Solar generation is used there and then
Spare goes to recharge battery
After that to recharge EV if connected
After that iBoost to heat water
So an Immersun should do this:
"Heater 1" would be the battery.
When that stopped accepting power it would send it to the car (heater 2) - if that was full or not connected then it would go to the hot water (heater 3)
Great piece of kit if you can get one.
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(They call them "heaters" but it can be anything inductive)
What do I need to do to use this capacity for house?
If you don't have a hot water tank then there's not a lot you can do.
If you do then you could fit a diverter to take spare power and send it to the tank - but you'll not be sending much they're with 750w of panels 🙁
Is there from for more on the roof?
They call them “heaters” but it can be anything inductive)
Just to clarify this - it can be any resistive load. Do not connect a car charger to this thing, you’ll break it.
Yep, sorry..... Resistive load 🤦🏻♂️
But it could feed something like a Zappi car charger that handles variable (solar) feeds and makes up any shortfall from the grid.
@kato, at 0.75kW installed capacity it looks like you have 2-3 solar panels on your roof (?) so I think its quite a small system (I'm doing some maths in my head about installed capacity vs the estimated annual generation) . Your panels should be feeding power initially into your house and any excess is then fed to grid but I would expect at 0.75kW most, if not all, of the power generated would be used by your home and you would still be primarily using power supplied from the grid during the day with the solar adding to this.
You're correct that, unless you have Smart Export Guarantee (SEG)set up with a power supplier (the FIT scheme is now closed), you would be sending any excess generated power to the grid for free so yes, its worth getting this set up. It looks like you have the installation documents so you should be able to do this (can anyone else confirm that this is correct as I am currently waiting on my installation certificate to do the same)
A battery might help but with a small system I am not sure it would charge enough during the day to be effective, others here would know more than me. You may need a box added to the inverter to allow a battery to be installed too so check with an installer.
However, the thing I would suggest first would be checking with a solar installer about the potential to add more panels to your system. Main question is : does your roof have space for more panels to be installed and does your inverter have the capacity for this?
Sorry my bad. It's right at the top that is an MCS cert. Missed that.
Mine doesn't look like that. It's got a much bigger MCs header like below. It also looks like they have forgot to edit their template and add in the actual details..... I'm still sceptical that's an actual MCS cert....
So yeah you do have the paperwork for export. It's a good thing if your out all day. It's not much but it's better than giving it away for free. If your an octopus customer you can get 15 p SEG fixed currently.
A 0.75kw installation won't cover the cost of the inverter!
The inverters have quite a short lifetime and it will probably cost more to replace than the power generated.
Although this may be not be true as their lifetime may be based on much power goes through them.
IANAEE.
Either way, I would be looking at more panels.
But it could feed something like a Zappi car charger that handles variable (solar) feeds and makes up any shortfall from the grid.
The Immersun is, I assume, rectifying AC to DC and then inverting back to AC to control the load via PWM. I don’t know how a car charger would tolerate this but my guess is “not well”.
So an Immersun should do this:
Thanks I will take a look at that. The issue is (and I assume many people have it) that suppliers have a kit list they can source and fit easily, introducing an alternative doesnt appear to be an option. I will discuss it with them at survey.
I'll find out as a friend has PV and a Zappi which seems to work very well.
I see that the Eddi diverter looks remarkably similar to the Immersun and is probably an updated version.
Ah cheers gents. Yeah I think there's 3 panels on the roof. Every house here has them, I guess all new builds are required to have them. There's plenty of space left on the roof, so I might look into the cost of upgrading everything
so I might look into the cost of upgrading everything
Check the capacity of your inverter, it may be able to handle a typical 3.7kw domestic install. If it can then an upgrade will a lot cheaper.
Check the capacity of your inverter, it may be able to handle a typical 3.7kw domestic install.
We have a 4Kw Growatt inverter.... It's bigger than that.
I suspect it's a 2Kw model (I think inverters are supposed to be sized to the potential generation - so you probably wouldn't fit a bigger inverter than necessary.
Costs more too)
Bigger the inverter the bigger the minimum start up needed from the panels so unless you planned an upgrade quickly you wouldn't do it.
Afternoon ladies and gentlemen, had any one got any company recommendations for installers in the Worcestershire area?
How hard would it be to link panels to night storage heaters?
My garAge foof is big enough 19ft x 12ft to take 4 or 6 panels.
Could i source an inverter to feed night storage heaters so during sunny days they warm up, then i can open up the vents for a few hours in the evening, and maybe still have some residuals for an hr first thing?
Night storages are basically poor if used as intended, ie heat from 0100 to 0500, then loose the heat througj the day so you have little energy at 2000hrs.
Heating through the day then using then an hr or 2 after should be way better use of pv.
Do i need a power dump for when the heaters are all hot, i image they are pn a stat so turn off when the bricks are heated sufficiently?
Not fussed about export as the rates are not good.
Been reading up on hot sand energy stores but dont have the space for one
technically its possible to do but the difficulty is that high solar generation doesn't overlap very well with high heating requirements.
Can anyone Souhtampton area recommend the company they have used. Starting to get quotes etc together (though fully expecting it'll be next year before anyone good can install).
As for doing my own research where is best to start reading up. Target is to power daytime usage (both WFH) and ideally dump the excess into our Zoe (though I don't think the existing charger supports this out of the box, might need to write some code to turn it on at a reduced rate when export is detected).
Placement on roof + some on garage roof seems about right based upon how the sun moves round but I have a 4 sided hip roof so panels won’t all be getting sun at the same time
Just seen this, you may need extra inverters. We also have a 4 hip house roof, and gables on the garage. We have 9 panels on the SE facing house roof, and 6 on the SE facing garage roof. We already had a mains cable to the garage, options were to lay a DC cable or have one inverter in the garage and another in the house (which we did). We were also told that inverters can only handle panels that are producing the same output, so SW facing panels would need a separate inverter to SE facing - but that was in 2011, inverters may have improved but worth checking. We were also told that panels in landscape orientation couldn't be on the same inverter as panels in portrait, but I have heard that's not necessarily a problem now.
We were also told that inverters can only handle panels that are producing the same output, so SW facing panels would need a separate inverter to SE facing – but that was in 2011, inverters may have improved but worth checking.
I'm fairly sure that's rubbish and typical of the stuff spouted by 'installers' around that time!
The installation at our main house went in arounf 2011/2 and is split E & W with one extra panel on the West facing roof - we had a Growatt inverter fitted that can handle multiple strings and all is good.
That said it's not the inverter that was fitted initially - the first one only had a single input. I pointed this out while it was being installed and they came back a couple of days later and swapped it for the correct one.
The alternative is to fit micro-inverters to each panel.
The alternative is to fit micro-inverters to each panel.
or tigo panel optimisers
Can anyone Souhtampton area recommend the company they have used. Starting to get quotes etc together (though fully expecting it’ll be next year before anyone good can install).
I've recently had panels installed via Empower based in Ringwood. I've had a mixed experience so far.
Scaffolding sub-contractors broke a number of tiles and put ladders into the middle of hedge. Actual install was great, but since then I've had a mixed response to a few questions I've posed via email, but had decent support when I've found the time to ring up
booked in for the 15th November. 4kw with 3.6 inverter and 2.4 battery. will update as it goes along
Disappointingly, our Solar Together quote fell through as we’re pretty non-standard…
Reason they gave is that the inverter they have on that offer needs 6 panels to support a battery installation.
We have room on the garage roof for 5 panels ( The house roof can only support 2 panels as we have a loft conversion) - question for the knowledgeable folk on this thread, is it worth me investigating this further or is it a non starter?
So we are just literally switching on now...
Have had 2kw of panels on a South facing shed roof for 8 years but we had to redo the roof on the south facing part of our house so have had flush/inset panels put on as much of it as possible which adds another 5.4kw of generation (these have optimisers on them). The roof is dead south facing and unshaded s should be ideal.
We have a 15kw battery on the system too now, literally just wired in (!), a solar iboost (had for 8 years, a great bit of kit) for hot water and a Zappi car charger.
I think we ought to hugely reduce bills. Fingers are crossed!
Other eco things we have - solar thermal hot water and a biomass boiler (no mains has where we are!)
Anyone seen this? I read the article earlier today, and it looks like it could go a long way to expanding the use of solar for personal urban use. I looked into having PV roof panels fitted, but due to the layout of my roof, because of the size of standard panels not enough could be fitted to make it viable.
https://www.thebrighterside.news/post/eco-friendly-solar-panels-generate-energy-without-sunlight
Here’s mine and the neighbouring houses; they’re all three-bed semis, facing due north/south. The back of the houses have one long roof, but it’s divided between two houses, so unless two households shared one set of panels there’s not enough, and even then sharing would amount to the same situation. In my case, the next door house is split into two flats/apartments, just to complicate matters.
Some sort of small tile/panel that could be used to cover the roof and walls would be ideal.
We have our order placed and waiting for our survey. 5.6kW PV with an 8.7kW battery and an iBoost for hot water. A big cost for us is gas to heat our water using our inefficient and old boiler. Looking forward to the iBoost Solar Diverter helping with that.
Now I need to consider the replacement of our old immersion tank to maximise that benefit. We have space of for a larger one so what size and type is recommended? There are 3 of us in the house now but daughter will probably move out in around 12 months or less.
Now I need to consider the replacement of our old immersion tank to maximise that benefit. We have space of for a larger one so what size and type is recommended? There are 3 of us in the house now but daughter will probably move out in around 12 months or less.
how will replacing the tank benefit you? if you're not running it to empty, then the extra water will just sit in it staying warm, and not need heating up the next day.
What makes you think we are not running it to empty? We are as it is too smal. We maybe get 2 short showers before having to heat it again using gas which is costly and slow. Im not sure of the size but I suspect less than 100 Ltr. A 200 Ltr tank would allow us to heat a larger volume of water which will allow 3 showers at peak times.
What makes you think we are not running it to empty? We are as it is too smal.
fair enough, its an unusual circumstance because most hot water systems are sized to the house - 100l is properly small.
In the mean time, try heating the tank to 65C (or hotter) - you'll get a lot more shower out of it that way.
Now I need to consider the replacement of our old immersion tank to maximise that benefit.
I'd go with a 225l (min) unvented tank.
About 6 or 7 years ago I bought a used 225L Megaflo for about £125 off eBay and had that fitted in our beach place to replace an old, smaller vented copper tank with jacket.
One of the best moves I've made in ages!
No CH and the 3Kwp array provides 99% of the hot water from April-Oct (it's currently 56.375c) with a minimum of 3 of us there at any one time.
In that time it's been faultless.
Ideally I'd have fitted at 250L tank as we have at our main house but I didn't quite have enough space.
In the mean time, try heating the tank to 65C (or hotter)
The thermostat on our Megflo immersion is set as high as possible and it maxes out at 62c which is properly hot.
I’d go with a 225l (min) unvented tank.
Looking to increase to that capacity, give or take, as we have sufficient space but we currently have a vented system and a shower pump to increase the pressure. Fitting an unvented cylinder may make the pump redundant but we have an old gas boiler so not sure if this would create an issue.
Fitting an unvented cylinder may make the pump redundant but we have an old gas boiler so not sure if this would create an issue.
As long as your incoming mains pressure is OK then you could ditch the shower pump - the age of the boiler makes no difference.
Moved into a house with solar panels on and have some questions if any one can help please? Owners left no details about the panels and invert but did transfer the FIT.
How do I calculate the size of the array we have? Will it say somewhere on the panels?
On the invert display it has a load random things which I have found some by Googling but not all any ideas/check my workings.
VAC = AC current of the main line
PAC = live output of the solar
IAC = ?? (Showing 2.6a)
IPV = ?? (Showing 2.1a)
VPV = ?? (Showing 378.5v)
E-total = ?? (I assume is what it has ever produced)
E-today = ?? (Today's generation total)
Thanks
Have a look at the inverter label/type. There should be a spec on it.
Without going up on roof and looking at the stickers if still there on the back of panels.....
The inverter will have a label on. It's unlikely your panels will be much less than that as the bigger the inverter the higher the start up current required.
An aside
I've had a new style hybrid installed to replace my non hybrid that's 18months old and it was old tech when I fitted it...
The new inverter (using same panels ) makes power at less light - reaches a larger peak and holds on longer into the dull light.
It's perfectly possible that folk with more modern kit than older kit could be making more than people perceive. The technology is advancing rapidly
Very interesting about the old Vs new inverts I assume this has been in since the original install back in Dec 2011
This is what's on the Inverter.
At a guess you've got a standard 3.6kWp (or is it 3.7?) system there.
Very interesting about the old Vs new inverts I assume this has been in since the original install back in Dec 2011
If it's that old don't touch it until it breaks as you're not allowed to make changes without losing your {substantial} FIT payments.
you’re not allowed to make changes without losing your {substantial} FIT payments.
Old news. They realised that they had people clinging in for dear life to outdated and undersized/under performing equipment because of the outdated rules. For the FIT payments.
who has solar thermal then ?
What panels do you have ?
I due to our area being classed as a colder climate - i believe i want evacuated tubes.
it seems that there are either very spendy seemingly inhouse mfg Viessemann vitosol /Kingspan thermomax options or - no name import stuff ..... evacuated tubes never really caught on here due to being visually horrible (although i quite like the steampunk appearance)
There's much more range available in the more visually appealing but much less efficient in low temp flat plate panels .... see Grant sahara kit.
Does any one have any real world experience of both (commercial stand alone safety approved systems) set ups and can comment ?
My fokes have them, not sure of the brand but ~10 year old evacuated tubes. Two panels, plumbed into lower coil on thermal store that is linked to wood burner. Works well for them.
Servicing is easy enough for someone with basic mechanical ability I have done a flush and a re-pressure with some simple home made set up. (Message me if you want photos / explation).
Biggest pain is occasional washing but you have to do this with solar PV as well if you have this problem.
There's a UK company called Naked Energy which do evacuated tubes, but that're filled with a small solar panels. this allows them to simultaneously create hot water and electricity at the same time.
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I'm currently crunching the numbers on a low grade heat augmented heat pump for our house heating to replace the gas boiler.
A heat pump has the highest CoP (Coefficient of Performance) at the lowest deltaT, ie it can move the most heat when it is "pumping" against the lowest thermal gradient. This means for an air sourced pump, on cold winter days when air temps are low, your heat pump is less efficient. However, on cold winter days, you can get some decent solar energy recovery (cold air temps are often also clear skys).
So the plan is to bury something like 2,000 litres of water in insulated IBCs in the garden, and use day time solar energy to slightly warm them up during the day, (or use cheap off peak 'lecy when tomorrow has a poor solar forecast). That slight warming is possible due to the large specific heat capacity of water (2000 litres stores 8,400 kJ/k, so small 10 degC deltaT to ambient stores 84MJ or justover 23 kWh) and the low deltaT and rules surface area to volume ratio (volume goes up by cube, but surface area only goes up by square). This "hot" water can them be used to drive a much better deltaT for the heat pump, maximising CoP. By storing low grade heat in water, the storage medium is about as cheap as it can be!
The other half joking asked if i could make that energy store in the form of a swimming pool....... 😉
Naked energy looks great
....except for the size and the fact theres zero data on cost or installers. - nor does it seem like it's been installed outside of the pilot schemes despite being a company since 2009 and a product since 2011.
But on the whole seems like it's for commercial grade applications with large flat roofs not residential
