Currently playing with numbers and spreadsheets and possible bulk purchases of solar panels by the pallet.....
I do know the idea is to size house loads, then get panels, inverter and batteries to fit, but large quantities of panels are cheaper (e.g. 20 panels in 2 loads of 10 is about the same as a pallet of 32 - so 12 extra for free) - so if the additional bits aren't too bad, and I have space (and I could use another car port, and could cove the other shed with panels.....) then it's worth looking at - hence this post.....
If I have an excess of panels and put then on the shed, the garage, the roof and so on, I may end up with substantially more solar capacity than inverter capacity. For example, I might have 14kW of solar and, say, a 6kW inverter. Now, I know I can over panel the inverter to 8kW according to its specs, but that still leaves me with 6kW.
Inverter setup is hybrid with 15.5kWh battery - would you be tempted to buy a second inverter, and run it as a slave, or just a couple of standalone MPPTs and have them feed directly into the battery as well?
Pros and cons of each? Inverter is about £850, MPPT is about £150 (so £300 for two). Just MPPT will mean wiring up the panels differently but that's no problem at install time, more of a hassle later. 2 inverters gives more potential house power but it doesn't really need it. Or buy a larger inverter in the first place (8kW that can be overdriven to 10.4kW but I still then have a shed with half a pallet of panels in it
).
Comments, experiences and views welcomed.
I do know the idea is to size house loads, then get panels, inverter and batteries to fit, but large quantities of panels are cheaper (e.g. 20 panels in 2 loads of 10 is about the same as a pallet of 32 - so 12 extra for free) - so if the additional bits aren't too bad, and I have space (and I could use another car port, and could cove the other shed with panels.....) then it's worth looking at - hence this post.....
If I have an excess of panels and put then on the shed, the garage, the roof and so on, I may end up with substantially more solar capacity than inverter capacity. For example, I might have 14kW of solar and, say, a 6kW inverter. Now, I know I can over panel the inverter to 8kW according to its specs, but that still leaves me with 6kW.
Inverter setup is hybrid with 15.5kWh battery - would you be tempted to buy a second inverter, and run it as a slave, or just a couple of standalone MPPTs and have them feed directly into the battery as well?
Pros and cons of each? Inverter is about £850, MPPT is about £150 (so £300 for two). Just MPPT will mean wiring up the panels differently but that's no problem at install time, more of a hassle later. 2 inverters gives more potential house power but it doesn't really need it. Or buy a larger inverter in the first place (8kW that can be overdriven to 10.4kW but I still then have a shed with half a pallet of panels in it
).Comments, experiences and views welcomed.
