I haven’t caught all of your vids so if you haven’t already. Get onto Octopus GO with a smart meter. Push all your heavy winter consumption into the night time. Charge the battery on off peak too, then the solar simply tops up the battery and covers base load whilst production is pants. Come March/April switch back from charging at night and start using appliances when you’d be exporting. What a rabbit hole. So far in order- Heat Pump dryer - 7yrs Induction Hob- 2yrs EV- 2yrs EWI- 2yrs PV + LFP- 15 Months ASHP- pending DNO approval Ripple- online 2023
Thankyou for sharing. Your correct, and we are actually with Octopus Intelligent now for the longer 6 hour window of cheaper rate, and use this the charge the car and battery now over night, like you say, to bring our daytime cost to as low as possible. For us at this house air source heat pump isn’t suitable, but certainly something we’ll consider in the future at a different property
Our experience after 4 years. 10kw system, now 25kwh storage (we started with 10kwh, then expanded to 20kwh and just added another 5kwh). Between march and Oct we use minimal import from the grid, Nov to Feb we use about 4mwh most of which is imported off peak. Solar production between march and Oct averages over 25kwh, between Nov and Feb we are lucky to average 8kwh. The house uses around 1mwh a month, mind we are reducing that a bit. This includes around 250kwh a month for the car. As you say, it is a learning journey but the savings we are making are allowing us to cope with all of the other prices that are going skywards ! Match your battery to be at least your average generation from solar, but maybe your average daily use. Remember that round trip losses on batteries are at least 10%, sometimes nearer 15% so using the power as it is generated is best. For example we lost 1mh over the year to the round trip losses from charging and discharging.
Thankyou for sharing, agreed. However as I have to charge my car fully almost daily it’s difficult to warrant not only afford upwards of 50kwh of storage. Can you explain what you mean by round trip in relation to the discharge and charge? Not heard this before.
@@DIYJourney1 for charging the car, we time the charging the car in the same window as we charge the batteries. In that way we keep the batteries charged and get the car topped up. We do not do the milage you are, around 150 miles a week so we can manage 2 charge sessions a week to cover usage. The round trip efficiency is that you put 1kwh into the battery and due to losses in the inverter and battery battery management system not all the power makes it in or out. As stated most systems loose around 10 to 15% of the energy. Best thing to do is use the power as it is generated.
Oh sorry yes of course, according to the data sheet for our Solaredge system and battery they say less that 5.5% for roundtrip, I assume this is due to it being DC Coupled rather than AC so has less wastage during converting. Yes, absolutely, its a winning combination if doing upwards of 300miles. Unfortunately Im at around 800-1200 per week so as we speak now am buying in from the grid at 40p albeit only 2kw as 5kw is coming from the battery.
@@DIYJourney1 wow, that is a heavy mileage and even with a 4 to 6 window that is not easy. Having said that, your average pence per mile will still be low.
It is yes, Id say about 6-7p per mile, as I have discounted rate with Ionity at 26p/kwh, so if i know I cant make the 6 hour window ill top up a bit at ionity too.
Hi, looking for an identical Solar edge system, and looking to get my existing plastic CU upgraded in advance by a friendly sparky, interestingly, he’s recommended Hager, which coincidentally I see you have too. My preference having no spare ways in my existing is to upgrade my main unit.. What RCBO’s are needed ‘ installed for your setup? I’d prefer to buy these at the time of install oppose to the installers changing me twice the price.. Got one quote in, but being quoted £2k over web-prices for the Solar Edge 10kw battery, the rest of the quote appears reasonable..
Hi, Yes Im a fan of Hager products, very good quality. If i remember correctly (I would have to check) I think it was 1x for the solar element and 1x for the mod bus but would need to verify that.
@@DIYJourney1 As an architect, I really like the way you lined out the wall it all fits on, rather than exposed conduit and cables.. Yours looks really neat and sets something for me to aim for..
Thankyou, yes Im quite particular about things like that, but also conscious of regulations too. Fortunately @ovalrenewables understood what I was after and guided accordingly
We’re just about to embark on solar/battery storage, we have 2 EVs but I also get free charging where work. I have 3 sides facing the sun so could maximise the roof space. I would like to see what your annual data is when you reach that.
Really concise video again, for the normal person to understand. We had a 16panel, 6.48kw inverter and 13kw of battery storage fitted in Sept. We are finding very similar figures. I have followed your videos - thank you 👍
Thats really good to hear, glad others are finding the same. Very kind words, thats my aim is to keep it simple but true for people that don’t necessarily understand the full detail of it.
I think my answer for that is: Our 8kw peak system (20x 400w panels) produces 40-50kwh per day in August. Currently we are looking at between 0-4kwh dependant in the sun. However, because if the battery, we are still saving £3 per day, as we charge the battery at our cheap overnight rate of 10p/kwh rather than 40p/kwh that it should be in the day. Hopefully thats maybe helped answer your question, so summery subject to panel size and direction then yes for probably 8 months of the year
@@DIYJourney1 Thanks for the reply, what if I was to buy battery storage of 3 x 8 kw batteries, would the power in these batteries and the trickle charge of 0-4 be enough to power without using the grid? Thanks..
I don’t think so, in winter you will have days zero/very little production we had 4 days straight of 900w production for the day. It will certainly help having more storage but winter you will struggle to charge enough without charging overnight in a cheaper rate
Good effort! It is very hard to explain how solar/batteries/EV etc interact to provide savings. I have just completed the same exercise for October but my strategy is a bit different. I am 100% electric with an air source heat pump and what I do is focus on load shifting - my objective is to minimise the amount of grid import at peak rate. I’m on Octopus Go Faster 5 hours from 1:30-6:30am - the rate is 8.25p/kWh. Over those 5 hours I heat the water via ASHP, charge the car via Zappy, charge the Tesla Powerwall to 100% and then lastly from 5-6:30 I heat the house to 20 degrees. So I have hot water, full batteries and a warm house by the time I get up all achieved on the 8.25p tariff. I then during daylight use any solar produced (6kW array) to run the house and if needed top up battery or heat the water via the Eddi. My objective at this time of the year is to get to sundown with a full (13.5kWh) home battery to take me through the evening cooking/heating/TV etc and to 1:30am when it all starts again… frankly what solar is produced during the day is less important than minimising daytime grid usage which is the key. My total bill from Octopus for October was £75 and that’s for everything, including heating and car. I think in your analysis you need to factor in savings from your EV vs a petrol or diesel car. If you’re getting 3-4 miles per kWh a 500 mile month at 8.25p/kWh is £40 an average petrol or diesel car at 40MPG would be over a £100…. Thanks for your channel which is much needed in these tough times.
Agreed, I don’t think we are doing things differently, Im having the same approach trying to shift as much in to the 6 hour cheap window. I haven’t actually done the sums with regards to petrol saving as its working without that. However…one for another video, and something I an beginning to love, is how its all making sense now, EV, Battery, Solar, Octopus Intelligent, its just all coming together as a whole package, which is saving an absurd amount of money per month but also our footprint and our reliance etc that is also improved.
Just curious - because I'm a nosey old trout - did you hear about the Myenergi products via Fully Charged Show? Trying to get an idea of how much, or rather, how effective Fully Charged is in opening people's eyes to what's possible. Thanks.
With Octopus you would now get £70.5 for the month of August, so I think the savings of exporting will be more desirable now. I think they will increase it further when the prices increase in April.
Really enjoying the channel. We have an almost identical setup spec wise. I had a good think on the inverter size based on your experience and went for the SE6000H over the SE5000H. We've got 20x370W panels, which on paper is 7.4kW STC but 5.6kW NMOT. Considering I too hope to charge an EV during the summer months, I opted for the extra headroom even if it's perhaps optimistic in terms of generation.
Thankyou, you’ll absolutely have no problem charging your EV with an array of that size and inverter, I personally think you made the right move with the inverter. If i remember correctly I charged around 410kwh from solar, just for August, my car does 3.5mi/kwh so 1400miles from the sun. Granted I work from home a day a week.
I know you've only installed solar, but have you thought about adding a home wind turbine for the winter months and to help at night when solar isn't generating?
I haven’t no, mainly due to space available at our property. From what I have read, they aren’t very effective/efficient as although spinning, it doesn’t necessarily mean they are producing. The battery helps for at night and at the cheaper rate on a overnight tariff like octopus energy helps makes the cost moe reasonable.
Wow, a lot of information to unpack, but you managed to explain it succinctly making it relatively easy to digest, interpret and understand. Thanks for sharing your data and thoughts. A very enjoyable and informative video 👍
hello our solar system is due for installation this Friday (ordered in April !!!) 4.2kw panels,5kw storage ,no ev charging. but any info you have on the hot water system you use would be fantastic ,i was going to go with an electric combi boiler until you said something about an electric tank ?
Hi, We have a hot water cylinder currently, so the immersion heater is now smart using a tesla smart thermostat controller (around £100). Ill be doing a video very soon it, hopefully make more sense.
For our size system and subject to rates you are on. Im estimating our panels would produce equivalent to at least £2000 worth of energy @40p/kw, Its then how you use it that produced energy
Will you see any drop off in solar production due to the panels getting dirty? Or are they cleaned sufficiently when it rains? Have you planned to have them cleaned in any annual maintenance?
We are only 5 months in with no drop on production due to dirt only weather. The panels still look very clean now, and have self cleaning capabilities. Heavy rain does clean off bird poo etc leaving them clean, we have third floor window so can see the panels closely. We haven’t gone for any maintenance plans, but do think we will clean every 3-5 years with a scaffold tower or long pole of can find one suitable.
Thanks for sharing. October start of November have been a lower production for us here in Cornwall, but as soon as the brighter days occur things will improve, it’s been dull and overcast most days so savings have been rubbish. Just wish we could add wind power, as it’s been very windy🤣🤣 but it’s all swings and roundabouts. Poor days into the battery 15-25%, good days 85-100%. Savings over the last month about 42%. Last year same period about 50% savings.
I will have a video on this coming soon. I dint have the figure to hand, but if i remember correctly the average, of percentage of consumed electricity provided from the sun is: August - End of Jan With EV: 53% Without EV: 87% Id have to check but November December were as low as 10% came from solar.
Great video mate, yes it’s hard to explain for sure. I have 5.7 panels and 6.5 battery but no EV. Charging up during the night, just need 4-5 kWh of sun and we are covered for the whole day. To anyone reading, I would suggest going bigger than 6.5 on a battery if you have the choice.
Thankyou, Id say battery size is subject to your situation. For us from what Im finding, we could do with about 15kw of storage as our house uses about 9-11 per day, but you have to drawer the line some where. My approach as we have a hot water tank and an electric car, is to try get any excess either in to the car or to heat our hot water (latest video on iv done) as you say, the export rate is worthless compared to miles in the car or gas for heating hot water.
Smashing, thanks. I’m just specifying a system now. Would be interested in your immersion video and Octopus Go video. Are you on the 12p off peak tariff? Cheers
Unfortunately it is what it is, poor pricing but not much we can do about it. Charged upwards of 40p/kwh in the day, but only getting 4p/kwh back. For us in our situation, I can only hope the selling at 4p/kwh helps keep the night rates lower for those on Octopus Go. / Intelligent.
Good video sir, I live the mass demand now as people rushing to spend £10k plus for 4kw solar and 5kw battery thinking it's the solution to the energy crisis and power cuts lol. ITS NOT. Remember you just forked out £10k or more. Your system will have to pay it's self back with its production and government pay back. So that's going to be between 5and 7 years. Then we can talk about the real savings. Your 100% with regards this time of the year it's not great, I am sad as I have to pay to charge my ev now. Lol.your also 100% people have to manage the solar power as lots of energy is waisted this is why considering economy 7 tariffs and using timers to switch on dishwashers , washing machines, bread makers during light days saves lots of money and you are fully using what your producing. I live on weather stations looking for light days planning how I charge my ev and wash our clothes. It can work well and save money. My 8kw fully South facing with no instructions ,shading, with a 5kw battery will have returned its initial investment next year, which will have been 8 years. So after this point it's free electric and managing it myself with weather planning on the cloudy days will make a huge difference. I could do a video of graphs and bills too but every home and usage is totally differant. All I can say to people in the summer you will not have to worry it's fantastic. I now have cut my bills by a quarter by switching everything in the home that's not needed, so not in stand by. My freezer in garage is on a timmer and I switch it off at 07:00 and it comes back on at 16:00 this is on the high rate so huge saving remember it's not being opened often they are designed to go for 24hours. The same with the American fridge week days it's off from 8 am to 14:00 as we are not in but Saturdays it's off in the early morning. All these little adjustments have been monitored for months and help with my solar and battery packs .
Thankyou for sharing, albeit Im confused as to whether your are saying its good or bad. Payback of 8 years is good, particularly as warranties are a minimum double that. Although, iv spent the money now, Im just pleased my monthly bill is £20-£50 rather than £350-£450
@@DIYJourney1 no no brilliant video . I am on my 3rd lith battery if it fails now will be out of pocket. I have 1 inverter failure that took months to replace and like most small print it's a reconditioned unit as replacement. Had a sp control fail as well that was a new replacement. Tech is fantastic . If I use my fir payment returns then my bills will be 50 to 90 a month but it still owes me back for the investment. After this date yes my bill will be around the same.
@@magicgsuk6312 battery which is a growatt is third in 6 years , it went away and was reconditioned they will not replace with new. The tranergy one of two failed within 5 years again a reconditioned unit sent in replacements. If my battery fails now then it's about 1900 to replace . I will not bother replacing it I would prefer to invest 1900 on more panels or a small wind turbine. I would then be out of pocket in monitory terms. Once my payback is completed cross finger next April then anything I make is true profit and offsets my electric bill 100%
For note, my battery has a 10 year warranty and will guarantee 70% capacity at the 10 year point. The whole system has paid for itself plus around 50%-70% on top by 10 years also. Worth nothing, product evolve over time.
Stumbled across your channel by accident but, I had an 8.5kWp system installed in March this year, 3x Pylontech US3000c batteries. My figures for August, September and October are: August - Usage 594kWh - Generation 893kWh - saving £146.55 exports £120.22 total saved £266.77 September - Usage 504kWh - Generation 566kWh - saving £119.55 exports £38.02 total saved £157.57 October - Usage 619kWh - Generation 418kWh - cost £77.44 exports £7.21 total savings £134.23 Overall, since March I've saved £1,398.04 Great content on the video.
Fantastic, thankyou for sharing, good to see similar sized set up with similar outputs, what direction are your panels facing also? I think you get better production than us which is likely due to us splitting our array over 2x roofs/directions. Thankyou for your comment
@@DIYJourney1 My house is roughly east/west facing, the easterly side is about 115 degrees. I have 12x 395w Trina panels on the front (easterly) side and 10x panels on the rear. It should have been 12 panels but the scaffolding was not put up correctly which meant they couldn't fit the remaining 2 panels. If they had, then it would have been 9.3kWp I also have an additional 3x Pylontech US5000 batteries to add, taking me to 24kWh.
Fantastic information, thank you. Also helps support my last video also regarding east/west facing roofs in my opinion being as vital as a south facing roof.
Brilliant insight as always, I would be keen to know your realistic ROI on your system. I know your previous video went through costs of your solar system, do you think based on current energy prices a 8-10 year ROI is realistic?
Thank you, yes I think probably 7 years. As Im sure you can appreciate I don’t know how we’ll get on in the early portion of the year, but Im still hoping for sub 10 years and as said being more 7. We shall see 🤞🏼
@@DIYJourney1 with the rate the energy prices are increasing it’s likely you’ll get it even quicker than that. I am thinking of a system of my own and your videos give so much real world practical information and data. Brilliant as always!!
Yeah absolutely, hard to determine what it will be like in the future, but I have never known energy prices come down. Im really pleased to hear that, its what Im trying to achieve with them.
Your system is similar in size and format to mine, including the electric car. I charge my battery to 90% in the offpeak window now as there is so little solar, you will end up on peak rate when the battery could cover you. On a bright sunny day, just let the surplus heat your hot water after the battery hits full then the car. Hope this helps
Absolutely, That is what we do also now 👍🏼. I see the whole: Solar, Battery, EV, Octopus tarrifs as a package you need to bring in an unreal cost saving.
@@DIYJourney1 with the electric car and current prices as well as careful management to maximise use of solar, my repayment period is under 5 years to break even now. Huge savings to be had as well as some peace of mind with the ominous talk in yhe news lately of winter power cuts! (I have a tesla powerwall, which will run off grid in the event of a powercut, even though that was not my reason for choosing it).
I can fully appreciate, my latest sums for my specific situation is estimated at 4.9 years. For the purpose of being as clear in the videos excluding some factors that are specific to me, its more 7 years which is still great…all at todays prices.
Thanks for taking the time to make the video with great information. I have a 4kw solar system fitted over 7 years ago with a FIT payment and was looking to add a 10kw battery storage. With out your solar system Install what was the price you roughly paid for your battery storage install please.
How is your Export total of 1495 higher than your Solar Production of 1154? How can you export more than you have produced? The total sum of your 3 months of Export figures dont match 1495 either?
Please ignore totals at the bottom, they are not applicable to the video and was not spoken about. Will be blurred to avoid future confusion. Although it says ‘solar production’, it is missing a word as shrunk down the cell ‘solar production used’
I think it's great! The only thing I worry about is brake downs and how much will I need to pay every year to fix the issues. Not only will I have to replace components but I'll also have to be on relying totally on the grid, paying that high price when things brake. So it's not just, "I'll replace the inverter and be good" it's actually, "I'll replace the inverter but its out of stock and may take 2 months to get it. Forcing me to buy totally from the grid for 2+ months."
That is why we buy products with suitable/appropriate warranties, unfortunately things do break, I don’t feel that should be a controlling factor as it would be replaced under warranty. For me as long as the payback is sooner than the warranty, Im happy and will take that very small risk.
As explained, the house uses on average 300-330kWh per month, the car which does circa 2500-3000 miles per month takes about 750kWh. That is as much as I can say, as do not know what your situation is, I can only assume you electric heating via A/C and no gas maybe.
Its dropped off drastically because it hasn't been sunny, its been miserable.. Currently testing a 1.2kw battery on a 50w solar panel, started my test mid Oct it gained nothing really.. :( Had one day of lovely sun here, on a cool day in London and it charged it from 20% to 100% in one day.. Cool and sunny does the trick!
Interesting. What I take from this is although with solar & battery a saving will be made in respect to the car changing, electric cars do require a lot of kWh. We need to be reducing our energy consumption so electric cars may not be the way to go. I hope a viable alternative is found soon.
I think the message has been misinterpreted. Absolutely a saving is made with home only usage, currently at around £100 per month, if this is solely the case then you can buy a small system therefore reducing upfront cost. However, the be able to as self sufficient as possible come winter the bigger the system the more likely you are to maintain an element of self sufficiency. With regards to reducing consumption, Id be happy to say with a solar pv and battery system I can use as much of the energy I produce as I like keeping my consumption up, because my reliance in the grid has drastically reduced making the “problem” consumption better. What I am highlighting is not specifically having an EV but by having electric devices/appliances to maximise the use of the production helps you save more money and make the outlay more cost effective.
Unfortunately I don’t. What I did, was look at my yearly consumption, on my electric bills, then looked at how much i’d save at 50% coming from solar and then 75% from solar. Little easier with the price cap being set
There's three resins to install a solar battery system...1 for electricity savings 2 to have power when the grid goes down for extended periods 3 to have a EV you can charge from home...the savings on electricity is a nice bonus but there's more important resins to make the change!!.😎💕🇬🇧🇺🇦
Not forgetting you will need a battery backup in the event of a power cut, to work any solar system. Some systems have this built in, but older systems like mine still need the grid to run. (This is to protect grid workers in the event of a power cut, from your feed back)
@@caravanstuff2827 You don’t automatically get a UPS just because you have a battery. There has to be a control of that and transfer of circuits to accommodate, given all the power cuts we’ve had have been in the night, and maybe 1 per year at a max, its not something Im willing to spend the money on, as offers very very very minimal benefit.
Hey buddy, did you have to put planning permission/paperwork in to the local council for your solar panels? Also removing the car how many panels do you think you would need to have 0 interaction with the grid? i.e 100% solar only?
Hi, No, however we did speak with them to ask as its very specific, if it was on the front of the house then yes we would have. This is a good website to look at: interactive.planningportal.co.uk/
Thats good for those with fixed workplaces and a workplace that offers free charging which is surprising, considering the cost in the current market. Charging at home with solar helps the return on investment by using the production.
You have to sort your sound out it's difficult to hear you
You’ll have to turn the volume up, Im afraid I can’t change it after the event 👍🏼
I haven’t caught all of your vids so if you haven’t already. Get onto Octopus GO with a smart meter.
Push all your heavy winter consumption into the night time.
Charge the battery on off peak too, then the solar simply tops up the battery and covers base load whilst production is pants.
Come March/April switch back from charging at night and start using appliances when you’d be exporting.
What a rabbit hole.
So far in order-
Heat Pump dryer - 7yrs
Induction Hob- 2yrs
EV- 2yrs
EWI- 2yrs
PV + LFP- 15 Months
ASHP- pending DNO approval
Ripple- online 2023
Thankyou for sharing.
Your correct, and we are actually with Octopus Intelligent now for the longer 6 hour window of cheaper rate, and use this the charge the car and battery now over night, like you say, to bring our daytime cost to as low as possible.
For us at this house air source heat pump isn’t suitable, but certainly something we’ll consider in the future at a different property
Our experience after 4 years. 10kw system, now 25kwh storage (we started with 10kwh, then expanded to 20kwh and just added another 5kwh). Between march and Oct we use minimal import from the grid, Nov to Feb we use about 4mwh most of which is imported off peak. Solar production between march and Oct averages over 25kwh, between Nov and Feb we are lucky to average 8kwh. The house uses around 1mwh a month, mind we are reducing that a bit. This includes around 250kwh a month for the car. As you say, it is a learning journey but the savings we are making are allowing us to cope with all of the other prices that are going skywards ! Match your battery to be at least your average generation from solar, but maybe your average daily use. Remember that round trip losses on batteries are at least 10%, sometimes nearer 15% so using the power as it is generated is best. For example we lost 1mh over the year to the round trip losses from charging and discharging.
Thankyou for sharing, agreed. However as I have to charge my car fully almost daily it’s difficult to warrant not only afford upwards of 50kwh of storage.
Can you explain what you mean by round trip in relation to the discharge and charge? Not heard this before.
@@DIYJourney1 for charging the car, we time the charging the car in the same window as we charge the batteries. In that way we keep the batteries charged and get the car topped up. We do not do the milage you are, around 150 miles a week so we can manage 2 charge sessions a week to cover usage. The round trip efficiency is that you put 1kwh into the battery and due to losses in the inverter and battery battery management system not all the power makes it in or out. As stated most systems loose around 10 to 15% of the energy. Best thing to do is use the power as it is generated.
Oh sorry yes of course, according to the data sheet for our Solaredge system and battery they say less that 5.5% for roundtrip, I assume this is due to it being DC Coupled rather than AC so has less wastage during converting.
Yes, absolutely, its a winning combination if doing upwards of 300miles. Unfortunately Im at around 800-1200 per week so as we speak now am buying in from the grid at 40p albeit only 2kw as 5kw is coming from the battery.
@@DIYJourney1 wow, that is a heavy mileage and even with a 4 to 6 window that is not easy. Having said that, your average pence per mile will still be low.
It is yes, Id say about 6-7p per mile, as I have discounted rate with Ionity at 26p/kwh, so if i know I cant make the 6 hour window ill top up a bit at ionity too.
Hi, looking for an identical Solar edge system, and looking to get my existing plastic CU upgraded in advance by a friendly sparky, interestingly, he’s recommended Hager, which coincidentally I see you have too. My preference having no spare ways in my existing is to upgrade my main unit.. What RCBO’s are needed ‘ installed for your setup? I’d prefer to buy these at the time of install oppose to the installers changing me twice the price..
Got one quote in, but being quoted £2k over web-prices for the Solar Edge 10kw battery, the rest of the quote appears reasonable..
Hi,
Yes Im a fan of Hager products, very good quality. If i remember correctly (I would have to check) I think it was 1x for the solar element and 1x for the mod bus but would need to verify that.
@@DIYJourney1 As an architect, I really like the way you lined out the wall it all fits on, rather than exposed conduit and cables.. Yours looks really neat and sets something for me to aim for..
Thankyou, yes Im quite particular about things like that, but also conscious of regulations too. Fortunately @ovalrenewables understood what I was after and guided accordingly
We’re just about to embark on solar/battery storage, we have 2 EVs but I also get free charging where work. I have 3 sides facing the sun so could maximise the roof space. I would like to see what your annual data is when you reach that.
Really concise video again, for the normal person to understand. We had a 16panel, 6.48kw inverter and 13kw of battery storage fitted in Sept.
We are finding very similar figures.
I have followed your videos - thank you 👍
Thats really good to hear, glad others are finding the same.
Very kind words, thats my aim is to keep it simple but true for people that don’t necessarily understand the full detail of it.
Real open ended question, I use 24kwh a day, can fit 13 panels, is it possible to run my house on solar completely with batteries.?
Thanks.
I think my answer for that is:
Our 8kw peak system (20x 400w panels) produces 40-50kwh per day in August.
Currently we are looking at between 0-4kwh dependant in the sun. However, because if the battery, we are still saving £3 per day, as we charge the battery at our cheap overnight rate of 10p/kwh rather than 40p/kwh that it should be in the day.
Hopefully thats maybe helped answer your question, so summery subject to panel size and direction then yes for probably 8 months of the year
@@DIYJourney1 Thanks for the reply, what if I was to buy battery storage of 3 x 8 kw batteries, would the power in these batteries and the trickle charge of 0-4 be enough to power without using the grid?
Thanks..
I don’t think so, in winter you will have days zero/very little production we had 4 days straight of 900w production for the day. It will certainly help having more storage but winter you will struggle to charge enough without charging overnight in a cheaper rate
You are a hero. Only 12K subscribers and yet you continue to put out good quality, very helpful videos. Well done and thank you. J
Good effort! It is very hard to explain how solar/batteries/EV etc interact to provide savings.
I have just completed the same exercise for October but my strategy is a bit different. I am 100% electric with an air source heat pump and what I do is focus on load shifting - my objective is to minimise the amount of grid import at peak rate. I’m on Octopus Go Faster 5 hours from 1:30-6:30am - the rate is 8.25p/kWh. Over those 5 hours I heat the water via ASHP, charge the car via Zappy, charge the Tesla Powerwall to 100% and then lastly from 5-6:30 I heat the house to 20 degrees. So I have hot water, full batteries and a warm house by the time I get up all achieved on the 8.25p tariff. I then during daylight use any solar produced (6kW array) to run the house and if needed top up battery or heat the water via the Eddi. My objective at this time of the year is to get to sundown with a full (13.5kWh) home battery to take me through the evening cooking/heating/TV etc and to 1:30am when it all starts again…
frankly what solar is produced during the day is less important than minimising daytime grid usage which is the key. My total bill from Octopus for October was £75 and that’s for everything, including heating and car. I think in your analysis you need to factor in savings from your EV vs a petrol or diesel car. If you’re getting 3-4 miles per kWh a 500 mile month at 8.25p/kWh is £40 an average petrol or diesel car at 40MPG would be over a £100…. Thanks for your channel which is much needed in these tough times.
Agreed, I don’t think we are doing things differently, Im having the same approach trying to shift as much in to the 6 hour cheap window.
I haven’t actually done the sums with regards to petrol saving as its working without that. However…one for another video, and something I an beginning to love, is how its all making sense now, EV, Battery, Solar, Octopus Intelligent, its just all coming together as a whole package, which is saving an absurd amount of money per month but also our footprint and our reliance etc that is also improved.
Just curious - because I'm a nosey old trout - did you hear about the Myenergi products via Fully Charged Show? Trying to get an idea of how much, or rather, how effective Fully Charged is in opening people's eyes to what's possible. Thanks.
With Octopus you would now get £70.5 for the month of August, so I think the savings of exporting will be more desirable now. I think they will increase it further when the prices increase in April.
Yes, if you can get on a good export tarriff it can have good returns, unfortunately the benefits of cheaper overnight rate is a better option for me
Really enjoying the channel. We have an almost identical setup spec wise. I had a good think on the inverter size based on your experience and went for the SE6000H over the SE5000H. We've got 20x370W panels, which on paper is 7.4kW STC but 5.6kW NMOT. Considering I too hope to charge an EV during the summer months, I opted for the extra headroom even if it's perhaps optimistic in terms of generation.
Thankyou, you’ll absolutely have no problem charging your EV with an array of that size and inverter, I personally think you made the right move with the inverter. If i remember correctly I charged around 410kwh from solar, just for August, my car does 3.5mi/kwh so 1400miles from the sun. Granted I work from home a day a week.
I know you've only installed solar, but have you thought about adding a home wind turbine for the winter months and to help at night when solar isn't generating?
I haven’t no, mainly due to space available at our property. From what I have read, they aren’t very effective/efficient as although spinning, it doesn’t necessarily mean they are producing. The battery helps for at night and at the cheaper rate on a overnight tariff like octopus energy helps makes the cost moe reasonable.
Wow, a lot of information to unpack, but you managed to explain it succinctly making it relatively easy to digest, interpret and understand.
Thanks for sharing your data and thoughts.
A very enjoyable and informative video 👍
Thankyou, not a problem at all.
hello
our solar system is due for installation this Friday (ordered in April !!!)
4.2kw panels,5kw storage ,no ev charging.
but any info you have on the hot water system you use would be fantastic ,i was going to go with an electric combi boiler until you said something about an electric tank ?
Hi,
We have a hot water cylinder currently, so the immersion heater is now smart using a tesla smart thermostat controller (around £100). Ill be doing a video very soon it, hopefully make more sense.
My 14 panels and 2x 3.2 batteries will be installed in a month. Not sure what I will learn about solar for a few months ☹️. Really enjoyed the video
Lots to learn, but Im finding it interesting. I think March you’ll really start reaping the rewards
So am I right in assuming, without the car, the solar produces approximately £1200 a year and cost £18,500 to install? Thanks
For our size system and subject to rates you are on.
Im estimating our panels would produce equivalent to at least £2000 worth of energy @40p/kw, Its then how you use it that produced energy
Will you see any drop off in solar production due to the panels getting dirty? Or are they cleaned sufficiently when it rains? Have you planned to have them cleaned in any annual maintenance?
We are only 5 months in with no drop on production due to dirt only weather. The panels still look very clean now, and have self cleaning capabilities. Heavy rain does clean off bird poo etc leaving them clean, we have third floor window so can see the panels closely.
We haven’t gone for any maintenance plans, but do think we will clean every 3-5 years with a scaffold tower or long pole of can find one suitable.
Thanks for sharing.
October start of November have been a lower production for us here in Cornwall, but as soon as the brighter days occur things will improve, it’s been dull and overcast most days so savings have been rubbish. Just wish we could add wind power, as it’s been very windy🤣🤣 but it’s all swings and roundabouts. Poor days into the battery 15-25%, good days 85-100%. Savings over the last month about 42%. Last year same period about 50% savings.
Thats it, looking forward to March already 😃
How has your solar held up over winter? What % have you been self sufficient?👍🏽
I will have a video on this coming soon.
I dint have the figure to hand, but if i remember correctly the average, of percentage of consumed electricity provided from the sun is:
August - End of Jan
With EV: 53%
Without EV: 87%
Id have to check but November December were as low as 10% came from solar.
Great video mate, yes it’s hard to explain for sure. I have 5.7 panels and 6.5 battery but no EV. Charging up during the night, just need 4-5 kWh of sun and we are covered for the whole day. To anyone reading, I would suggest going bigger than 6.5 on a battery if you have the choice.
Thankyou, Totally agree with you.
I based my house battery on what my house uses for 1x day, which is around 9-10kwh.
Best videos on TH-cam for this topic. Is it worth getting another battery for extra storage now that the grid pay very little for exporting it back.
Thankyou, Id say battery size is subject to your situation. For us from what Im finding, we could do with about 15kw of storage as our house uses about 9-11 per day, but you have to drawer the line some where.
My approach as we have a hot water tank and an electric car, is to try get any excess either in to the car or to heat our hot water (latest video on iv done) as you say, the export rate is worthless compared to miles in the car or gas for heating hot water.
@@DIYJourney1 I understand. Well done for the setup it’s really innovative
Smashing, thanks. I’m just specifying a system now. Would be interested in your immersion video and Octopus Go video. Are you on the 12p off peak tariff? Cheers
Mine was 7.5p & 38p, but iv literally just switched to Octous Intelligent which is 10p & 40p but you get longer at the cheaper rate
@@DIYJourney1 cheers
Thoughts out outgoing octopus tariff?
Unfortunately it is what it is, poor pricing but not much we can do about it. Charged upwards of 40p/kwh in the day, but only getting 4p/kwh back.
For us in our situation, I can only hope the selling at 4p/kwh helps keep the night rates lower for those on Octopus Go. / Intelligent.
Good video sir, I live the mass demand now as people rushing to spend £10k plus for 4kw solar and 5kw battery thinking it's the solution to the energy crisis and power cuts lol. ITS NOT. Remember you just forked out £10k or more. Your system will have to pay it's self back with its production and government pay back. So that's going to be between 5and 7 years. Then we can talk about the real savings. Your 100% with regards this time of the year it's not great, I am sad as I have to pay to charge my ev now. Lol.your also 100% people have to manage the solar power as lots of energy is waisted this is why considering economy 7 tariffs and using timers to switch on dishwashers , washing machines, bread makers during light days saves lots of money and you are fully using what your producing. I live on weather stations looking for light days planning how I charge my ev and wash our clothes. It can work well and save money. My 8kw fully South facing with no instructions ,shading, with a 5kw battery will have returned its initial investment next year, which will have been 8 years. So after this point it's free electric and managing it myself with weather planning on the cloudy days will make a huge difference. I could do a video of graphs and bills too but every home and usage is totally differant. All I can say to people in the summer you will not have to worry it's fantastic. I now have cut my bills by a quarter by switching everything in the home that's not needed, so not in stand by. My freezer in garage is on a timmer and I switch it off at 07:00 and it comes back on at 16:00 this is on the high rate so huge saving remember it's not being opened often they are designed to go for 24hours. The same with the American fridge week days it's off from 8 am to 14:00 as we are not in but Saturdays it's off in the early morning. All these little adjustments have been monitored for months and help with my solar and battery packs .
Thankyou for sharing, albeit Im confused as to whether your are saying its good or bad.
Payback of 8 years is good, particularly as warranties are a minimum double that. Although, iv spent the money now, Im just pleased my monthly bill is £20-£50 rather than £350-£450
@@DIYJourney1 no no brilliant video . I am on my 3rd lith battery if it fails now will be out of pocket. I have 1 inverter failure that took months to replace and like most small print it's a reconditioned unit as replacement. Had a sp control fail as well that was a new replacement. Tech is fantastic . If I use my fir payment returns then my bills will be 50 to 90 a month but it still owes me back for the investment. After this date yes my bill will be around the same.
How much did the battery cost to replace and do they fail after so many years. Also inverter cost. Was anything covered under warranty?
@@magicgsuk6312 battery which is a growatt is third in 6 years , it went away and was reconditioned they will not replace with new. The tranergy one of two failed within 5 years again a reconditioned unit sent in replacements. If my battery fails now then it's about 1900 to replace . I will not bother replacing it I would prefer to invest 1900 on more panels or a small wind turbine. I would then be out of pocket in monitory terms. Once my payback is completed cross finger next April then anything I make is true profit and offsets my electric bill 100%
For note, my battery has a 10 year warranty and will guarantee 70% capacity at the 10 year point. The whole system has paid for itself plus around 50%-70% on top by 10 years also. Worth nothing, product evolve over time.
Stumbled across your channel by accident but, I had an 8.5kWp system installed in March this year, 3x Pylontech US3000c batteries.
My figures for August, September and October are:
August - Usage 594kWh - Generation 893kWh - saving £146.55 exports £120.22 total saved £266.77
September - Usage 504kWh - Generation 566kWh - saving £119.55 exports £38.02 total saved £157.57
October - Usage 619kWh - Generation 418kWh - cost £77.44 exports £7.21 total savings £134.23
Overall, since March I've saved £1,398.04
Great content on the video.
Fantastic, thankyou for sharing, good to see similar sized set up with similar outputs, what direction are your panels facing also?
I think you get better production than us which is likely due to us splitting our array over 2x roofs/directions.
Thankyou for your comment
@@DIYJourney1
My house is roughly east/west facing, the easterly side is about 115 degrees.
I have 12x 395w Trina panels on the front (easterly) side and 10x panels on the rear.
It should have been 12 panels but the scaffolding was not put up correctly which meant they couldn't fit the remaining 2 panels.
If they had, then it would have been 9.3kWp
I also have an additional 3x Pylontech US5000 batteries to add, taking me to 24kWh.
Fantastic information, thank you. Also helps support my last video also regarding east/west facing roofs in my opinion being as vital as a south facing roof.
Brilliant insight as always, I would be keen to know your realistic ROI on your system. I know your previous video went through costs of your solar system, do you think based on current energy prices a 8-10 year ROI is realistic?
Thank you, yes I think probably 7 years. As Im sure you can appreciate I don’t know how we’ll get on in the early portion of the year, but Im still hoping for sub 10 years and as said being more 7. We shall see 🤞🏼
@@DIYJourney1 with the rate the energy prices are increasing it’s likely you’ll get it even quicker than that. I am thinking of a system of my own and your videos give so much real world practical information and data. Brilliant as always!!
Yeah absolutely, hard to determine what it will be like in the future, but I have never known energy prices come down.
Im really pleased to hear that, its what Im trying to achieve with them.
really good info ,thanks.
Anytime, hope it helps 👍🏼
Well done mate. Good video 👏🏻
Thankyou
Your system is similar in size and format to mine, including the electric car. I charge my battery to 90% in the offpeak window now as there is so little solar, you will end up on peak rate when the battery could cover you.
On a bright sunny day, just let the surplus heat your hot water after the battery hits full then the car.
Hope this helps
Absolutely, That is what we do also now 👍🏼. I see the whole: Solar, Battery, EV, Octopus tarrifs as a package you need to bring in an unreal cost saving.
@@DIYJourney1 with the electric car and current prices as well as careful management to maximise use of solar, my repayment period is under 5 years to break even now. Huge savings to be had as well as some peace of mind with the ominous talk in yhe news lately of winter power cuts! (I have a tesla powerwall, which will run off grid in the event of a powercut, even though that was not my reason for choosing it).
I can fully appreciate, my latest sums for my specific situation is estimated at 4.9 years. For the purpose of being as clear in the videos excluding some factors that are specific to me, its more 7 years which is still great…all at todays prices.
Thanks for taking the time to make the video with great information.
I have a 4kw solar system fitted over 7 years ago with a FIT payment and was looking to add a 10kw battery storage.
With out your solar system Install what was the price you roughly paid for your battery storage install please.
I did a full cost breakdown video which may be useful.
I believe it would be around £6500-£7000 for a battery on its own
@@DIYJourney1 Thank you for your reply and information ✌️
How is your Export total of 1495 higher than your Solar Production of 1154? How can you export more than you have produced? The total sum of your 3 months of Export figures dont match 1495 either?
Please ignore totals at the bottom, they are not applicable to the video and was not spoken about. Will be blurred to avoid future confusion. Although it says ‘solar production’, it is missing a word as shrunk down the cell ‘solar production used’
I think it's great! The only thing I worry about is brake downs and how much will I need to pay every year to fix the issues. Not only will I have to replace components but I'll also have to be on relying totally on the grid, paying that high price when things brake.
So it's not just, "I'll replace the inverter and be good" it's actually, "I'll replace the inverter but its out of stock and may take 2 months to get it. Forcing me to buy totally from the grid for 2+ months."
That is why we buy products with suitable/appropriate warranties, unfortunately things do break, I don’t feel that should be a controlling factor as it would be replaced under warranty.
For me as long as the payback is sooner than the warranty, Im happy and will take that very small risk.
Depending on the season I use between 1500 - 3000 kWH a month. How are you under 1000 kWH with an EV as well? Just wondering. 🤔
As explained, the house uses on average 300-330kWh per month, the car which does circa 2500-3000 miles per month takes about 750kWh. That is as much as I can say, as do not know what your situation is, I can only assume you electric heating via A/C and no gas maybe.
Its dropped off drastically because it hasn't been sunny, its been miserable.. Currently testing a 1.2kw battery on a 50w solar panel, started my test mid Oct it gained nothing really.. :( Had one day of lovely sun here, on a cool day in London and it charged it from 20% to 100% in one day.. Cool and sunny does the trick!
Thats correct, still had some good cool sunny days, but far and few between
It's all about learning the solar battery and octopus go tariff and you can still save bundles I do it It's my new hobby
Thats it yes 👍🏼
Interesting. What I take from this is although with solar & battery a saving will be made in respect to the car changing, electric cars do require a lot of kWh. We need to be reducing our energy consumption so electric cars may not be the way to go. I hope a viable alternative is found soon.
I think the message has been misinterpreted. Absolutely a saving is made with home only usage, currently at around £100 per month, if this is solely the case then you can buy a small system therefore reducing upfront cost.
However, the be able to as self sufficient as possible come winter the bigger the system the more likely you are to maintain an element of self sufficiency.
With regards to reducing consumption, Id be happy to say with a solar pv and battery system I can use as much of the energy I produce as I like keeping my consumption up, because my reliance in the grid has drastically reduced making the “problem” consumption better.
What I am highlighting is not specifically having an EV but by having electric devices/appliances to maximise the use of the production helps you save more money and make the outlay more cost effective.
Have you got a Google Sheet of your spreadsheets that you can share for us newbies?
Unfortunately I don’t. What I did, was look at my yearly consumption, on my electric bills, then looked at how much i’d save at 50% coming from solar and then 75% from solar. Little easier with the price cap being set
Really good review thanks. Getting our system installed next week. Which EV did you go for? Assume it has a small battery, or am i wrong? 👍
Thankyou, Fantastic, I have a BMW iX3 which has a 74kw battery
Great video, well done.
There's three resins to install a solar battery system...1 for electricity savings 2 to have power when the grid goes down for extended periods 3 to have a EV you can charge from home...the savings on electricity is a nice bonus but there's more important resins to make the change!!.😎💕🇬🇧🇺🇦
Agreed, No. is only of your system allows that, mine currently doesn’t, as I didn’t feel it was necessary. Your final point more importantly.
Not forgetting you will need a battery backup in the event of a power cut, to work any solar system. Some systems have this built in, but older systems like mine still need the grid to run. (This is to protect grid workers in the event of a power cut, from your feed back)
@@DIYJourney1 🥴?
@@caravanstuff2827 You don’t automatically get a UPS just because you have a battery. There has to be a control of that and transfer of circuits to accommodate, given all the power cuts we’ve had have been in the night, and maybe 1 per year at a max, its not something Im willing to spend the money on, as offers very very very minimal benefit.
Hey buddy, did you have to put planning permission/paperwork in to the local council for your solar panels? Also removing the car how many panels do you think you would need to have 0 interaction with the grid? i.e 100% solar only?
Hi, No, however we did speak with them to ask as its very specific, if it was on the front of the house then yes we would have.
This is a good website to look at: interactive.planningportal.co.uk/
@@DIYJourney1 thankyou 🤙
Charge the car at work 👍
Sorry, could you expand? Not sure how that would apply to this video.
@@DIYJourney1 most work places have free charge points. To get the workforce to change to an electric vehicle!!!
Saves charging it at home so cuts down on home usage as you were commenting on car charging using more energy and having to import at a higher rate.
Thats good for those with fixed workplaces and a workplace that offers free charging which is surprising, considering the cost in the current market.
Charging at home with solar helps the return on investment by using the production.