Follow my solar journey at evnick.com/solar or get an instant price at heatable.co.uk/solar? I do hope this video is able to answer the quesiton EVERYONE wants to know which is How much are solar panels? With heatables online price anyone can get an instant answer and as heatable said that lifts the lid on pricing finally!
Same price as my local installer for same total inverter output just panel peak with heatable is slightly more but not much. My local installer has also been a nightmare to get a price off took him 6 weeks to return my calls so I think heatable just got them selfs an order
It's inevitable that things will improve over time with any technology, but it takes forward-thinking people to achieve it! Well done Nicholas for finding them😃 These guys have moved the domestic Solar and Battery to the next level. Despite all the research I did, I now feel that my panels are not placed in the optimum locations and the inverter significantly limits the output. I didn't spot any reference to the typical consumption across the day, although we're not 9-5ers most of our usage is in the peak hours, so I think we would have been better off to have split the panels 50-50 South and West rather than all on the South side. Our back-up provision is poor, but at least I did specifically request some cover in case of power cuts, whew! The use of the C-clamp to monitor consumption seems to be the cause of significant leakage to the grid as our system reacts to usage changes very slowly. We do at least have remote control and can just about handle most of the Octopus tariffs.
i can personally confirm my enphase and alpha system has performed flawlessly for 18 months, it works alongside my FIT (10 yrs old) string system and does perform better per panel, string system is on its 2nd inverter. BTW great explanation video thanks 🙏
Good video and submitting the details to get an instant quote on their website was very straightforward. In my situation, solar and battery storage don't make economic sense as I live alone and my electricity bills are not high enough to give a realistic payback time. But when I eventually get a heat pump, a solar/battery installation might make more sense?
What your bills currently? I mean my parents have low bills as my dad chargers EV at work and it makes sense for them to have solar payback was longer but still a payback. What your yearly electric bill or yearly total kwh use? Even if I take away EV charging I was using around 10-15kwh a day since solar went on am down to 2kwh a day! Exporting some also and that’s paid… if haven’t got an EV to store the energy in you won’t be on octopus go or intelligent so can sign up to the higher export deal at 15p a kwh
@@NicolasRaimo Thanks for your reply. I do drive an EV and with an annual 20k mileage, I drive more than twice the average mileage. Also nearly all my charging is done at home which would suggest I have a high electric bill? But I'm on the Intelligent Octopus tariff and charge at 7.5p/kWh so the cost of charging my EV averages out at just over £1 day. Average daily use on peak rate for the rest of the house is only 2kWh. (When I'm out of the house the only thing using much power is the fridge freezer) So I'm currently paying about £65 month for electricity. But £15 of that is standing charge. So only £50 for the actual electricity. Ignoring the standing charge the annual cost of my electricity usage is therefore around £600. I hadn't considered any possible payment for export, so thanks for mentioning that. With solar on its own costing over £6k and solar + battery over £9k. I'm not convinced solar would be worthwhile for me?
I had my Enphase system installed by Joju Solar. I struggled to find installers who were familiar with Enphase… Joju were one of the few but it’s definitely the best solution.
Good video. I speak from experience when saying that investing in solar PV four years ago has worked well for me because the installer and I followed the same preparatory steps as your guests. To cut a long story short, the system will have repaid itself within 7 years and this is in wet central Scotland with a less than ideal east-west facing roof. Most people will do far better as long as they plan ahead carefully.
@@studaples I get your caution, but here in Scotland our roof structures are supported by wooden sarking underneath the tiles/slates and my modern home has heavy duty concrete tiles that are an inch thick. The Installer was very experienced and took great care in spreading the load when working on the roof, so not a hint of damage but others may not be so careful, as you suggest.
They carry out roof surveys prior to starting any work if the survey found your roof wasn't able to take the load they wouldn't fit the panels simple as that
@@NicolasRaimo Correct. My installer had a programme that calculated the maximum potential load during a storm which encompassed a huge margin of comfort. The only risk to a roof would be where an installer failed to follow these procedures.
Heatable used to give an all in fixed price with solar scaffold but this had serval complications. Some customers would pay much more than they had to, and others would pay much less on complex installs. Also every solar company quoting prices on flyers on the internet were doing with no scaffold cost. This would make many think Heatable was over charging, scaffold costs have also risen massively in last 12 months and keep rising and some areas there is such a lack of scaffolders. My business (day job) needed some roof work doing for a single story we were quoted £1800 for a very easy one side so I know the costs are nuts only 4 years ago we paid that for a 4 story building on 2 sides
Interesting business model. As an electrician the sales process for PV is expensive - time us money for all. Their approach is to avoid time wasting of their staff by getting customers to work in isolation. Whether you get the best result for your home is personal.
You always overspec panels to inverters my array at work is 14kw with a 10kw inverter It’s quite complex to understand but you actually get more overall power this way I need to get an expert in to explain it as it goes over my head a little so be a good interview leave it with me
Enphase do more powerful inverters but you still undersize a little, because the sunniest sunniest days are rare considering the extra cost, so you let it hit the max 1-2% of the time this is called “clipping”. Enphase also has a maximum continuous rate and a “peak” rate that it can do in a burst. A inverter generally works more efficiently at a higher capacity too - if you had a 1kW inverter and had a 100 W panel then the inverter wouldn’t be as efficient run lower. You plan for the 80% of the time rather than the 1-2%. The panels also degrade (not loads but like over 10 years) so you want the panel to degrade close to the max the inverter can do rather than have a powerful inverter for a depreciating panel
Micro inverters where 1 of the reason i turned down a couple of installers. Here energy suplyers stop paying if you put more than 10.000wp / Or higher than 10kva with a normal inverter you can overdimension to calculate in the losses bechose of angles, direction of the panels, ... nice tool thats for sure
I have an existing 4KW solar system on the FIT Tariff. I’m looking to add more plus battery storage, I want to maximise my roof space, but to do so this would mean moving the existing panels around on the existing roof, would this effect my FIT Tariff, technically I won’t be modifying the system as the existing panels and inverters will remain, the panel will just be in a different position on the roof 🤔, any help or advice would be greatly appreciated 👍
The irony is that I actually need someone to come to my property and assess it and I don’t want to do it / can’t do it ‘by remote’ because I need a non-standard installation in as much as I don’t have much south facing roof space, but do have a fair amount of south facing wall space. Can’t do that via Google Maps. Very difficult to find someone who is willing to give it a go either.
My array is on an east roof, west and east still generate and even if your south roof can fit a few panels and then a few on east and west as each runs a micro inverter that’s fine. Few installers want to do a wall as it requires local planning permission
@@NicolasRaimo That’s the first reference I’ve seen to Planning Permission being required for wall mounting, as the surfaces will not be fronting a highway, nor is the property listed or in a conservation area. I’d be interested if you could point me towards a source. West is no good for us as we have dormers. As far as east is concerned I’ve had one design that says it can take one panel and another that says three! They can’t even agree on the small south facing roof which can apparently take either two or three panels. And one design had two panels on the north facing route just to met the minimum string size for a SolarEdge inverter!! I estimate (very roughly) that I’m could fit five or six panels on wall south facing wall space alone. My point being is that my property is a classic case where a site visit is more preferable to a Google estimate, but just try and get anyone to come out…
@@mikec2505try using interactive.planningportal.co.uk/ and checking with local planning office from memory in lots of places its not allowed, however FLAT on your south roof might not be any better than on an East and west array
@@mikec2505also the price on heatable is a FIXED price if the site visit comes back with less panels then the fix price drops and as the system is micro inverter no minium string size
@@garrynutter860 you mean the part that says inc vat? It doesn’t show a breakdown of VAT I think it’s more the wording needs changing to say vat included at 0%
The system was designed by Enphase and REA solar this is what the solar panel firm and the inverter firm gave the best performance for…. Higher rated panels perform better when working at lower rates like this
Personally I’d go for a higher model microinverter such as the Enphase IQ7A (which I currently have on my roof paired with 14 x 415W panels), Enphase partnered with SunPower Maxeon and the Maxeon 6AC panels come with the IQ7A pre-installed. This gives 349 W continuous and up to 366 W peak at a burst. Never worth trying to match a panel directly to its inverter because a) wear of panel b) inverter less efficient c) expensive d) you’re trying to cope for the perfect peak sunshine that happens 2% or so of the time… “Solar clipping” is absolutely fine… but yes if it were me I’d IQ7A or if I was doing it all again (and didn’t go for an all in one panel) one of the higher spec IQ8s
Your video has piqued my interest in solar and I like the simplicity of the Heatable initial process, I just don't get their sums though and I'm looking around at local installers for comparative quotes. In particular, playing with panel numbers shows that to increase from 6 to 7 panels is a very reasonable £200 increase but beyond this any additional panels plus inverters are £500! I also did a bit of research into the Alpha battery and found that you can't export to the grid so Octopus Flux is out if I wanted to export in peak times. Presumably you also need a G99 for your total Enphase output plus battery, which in my case would be nearly 9kW?
They handle all paperwork g98/g99/g100 but yes total output exceeds 3.68 so we into g99. Normal systems your just per panel cost at £200 with Heatable your panel plus micro inverter they are near about the same price as other typical installs as inverter cost a a lot then selfs and micros are cheaper per micro so we get to similar cost as we move up. Alpha and many others don’t like you exporting force to grid as they want long term performance I also don’t think the cost payback on flux is high enough to justify you cycling your battery. Remember micros are also optermizers snd there start up voltage is lower and power overheads lower than inverters
@@NicolasRaimo I think the case for micro inverters is very sound for the reasons you mention and I'd like to go that route even though I have no shading etc. I wonder if there's a bug in the website that makes the incremental cost £500. It might be worth me having a chat when I've had a quote (which is likely to be for a string inverter so not directly comparable). Good to see from your comments and follow up video that your system is performing well!
@@pwatsonuk I think it’s costed in correctly to be honest I think micros are about £150 each and remember these are bifacial panels so they also cost more
just hire some scaff & do it yourself, its so much cheaper, and you can get more panels on your roof than they allow, as long as your neighbours dont mind, ours have been fine so far
No MCs cert no export… also number of panels limit is due issues caused by extra panels too close to edges I’ve seen what happens to roofs that cramp on too many
@@NicolasRaimo ah soz yeh forgot to mention we dont export since our roof is so small (we only see like 3-4kw peak, so just goes straight in server rack batteries instead), yeh I've seen horror stories, but my dads mate surveyed the roof and said was fine becuase we were re tiling anyway, they said was more than capable of the weight, appreciate your points thou, still very valid, i forget how our situation my differ to others
There is a bit more to understanding the UK's solar irradiance and how much you can actually generate under any or ideal conditions which are few and far between (we are not in Spain). There is plenty of info out there on clipping. Heatable have addressed the UK's upper segment of the solar market in terms of quality, pricing and availability. Their online quote tool is fantastic standardising on two "Rolex quality" products such as the high performance Australian REA Fusion 2 PV panels and US IQ7+ Enphase inverters for all installations. The new IQ8 series bumps power up to 366W which may or may not be of benefit in UK. Downside ? Since I'm having a new roof I wanted an IN ROOF systems which they declined due to the apparent loss of bi-directional function of which I was not bothered about.
In roof system also has more issues in summer with heat. I can tell you from my early testing so far of these bi facial panels that even in a cloud covered day they preform amazing. I assume in roof might also include extra risks from an install level on warranty front as am guessing more opportunity for things to go wrong which on a national level would be more headache
The battery storage 🤔 What if you want more power from your battery/inverter than 3kW? 3kW is VERY low if you are wanting to use washing machine, tumble dryer, dishwasher etc.? 🤷🏻♂️
@@NicolasRaimo Yes, but that is only when the sun is shining. What about running appliances in the evening? It’s all well & good only having 3kW’s, but if you need more you’re screwed & taking energy from the grid. I only have space for 10 panels (if I utilise 1 side of my roof), so I wouldn’t have the same capacity. I would need a larger inverter or whatever🤷🏻♂️🤦🏻♂️
@@cloggsy1971 they can do a larger battery aC coupled system if that’s what you need most hybrid systems however rated at 5kw are just 5 with solar anyway
As only 1 micro inverter per panel you won’t get into the same issue as string inverters with voltages passing maximum, Enphase recommend 440w as it’s top range and only 60/72cell type modules
Is there another Battery I could use ? I expect I'm going to be mainly recharging during off-peak (night) hours, and just using Solar as the top-up (especially during winter !) so would like more than 3kW power capacity ?
I believe they could upgrade inverter to higher but depends on your DNO remember you’d have 3kw plus the solar to meet load needs… I also believe another battery option might be appearing soo.
@@NicolasRaimo Thanks for that, I probably want to export limit anyway, because I just want to be as self-sufficient as possible, and we may have a second ev soon, which I could charge up during the Day, - but at the moment, I'm still working on the assumption that our PV will be purely to 'top-up' our Batteries, - but if these micro-inverters work better at low-light (N.Yorks) conditions, then they could be more useful as a charging source ?
It’s been performing great for me I’ve been comparing to my mates array who doesn’t live near me and on cloudy days I kick his butt on a prefect sunny day he wins with his higher inverter peak but seeing this is the Uk and not California I think over the year I’ll Smash him
That a fair bit of clipping would rather use Tigo with the string inverter would be a cheaper build with a bigger yield. And on a plus note your not funnelled into an ecosystem.
Tigo would suck some power to run them selfs and so would string inverter this has lower overhead power costs and eliminates lots of DC risks it’s been in at mine just over a week performance is unreal!
@@NicolasRaimo totally agree but locks you into an ecosystem, when i design mine I knew there would be losses in order to have a truly modular system. I looked at these all in one batteries and bar the Tesla battery the others are lacking the whole house backup. Personally I’ve gone with Victron for the whole house backup and modular batteries that I can just stack also having my solar on the backup side so it can still supply power in the event of a power cut in daylight hours. What got me with the all in ones was when they change there generation of battery/inverters it is often not compatible with the old gateway or batteries making the system obsolete. But by far the biggest one is battery tech/chemistry is changing I wanted a way just to be able to update the battery side when they do eventually die without gutting the battery/ AC inverter. For you now to get the ultimate out of your system your best off with the enphase batteries but unlike a lot of others I do believe they have or are going to do a gateway like Tesla for whole house. PS lots of them are doing there own EV chargers too kind of no brainer to get the best out of your tech, I’ve already resided to the Victron EV charger not the best as they are very new to EV charging but integration is better than me getting one that doesn’t talk to the heart of my home power. You seem to be coming out with a lot of tech and I’m learning a lot through it especially your battery guy chalk me down as another subscriber!
How you locked into an eco system? Micro inverters have 25 year warranty and you can use any battery you like with it…. It also has locally published data so you don’t even need their app
@@NicolasRaimo. As to my kit the Victron very modular but still when looking for EV charging I’ll be locking into the Victron not the best charger but to get the best and seamless integration to get the very best out of the system that’s the choice of the day. Just like the emphasis battery would give you the best battery integration from micro inverter to battery
Who you used for battery with this system doesn’t matter as battery is just AC coupled… as data is published locally you can do lots of stuff locally with home assistant including control a number of EV chargers from other companies this means no lock in
@Nicolas I may have done something wrong…. I could not draw either first time around. When I used your second link…. It didn’t ask for the details…. I got my price. I will call them to confirm few things tomorrow… because I had 4 companies who told me they can’t fit panels because of my roof size and it will be waste of money. However this company quoted me 11 panels and battery. Interesting will confirm later.
@@dadreview9984 yeah… I didn’t notice that I think… it didn’t allow me to draw the first time either… I may have done something stupid in my eagerness…🙄
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Follow my solar journey at evnick.com/solar or get an instant price at heatable.co.uk/solar? I do hope this video is able to answer the quesiton EVERYONE wants to know which is How much are solar panels? With heatables online price anyone can get an instant answer and as heatable said that lifts the lid on pricing finally!
Ironically they don't include the Orkney Islands in Scotland despite one of the highest adoptions of EVs and renewables. Good video though.
Same price as my local installer for same total inverter output just panel peak with heatable is slightly more but not much. My local installer has also been a nightmare to get a price off took him 6 weeks to return my calls so I think heatable just got them selfs an order
Amazing video, Heatable are a very good company.
Couldn't agree more!
It's inevitable that things will improve over time with any technology, but it takes forward-thinking people to achieve it! Well done Nicholas for finding them😃
These guys have moved the domestic Solar and Battery to the next level. Despite all the research I did, I now feel that my panels are not placed in the optimum locations and the inverter significantly limits the output.
I didn't spot any reference to the typical consumption across the day, although we're not 9-5ers most of our usage is in the peak hours, so I think we would have been better off to have split the panels 50-50 South and West rather than all on the South side.
Our back-up provision is poor, but at least I did specifically request some cover in case of power cuts, whew!
The use of the C-clamp to monitor consumption seems to be the cause of significant leakage to the grid as our system reacts to usage changes very slowly.
We do at least have remote control and can just about handle most of the Octopus tariffs.
i can personally confirm my enphase and alpha system has performed flawlessly for 18 months, it works alongside my FIT (10 yrs old) string system and does perform better per panel, string system is on its 2nd inverter.
BTW great explanation video thanks 🙏
I imagine they’ve had this ready for a while, just been waiting for installers pricing expectations to come back down to earth.
Good video and submitting the details to get an instant quote on their website was very straightforward.
In my situation, solar and battery storage don't make economic sense as I live alone and my electricity bills are not high enough to give a realistic payback time. But when I eventually get a heat pump, a solar/battery installation might make more sense?
What your bills currently? I mean my parents have low bills as my dad chargers EV at work and it makes sense for them to have solar payback was longer but still a payback. What your yearly electric bill or yearly total kwh use? Even if I take away EV charging I was using around 10-15kwh a day since solar went on am down to 2kwh a day! Exporting some also and that’s paid… if haven’t got an EV to store the energy in you won’t be on octopus go or intelligent so can sign up to the higher export deal at 15p a kwh
@@NicolasRaimo Thanks for your reply.
I do drive an EV and with an annual 20k mileage, I drive more than twice the average mileage. Also nearly all my charging is done at home which would suggest I have a high electric bill?
But I'm on the Intelligent Octopus tariff and charge at 7.5p/kWh so the cost of charging my EV averages out at just over £1 day. Average daily use on peak rate for the rest of the house is only 2kWh. (When I'm out of the house the only thing using much power is the fridge freezer) So I'm currently paying about £65 month for electricity. But £15 of that is standing charge. So only £50 for the actual electricity.
Ignoring the standing charge the annual cost of my electricity usage is therefore around £600. I hadn't considered any possible payment for export, so thanks for mentioning that.
With solar on its own costing over £6k and solar + battery over £9k. I'm not convinced solar would be worthwhile for me?
I had my Enphase system installed by Joju Solar. I struggled to find installers who were familiar with Enphase… Joju were one of the few but it’s definitely the best solution.
I found Joju hopeless, waited an age for a quote and it was overpriced for the cheapest equipment they could find.
Good video. I speak from experience when saying that investing in solar PV four years ago has worked well for me because the installer and I followed the same preparatory steps as your guests. To cut a long story short, the system will have repaid itself within 7 years and this is in wet central Scotland with a less than ideal east-west facing roof. Most people will do far better as long as they plan ahead carefully.
it's the worst thing you can do, letting these people clamber around on your roof, especially with pan or plain tiles tiles
@@studaples I get your caution, but here in Scotland our roof structures are supported by wooden sarking underneath the tiles/slates and my modern home has heavy duty concrete tiles that are an inch thick. The Installer was very experienced and took great care in spreading the load when working on the roof, so not a hint of damage but others may not be so careful, as you suggest.
They carry out roof surveys prior to starting any work if the survey found your roof wasn't able to take the load they wouldn't fit the panels simple as that
@@NicolasRaimo Correct. My installer had a programme that calculated the maximum potential load during a storm which encompassed a huge margin of comfort. The only risk to a roof would be where an installer failed to follow these procedures.
I was happy with my initial Heatable quote but then they add scaffolding as an extra, which they wanted £1100 for one side of scaffold.
Heatable used to give an all in fixed price with solar scaffold but this had serval complications.
Some customers would pay much more than they had to, and others would pay much less on complex installs.
Also every solar company quoting prices on flyers on the internet were doing with no scaffold cost.
This would make many think Heatable was over charging, scaffold costs have also risen massively in last 12 months and keep rising and some areas there is such a lack of scaffolders. My business (day job) needed some roof work doing for a single story we were quoted £1800 for a very easy one side so I know the costs are nuts only 4 years ago we paid that for a 4 story building on 2 sides
Ps use promotion code “EVNICK150” and there give you £150 off
Great video, heatable are very good, just had new boiler from them
If you get solar please use my referral link hoping to show heatable a case of doing another series with me this year!
@@NicolasRaimowill do
Interesting business model. As an electrician the sales process for PV is expensive - time us money for all. Their approach is to avoid time wasting of their staff by getting customers to work in isolation. Whether you get the best result for your home is personal.
Im not convinced that a 290W inverter is producing more power from a 410W panel. You should try getting an inverter the size of the panel
You always overspec panels to inverters my array at work is 14kw with a 10kw inverter
It’s quite complex to understand but you actually get more overall power this way I need to get an expert in to explain it as it goes over my head a little so be a good interview leave it with me
Enphase do more powerful inverters but you still undersize a little, because the sunniest sunniest days are rare considering the extra cost, so you let it hit the max 1-2% of the time this is called “clipping”. Enphase also has a maximum continuous rate and a “peak” rate that it can do in a burst. A inverter generally works more efficiently at a higher capacity too - if you had a 1kW inverter and had a 100 W panel then the inverter wouldn’t be as efficient run lower. You plan for the 80% of the time rather than the 1-2%.
The panels also degrade (not loads but like over 10 years) so you want the panel to degrade close to the max the inverter can do rather than have a powerful inverter for a depreciating panel
Micro inverters where 1 of the reason i turned down a couple of installers.
Here energy suplyers stop paying if you put more than 10.000wp / Or higher than 10kva
with a normal inverter you can overdimension to calculate in the losses bechose of angles, direction of the panels, ...
nice tool thats for sure
I have an existing 4KW solar system on the FIT Tariff. I’m looking to add more plus battery storage, I want to maximise my roof space, but to do so this would mean moving the existing panels around on the existing roof, would this effect my FIT Tariff, technically I won’t be modifying the system as the existing panels and inverters will remain, the panel will just be in a different position on the roof 🤔, any help or advice would be greatly appreciated 👍
I’m in the same position and would like micro inverters fitting on my FIT system but don’t want to mess up the system and lose the FIT.
@@deanfielding4411 FIT tariff an adapt to changes to extra capacity or changes, talk to your FIT provider.
The irony is that I actually need someone to come to my property and assess it and I don’t want to do it / can’t do it ‘by remote’ because I need a non-standard installation in as much as I don’t have much south facing roof space, but do have a fair amount of south facing wall space. Can’t do that via Google Maps. Very difficult to find someone who is willing to give it a go either.
My array is on an east roof, west and east still generate and even if your south roof can fit a few panels and then a few on east and west as each runs a micro inverter that’s fine. Few installers want to do a wall as it requires local planning permission
@@NicolasRaimo That’s the first reference I’ve seen to Planning Permission being required for wall mounting, as the surfaces will not be fronting a highway, nor is the property listed or in a conservation area. I’d be interested if you could point me towards a source. West is no good for us as we have dormers. As far as east is concerned I’ve had one design that says it can take one panel and another that says three! They can’t even agree on the small south facing roof which can apparently take either two or three panels. And one design had two panels on the north facing route just to met the minimum string size for a SolarEdge inverter!! I estimate (very roughly) that I’m could fit five or six panels on wall south facing wall space alone. My point being is that my property is a classic case where a site visit is more preferable to a Google estimate, but just try and get anyone to come out…
@@mikec2505try using interactive.planningportal.co.uk/ and checking with local planning office from memory in lots of places its not allowed, however FLAT on your south roof might not be any better than on an East and west array
@@mikec2505also the price on heatable is a FIXED price if the site visit comes back with less panels then the fix price drops and as the system is micro inverter no minium string size
Good interesting stuff. I thought it was VAT free ?
It is…? What’s made you ask that it’s not?
@@NicolasRaimo Did a quote on there system and it shows VAT.
@@garrynutter860 you mean the part that says inc vat? It doesn’t show a breakdown of VAT I think it’s more the wording needs changing to say vat included at 0%
Holy moly, 420w panels and you can only get 290w from it? That's like nearly 45% less than what the panel is capable of
The system was designed by Enphase and REA solar this is what the solar panel firm and the inverter firm gave the best performance for…. Higher rated panels perform better when working at lower rates like this
Ps it’s 29% difference which is same is about same you over spec a string inverter to get best performance
Personally I’d go for a higher model microinverter such as the Enphase IQ7A (which I currently have on my roof paired with 14 x 415W panels), Enphase partnered with SunPower Maxeon and the Maxeon 6AC panels come with the IQ7A pre-installed. This gives 349 W continuous and up to 366 W peak at a burst.
Never worth trying to match a panel directly to its inverter because a) wear of panel b) inverter less efficient c) expensive d) you’re trying to cope for the perfect peak sunshine that happens 2% or so of the time…
“Solar clipping” is absolutely fine… but yes if it were me I’d IQ7A or if I was doing it all again (and didn’t go for an all in one panel) one of the higher spec IQ8s
Your video has piqued my interest in solar and I like the simplicity of the Heatable initial process, I just don't get their sums though and I'm looking around at local installers for comparative quotes. In particular, playing with panel numbers shows that to increase from 6 to 7 panels is a very reasonable £200 increase but beyond this any additional panels plus inverters are £500!
I also did a bit of research into the Alpha battery and found that you can't export to the grid so Octopus Flux is out if I wanted to export in peak times. Presumably you also need a G99 for your total Enphase output plus battery, which in my case would be nearly 9kW?
They handle all paperwork g98/g99/g100 but yes total output exceeds 3.68 so we into g99. Normal systems your just per panel cost at £200 with Heatable your panel plus micro inverter they are near about the same price as other typical installs as inverter cost a a lot then selfs and micros are cheaper per micro so we get to similar cost as we move up.
Alpha and many others don’t like you exporting force to grid as they want long term performance I also don’t think the cost payback on flux is high enough to justify you cycling your battery.
Remember micros are also optermizers snd there start up voltage is lower and power overheads lower than inverters
@@NicolasRaimo I think the case for micro inverters is very sound for the reasons you mention and I'd like to go that route even though I have no shading etc.
I wonder if there's a bug in the website that makes the incremental cost £500. It might be worth me having a chat when I've had a quote (which is likely to be for a string inverter so not directly comparable).
Good to see from your comments and follow up video that your system is performing well!
@@pwatsonuk I think it’s costed in correctly to be honest I think micros are about £150 each and remember these are bifacial panels so they also cost more
just hire some scaff & do it yourself, its so much cheaper, and you can get more panels on your roof than they allow, as long as your neighbours dont mind, ours have been fine so far
No MCs cert no export… also number of panels limit is due issues caused by extra panels too close to edges I’ve seen what happens to roofs that cramp on too many
@@NicolasRaimo ah soz yeh forgot to mention we dont export since our roof is so small (we only see like 3-4kw peak, so just goes straight in server rack batteries instead), yeh I've seen horror stories, but my dads mate surveyed the roof and said was fine becuase we were re tiling anyway, they said was more than capable of the weight, appreciate your points thou, still very valid, i forget how our situation my differ to others
There is a bit more to understanding the UK's solar irradiance and how much you can actually generate under any or ideal conditions which are few and far between (we are not in Spain). There is plenty of info out there on clipping. Heatable have addressed the UK's upper segment of the solar market in terms of quality, pricing and availability. Their online quote tool is fantastic standardising on two "Rolex quality" products such as the high performance Australian REA Fusion 2 PV panels and US IQ7+ Enphase inverters for all installations. The new IQ8 series bumps power up to 366W which may or may not be of benefit in UK.
Downside ?
Since I'm having a new roof I wanted an IN ROOF systems which they declined due to the apparent loss of bi-directional function of which I was not bothered about.
In roof system also has more issues in summer with heat. I can tell you from my early testing so far of these bi facial panels that even in a cloud covered day they preform amazing.
I assume in roof might also include extra risks from an install level on warranty front as am guessing more opportunity for things to go wrong which on a national level would be more headache
The battery storage 🤔 What if you want more power from your battery/inverter than 3kW? 3kW is VERY low if you are wanting to use washing machine, tumble dryer, dishwasher etc.? 🤷🏻♂️
Panels are 290watt each so 14 panels 4kw and then the battery can do 3kw on top, giving 7kw that’s more than a hybrid system
@@NicolasRaimo Yes, but that is only when the sun is shining. What about running appliances in the evening? It’s all well & good only having 3kW’s, but if you need more you’re screwed & taking energy from the grid. I only have space for 10 panels (if I utilise 1 side of my roof), so I wouldn’t have the same capacity. I would need a larger inverter or whatever🤷🏻♂️🤦🏻♂️
@@cloggsy1971 they can do a larger battery aC coupled system if that’s what you need most hybrid systems however rated at 5kw are just 5 with solar anyway
@@NicolasRaimo I have received an online quote. It’ll be interesting to see what they come back with…
@@cloggsy1971 be aware your DNO might limit the system also
At what point would you be overloading the rating of the micro converter to a fail and void it's warranty
You can’t overload it. It’s like a tap with a fixed sized pipe… it manages itself and just converts what it wants to convert
As only 1 micro inverter per panel you won’t get into the same issue as string inverters with voltages passing maximum, Enphase recommend 440w as it’s top range and only 60/72cell type modules
it's the worst thing you can do, letting these people clamber around on your roof, especially with pan or plain tiles tiles
roofers on the roof.... sparks on the ground am quite happy letting these people who do it day in day out walk on the roof they understand
Is there another Battery I could use ?
I expect I'm going to be mainly recharging during off-peak (night) hours, and just using Solar as the top-up (especially during winter !) so would like more than 3kW power capacity ?
I believe they could upgrade inverter to higher but depends on your DNO remember you’d have 3kw plus the solar to meet load needs… I also believe another battery option might be appearing soo.
@@NicolasRaimo Thanks for that, I probably want to export limit anyway, because I just want to be as self-sufficient as possible, and we may have a second ev soon, which I could charge up during the Day, - but at the moment, I'm still working on the assumption that our PV will be purely to 'top-up' our Batteries, - but if these micro-inverters work better at low-light (N.Yorks) conditions, then they could be more useful as a charging source ?
It’s been performing great for me I’ve been comparing to my mates array who doesn’t live near me and on cloudy days I kick his butt on a prefect sunny day he wins with his higher inverter peak but seeing this is the Uk and not California I think over the year I’ll
Smash him
That what I would like to know. Looking at givenergy myself.
I have Enphase solar but Tesla Powerwall Batteries… 13.5 kWh per battery
That a fair bit of clipping would rather use Tigo with the string inverter would be a cheaper build with a bigger yield. And on a plus note your not funnelled into an ecosystem.
Tigo would suck some power to run them selfs and so would string inverter this has lower overhead power costs and eliminates lots of DC risks it’s been in at mine just over a week performance is unreal!
@@NicolasRaimo totally agree but locks you into an ecosystem, when i design mine I knew there would be losses in order to have a truly modular system.
I looked at these all in one batteries and bar the Tesla battery the others are lacking the whole house backup. Personally I’ve gone with Victron for the whole house backup and modular batteries that I can just stack also having my solar on the backup side so it can still supply power in the event of a power cut in daylight hours. What got me with the all in ones was when they change there generation of battery/inverters it is often not compatible with the old gateway or batteries making the system obsolete. But by far the biggest one is battery tech/chemistry is changing I wanted a way just to be able to update the battery side when they do eventually die without gutting the battery/ AC inverter.
For you now to get the ultimate out of your system your best off with the enphase batteries but unlike a lot of others I do believe they have or are going to do a gateway like Tesla for whole house. PS lots of them are doing there own EV chargers too kind of no brainer to get the best out of your tech, I’ve already resided to the Victron EV charger not the best as they are very new to EV charging but integration is better than me getting one that doesn’t talk to the heart of my home power.
You seem to be coming out with a lot of tech and I’m learning a lot through it especially your battery guy chalk me down as another subscriber!
How you locked into an eco system? Micro inverters have 25 year warranty and you can use any battery you like with it…. It also has locally published data so you don’t even need their app
@@NicolasRaimo. As to my kit the Victron very modular but still when looking for EV charging I’ll be locking into the Victron not the best charger but to get the best and seamless integration to get the very best out of the system that’s the choice of the day. Just like the emphasis battery would give you the best battery integration from micro inverter to battery
Who you used for battery with this system doesn’t matter as battery is just AC coupled… as data is published locally you can do lots of stuff locally with home assistant including control a number of EV chargers from other companies this means no lock in
I just entered the details to get a quote…. They did ask me to submit my email and mobile…
It says optional you can just click continue
I just skipped that by pressing give me quote it does say optional in the box
@Nicolas I may have done something wrong…. I could not draw either first time around. When I used your second link…. It didn’t ask for the details…. I got my price. I will call them to confirm few things tomorrow… because I had 4 companies who told me they can’t fit panels because of my roof size and it will be waste of money. However this company quoted me 11 panels and battery. Interesting will confirm later.
If you do enter your details at end to reserve fixed price they should ring you pretty sharpish they did for me I was quite impressed
@@dadreview9984 yeah… I didn’t notice that I think… it didn’t allow me to draw the first time either… I may have done something stupid in my eagerness…🙄