PV installation
Discussion
I have a large detached workshop which has a north-south facing roof and am wondering whether to install solar panels on the south-facing slope. I would want to use it for charging my BEV, so would expect to have a battery system included and would also hope to be able to export some energy back to the grid. The workshop has its own consumer unit which is fed by underground SWA from the house's main meter/CU.
I would expect the battery system to be installed within the workshop, but what cabling or other installation work would be needed to feed the power from the panels/batteries into the main house or the grid ?
I would expect the battery system to be installed within the workshop, but what cabling or other installation work would be needed to feed the power from the panels/batteries into the main house or the grid ?
I joined a scheme in April this year run by South Norfolk council and had a 6kw solar panel system and a 7kw battery fitted. I also have a Jaguar Ipace. On a sunny day I can use the system to charge the car and fill the battery's. It's summer now and works very well. I am with Octopus energy for my electric but can't feed spare electric back to them on my Go EV tariff. My spare energy goes to OVO at 4p a Kw. Not sure how winter will do. I also joined Ripple. This may cover me for the winter months.
So far i am very happy with the way it is running.
So far i am very happy with the way it is running.
Al's 991 said:
I joined a scheme in April this year run by South Norfolk council and had a 6kw solar panel system and a 7kw battery fitted. I also have a Jaguar Ipace. On a sunny day I can use the system to charge the car and fill the battery's. It's summer now and works very well. I am with Octopus energy for my electric but can't feed spare electric back to them on my Go EV tariff. My spare energy goes to OVO at 4p a Kw. Not sure how winter will do. I also joined Ripple. This may cover me for the winter months.
So far i am very happy with the way it is running.
So there is an inverter between the panels/batteries and your domestic installation/the grid. How and where does the inverter make that connection - for example is it wired directly to your meter box, or can it go to an intermediate CU ?So far i am very happy with the way it is running.
Solar panels produce 80% of their electricity in 5 months of the year. Be careful with your workings for charging Evs with panels. Sun needs to be up and car available for charging.
My 6.72kw system max's out at 5.2Kw so I have to charge my Ev at a low rate to ensure that I only use solar energy rather than import from the grid. There are smart chargers that can do this. On its best day my system can generate 50Kw's on many other days it can be nearer to 3Kw's.
That said I love my solar panels and they save me approx £1500 per year, be careful also with the financials around batteries current payback periods are >8yrs
HTH
My 6.72kw system max's out at 5.2Kw so I have to charge my Ev at a low rate to ensure that I only use solar energy rather than import from the grid. There are smart chargers that can do this. On its best day my system can generate 50Kw's on many other days it can be nearer to 3Kw's.
That said I love my solar panels and they save me approx £1500 per year, be careful also with the financials around batteries current payback periods are >8yrs
HTH
I'm a bit hazy on -exactly- what happens, but my parents just had solar and batteries installed, and to answer your question about "the other bits", here's what I know.
The solar panels all go into an invertor (or two). There was also an "optimiser" fitted to each panel. This then plugs into the batteries, and or the grid. There's some chunky cutoff switches too. There's also a standalone meter for the outgoing stuff to the mains. The invertors, batteries and all switchgear was all fitted in their garage.
They've got SolarEdge invertors, so that comes with some phone apps that allows you to see what's going on, what's charging the batteries, what's being used by the house and what's going to the grid. The panels too have their own app, and again allows you to see what's being generated.
And then the Zappi charger they've got means they can set it to use excess solar only to charge the car, or battery plus solar, or just charge it at full rate with whatever is needed.
I realise the above is a bit hazy, but as I say, not directly mine. Hope it helps.
The solar panels all go into an invertor (or two). There was also an "optimiser" fitted to each panel. This then plugs into the batteries, and or the grid. There's some chunky cutoff switches too. There's also a standalone meter for the outgoing stuff to the mains. The invertors, batteries and all switchgear was all fitted in their garage.
They've got SolarEdge invertors, so that comes with some phone apps that allows you to see what's going on, what's charging the batteries, what's being used by the house and what's going to the grid. The panels too have their own app, and again allows you to see what's being generated.
And then the Zappi charger they've got means they can set it to use excess solar only to charge the car, or battery plus solar, or just charge it at full rate with whatever is needed.
I realise the above is a bit hazy, but as I say, not directly mine. Hope it helps.
Fwiw i have a detached shed with a 34kw solar array as we have 3 phase.
Our house is 6k feet so pretty big barn conversation and have an EV.
We’re all electric so gshp and HVAC so use approximately 30,000 kWh a year.
Our solar array generates approximately 30,000 kWh per year. 10,000 during times that we can use it and the other 20,000 gets sold to the grid via octopus outgoing agile for the equivalent price of about 10,000 incoming units on octopus agile tariff.
So we’ve almost cut our consumption by 2/3rd. I’ve just got a 6kw wind turbine I’m about to erect which should produce an average of 8000kwh mainly during the times we do need it.
Next on the list is a large (100+) kWh battery.
Our house is 6k feet so pretty big barn conversation and have an EV.
We’re all electric so gshp and HVAC so use approximately 30,000 kWh a year.
Our solar array generates approximately 30,000 kWh per year. 10,000 during times that we can use it and the other 20,000 gets sold to the grid via octopus outgoing agile for the equivalent price of about 10,000 incoming units on octopus agile tariff.
So we’ve almost cut our consumption by 2/3rd. I’ve just got a 6kw wind turbine I’m about to erect which should produce an average of 8000kwh mainly during the times we do need it.
Next on the list is a large (100+) kWh battery.
phil4 said:
The solar panels all go into an invertor (or two). There was also an "optimiser" fitted to each panel. This then plugs into the batteries, and or the grid. There's some chunky cutoff switches too. There's also a standalone meter for the outgoing stuff to the mains. The invertors, batteries and all switchgear was all fitted in their garage.
This is getting close to addressing my question. Let me put it another way : my workshop is detached from the house with its power being supplied by an underground SWA cable to a CU in the w/shop. The whole property's incoming supply is to a meter box at the front of the house, from which the SWA cable runs to the w/shop via a somewhat convoluted route. If I have PV panels, battery/ies and inverter all installed in the garage, will I need to have another cable laid from the w/shop back to the house, or can it somehow connect to the w/shop CU ?AnotherUsername said:
Fwiw i have a detached shed with a 34kw solar array as we have 3 phase.
Holy crap! I had to re-read that to make sure. Is that nearly 90 panels? And something like 2000 sq ft of coverage? Yikes. But that’s a serious amount of generation. I was looking for myself and was looking at something like 6kw to dramatically drop my bills. Kinda puts my tiny idea into perspective.
AnotherUsername said:
My PV installation is connected to the workshop CU. You may find the battery has to be installed at the incoming supply though.
How would that work ? The panels and battery are DC, but the workshop CU is AC, so surely the inverter would have to be between the panels/battery and the CU ?Don’t get hung up about which electrons go into your car - they’re all the same. Sell, or use your generated power for maximum profit, and charge your car when power is cheapest. Buying a battery to store the power from your panels that is then used to charge the car is wasteful and inefficient.
rxe said:
Don’t get hung up about which electrons go into your car - they’re all the same. Sell, or use your generated power for maximum profit, and charge your car when power is cheapest. Buying a battery to store the power from your panels that is then used to charge the car is wasteful and inefficient.
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