Great video, only problem is, It will take me 20 years to pay back my outlay on solar array and battery system, not including the cost of a heat pump. Really interested in doing this but initial outlay too much, let alone battery issues/maintenance and even home insurance.
Not sure how you have came to a 20 year payback. I would be very surprised if you had a 20 year payback. The cost of electricity is looking at doubling this year. Peoples payback will be dropping as energy prices raise.
Didn't know you could import via one company and export via another, briefly how do you go about doing this? Great video (and recent update - thank you!)
Thanks. Quite easy (with So energy anyway) , approach them via website, look to export, assuming your talking about SEG. You will need a smart meter, Mpan number & an MCS cert.
I`m looking at a system with 3 or 4 baterries of 8.2 from GiveEnergy as they come into kits .. however what I`m seeing is they come with 3kw inverter which seems a little small ? I`m using daily between 17-24 kw depending ... so I would actually like to charge the baterries in the 00:006:00 time frame ... but I`m thinking that a 3kwh inverter won`t have the time to charge these (expecially in your example where you have a 3 hr time frame to stay in the lower tarrif) even the 5kw would struggle ... at least this is how I understand this .. am I right ?
Hi Vlad. Yes you are right, roughly 3 hours to fill an 8.2 kWh battery via one inverter, you would need more than one inverter to give you enough time to charge. Also discharge,
Great videos, thank you. I have an unrelated question. Our inverter and battery are located in the utility room where we also have a washing machine, chest freezer and small fridge. I feel that we should install some sort of smoke or heat or multi sensor fire alarm. I'm wondering if you can recommend the best type for this location. Elsewhere in our bungalow we have an Ei Electronics Ei144 heat alarm in the kitchen and Ei146 optical smoke alarms fitted in the hallway and den respectively. Obviously they are all hard wired together. Thank you.
I’m looking to go battery only on the givenergy 8.2kwh. Aim is to charge battery in the 7.5p cheap period and use it in day for higher rate. In addition also want to charge ev, programme dishwasher, washing machine etc to run at this cheap period too to minimise day usage. It won’t all happen at same time but wondered if this was viable without maximising your peak output. Mains supply fuse is 100amps.
Yes it is possible to do what you want, you would have to calculate your total demand with all the above running/charging . We install a lot of EV chargers, we install the Zappi and always set the automatic load management at 60amps. This means it will never be the EV charging that sends your total load above 60amps.
Can you pretty much run a standard home (that houses 2 person living) off a GivEnergy system with a 9kw battery? Or if not, is there any rough idea of how much your energy bills cost per month with one of these systems on average? (for when your using high energy items like electric oven or a tumble dryer?)
It’s impossible to put exact figures on it. To benefit the most you need a good tariff, that covers you in the winter. You need to learn how to load balance, don’t have everything running at the same time, if you have many appliances running at the same time it’s inevitable that you will draw from the grid. Ditch the old tumble dryer for a heat pump tumble dryer, makes a huge difference. I would say most of our systems should catch around 3/4 of household consumption between PV and cheap import but as mentioned above there is a lot to take into the equation. Those who work harder at it will get a better return.
@@ereselectrical9397 brilliant. I was looking at one of the wind turbines as well because although the produce a lot less energy at least they do produce something throughout the night which is helpful (and a touch more in winter). It seems Octopus Go is one of the best tariffs from research. The heat pump tumble dryer sounds like a great solution and to be fair in the new home we have a garden so probs wont need one at all with having a garden. Thanks for the info
Like you said (and it makes sense) that the more the difference in the unit price the better saving we have with the battery. Now if I take a case of only installing a battery to charge at night and discharge during the day, will that not save me considerable amount of money and help me break even early? In this case, All the energy that I am NOT getting from the solar is costing me 5p. So if you compare the two systems (battery only vs solar plus battery) then the only difference is the total units produced by the solar multiplied by 5p. And this will be a much slower return on investment as opposed to having a battery (only) which will cause a difference of 15p (charging @5p and using it against 20p). Doesn’t battery only give a quicker return of investment?
It’s impossible to put an exact figure on generation, however battery only, is very viable at the moment. We have many customers installing storage only without PV. For me they go hand in hand. Most customers don’t have enough storage capacity to keep them going a full day therefore PV takes up the difference, assuming there is generation. You have to think about the performance across 4 seasons when it comes to PV vs Storage or PV & storage vs storage only. PV and storage works well together, enough battery capacity for a full day is a great thing however comes at a cost due to the batteries being expensive.
I have 2 quotes in front of me now. One for PV + ESS and the other ESS only (ie Battery storage). They both have 8 kWh usable which covers my baseload during the 20 hours of Octopus Go daytime full rate. The PV + ESS is £3000 more than the ESS and would it is predicted to provide me with 2700 kWh of energy which I'd use immediately or store. The PV has a 10 warranty and that is about the time I intend to live here to the £3,000 cost me £300 per year to generate 2,700 kWh = 11.11 p/kWh against Octopus Go 5p (which I know is already up to 7.5p in the past month). But Solar PV has a cost per kWh you can calculate and it is fixed over 10 years, unlike Octopus Go which will probably pass the 11p/kWh within 12 to 18 months I would suspect.
What is the best size in kWh battery to get? Is it dependent on number of rooms house size? I am looking to get the Givenegy hybrid system installed, they do a 3.6, 5.0 & 5.2. Should I go large as possible? Anyone help?
You should get as big a battery as you can afford in my opinion, this assumes you will use it. The new battery not due for a few months is 9.5kWh’s. The 8.2 is being phased out. Remember charging and discharging limitations, 2.6 kw’s per hour with existing hybrid inverters. This means it will take over 3 and a half hours to charge from empty, relevant if you are force charging.
Hi. You will head a heat generating appliance/appliances. Heat pump, electric radiators, infrared radiators. A solar inverter simply changed one source of energy into another. Irradiance to electric.
Very interested in a Givenergy battery storage system as we got an EV a few months back and now with energy cost going mad its starting to make a lot of sense. Ive calculated that it will take 4-5 years to pay off a battery energy system currently as we stuck on a standard rate tariff which will go up in April. ideally i would like to go for the 15.6kw (3x 5.2kw batterys) system. Would i be able to charge those batteries using a cheap overnight tariff in that 3 hour window? or realistically what percentage of charge would they get? And could i charge the car at the same time? May add solar at a later date but depending on what charge i could get overnight will determine the size of the battery system we get.
Yes you can charge ev at the same time. Charge rate is around 2.6 kw. So if you only had one inverter it would take over 6 hours. You would probably be better looking at two 8.2 kWh batteries via their own AC coupled inverters, you would manage to charge those in 3 hours. Two inverters means G99 fastrack approval needed from your DNO before installation, that a little drawback.
@@ereselectrical9397 thanks for your advice much appreciated.. As for installation is it possible to fit these away from the consumer unit i.e in a garage outbuilding that has power. Or do they need to be as close to the main consumer unit as possible?
Best battery use is to store energy for use later, the no battery solution is to "time shift" consumption, simply use timers (built into many appliances) to use energy at times of your cheapest energy tarrifs. We even use plug in timers to shift usage of those things that do not have built in timers........Don't forget to turn off every other thing possible at the wall plug to eliminate as much 'phantom' consumption as possible, all those little lights that glow unnecessarily during the night are draining cash out of your pocket......re-evaluate your needs, wash clothes in cold water, use shorter washing cycles....useing a timer for your showers will reduce your hot water bill and your water use also
We have solar panels installed FOC by British Gas in 2011 under the rent a roof scheme so we don't get a feed in tariff, just the energy generated by the panels. We are on the the Octopus Go Faster tariff for 5 hours @ 5.5p / kWh which runs from 8.30 pm to 1.30 am. We also have a Zappi for charging our 2 EVs. I am awaiting a survey and quote for Givenergy battery storage to be installed on an external wall near the consumer unit. My question is can we charge the storage battery from the solar panels during the day and the grid at night on the Go Faster tariff without the need for a Givenergy inverter? I hope that makes sense.
@@ereselectrical9397 The issue I have with the Givenergy system is it would look untidy if installed on an external wall of my house, 2 boxes plus the wiring and switches.
@@johndouglas770 there’s not much you can do to hide it I’m afraid, it’s big kit and needs somewhere to go. Not sure if you mean outside wall externally, we don’t recommend installing it externally albeit it can go outside. The battery performance drops in extreme cold.
@@ereselectrical9397 Thanks for your advice, I'm a total layperson when it comes to this subject. So mounting on an outside wall is not a good idea. Does the inverter and battery need to be mounted near to the consumer unit and meter? I'm wondering about having it in the loft or garage, but both of those locations are at least 10 meters away from the consumer unit.
@@johndouglas770 There is no limitation on distance to inverter, the supply cable just needs to be sized correctly to deal with volt drop. A good installer will assist with that.
We're looking at putting in a 9kW electric boiler and my thoughts are to use a battery array with a capacity of between 16 to 24 kWh , which we would charge at off peak rate and use during peak rate hours. In summer we'd use the batteries to run the house. We'd put solar on the roof, but we've only room for 6 panels so we're not expecting the solar to do much in the way of charging the batteries. We'd use it to power a cylinder immersion heater plus whatever else. Does this sound feasible? Do you install in Yorkshire?
Ab 8 kw boiler will drain your batteries quickly, a battery and inverter has a discharge limit, to power that boiler you would need 3 batteries and 3 inverters. Sounds expensive and there will be DNO approval required for that too. We generally don’t travel to far as the costs go up due to travel expenses.
@@andrewpitts6498 It’s a decent set up. Just going back to approval. Please make sure your installers are applying for G99 approval before installation.
A local company I'm working with in North Lincs is pushing me toward the GivEnergy grid tied system using 22x 330w PV panels and between one and three 8.2kWH batteries (and there I was thinking the GivEnergy system could support up to FIVE batteries? Apparently not). I am 110% NOT INTERESTED in exporting back to the grid. For me it's all about usable power for the house. The company have yet to reassure me these GivEnergy systems can be setup so that: - the battery is only charged from the solar and not pulling from the grid. - the power from the battery/batteries can be directed just to powering the house and not for export. Please can you tell me, can the GivEnergy system be configured to meet those two fundamental requirements? I suppose I'm looking for a system which is one or maybe two steps away from being completely off grid.
Hi Kyle In short its yes and yes to answer your questions. Givenergy don't do a grid tied inverter, AC coupled or hybrid. To the best of my knowledge you can couple up to 5 batteries however wouldn't recommend as it would be very hard to utilise all that energy via 1 inverter. You really should be looking at force charging from the grid on cheap tariffs as it make the system a lot more economical, also export albeit at a poor price helps too. Please do your homework or ask your installer about battery limitations, you are looking for a lot of storage, you should be thinking of how you can charge all those batteries and how effectively can you discharge those batteries, you cant charge and discharge at the same time. You may be better with multiple inverters dealing with your storage however that brings issues with the DNO notification. On a system like you want in principle, quite a lot of thought need s to go into it before its even quoted.
@@ereselectrical9397 - I think you've answered my questions AND made my decision around going 100% off grid. I am not interested in exporting nor am I interested in paying electricity company a penny for the privilege of being connected to the grid. I've reached out to a company who hopefully will listen to me rather than spend hours round my house and push their system. I have the land, I have the roof space, I just don't get why my request for say 60 panels, a 2kW wind turbine and 30kWh of battery storage goes unanswered/ignored.
Hi we don't have an EV but are with octopus? Unfortunately we have an old slate roof 1935 with no felt which would make it difficult to fit solar panels? If we had an EV i would have a battery storage system only and charge up overnight? So basically my only option is solar and battery storage but winter months would no see a large harvest of free solar? Have you any suggestions? Cheers Tony
Hi Antony. Not having roof felt shouldn't stop a PV installation, weak slates however could. You are right, the 3 deep winter months are poor for generation, force charging out with summer defiantly helps however not essential to make it viable. Any EV tariff or even economy 7 tariff helps.
@@ereselectrical9397 Hi our grey slate roof is fairly sound and one of our neighbours has had solar. Our grey slates are backpointed. Obviously have solar means needing storage/Battery is a must! My only concern is firstly cost of a system including battery 8K? How long before our investment is clawed back? 10 years? Does the battery take over from the grid and then recharge then same again?
The other thing to note is that octopus won’t allow customers to have any of the go type tariffs unless you have and can prove you have an ev. I’m just going through that process now and it’s painful.
@@antonybeaumont2697 For me battery goes hand in hand with solar now as the export price is too low, you should always try to use it or store it first before exporting it. Payback is impossible to nail, many variants to take into consideration, how many panels, what orientation, how big battery capacity, import and future import costs, installation costs, scaffolding costs. The way energy costs are heading I think 6 years is achievable, the people who manage their systems will get the payback down sooner, by that what I mean is be aware of what you are using and when, load balance to not pull from grid. The last 2 days were sunny at home, we hammered the washing and tumble dryer during the day, makes sense. Sorry I don't understand your last question.
@@anglefire1965 Yes you are right, having an EV certainly helps. I like Octopus but am not fixed to anyone, its always best shopping about to see what's on offer.
I wanted to get 2x 9.5kw batteries but everything im reading suggests ill never charge them during hte octopus cheap rate due to 3kw/3.6kw charge rate? Are they capable of 5kw charging?
Hi. We have an ev, 3250w solar from 2014 and solar iboost for free hot water. I am currently locked in until march on a very very cheap energy deal but I'm thinking of then changing to octopus go at 7.5 pence per kwh. To offset this, I'm seriously thinking about a givenergy battery storage solution. A rough guesstimate would be appreciated on the price of an AC inverter with an 8 kW battery installed, assuming a minimal fuss installation....🤔 I understand that you can't give an accurate price, but I'd really appreciate just a ballpark figure. I really need this so that I can explain with some reasonably accurate figures to my better half. Thank you ever so much.
It has that function, it’s called EPS. It needs wired with very specific earthing arrangements. I am not a fan of EPS, sure I mention the reasons bellow.
Be interested to know who you use for export and whether you have to account for the ‘brown’ energy in the battery as many companies (such as Octopus) will not allow you to export this, only energy directly generated by your PV. I’m currently on Octopus GO and have a 12.5kWh hybrid system being installed in the next couple of weeks hopefully, but am struggling to find a SEG contract that pays a reasonable export tariff.
So energy. 5p. Seems to be about as good as you can get at the moment unless you go to Octopus agile, been there, left quickly however may well give it another go when weather improves as the export rates are really good. One to watch.
@@ereselectrical9397 thanks for that … Octopus won’t do any export tariff if you’re currently on Go apparently! Not sure yet how much I would export, and certainly not much in the summer charging the battery storage and running air con.
SO Energy said they would pay me 5p per kWh on export SEG tariff but that turned out to less 5% VAT I.e. only 4.761p per kWH. I switched to Octopus and on their Octopus Outgoing Fixed tariff I get 7.5p per kWh exported. No rubbish about deducting VAT either. I looked at the Octopus Outgoing Agile tariff but as I have not got a battery storage system only a solar pv system I worked out I would not make any more income. The Agile rate pays up to 50% more but that's only in peak demand periods. In winter months it would mean I'd be exporting only in the cheap period and earning less than the Fixed tariff.
@@craigvaux619 I'm awaiting my system, oredered yesterday. At present I am with Shell Energy for import & export. Under the FIT Tariff I get is 14.83p generation + 50% of that at 5.57p, so as far as I can see Octopus will not take on my FIT contract ( it was previously with United Utilities ) I have before had split import & export companies and think I'm going to have to again. My PV array was installed about 2015 so lucky as FIT tariff have now gone.
Do you have to get these systems MSC certified? This is always an issue for self installers (I.E. competent people who don't have the appropriate (costly) accreditation.)
I would always advise using an MCS installer. You can’t get paid export (SEG) without an MCS certificate, you also get insurance backed deposits and warranty with an MCS company. With this kit, Givenergy won’t commission it unless it’s been carried out by an approved installer. Self installing isn’t ideal.
Yes, correct. If you don't have an EV you need to shop around for a tariff that suits, I believe EDF are accepting non EV owners but don't quote me on that.
Yes, your best with the AC coupled inverter for this, it’s a bit cheaper and gives a slightly higher output from the battery still utilising the same battery.
A very helpful video .Thanks Sandy.
I’m just about to get a 16.5kw Sonnen battery fitted to work alongside my solar panels and heat pump.
Great video, only problem is, It will take me 20 years to pay back my outlay on solar array and battery system, not including the cost of a heat pump. Really interested in doing this but initial outlay too much, let alone battery issues/maintenance and even home insurance.
Not sure how you have came to a 20 year payback. I would be very surprised if you had a 20 year payback. The cost of electricity is looking at doubling this year. Peoples payback will be dropping as energy prices raise.
Didn't know you could import via one company and export via another, briefly how do you go about doing this? Great video (and recent update - thank you!)
Thanks. Quite easy (with So energy anyway) , approach them via website, look to export, assuming your talking about SEG. You will need a smart meter, Mpan number & an MCS cert.
@@ereselectrical9397 but you can only export 5kw per day , is that right?
@@colinrobinson9496 hi Colin. You can export as much as your system generates minus consumption.
I`m looking at a system with 3 or 4 baterries of 8.2 from GiveEnergy as they come into kits .. however what I`m seeing is they come with 3kw inverter which seems a little small ? I`m using daily between 17-24 kw depending ... so I would actually like to charge the baterries in the 00:00 6:00 time frame ... but I`m thinking that a 3kwh inverter won`t have the time to charge these (expecially in your example where you have a 3 hr time frame to stay in the lower tarrif) even the 5kw would struggle ... at least this is how I understand this .. am I right ?
Hi Vlad. Yes you are right, roughly 3 hours to fill an 8.2 kWh battery via one inverter, you would need more than one inverter to give you enough time to charge. Also discharge,
Great videos, thank you. I have an unrelated question. Our inverter and battery are located in the utility room where we also have a washing machine, chest freezer and small fridge. I feel that we should install some sort of smoke or heat or multi sensor fire alarm. I'm wondering if you can recommend the best type for this location. Elsewhere in our bungalow we have an Ei Electronics Ei144 heat alarm in the kitchen and Ei146 optical smoke alarms fitted in the hallway and den respectively. Obviously they are all hard wired together. Thank you.
Hi Phil
An additional Ei146 should go you. 👍🏼
@@ereselectrical9397 thank you very much. 👍
I’m looking to go battery only on the givenergy 8.2kwh. Aim is to charge battery in the 7.5p cheap period and use it in day for higher rate. In addition also want to charge ev, programme dishwasher, washing machine etc to run at this cheap period too to minimise day usage. It won’t all happen at same time but wondered if this was viable without maximising your peak output. Mains supply fuse is 100amps.
Yes it is possible to do what you want, you would have to calculate your total demand with all the above running/charging . We install a lot of EV chargers, we install the Zappi and always set the automatic load management at 60amps. This means it will never be the EV charging that sends your total load above 60amps.
Can you pretty much run a standard home (that houses 2 person living) off a GivEnergy system with a 9kw battery? Or if not, is there any rough idea of how much your energy bills cost per month with one of these systems on average? (for when your using high energy items like electric oven or a tumble dryer?)
It’s impossible to put exact figures on it. To benefit the most you need a good tariff, that covers you in the winter. You need to learn how to load balance, don’t have everything running at the same time, if you have many appliances running at the same time it’s inevitable that you will draw from the grid. Ditch the old tumble dryer for a heat pump tumble dryer, makes a huge difference.
I would say most of our systems should catch around 3/4 of household consumption between PV and cheap import but as mentioned above there is a lot to take into the equation. Those who work harder at it will get a better return.
@@ereselectrical9397 brilliant. I was looking at one of the wind turbines as well because although the produce a lot less energy at least they do produce something throughout the night which is helpful (and a touch more in winter). It seems Octopus Go is one of the best tariffs from research. The heat pump tumble dryer sounds like a great solution and to be fair in the new home we have a garden so probs wont need one at all with having a garden. Thanks for the info
Like you said (and it makes sense) that the more the difference in the unit price the better saving we have with the battery.
Now if I take a case of only installing a battery to charge at night and discharge during the day, will that not save me considerable amount of money and help me break even early? In this case, All the energy that I am NOT getting from the solar is costing me 5p. So if you compare the two systems (battery only vs solar plus battery) then the only difference is the total units produced by the solar multiplied by 5p. And this will be a much slower return on investment as opposed to having a battery (only) which will cause a difference of 15p (charging @5p and using it against 20p). Doesn’t battery only give a quicker return of investment?
It’s impossible to put an exact figure on generation, however battery only, is very viable at the moment. We have many customers installing storage only without PV. For me they go hand in hand. Most customers don’t have enough storage capacity to keep them going a full day therefore PV takes up the difference, assuming there is generation. You have to think about the performance across 4 seasons when it comes to PV vs Storage or PV & storage vs storage only. PV and storage works well together, enough battery capacity for a full day is a great thing however comes at a cost due to the batteries being expensive.
I have 2 quotes in front of me now. One for PV + ESS and the other ESS only (ie Battery storage). They both have 8 kWh usable which covers my baseload during the 20 hours of Octopus Go daytime full rate. The PV + ESS is £3000 more than the ESS and would it is predicted to provide me with 2700 kWh of energy which I'd use immediately or store. The PV has a 10 warranty and that is about the time I intend to live here to the £3,000 cost me £300 per year to generate 2,700 kWh = 11.11 p/kWh against Octopus Go 5p (which I know is already up to 7.5p in the past month). But Solar PV has a cost per kWh you can calculate and it is fixed over 10 years, unlike Octopus Go which will probably pass the 11p/kWh within 12 to 18 months I would suspect.
What is the best size in kWh battery to get? Is it dependent on number of rooms house size? I am looking to get the Givenegy hybrid system installed, they do a 3.6, 5.0 & 5.2. Should I go large as possible? Anyone help?
You should get as big a battery as you can afford in my opinion, this assumes you will use it. The new battery not due for a few months is 9.5kWh’s. The 8.2 is being phased out. Remember charging and discharging limitations, 2.6 kw’s per hour with existing hybrid inverters. This means it will take over 3 and a half hours to charge from empty, relevant if you are force charging.
Can these be use to replace a boiler or do you need a heat pump to go with it?
Hi. You will head a heat generating appliance/appliances. Heat pump, electric radiators, infrared radiators. A solar inverter simply changed one source of energy into another. Irradiance to electric.
On Giv energy system work in the case of a back up if the power goes out from the grid ?
It can do via the EPS system.
Very interested in a Givenergy battery storage system as we got an EV a few months back and now with energy cost going mad its starting to make a lot of sense. Ive calculated that it will take 4-5 years to pay off a battery energy system currently as we stuck on a standard rate tariff which will go up in April. ideally i would like to go for the 15.6kw (3x 5.2kw batterys) system. Would i be able to charge those batteries using a cheap overnight tariff in that 3 hour window? or realistically what percentage of charge would they get? And could i charge the car at the same time? May add solar at a later date but depending on what charge i could get overnight will determine the size of the battery system we get.
Yes you can charge ev at the same time. Charge rate is around 2.6 kw. So if you only had one inverter it would take over 6 hours. You would probably be better looking at two 8.2 kWh batteries via their own AC coupled inverters, you would manage to charge those in 3 hours. Two inverters means G99 fastrack approval needed from your DNO before installation, that a little drawback.
@@ereselectrical9397 thanks for your advice much appreciated.. As for installation is it possible to fit these away from the consumer unit i.e in a garage outbuilding that has power. Or do they need to be as close to the main consumer unit as possible?
@@dannyspeed you can put them wherever suits, just makes wiring a little more difficult.
Best battery use is to store energy for use later, the no battery solution is to "time shift" consumption, simply use timers (built into many appliances) to use energy at times of your cheapest energy tarrifs. We even use plug in timers to shift usage of those things that do not have built in timers........Don't forget to turn off every other thing possible at the wall plug to eliminate as much 'phantom' consumption as possible, all those little lights that glow unnecessarily during the night are draining cash out of your pocket......re-evaluate your needs, wash clothes in cold water, use shorter washing cycles....useing a timer for your showers will reduce your hot water bill and your water use also
We have solar panels installed FOC by British Gas in 2011 under the rent a roof scheme so we don't get a feed in tariff, just the energy generated by the panels.
We are on the the Octopus Go Faster tariff for 5 hours @ 5.5p / kWh which runs from 8.30 pm to 1.30 am.
We also have a Zappi for charging our 2 EVs.
I am awaiting a survey and quote for Givenergy battery storage to be installed on an external wall near the consumer unit.
My question is can we charge the storage battery from the solar panels during the day and the grid at night on the Go Faster tariff without the need for a Givenergy inverter?
I hope that makes sense.
You will need an AC coupled inverter.
@@ereselectrical9397 The issue I have with the Givenergy system is it would look untidy if installed on an external wall of my house, 2 boxes plus the wiring and switches.
@@johndouglas770 there’s not much you can do to hide it I’m afraid, it’s big kit and needs somewhere to go. Not sure if you mean outside wall externally, we don’t recommend installing it externally albeit it can go outside. The battery performance drops in extreme cold.
@@ereselectrical9397 Thanks for your advice, I'm a total layperson when it comes to this subject.
So mounting on an outside wall is not a good idea.
Does the inverter and battery need to be mounted near to the consumer unit and meter?
I'm wondering about having it in the loft or garage, but both of those locations are at least 10 meters away from the consumer unit.
@@johndouglas770 There is no limitation on distance to inverter, the supply cable just needs to be sized correctly to deal with volt drop. A good installer will assist with that.
We're looking at putting in a 9kW electric boiler and my thoughts are to use a battery array with a capacity of between 16 to 24 kWh , which we would charge at off peak rate and use during peak rate hours. In summer we'd use the batteries to run the house. We'd put solar on the roof, but we've only room for 6 panels so we're not expecting the solar to do much in the way of charging the batteries. We'd use it to power a cylinder immersion heater plus whatever else.
Does this sound feasible?
Do you install in Yorkshire?
Ab 8 kw boiler will drain your batteries quickly, a battery and inverter has a discharge limit, to power that boiler you would need 3 batteries and 3 inverters. Sounds expensive and there will be DNO approval required for that too. We generally don’t travel to far as the costs go up due to travel expenses.
@@ereselectrical9397 thankyou for your reply. Yes I'm expecting 3x 8kWh batteries and three inverters.
@@andrewpitts6498 It’s a decent set up. Just going back to approval. Please make sure your installers are applying for G99 approval before installation.
A local company I'm working with in North Lincs is pushing me toward the GivEnergy grid tied system using 22x 330w PV panels and between one and three 8.2kWH batteries (and there I was thinking the GivEnergy system could support up to FIVE batteries? Apparently not).
I am 110% NOT INTERESTED in exporting back to the grid. For me it's all about usable power for the house. The company have yet to reassure me these GivEnergy systems can be setup so that:
- the battery is only charged from the solar and not pulling from the grid.
- the power from the battery/batteries can be directed just to powering the house and not for export.
Please can you tell me, can the GivEnergy system be configured to meet those two fundamental requirements?
I suppose I'm looking for a system which is one or maybe two steps away from being completely off grid.
Hi Kyle
In short its yes and yes to answer your questions.
Givenergy don't do a grid tied inverter, AC coupled or hybrid. To the best of my knowledge you can couple up to 5 batteries however wouldn't recommend as it would be very hard to utilise all that energy via 1 inverter.
You really should be looking at force charging from the grid on cheap tariffs as it make the system a lot more economical, also export albeit at a poor price helps too.
Please do your homework or ask your installer about battery limitations, you are looking for a lot of storage, you should be thinking of how you can charge all those batteries and how effectively can you discharge those batteries, you cant charge and discharge at the same time. You may be better with multiple inverters dealing with your storage however that brings issues with the DNO notification. On a system like you want in principle, quite a lot of thought need s to go into it before its even quoted.
@@ereselectrical9397 - I think you've answered my questions AND made my decision around going 100% off grid.
I am not interested in exporting nor am I interested in paying electricity company a penny for the privilege of being connected to the grid.
I've reached out to a company who hopefully will listen to me rather than spend hours round my house and push their system.
I have the land, I have the roof space, I just don't get why my request for say 60 panels, a 2kW wind turbine and 30kWh of battery storage goes unanswered/ignored.
Hi we don't have an EV but are with octopus? Unfortunately we have an old slate roof 1935 with no felt which would make it difficult to fit solar panels? If we had an EV i would have a battery storage system only and charge up overnight? So basically my only option is solar and battery storage but winter months would no see a large harvest of free solar? Have you any suggestions? Cheers Tony
Hi Antony.
Not having roof felt shouldn't stop a PV installation, weak slates however could. You are right, the 3 deep winter months are poor for generation, force charging out with summer defiantly helps however not essential to make it viable. Any EV tariff or even economy 7 tariff helps.
@@ereselectrical9397 Hi our grey slate roof is fairly sound and one of our neighbours has had solar. Our grey slates are backpointed. Obviously have solar means needing storage/Battery is a must! My only concern is firstly cost of a system including battery 8K? How long before our investment is clawed back? 10 years? Does the battery take over from the grid and then recharge then same again?
The other thing to note is that octopus won’t allow customers to have any of the go type tariffs unless you have and can prove you have an ev.
I’m just going through that process now and it’s painful.
@@antonybeaumont2697 For me battery goes hand in hand with solar now as the export price is too low, you should always try to use it or store it first before exporting it.
Payback is impossible to nail, many variants to take into consideration, how many panels, what orientation, how big battery capacity, import and future import costs, installation costs, scaffolding costs.
The way energy costs are heading I think 6 years is achievable, the people who manage their systems will get the payback down sooner, by that what I mean is be aware of what you are using and when, load balance to not pull from grid. The last 2 days were sunny at home, we hammered the washing and tumble dryer during the day, makes sense.
Sorry I don't understand your last question.
@@anglefire1965 Yes you are right, having an EV certainly helps. I like Octopus but am not fixed to anyone, its always best shopping about to see what's on offer.
Hi battery question is it important to discharge the battery to flat everyday to keep the batteries in good condition ?
No. I wouldn’t bother. The minimum level of 4% is set by the manufacturer, it can be changed but wouldn’t recommend it.
I wanted to get 2x 9.5kw batteries but everything im reading suggests ill never charge them during hte octopus cheap rate due to 3kw/3.6kw charge rate? Are they capable of 5kw charging?
No, 3.6 max with that battery.
Thank you. How long does it take to charge the battery from flat on the low rate tariff? Can it achieve full charge within that 3 hour window?
It takes its a shade over 3 hours. My own 8.2 kWh at home chargers via a 3hour cheap period. I’ve never had an issue on only 3 hours.
@@ereselectrical9397 Thanks for that.
Hi.
We have an ev, 3250w solar from 2014 and solar iboost for free hot water.
I am currently locked in until march on a very very cheap energy deal but I'm thinking of then changing to octopus go at 7.5 pence per kwh. To offset this, I'm seriously thinking about a givenergy battery storage solution.
A rough guesstimate would be appreciated on the price of an AC inverter with an 8 kW battery installed, assuming a minimal fuss installation....🤔
I understand that you can't give an accurate price, but I'd really appreciate just a ballpark figure. I really need this so that I can explain with some reasonably accurate figures to my better half.
Thank you ever so much.
Hi. £4000 installed (including vat) is a good place to do your sums.
@@ereselectrical9397 is that for the 5kw inverter with 8.2kWh battery?
@@ereselectrical9397 is there any specific area that you cover?
@@GauravVermaGoogle you get a 5kw hybrid but not ac coupled, that’s 3kw.
@@GauravVermaGoogle we generally stick close to home, within reason, (Glasgow) in order to be competitive on price.
Will the give energy battery run the house during power cuts ?
It has that function, it’s called EPS. It needs wired with very specific earthing arrangements. I am not a fan of EPS, sure I mention the reasons bellow.
Be interested to know who you use for export and whether you have to account for the ‘brown’ energy in the battery as many companies (such as Octopus) will not allow you to export this, only energy directly generated by your PV. I’m currently on Octopus GO and have a 12.5kWh hybrid system being installed in the next couple of weeks hopefully, but am struggling to find a SEG contract that pays a reasonable export tariff.
So energy. 5p. Seems to be about as good as you can get at the moment unless you go to Octopus agile, been there, left quickly however may well give it another go when weather improves as the export rates are really good. One to watch.
@@ereselectrical9397 thanks for that … Octopus won’t do any export tariff if you’re currently on Go apparently! Not sure yet how much I would export, and certainly not much in the summer charging the battery storage and running air con.
SO Energy said they would pay me 5p per kWh on export SEG tariff but that turned out to less 5% VAT I.e. only 4.761p per kWH. I switched to Octopus and on their Octopus Outgoing Fixed tariff I get 7.5p per kWh exported. No rubbish about deducting VAT either. I looked at the Octopus Outgoing Agile tariff but as I have not got a battery storage system only a solar pv system I worked out I would not make any more income. The Agile rate pays up to 50% more but that's only in peak demand periods. In winter months it would mean I'd be exporting only in the cheap period and earning less than the Fixed tariff.
@@craigvaux619 I'm awaiting my system, oredered yesterday. At present I am with Shell Energy for import & export. Under the FIT Tariff I get is 14.83p generation + 50% of that at 5.57p, so as far as I can see Octopus will not take on my FIT contract ( it was previously with United Utilities ) I have before had split import & export companies and think I'm going to have to again. My PV array was installed about 2015 so lucky as FIT tariff have now gone.
Do you have to get these systems MSC certified? This is always an issue for self installers (I.E. competent people who don't have the appropriate (costly) accreditation.)
I would always advise using an MCS installer. You can’t get paid export (SEG) without an MCS certificate, you also get insurance backed deposits and warranty with an MCS company.
With this kit, Givenergy won’t commission it unless it’s been carried out by an approved installer. Self installing isn’t ideal.
@@ereselectrical9397 It's a shame, isn't it. I'm sure this puts many people off even starting the process.
Need to update to the new tariff , more like 17p a kw now and rising.
It will continue to rise a lot more.
I’m not going to update the video every time the tariff changes, that’s why I mention the date.
@@ereselectrical9397 sure just the rates have skyrocketed since.
I seem some energy providers charging 52p kWh !
Octopus GO is only available now if you have an EV
Yes, correct. If you don't have an EV you need to shop around for a tariff that suits, I believe EDF are accepting non EV owners but don't quote me on that.
can i run these without solar . charge during cheap rate the use on normal rate.
Yes, your best with the AC coupled inverter for this, it’s a bit cheaper and gives a slightly higher output from the battery still utilising the same battery.
Could you this in English?
Can you put a sentence together in plain English?
@@ereselectrical9397 sigh irony is lost on the interwebs... thanks for the video