Solar options for home in 2022

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#3447615 28-Dec-2025 19:01

I put mine on a 1% green home loan top-up over 3 years.

Our average power bill has been $196 with solar, $60 of that is the daily charge. With our previous provider's rates pre solar, that would have been $426, so we are saving over 50%.

Average import was 956kw/h, 568kw/h day and 387kw/h night, with average export being 373kw/h which pretty much offsets my night power.

LightbulbNeil

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#3447654 29-Dec-2025 01:30

So I looked at April 2024 to March 2025 for the how much was sold etc.

Total produced , there is some discrepincy between the Fronius meter and Meridian meters in that regaurd.

But going off what I have exported in that 12 months to Meridian is from the accounts,

Exported solar was 16,440 kWh for 12 months. Exported Solar sold is $2794.01 the amount Meridian have actually credited the account amount. Even though at 17c/kwh should be $2794.80, the rounding makes it the smaller value over a year.

Credit is $1618.92 on account to draw down for gas hot water after 12 months. daily charges gst and the winter losses etc amount to $1175.88

Our lowest monthly export is 554 in winter. Some days we export nothing. Most monthly exported is Dec-Jan being 2416 kWh

Our system suits us, as we have no energy bills. We are not frugal and use the heatpumps in the lounge and workshop 24/7 and turn off the bedroom one at night for sleeping. The fan noise keeps me awake otherwise.

You can see that the solar export does have a considerable contribution to the paying off of the system.

We don't leave the dishes till the next day , and we do washing and drying as needed. We could definately do more to use more during the daytime, but we both work, so is not a really practical at the moment. I guess when we are both retired, and costs are a lot higher and returns for exports are a lot lower, no doubt we will be planning a lot better than we currently do.

There are many options available and many ways to make it all work.

The hardest part, is figuring out what is best long term for your particular situation. If you are planning on staying in the same place for more than 10 years then your choices maybe very different to someone who maybe moving in 5 to 6 years time , etc.

steve98

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#3447805 29-Dec-2025 16:32

We are having a new solar system installed in Feb, will comprise of 26x AIKO 480W ABC Infinite panels and Tesla PowerWall 3. We have a PHEV that we're currently charging via granny charger, but looking at getting a dedicated EV charger put in at the same time. Can anybody recommend a good charger that will pull power from either solar or the grid but not the battery? The solar installer is recommending a myenergy zappi, and says it's the only EV charger on the market that is aware of solar, battery and grid and will ensure power comes from most economical source. We've also been looking at an Evnex E2 plus, and their support people are telling me that it will do much the same as the zappi. Interested to hear if anyone here has a similar setup and any thoughts on their experience with it?

Benoire

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#3447817 29-Dec-2025 16:51

steve98:

We are having a new solar system installed in Feb, will comprise of 26x AIKO 480W ABC Infinite panels and Tesla PowerWall 3. We have a PHEV that we're currently charging via granny charger, but looking at getting a dedicated EV charger put in at the same time. Can anybody recommend a good charger that will pull power from either solar or the grid but not the battery? The solar installer is recommending a myenergy zappi, and says it's the only EV charger on the market that is aware of solar, battery and grid and will ensure power comes from most economical source. We've also been looking at an Evnex E2 plus, and their support people are telling me that it will do much the same as the zappi. Interested to hear if anyone here has a similar setup and any thoughts on their experience with it?

I've got an EVNex E2 Plus which I believe can take solar redirect - I'm on grid charging but its good for me. I would probably, in hindset, get the X22 as it allows for a higher speed charging on single phase and changeable cables - the E2 Plus is a Type 2 but I then went and bought a Jap eGolf with a Type 1 charging port!

MikeFly

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#3447821 29-Dec-2025 17:21

Theres a dedicated discussion on EV chargers here https://www.geekzone.co.nz/forums.asp?forumid=162&topicid=293309

steve98

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#3447828 29-Dec-2025 18:56

MikeFly:

Theres a dedicated discussion on EV chargers here https://www.geekzone.co.nz/forums.asp?forumid=162&topicid=293309

This thread is locked since Feb 2025.

MikeFly

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#3447875 29-Dec-2025 19:06

Ask to unlock

Jase2985

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#3447942 29-Dec-2025 20:45

steve98:

MikeFly:

Theres a dedicated discussion on EV chargers here https://www.geekzone.co.nz/forums.asp?forumid=162&topicid=293309

This thread is locked since Feb 2025.

Click the request unlock button under the first post.

Stu

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#3447946 29-Dec-2025 21:39

I've unlocked the thread.

People often mistake me for an adult because of my age.

Keep calm, and carry on posting.

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insane

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#3448168 30-Dec-2025 14:13

Jase2985:

I put mine on a 1% green home loan top-up over 3 years.

Our average power bill has been $196 with solar, $60 of that is the daily charge. With our previous provider's rates pre solar, that would have been $426, so we are saving over 50%.

Average import was 956kw/h, 568kw/h day and 387kw/h night, with average export being 373kw/h which pretty much offsets my night power.

Hadn't thought about the green loan, that's a good idea! Back when I first investigated ASB didn't do them.

Are you able to post or MD me a picture/s of an average winter and summer days generation. Wanting to see how your generation with your setup would look overlayed with my usage - TIA!

fastbike

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#3448204 30-Dec-2025 17:50

insane:

Hadn't thought about the green loan, that's a good idea! Back when I first investigated ASB didn't do them.

Are you able to post or MD me a picture/s of an average winter and summer days generation. Wanting to see how your generation with your setup would look overlayed with my usage - TIA!

I'm finding there is no such thing as an average. Last week we had very sunny days, this week not so (rain today)

Here's a week ago (23 Dec)

And here's today (ignore battery drop out in the middle of the day - that was some maintenance being undertaken)

This is from the house with 11.8kW of PV and 10kW inverter

Otautahi Christchurch

fastbike

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#3448207 30-Dec-2025 17:53

And here is 6 months ago (notice the battery importing after midnight)

23 June

and 30 June

Hope that is helpful

Otautahi Christchurch

tweake

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#3448265 30-Dec-2025 21:05

steve98:

We are having a new solar system installed in Feb, will comprise of 26x AIKO 480W ABC Infinite panels and Tesla PowerWall 3. We have a PHEV that we're currently charging via granny charger, but looking at getting a dedicated EV charger put in at the same time. Can anybody recommend a good charger that will pull power from either solar or the grid but not the battery?

why would you not want it from the battery?

i would have thought you want it from the battery. the power connection (single phase) and solar feed would be a bit small to run a fast charger. odds are you could run a high speed charger off the battery and use the cheap power from the solar it has stored. the house can easily run off the mains if you deplete the battery.

someone mentioned there is a fast charger with built in battery.

most kiwis homes are bottled necked by the connection to the street, fast chargers running off a home battery will become a thing.

insane

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#3448269 30-Dec-2025 22:10

Thanks @Fastbike for those that is indeed very helpful. And @Jase2985 thanks for all those shared files, wasn't expecting that so really appreciate the help!

I guess I'll need to budget for a larger system :)

Jase2985

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#3448395 31-Dec-2025 11:06

tweake:

why would you not want it from the battery?

i would have thought you want it from the battery. the power connection (single phase) and solar feed would be a bit small to run a fast charger. odds are you could run a high speed charger off the battery and use the cheap power from the solar it has stored. the house can easily run off the mains if you deplete the battery.

someone mentioned there is a fast charger with built in battery.

most kiwis homes are bottled necked by the connection to the street, fast chargers running off a home battery will become a thing.

Why? Because you are charging a battery from a battery, It's not very efficient, HV DC or AC > LV DC in the battery, then VL DC to AC for the EVSV (EV Charger) then back to HV DC in the EV battery. My EV is about 88% efficient from the AC charger

You are better off going straight from solar or using night rate power for this.

When charging at home you don't generally need a fast charger, as your car is sitting there during the day (WFH) or overnight while you sleep, 7kw AC charger will give you about 40km per hour of charging so for me with night rate power I can get about 400km of range overnight, not that my EV needs that much. Not many people need that amount of charging each and every day.
If you have 3phase power you can go up to 22Kw for your charging speed, but most cars dont take that much.

"fast chargers running off a home battery will become a thing." for most people in the short to mid-term I doubt it, most people just don't drive that much to need fast charging at home. as above, 40km per hour of charging is about what the average person does daily.

"the house can easily run off the mains if you deplete the battery." you don't want the house to run off the mains, that's the purpose of the battery. Most will go onto a cheaper night rate plan where they can top up their battery and also charge their car in the 8–10 hours when it's cheaper. You then use the battery to cover the peak periods that the solar can't cover, and then rinse and repeat.

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