Solar Panels and Batteries

[aidank]

Anyone got solar panels on a shed roof and associated battery. Will be generating electric and charging battery rather than heating water.

Looking at it here for farm use. I have a nice unobstructed south facing roof, new shed so timber is perfect condition.

So 12kw demand for 1.5hrs, twice a day.

For those that have them installed are they generating the qty of electricity the installer promised. Plenty people tell me they are good, no one has facts and figures.

Any panels inverters batteries brands better than others ?

 

[Islander71]

I have solar panels on my workshop roof. They are grid connected so a bit different, but the principal is much the same. They are rated at max 3.8Kw (16 panels, 8x4), and over a year they average about 9 KwHr per day. They are facing south, unobstructed but not at the optimal angle (too low an angle for this far north). The maximum they produce mid summer with a sunny cloudless day is 26KwHr,which can drop to about 8 on a cloudy summer day, and the minimum on a cloudy mid-winter day is zero. You are looking for 36KwHr per day, which could be possible with enough roof space and panels in the summer months, but it would be a very tall order in winter-time.
Incidentally, you can find the optimal angle to mount them by using a drinks can placed on the panel - adjust the panel angle to the horizontal until there is no shadow from the can.

 

[frank horton]

have as friend thats off grid...endless probs ....
bought another 2 extra batts 25.5v 100ah I believe..... they have 4 large panels and it's not enough...48v system....
they have just bought a further 4 panels that deliver 325 watts per panel....
very low usage he works on the internet 8hrs per day plus the fridge freezer and a small chest freezer....
the inverter is rated at 6000w.....
every 3-4 days we charge the spare batts for them.....
If u need that system plan on doubling the size of what is suggested....seem recomended system size is never enough....
we get stong sunlight on her panels from 7am untill 7pm'ish every day inc most winter days.....
they also have a 6000w genny, just in case....
they live by sunlight, up at sunrise and bed at sundown....all lighting is LED.....

 

[gaz1]

theres a few posts on the subject already even with real world usage

B

Thread 'time to go solar i think'

Apr 10, 2022

good day folks, i have at the bottom end of my property an old wooden hay barn that has not been used for years, as i have now retired i have plans to convert part of it to a log cabin as it faces out across a large pond with scenic views and miles from anyone, the building part and underfloor heating i can do but i thought electricity might be nice so i asked western power for a price to bring electric on to the site from about 400m away, well they clearly thought it was April the first and gave me a quote of £41,000 , well that not happening and i thought i would investigate...

• Baloo
• Replies: 71
• forum: Electrical Installations

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Thread 'DIY home solar grid tie'

Jun 3, 2022

Anyone DIY’d a grid tie solar system?

Im interested in the G98 notification to the DNO, did you have any issues? Did you self cert or get an MCS certificate or whatever they supply? Do you even get a reply?

• J1nx
• Replies: 121
• forum: Electrical Installations

• 

 

[aidank]

have as friend thats off grid...endless probs ....
bought another 2 extra batts 25.5v 100ah I believe..... they have 4 large panels and it's not enough...48v system....
they have just bought a further 4 panels that deliver 325 watts per panel....
very low usage he works on the internet 8hrs per day plus the fridge freezer and a small chest freezer....
the inverter is rated at 6000w.....
every 3-4 days we charge the spare batts for them.....
If u need that system plan on doubling the size of what is suggested....seem recomended system size is never enough....
we get stong sunlight on her panels from 7am untill 7pm'ish every day inc most winter days.....
they also have a 6000w genny, just in case....
they live by sunlight, up at sunrise and bed at sundown....all lighting is LED.....

Don't intend going off grid

 

[drjim]

I have panels on a shed, a growat sph4600 inverter and 14.4kwh of pylontech batteries. Works very well and DIY assembled. 'm lining up some panels on my roof as well - shed roof not big enough!

Also some other panels/inverters which offset house loads and the growatt uses them as an AC coupled storage inverter would if it can charge batteries rather than let any power escape to the grid.

Excellent DIY project!

 

[Gareth J]

Milking?

Yes, I designed and helped install 40kWp on a roof on a farm I'm involved with.

No batteries yet.

Produce about 40,000kwh/year. Use about 20,000. Export the rest @12p. Cut the units used by around 1/3.

Of the 20,000 used, ~4000 is put into hot water via diverters.

DX cooling, afternoon milking relatively early at~2pm. ~200ciws. More could be gained with an ice builder or chilled water store. But smdont know how the payback compares with that Vs batteries. Or a bit of both.

One thing to be aware of, the inverters/batteries need to be able to discharge at a quick enough rate to keep up with the big draw from the various motors involved.

And, agri sheds are often a bit shallow a pitch for optimal generation. Use a tool like pvgis that takes this into account to estimate production and put more panels on if you can.

For me, currently, selling electric at 12p makes batteries payback time unattractive.