have some IT folk who could build a Power BI dashboard using that?

ETA some relevant resources:
https://solis-service.solisinverters.com/support/s...
https://github.com/fss/solis-inverter

I recently did the same with my SolarEdge inverter and here is what I built:

Edited by Jambo85 on Tuesday 14th March 16:07

[Jambo85]

dmsims said:

Arnold Cunningham said:

I have a question too.

Now we have a decent amount of solar generation, I'd like to use excess power to heat the hot water - We're on the givenergy setup - I assume I need some kind of wifi switch or timer I can use to turn the HW on once the batteries are full if there is excess power being produced.

Is there a "best" way to do this?

There is the Givenergy Eddi

Fo DIY better use a suitably rated relay e.g. Shelly

The Eddi is a MyEnergi product, but it'll work with any brand of PV equipment.

A DIY approach with a relay could work, but for that to really make sense your export would need to be greater than your immersion heater's power rating, typically 3 kW, otherwise you'll end up importing too. The Eddi and other similar products are smart enough to only send the excess to the immersion heater by modulating the output voltage. They're cheap enough that I wouldn't personally bother with a DIY option.

[superpp]

Arnold Cunningham said:

I have a question too.

Now we have a decent amount of solar generation, I'd like to use excess power to heat the hot water - We're on the givenergy setup - I assume I need some kind of wifi switch or timer I can use to turn the HW on once the batteries are full if there is excess power being produced.

Is there a "best" way to do this?

Get yourself a Solar iBoost, £300.
Sits between your immersion switch and immersion, a wireless sender with clamp sits by your meter monitoring for anything being exported.
It effectively switches your immersion on at the level of anything that would be exported.
The current version is compatible with batteries (they take priority).

[mikal83]

Jambo85 said:

mikal83 said:

Tilted my panels to 50 degrees today....suck up that juice. 45 mid April.

Sounds interesting, any photos of how you achieve this?

Cornish Rockers.

[mikal83]

OutInTheShed said:

Arnold Cunningham said:

I have a question too.

Now we have a decent amount of solar generation, I'd like to use excess power to heat the hot water - We're on the givenergy setup - I assume I need some kind of wifi switch or timer I can use to turn the HW on once the batteries are full if there is excess power being produced.

Is there a "best" way to do this?

There are gadgets which turn the immersion on and off second by second, so that nett import/export is as close to zero as possible.
Crude understanding is that the meter goes back and forth a bit but never clicks over to register.
These were popular before batteries, I don't think anything more complex would be needed because of the battery.

https://www.myenergi.com/product/eddi/

I have one of these fitted.

[mikal83]

mikal83 said:

Cornish Rockers.

And now with panels

[Jambo85]

mikal83 said:

Jambo85 said:

mikal83 said:

Tilted my panels to 50 degrees today....suck up that juice. 45 mid April.

Sounds interesting, any photos of how you achieve this?

..snip..


Cornish Rockers.

Cheers.

[mikal83]

Jambo85 said:

mikal83 said:

Jambo85 said:

mikal83 said:

Tilted my panels to 50 degrees today....suck up that juice. 45 mid April.

Sounds interesting, any photos of how you achieve this?

..snip..


Cornish Rockers.

Cheers.

google them, small company if they can be called that, located in nth Cornwall. took a day to install rockers and panels, total price paid to panel company so zero VAT

[Arnold Cunningham]

mikal83 said:

OutInTheShed said:

Arnold Cunningham said:

I have a question too.

Now we have a decent amount of solar generation, I'd like to use excess power to heat the hot water - We're on the givenergy setup - I assume I need some kind of wifi switch or timer I can use to turn the HW on once the batteries are full if there is excess power being produced.

Is there a "best" way to do this?

There are gadgets which turn the immersion on and off second by second, so that nett import/export is as close to zero as possible.
Crude understanding is that the meter goes back and forth a bit but never clicks over to register.
These were popular before batteries, I don't think anything more complex would be needed because of the battery.

https://www.myenergi.com/product/eddi/

I have one of these fitted.

Thank you to you and the others that replied. I expected a simpler solution, have to admit. A new box with a clamp that monitors energy export and then turns on the immersion heater - looks like it works well, but I was expecting something simpler that would monitor the givEnergy inverter data directly so it'd know when to turn the immersion on.

[Arnold Cunningham]

I've just been reading up further on the eddi.

Am I correct in understanding that that the eddi doesn't just turn the immersion on or off, it's actually varying the (AC) voltage, and therefore power, to the immersion to make sure the immersion doesn't draw more than the inverter and/or panels can provide?

If so, much smarter than I expected. I can feel a "wise purchase" happening.

[Uncle boshy]

Arnold Cunningham said:

I've just been reading up further on the eddi.

Am I correct in understanding that that the eddi doesn't just turn the immersion on or off, it's actually varying the (AC) voltage, and therefore power, to the immersion to make sure the immersion doesn't draw more than the inverter and/or panels can provide?

If so, much smarter than I expected. I can feel a "wise purchase" happening.

Yep, that’s exactly how it works

[mikal83]

Arnold Cunningham said:

I've just been reading up further on the eddi.

Am I correct in understanding that that the eddi doesn't just turn the immersion on or off, it's actually varying the (AC) voltage, and therefore power, to the immersion to make sure the immersion doesn't draw more than the inverter and/or panels can provide?

If so, much smarter than I expected. I can feel a "wise purchase" happening.

Go to the myenergi website that might help. My Eddi draws whatever is excess power and whats needed. Depends on what your thermostat is set at as well. It switches on and off the the day, topping up as and when. When its reached the temp that the therm is set at, all power is then exported. (Apart from what the house is using...fridge/freezer etc)... If the Eddi is say drawing 2kw and you put the kettle on, that 2 kw is sent to the kettle and then back again when boiled.. Voltage is constant, its the power thats varied. We have set our tank therm as hot as poss, so say if tomorrow is cloudy, then my tank will still be hot enough for a shower wed night, maybe thursday night as well. But not both wed and Thursday nights!!! Most immersion tank heaters are 3kw I believe.....maybe. Today, sunny day...I imported 1.9kwh, exported 15.2 kwh and consumed 10.7 kwh

[Jambo85]

mikal83 said:

Arnold Cunningham said:

I've just been reading up further on the eddi.

Am I correct in understanding that that the eddi doesn't just turn the immersion on or off, it's actually varying the (AC) voltage, and therefore power, to the immersion to make sure the immersion doesn't draw more than the inverter and/or panels can provide?

If so, much smarter than I expected. I can feel a "wise purchase" happening.

Go to the myenergi website that might help. My Eddi draws whatever is excess power and whats needed. Depends on what your thermostat is set at as well. It switches on and off the the day, topping up as and when. When its reached the temp that the therm is set at, all power is then exported. (Apart from what the house is using...fridge/freezer etc)... If the Eddi is say drawing 2kw and you put the kettle on, that 2 kw is sent to the kettle and then back again when boiled.. Voltage is constant, its the power thats varied. We have set our tank therm as hot as poss, so say if tomorrow is cloudy, then my tank will still be hot enough for a shower wed night, maybe thursday night as well. But not both wed and Thursday nights!!! Most immersion tank heaters are 3kw I believe.....maybe. Today, sunny day...I imported 1.9kwh, exported 15.2 kwh and consumed 10.7 kwh

I’m being pedantic but immersion heaters have a fixed resistance so the power is varied by varying the voltage of the Eddi’s output.

[Jambo85]

Arnold Cunningham said:

I've just been reading up further on the eddi.

Am I correct in understanding that that the eddi doesn't just turn the immersion on or off, it's actually varying the (AC) voltage, and therefore power, to the immersion to make sure the immersion doesn't draw more than the inverter and/or panels can provide?

If so, much smarter than I expected. I can feel a "wise purchase" happening.

As explained in my earlier post, pretty much. It is varying the output to the immersion to optimise for zero export.

When I bought mine, the hub to enable web monitoring was extra, as was the current clamp to measure generation. It also has an output to drive a destratification pump to stir up your tank so you can store more energy.

[Arnold Cunningham]

mikal83 said:

Go to the myenergi website that might help. My Eddi draws whatever is excess power and whats needed. Depends on what your thermostat is set at as well. It switches on and off the the day, topping up as and when. When its reached the temp that the therm is set at, all power is then exported. (Apart from what the house is using...fridge/freezer etc)... If the Eddi is say drawing 2kw and you put the kettle on, that 2 kw is sent to the kettle and then back again when boiled.. Voltage is constant, its the power thats varied. We have set our tank therm as hot as poss, so say if tomorrow is cloudy, then my tank will still be hot enough for a shower wed night, maybe thursday night as well. But not both wed and Thursday nights!!! Most immersion tank heaters are 3kw I believe.....maybe. Today, sunny day...I imported 1.9kwh, exported 15.2 kwh and consumed 10.7 kwh

I'm impressed with it all so far, and I'm only on day 1! We generated 12.9kWH, have consumed 12.5 and imported 0. I am sure at the moment we'll still end up importing bit - but given that today was a fairly unimpressive march day, I'm very happy with what it's all doing so far.

[Jambo85]

Arnold Cunningham said:

I'm impressed with it all so far, and I'm only on day 1! We generated 12.9kWH, have consumed 12.5 and imported 0. I am sure at the moment we'll still end up importing bit - but given that today was a fairly unimpressive march day, I'm very happy with what it's all doing so far.

I don’t want to piss on your chips, but do bear in mind that in a week’s time we’ll be in the sunniest half of the year…

[OutInTheShed]

Uncle boshy said:

Arnold Cunningham said:

I've just been reading up further on the eddi.

Am I correct in understanding that that the eddi doesn't just turn the immersion on or off, it's actually varying the (AC) voltage, and therefore power, to the immersion to make sure the immersion doesn't draw more than the inverter and/or panels can provide?

If so, much smarter than I expected. I can feel a "wise purchase" happening.

Yep, that’s exactly how it works

Yes, as I understand it, the EDDI is actually modulating the volts to the immersion, whereas some rival systems worked by simply switching the immersion on and off quickly enough that the mete registered zero nett power. I think some meters might have got wise to that?