So I started with some solar for the campervan and now I am obsessed. Went and bought a Bluetti AC180 and figured out how to make expansion batteries from our ebikes (https://tinyurl.com/mrhfwc8z), I want to get a BWM X5 hybrid and put a server rack battery in the boot that feeds a powerbank that charges a granny charger so i can get most of my 60 miles a day for work out of it (ridiculous, I literally spend hours thinking about this)
So now I am looking at my house and thinking what can I do here. I also seem to like the idea of doing it to stick two fingers up to the power companies.
We live in Dorset in the south of England, on the coast and about as much sunshine as you can get in old Blightly.
I have a 5 metre wide, south facing extension roof that I can put possibly 8 x 400w panels on, potential to put two on the wall as well (DIY, I can use the roof but it is East and west and I can't go up there and install them so it is a no go for now).
My plan is to have a 5kwh server rack battery or 100ah 52v battery (possibly doubling it later) hooked up to a Grid tied inverter with CT clamp limiter - SUN Gil1000/2000 (https://tinyurl.com/4zaspsse), with the battery being charged by the solar and possibly a charger plugged in overnight on the cheaper rate.
So I think I could offset a lot of my house's energy usage doing this for a small outlay.
We use between 6-8kwh of electric most weekdays and this can go up to 16kwh on the weekend if we have a sunday roast and I use both electric ovens and run the dishwasher during the cook and after then stick the washing machine on for last minute kids school uniforms.
I figure I just write off the large demand time of 7 to 10kwh time to the grid, but they will happen once a week at most for a couple of hours. The rest of the time the house ticks over at between 100 - 500w with it going up to 2-3kwh when we run the washing machine or dishwasher as well.
So I thought 1000w or 2000w GTIL would work at covering almost everything most of the time. I would love the EcoFlow stream ultra but I have no spare capacity in my main board to install the Smart meter, otherwise I would hook one of their units up, plug it into the wall and connect a 52v battery to one of the solar ports and charger it up via solar. The I get the EcoFlow app usage which would be great. Alas I can;t so have to do this.
I understand that having power feed back in through a 3 pinned plug does not meet UK regulations but loads do it and it is used all over Europe with their balcony systems and has been approved in Utah in the states.
I have so many questions, they might not make sense, which I apologise for, so I will list them, please treat me like a child (we won't make any mistakes this way).
1) This feel too simple and obvious, why doesn't everyone do this? I understand that 2000w might be a bit too much back fed though a plug socket but a 1000w inverter tracking usage at around 300-500w for 95% should be fine? Is 2000 W possible for periods of up to a couple of hours?
2) Would 4 x 400 watt panels have a chance of charging a 5kwh battery or is that too undersized?
3) I worry about draining the battery and bricking it, I can set a voltage limit on the inverter but can that be trusted?
4) Mounting solar panels on a flat roof, I don;t want to screw through my new extension fibreglass roof so it would have to be a weighted system. Any recommendations? I would love to DIY the mounting system but it does have to look half decent/ discrete as the wife won't want it to look all 2x4, breeze blocks and screws (you know what I mean). Saw some rubber coated concrete blocks but they made eyes water with the price for some moulded concrete with gym floor matting wrapped around it.
5) Mppt recommendations? I have seen a LiTime 60amp jobbie but wondered which Victron unit would be suitable for a 52 volt system (with more solar going in later) there are so many and lot
6) I have a day dream of somehow plugging a battery charger into a smart plug that only allows the battery to be charged when it is below a certain state of charge/ Voltage and when the weather is cloudy the next day. Probably not possible so can just stick it on a dumb timer to switch on on the cheap night rate.
Ok this is a bloody long post, I wrote it twice as the computer crashed halfway through the first time. It is dark now but I will post photos of the roof, the house, and the cupboard and the main circuit box tomorrow when there is light.
Appreciate you getting this far and any advise, pointers, slap in the face for being silly you can offer.
More questions will come
So now I am looking at my house and thinking what can I do here. I also seem to like the idea of doing it to stick two fingers up to the power companies.
We live in Dorset in the south of England, on the coast and about as much sunshine as you can get in old Blightly.
I have a 5 metre wide, south facing extension roof that I can put possibly 8 x 400w panels on, potential to put two on the wall as well (DIY, I can use the roof but it is East and west and I can't go up there and install them so it is a no go for now).
My plan is to have a 5kwh server rack battery or 100ah 52v battery (possibly doubling it later) hooked up to a Grid tied inverter with CT clamp limiter - SUN Gil1000/2000 (https://tinyurl.com/4zaspsse), with the battery being charged by the solar and possibly a charger plugged in overnight on the cheaper rate.
So I think I could offset a lot of my house's energy usage doing this for a small outlay.
We use between 6-8kwh of electric most weekdays and this can go up to 16kwh on the weekend if we have a sunday roast and I use both electric ovens and run the dishwasher during the cook and after then stick the washing machine on for last minute kids school uniforms.
I figure I just write off the large demand time of 7 to 10kwh time to the grid, but they will happen once a week at most for a couple of hours. The rest of the time the house ticks over at between 100 - 500w with it going up to 2-3kwh when we run the washing machine or dishwasher as well.
So I thought 1000w or 2000w GTIL would work at covering almost everything most of the time. I would love the EcoFlow stream ultra but I have no spare capacity in my main board to install the Smart meter, otherwise I would hook one of their units up, plug it into the wall and connect a 52v battery to one of the solar ports and charger it up via solar. The I get the EcoFlow app usage which would be great. Alas I can;t so have to do this.
I understand that having power feed back in through a 3 pinned plug does not meet UK regulations but loads do it and it is used all over Europe with their balcony systems and has been approved in Utah in the states.
I have so many questions, they might not make sense, which I apologise for, so I will list them, please treat me like a child (we won't make any mistakes this way).
1) This feel too simple and obvious, why doesn't everyone do this? I understand that 2000w might be a bit too much back fed though a plug socket but a 1000w inverter tracking usage at around 300-500w for 95% should be fine? Is 2000 W possible for periods of up to a couple of hours?
2) Would 4 x 400 watt panels have a chance of charging a 5kwh battery or is that too undersized?
3) I worry about draining the battery and bricking it, I can set a voltage limit on the inverter but can that be trusted?
4) Mounting solar panels on a flat roof, I don;t want to screw through my new extension fibreglass roof so it would have to be a weighted system. Any recommendations? I would love to DIY the mounting system but it does have to look half decent/ discrete as the wife won't want it to look all 2x4, breeze blocks and screws (you know what I mean). Saw some rubber coated concrete blocks but they made eyes water with the price for some moulded concrete with gym floor matting wrapped around it.
5) Mppt recommendations? I have seen a LiTime 60amp jobbie but wondered which Victron unit would be suitable for a 52 volt system (with more solar going in later) there are so many and lot
6) I have a day dream of somehow plugging a battery charger into a smart plug that only allows the battery to be charged when it is below a certain state of charge/ Voltage and when the weather is cloudy the next day. Probably not possible so can just stick it on a dumb timer to switch on on the cheap night rate.
Ok this is a bloody long post, I wrote it twice as the computer crashed halfway through the first time. It is dark now but I will post photos of the roof, the house, and the cupboard and the main circuit box tomorrow when there is light.
Appreciate you getting this far and any advise, pointers, slap in the face for being silly you can offer.
More questions will come
