Solar options for home in 2022

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12 posts

Geek
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#3466076 2-Mar-2026 19:06

HarmLessSolutions:

Some interesting info and sound reasoning in this report.

Being able to survive a grid outage would be a nice-to-have for me, but not a key requirement. I'd very much like to be be able make use of the (otherwise idle) 60kWh or so of usable capacity in a car, but it will mostly be a cost/benefit calculation: if the cost of the V2H-capable charger is prohibitive, or if the max current or any hassle factor of being able to consume the battery in peak rate, that would probably dissuade me.

dukezoid

74 posts

Master Geek
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#3466110 2-Mar-2026 22:41

kangaroo13:

frstep:

I'm renovating a house and need to make some decisions on Heating/HW/Ventilation and therefore considering what solar options are, since this can impact how much I spend on other things. For example the payback on a Heat pump hot water cylinder does not appear good if most of the time you can heat the water from Solar PV.

I am particularly interested in V2H: We will have an EV and it will spend most days sitting on the driveway. Does anyone on this forum have real-world experience of Sigenergy V2H? How much of your evening peak can be run off the car? Is this a better plan than investing in fixed batteries?

I have no real world experience, but I did get a quote on the Sigenergy EV charger/V2H module with a view to future-proofing my system, and it was very expensive. Hopefully the price will come down over time & it may be an option to add later. I would think even with EV and V2H you'd probably still want a fixed battery, but possibly with lower capacity than you would otherwise.

I also would be interested to hear from anyone who has already gone down the SigEnergy/V2H path.

You’d be lucky to see the Sig 12kW DC charger much under $10K (retail). Low volume wholesale in AU is under AU$3.5K incl! Feels like some nice markups are being made. What did you get quoted?

Curmudgeonly complaints aside, I’d have pulled the trigger but my preferred ev does not support V2X.

Plenty of content Sig DC V2X customers reports from AU, haven’t seen many in NZ. Sig have a V2X compatibility table on their site.

Which ev? From my limited reading you should be all go with:

Kia EV6 EV9 / Ioniq 5, 6

VW ID if 77kW

MachE (but not officially supported)

Audi e-tron Q6

cddt

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Uber Geek
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#3466114 3-Mar-2026 06:07

dukezoid:

Sig have a V2X compatibility table on their site.

https://www.sigenergy.com/en/index/v2x_compatibility

frstep

12 posts

Geek
+1 received by user: 9

#3466137 3-Mar-2026 09:18

dukezoid:

You’d be lucky to see the Sig 12kW DC charger much under $10K (retail). Low volume wholesale in AU is under AU$3.5K incl! Feels like some nice markups are being made. What did you get quoted?

At that price differential, surely worth visiting AU and bringing one back?

(I've not had a quote with the charger yet - I've read all the stuff on the website, but what I'm missing are people with real-world experience. I guess I need to look on overseas forum for this)

dukezoid

74 posts

Master Geek
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#3466139 3-Mar-2026 09:28

sen8or:

I've got 3 systems that I'm now looking at -

1 is a Sigen Energy system, 26x WBC Series Back Contact Ultra Panels (485w), x1 Sigen Energy 10kw inverter and x1 Sigen 10kw (9 useable) battery vs

1 Tesla system, 24x Aiko 490w panels, x1 Tesla 10kw inverter, x1 13.5kw tesla powerwall.

1 Tesla system, 25 x Longi 470w panels, x1 Tesla 10kw inverter, x1 13.5kw tesla powerwall.

All systems will produce approximately the same energy (12.6kw for Sigen, 11.8kw for x2 Teslas), the tesla battery has 50% more useable capacity. There is a $6 -8k difference in cost between the Sigen and the two tesla quotes.

Is the tesla system that much better?

I get that a battery may or may not be a necessity, is an extra 4.5kwh worth the extra $

If I put some sort of smart relay on the Sigen system (can't find any reference to it in their quote), I get that it will increase the cost, but will that bring the performance closer to the Tesla and its "smart" ability to learn and manage priorities.

Thanks

Sen

Sig integrates natively with Shelly. You can add yourself via the app. Smart relay for HWC, pool, spa etc? Easy: Ogemray Shelly 25A Wi-Fi Relay

Have been happy with Sig, 1 year since install. The system design makes it much simpler, and cheaper, to add further batteries or EV charger.

ScuL

491 posts

Ultimate Geek
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#3467240 6-Mar-2026 12:37

Is there anyone on here that has installed a "balcony solar" type system with grid-tie in in NZ?
They are becoming increasingly affordable and are hugely popular in the US and EU.
From what I can find on-line they are not certified for usage in NZ and no sparky here wants to install them. That does not mean that you could not do it yourself? Or would you land yourself in serious trouble?

I am looking to install some panels to keep the pool pump and heater running and because those appliances already use so much power there would be nothing left to export to the grid. Would that violate any rules?

Haere taka mua, taka muri; kaua e wha.

richms

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#3467244 6-Mar-2026 12:56

Only legit self installs are a couple of panels into a bluetti or jackery type thing that only charges itself and runs it's load from solar battery or mains. Nothing grid interactive is allowed DIY and there are mad labelling and hardware requirements that have only got worse as it's gone on. Even with a low voltage battery it becomes part of the system and you're not allowed to DIY more solar or capacity on one of its connected to a grid tied inverter.

Richard rich.ms

EgorNZ

64 posts

Master Geek
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#3467248 6-Mar-2026 13:14

This might be interesting, for those who don't want a whole-home battery:

https://pilaenergy.com/

HarmLessSolutions

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#3467251 6-Mar-2026 13:21

EgorNZ:

This might be interesting, for those who don't want a whole-home battery:

https://pilaenergy.com/

Looks like a UPS under another name. One per appliance I assume? V2L would serve the same purpose though?

https://www.harmlesssolutions.co.nz/

ScuL

491 posts

Ultimate Geek
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#3467252 6-Mar-2026 13:21

richms:

Only legit self installs are a couple of panels into a bluetti or jackery type thing that only charges itself and runs it's load from solar battery or mains. Nothing grid interactive is allowed DIY and there are mad labelling and hardware requirements that have only got worse as it's gone on. Even with a low voltage battery it becomes part of the system and you're not allowed to DIY more solar or capacity on one of its connected to a grid tied inverter.

That begs the question who is going to find out, particularly if there is no grid export?

These are the type of technologies that could serious help Kiwis shave money off their power bills, no surprise it's not allowed.

Haere taka mua, taka muri; kaua e wha.

HarmLessSolutions

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#3467254 6-Mar-2026 13:25

ScuL:

richms:

Only legit self installs are a couple of panels into a bluetti or jackery type thing that only charges itself and runs it's load from solar battery or mains. Nothing grid interactive is allowed DIY and there are mad labelling and hardware requirements that have only got worse as it's gone on. Even with a low voltage battery it becomes part of the system and you're not allowed to DIY more solar or capacity on one of its connected to a grid tied inverter.

That begs the question who is going to find out, particularly if there is no grid export?

These are the type of technologies that could serious help Kiwis shave money off their power bills, no surprise it's not allowed.

The problem isn't detected grid export, it's about current finding its way into infrastructure that linesmen are working on if no isolation switching is in place.

https://www.harmlesssolutions.co.nz/

EgorNZ

64 posts

Master Geek
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#3467255 6-Mar-2026 13:25

HarmLessSolutions:

Looks like a UPS under another name. One per appliance I assume? V2L would serve the same purpose though?

A UPS only comes on in an outage. This will work with your solar to optimise energy storage/consumption just like a home battery does.

2.4kW output, so you could attach a few appliances (in the same location) depending on requirements. It's modular so you can combine them and dot around the home where needed.

wellygary

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#3467265 6-Mar-2026 14:09

ScuL:

Is there anyone on here that has installed a "balcony solar" type system with grid-tie in in NZ?
They are becoming increasingly affordable and are hugely popular in the US and EU.

I wouldn't say its huge in the states, but It certainly big in Germany, mind you when you are paying 80c NZD a unit anything to lower your bill is welcome..

Its limited to 800W output in the inverter, (with built in "anti islanding" also some building owners require a "locked" plug so that you cannot pull out the input socket to expose live pins) ,The inverter is output is a male "suicide" cord....

As others have said, chances of it being made legal here are pretty much Zero, but they're perfect for off grid use..

There is a really good article on them here, and naturally there is a new compound German word for it

"Balkonkraftwerk".. and it doesn't mean a Proto-EDM concert on your deck.... :)

https://balkon.solar/news/2025/03/17/how-does-plug-in-pv-in-germany-work/

ScuL

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Ultimate Geek
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#3467296 6-Mar-2026 15:04

wellygary:

I wouldn't say its huge in the states, but It certainly big in Germany,

Well it was referenced by CNN earlier today: https://edition.cnn.com/clean-energy-solar-diy-balcony-backyard-regulation-utilities-stealth

I know it apparently is rather big in Utah, but not every state allows it.

Its limited to 800W output in the inverter, (with built in "anti islanding" also some building owners require a "locked" plug so that you cannot pull out the input socket to expose live pins) ,The inverter is output is a male "suicide" cord....

On AliEx you can find them up with inverters up to 2KW, but presumably, again, not legal here

As others have said, chances of it being made legal here are pretty much Zero, but they're perfect for off grid use..

Unfortunately in my case I will need a tie-in to the grid one way or the other because the solar output won't be enough to cover the full usage. It would be amazing to splice two power sources (grid+solar) into one output without the solar component going back to the grid..

Haere taka mua, taka muri; kaua e wha.

richms

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#3467298 6-Mar-2026 15:16

Things like the bluetti power banks will do that and power a load and use the solar for the connected load and the grid for the remainder in some cases.

Once you start to build your own charge controller, battery and inverter setup then it becomes a high risk situation and needs sparky to do it. I was told that even putting a built myself low voltage battery and inverter downstream of a wall socket would not be legal. All those DIY systems you see the people in the US doing are totally not allowed here. Just pushing people to keep using the grid or putting in something needlessly complicated for what they need. If someone was to make a 48v powered VFD for a poolpump I would be all in on that once I get the pool working again.

Richard rich.ms

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