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Hi All,
I'm new to the forum - pointed in this direction from 'The Green living Forum'.
I'm looking into having solar PV installed possibly with a battery too, but I'm pretty new to the subject.
I'm a mechanical engineer by trade, and I've installed a small 12V solar system on my campervan, but I'm really looking for clues on what to look for and what to avoid - particularly brands of cells, inverters and batteries etc.
Thanks in advance, I'm sure there will be other areas I'm interested in too - like growing veg and stuff
Solar PV since July '22:
5.6kWp east/west facing
3.6kW Sunsynk hybrid inverter
2x 5.12kWh Sunsynk batteries
1.6kWp Hoymiles East/West facing PV on the man cave
Ripple DW 2kW
Ripple WB 200W
15kW PV SE, VI, HM, EN
42kWh LFPO4 storage
73kWh V2H EV
7kW ASHP
200ltr HWT.
3G
Deep insulation, air leak ct'd home
WBSx2
Low energy bulbs
Veg patches & fruit
richbee wrote: ↑Tue Apr 19, 2022 4:43 pm
Hi All,
I'm new to the forum - pointed in this direction from 'The Green living Forum'.
I'm looking into having solar PV installed possibly with a battery too, but I'm pretty new to the subject.
I'm a mechanical engineer by trade, and I've installed a small 12V solar system on my campervan, but I'm really looking for clues on what to look for and what to avoid - particularly brands of cells, inverters and batteries etc.
Thanks in advance, I'm sure there will be other areas I'm interested in too - like growing veg and stuff
Welcome!
Not much to avoid! Panels/inverters etc all reliable these days. Depends what you can find in stock and what fits in your roof. Batteries are essential in a post-FiT world Pylontech seem to be the sweet spot for price/performance/reliability but there are other good choices too.
What is your budget? How much space do you have?
12x 340W JA Solar panels (4.08kWp)
3x 380W JA Solar panels (1.14kWp)
6x 2.4kWh Pylontech batteries (14.4kWh)
LuxPower inverter/charger
(Artist formally known as ******, well it should be obvious enough to those for whom such things are important.)
richbee wrote: ↑Tue Apr 19, 2022 4:43 pm
Hi All,
I'm new to the forum - pointed in this direction from 'The Green living Forum'.
I'm looking into having solar PV installed possibly with a battery too, but I'm pretty new to the subject.
I'm a mechanical engineer by trade, and I've installed a small 12V solar system on my campervan, but I'm really looking for clues on what to look for and what to avoid - particularly brands of cells, inverters and batteries etc.
Thanks in advance, I'm sure there will be other areas I'm interested in too - like growing veg and stuff
Welcome!
Not much to avoid! Panels/inverters etc all reliable these days. Depends what you can find in stock and what fits in your roof. Batteries are essential in a post-FiT world Pylontech seem to be the sweet spot for price/performance/reliability but there are other good choices too.
What is your budget? How much space do you have?
Thanks for the feedback - sounds quite good.
I'm not sure how much space - it's a fair sized roof, but the main pitched roof is facing pretty much east/west.
I'm getting a couple of quotes for 5kW of panels around the £6k mark without batteries and £9 to 11k with batteries
Solar PV since July '22:
5.6kWp east/west facing
3.6kW Sunsynk hybrid inverter
2x 5.12kWh Sunsynk batteries
1.6kWp Hoymiles East/West facing PV on the man cave
Ripple DW 2kW
Ripple WB 200W
Right - I've pressed the button on Solar PV + battery - ~5.5kW panels with 5.1kW battery & hybrid inverter.
Likely to be 4-6 weeks, have to see how it goes - fingers crossed
Solar PV since July '22:
5.6kWp east/west facing
3.6kW Sunsynk hybrid inverter
2x 5.12kWh Sunsynk batteries
1.6kWp Hoymiles East/West facing PV on the man cave
Ripple DW 2kW
Ripple WB 200W
richbee wrote: ↑Fri May 06, 2022 1:26 pm
Right - I've pressed the button on Solar PV + battery - ~5.5kW panels with 5.1kW battery & hybrid inverter.
Likely to be 4-6 weeks, have to see how it goes - fingers crossed
Nice one! Off to the races. You'll never look back.
15kW PV SE, VI, HM, EN
42kWh LFPO4 storage
73kWh V2H EV
7kW ASHP
200ltr HWT.
3G
Deep insulation, air leak ct'd home
WBSx2
Low energy bulbs
Veg patches & fruit
richbee wrote: ↑Fri May 06, 2022 1:26 pm
Right - I've pressed the button on Solar PV + battery - ~5.5kW panels with 5.1kW battery & hybrid inverter.
Likely to be 4-6 weeks, have to see how it goes - fingers crossed
What was the spec (brands) and price in the end, if you don't mind ?
My mate had a recent quote for a Sunsynk (never heard of them before) system from a national company.
4kW of panels (JA Solar) and 5.1kW sunsynk battery and 3.6kW sunsynk hubrid inverter for almost £11k. I pointed out to him you could buy the whole lot as a kit with everything except the panel mounting kit and installation for £4.6k (without VAT). I reckoned should of been about 7k or 8k, maybe 9k at a push if scaffolding was required. The quote underpriced the installation costs but wacked 100% markup on everything else.
18.7kW PV > 111MWh generated
Ripple 6.6kW Wind + 4.5kW PV > 34MWh generated
7 Other RE Coop's
105kWh EV storage
90kWh Home battery storage
40kWh Thermal storage
GSHP + A2A HP's
Rain water use > 530 m3
richbee wrote: ↑Fri May 06, 2022 1:26 pm
Right - I've pressed the button on Solar PV + battery - ~5.5kW panels with 5.1kW battery & hybrid inverter.
Likely to be 4-6 weeks, have to see how it goes - fingers crossed
What was the spec (brands) and price in the end, if you don't mind ?
My mate had a recent quote for a Sunsynk (never heard of them before) system from a national company.
4kW of panels (JA Solar) and 5.1kW sunsynk battery and 3.6kW sunsynk hubrid inverter for almost £11k. I pointed out to him you could buy the whole lot as a kit with everything except the panel mounting kit and installation for £4.6k (without VAT). I reckoned should of been about 7k or 8k, maybe 9k at a push if scaffolding was required. The quote underpriced the installation costs but wacked 100% markup on everything else.
This is also for JA solar panels (but 5.6kW) and 5.1kW Sunsynk battery & 3.6kW Sunsynk hybrid inverter - £9k fitted including scaffolding
Solar PV since July '22:
5.6kWp east/west facing
3.6kW Sunsynk hybrid inverter
2x 5.12kWh Sunsynk batteries
1.6kWp Hoymiles East/West facing PV on the man cave
Ripple DW 2kW
Ripple WB 200W