rcoleblack
New Member
- Joined
- Jun 8, 2022
- Messages
- 5
Howdy y'all anyone have any recommendations on a ~8kw hybrid inverter for time of use arbitrage?
I just switch to a TOU plan, and according to my calculations, it would have saved me $100 last month on my power bill without any TOU arbitrage or really being aware of TOU. And so the rabbit hole begins of trying to use no on-peak power to get my bill as low as possible.
A while ago I snagged 15kwh worth of 48v packs from Jag35 for like $100/piece. They were too good of a deal to pass. They've just been sitting here gotta put em to use. I have an emporia meter on my outside panel and have been logging stats for a while on my usage. Below are some graphs and numbers for Decemeber 2022 when my bill was $250. Where with TOU would have been ~$150. If I had used no on peak would save me an additional ~$50/month. So that's some pretty good savings.
Anyways. I'm wanting a 8kw inverter that I'm just going to be pretty much using in UPS mode on peak times. The closest inverter I've found that has TOU charging/discharging is the Deye ones. but those are only day to day not a weekly schedule. As I have off peak power all day on the weekends, there is no need to cycle the batteries. What it might come down to, is just adding a contactor to the grid connection of a cheaper inverter and manually scheduling it. I'd like an inverter smart enough that if the batteries die it'll just connect back to the grid or if the inverter get overloaded it'll pull from the grid what it needs. I could use the generator relay on most inverters to then trigger the contactor if is does go low on peak hours. Does SolarAssistant have any scheduling to control inverters? I also have Home Assistant setup and use it to bring in my emporia and enphase and Tesla WC all on a nice dashboard. Would be awesome to integrate and control the inverter into HA.
Thought? Recommendations?
Decemeber Numbers Before TOU
October Numbers Before TOU. Obviously I could run the AC earlier in the day and shift this but even then I would have saved ~$17. This data is slightly skewed as it does include weekends in on peak totals. So HMU if you know how to better filter these in excel.
More context:
Currently have a 9Kw solar array with Enphase IQ8s that I installed myself in August. Got my PTO and net meter put in in September. I get credited $0.045/Kwh (winter) and $0.055/Kwh (summer). So essentially during the summer I get a 1:1 for off peak times. Also I calculated out I use about 6kwh an average evening during on peak times, well within the 15kwh of batteries I have. Eventually I'd also like to add additional solar, preferably off-grid and just tie right into the hybrid inverter. Maybe it's not worth it when I get 1:1. But another big thing I like about doing this setup is just having a battery backup for critical loads. I could make that 15kwh go for a while powering lights and fridges. It would just be even nicer if those critical loads could be 100% off grid via more solar, that would be really tough in the winter though.
I just switch to a TOU plan, and according to my calculations, it would have saved me $100 last month on my power bill without any TOU arbitrage or really being aware of TOU. And so the rabbit hole begins of trying to use no on-peak power to get my bill as low as possible.
A while ago I snagged 15kwh worth of 48v packs from Jag35 for like $100/piece. They were too good of a deal to pass. They've just been sitting here gotta put em to use. I have an emporia meter on my outside panel and have been logging stats for a while on my usage. Below are some graphs and numbers for Decemeber 2022 when my bill was $250. Where with TOU would have been ~$150. If I had used no on peak would save me an additional ~$50/month. So that's some pretty good savings.
Anyways. I'm wanting a 8kw inverter that I'm just going to be pretty much using in UPS mode on peak times. The closest inverter I've found that has TOU charging/discharging is the Deye ones. but those are only day to day not a weekly schedule. As I have off peak power all day on the weekends, there is no need to cycle the batteries. What it might come down to, is just adding a contactor to the grid connection of a cheaper inverter and manually scheduling it. I'd like an inverter smart enough that if the batteries die it'll just connect back to the grid or if the inverter get overloaded it'll pull from the grid what it needs. I could use the generator relay on most inverters to then trigger the contactor if is does go low on peak hours. Does SolarAssistant have any scheduling to control inverters? I also have Home Assistant setup and use it to bring in my emporia and enphase and Tesla WC all on a nice dashboard. Would be awesome to integrate and control the inverter into HA.
Thought? Recommendations?
Decemeber Numbers Before TOU
October Numbers Before TOU. Obviously I could run the AC earlier in the day and shift this but even then I would have saved ~$17. This data is slightly skewed as it does include weekends in on peak totals. So HMU if you know how to better filter these in excel.
More context:
Currently have a 9Kw solar array with Enphase IQ8s that I installed myself in August. Got my PTO and net meter put in in September. I get credited $0.045/Kwh (winter) and $0.055/Kwh (summer). So essentially during the summer I get a 1:1 for off peak times. Also I calculated out I use about 6kwh an average evening during on peak times, well within the 15kwh of batteries I have. Eventually I'd also like to add additional solar, preferably off-grid and just tie right into the hybrid inverter. Maybe it's not worth it when I get 1:1. But another big thing I like about doing this setup is just having a battery backup for critical loads. I could make that 15kwh go for a while powering lights and fridges. It would just be even nicer if those critical loads could be 100% off grid via more solar, that would be really tough in the winter though.
