Solar options for home in 2022

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31 posts

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#3188882 31-Jan-2024 16:48

Jase2985:

Im going to be looking into this soon in Auckland. Will be looking at similar to what harmonist was getting, approximately 8kw of panels and 6kw of inverter. Would like the ability to interface with EV charging in the future and also batteries.

Other options for my quote were

$2,563.12 for the Fronius Wattpilot Home 22 which would do your EV charging.

BYD battery 5.12 kWh added another 10k to the total.

Jase2985

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#3188886 31-Jan-2024 17:10

HarmLessSolutions:

I stumbled upon this Youtube channel recently. 'Gary' has some of the best simple to understand solar I've seen. The pros and cons of the likes of AC v.s DC coupled batteries in this one is great.

Would you mind sharing the actual YouTube link?

HarmLessSolutions

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#3188889 31-Jan-2024 17:16

Jase2985:

HarmLessSolutions:

I stumbled upon this Youtube channel recently. 'Gary' has some of the best simple to understand solar I've seen. The pros and cons of the likes of AC v.s DC coupled batteries in this one is great.

Would you mind sharing the actual YouTube link?

Apologies original link seems to have dropped off during posting. Now there.

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

Shindig

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#3189120 1-Feb-2024 10:09

harmonist:

Jase2985:

Im going to be looking into this soon in Auckland. Will be looking at similar to what harmonist was getting, approximately 8kw of panels and 6kw of inverter. Would like the ability to interface with EV charging in the future and also batteries.

Other options for my quote were

$2,563.12 for the Fronius Wattpilot Home 22 which would do your EV charging.

BYD battery 5.12 kWh added another 10k to the total.

Stick to the Fronius Gen24 Plus mate.

The little things make the biggest difference.

thewabbit

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#3189123 1-Feb-2024 10:13

I'm getting a system installed in the next few weeks, and will ask the installers this question as well, but thought i'd also ask here;

How does a ripple controller work with solar? (is it even needed?)

Does the inverter feed power after the controller, so that when the HW is controlled it can only get heated by power generated by the solar, or

Does the inverter feed power before the controller so that when the HW is controlled no power (solar or grid) will flow into the HW

Ge0rge

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#3189125 1-Feb-2024 10:17

They removed my ripple control when I had the new meter installed for solar.

thewabbit

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#3189126 1-Feb-2024 10:21

Ge0rge: They removed my ripple control when I had the new meter installed for solar.

So with that in mind (and knowing the meter is the lines companies) is the ripple controller also lines company? So I should touch base with my power provider to get clarification on that?

HarmLessSolutions

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#3189129 1-Feb-2024 10:33

thewabbit:

Ge0rge: They removed my ripple control when I had the new meter installed for solar.

So with that in mind (and knowing the meter is the lines companies) is the ripple controller also lines company? So I should touch base with my power provider to get clarification on that?

Consider getting a HWC diverter installed as part of your project. Our Paladin is undoubtedly the best component in our home generation setup. It literally uses the HWC as a 'battery' and in most cases NO grid supply is used by our HWC.

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

thewabbit

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#3189136 1-Feb-2024 10:52

HarmLessSolutions:

Consider getting a HWC diverter installed as part of your project. Our Paladin is undoubtedly the best component in our home generation setup. It literally uses the HWC as a 'battery' and in most cases NO grid supply is used by our HWC.

I did consider that but decided not at this point, however have, we're a low usage household (~6000kw usage a year), and ultimately my reasoning for installing solar was not to save money on power bills but to instead be more sustainable, future proof the house and add value.

It was surprisingly difficult to get that message across to installers, as all but one company solely focused on selling the idea of how much money we'd save on power bills.

We're getting a 6.2kw system installed . Even though it's a tiny drop in a massive ocean, the idea of being able to feed 100% renewable power back into the grid is really appealing. If lots of people did this, then it adds up to a lot and in the long run could mean less reliance on the likes of Huntley Power Station being fired up (I know its not that simplistic as no solar on a cold winters night etc).

I do have a shelly timer on the hotwater and plan to use that with my existing homeassistant setup to have it switch on when we have excess generation during sunshine hours. And yes, I know that will only feed 0kw or 2.4kw where as a diverter will feed in however many extra watts of power being produced

neb

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#3189239 1-Feb-2024 13:05

HarmLessSolutions: Consider getting a HWC diverter installed as part of your project. Our Paladin is undoubtedly the best component in our home generation setup. It literally uses the HWC as a 'battery' and in most cases NO grid supply is used by our HWC.

Another option if you're using HA is to have the HWC driven by a Modbus-controlled device, so instead of the Paladin having to monitor whether you're exporting power you can have the ESS tell the HWC when to draw power.

(Also, seeing as how the VP is such a VIP, shouldn't we keep the PC on the QT? 'Cause if it leaks to the VC he could end up MIA., and then we'd all be put on KP).

PolicyGuy

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#3189245 1-Feb-2024 13:37

thewabbit:
So with that in mind (and knowing the meter is the lines companies) is the ripple controller also lines company? So I should touch base with my power provider to get clarification on that?

In many cases the meter may belong to the lines company, but this is by no means always the case.
For example, when Powerco was dismembered under the "Max Bradford reforms", the customer base and all the meters were sold into Genesis Energy, so Genesis Energy owns all those meters. I know because I was literally in the room when the deal was agreed.
My current house had a "TrustPower" branded meter when I moved in, so I suspect that they own a bunch too.

I think that the ripple controllers all belong to the local lines company, they are primarily a load management device with secondary use as a tariff management device. Also the commercial geniuses that designed the "new market based electricity system" probably didn't know about ripple controls or pilot wire systems.

By the way, Genesis bought a complete pig in a poke when they bought those meters.
Our database contained the meter records from five former Power Boards, and one of those had twenty thousand meters with Type, Manufacturer, #Phases and Serial Number all set to "Unknown" - they had just never captured these details.

HarmLessSolutions

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#3189273 1-Feb-2024 14:48

PolicyGuy:

thewabbit:
So with that in mind (and knowing the meter is the lines companies) is the ripple controller also lines company? So I should touch base with my power provider to get clarification on that?

In many cases the meter may belong to the lines company, but this is by no means always the case.
For example, when Powerco was dismembered under the "Max Bradford reforms", the customer base and all the meters were sold into Genesis Energy, so Genesis Energy owns all those meters. I know because I was literally in the room when the deal was agreed.
My current house had a "TrustPower" branded meter when I moved in, so I suspect that they own a bunch too.

I think that the ripple controllers all belong to the local lines company, they are primarily a load management device with secondary use as a tariff management device. Also the commercial geniuses that designed the "new market based electricity system" probably didn't know about ripple controls or pilot wire systems.

By the way, Genesis bought a complete pig in a poke when they bought those meters.
Our database contained the meter records from five former Power Boards, and one of those had twenty thousand meters with Type, Manufacturer, #Phases and Serial Number all set to "Unknown" - they had just never captured these details.

Also worth noting that the likes of Transpower are considering the introduction of network control of EVSEs to allow them to better manage demand peaks in a similar manner to how ripple control of HWC is done. I saw this mentioned in a discussion document a couple of years back that I can't locate now.

The way that such a system operates in conjunction with distributed generation, home battery storage, V2G connectivity and other still emerging technologies will take some working out in order to avoid unintended negative outcomes. We have retained a 'dumb' EVSE in addition to our web connected Evnex in order to retain flexibility of charging with future network controls in mind, plus the different plugs on each of the EVSEs simplifies recording of charging of one of our EVs which is a company owned car.

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

neb

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#3189279 1-Feb-2024 15:01

In terms of meters, if you're going to export power your power company may just replace the whole meter with one set up to handle export, so your existing meter's capabilities may not matter too much.

Ge0rge

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#3189284 1-Feb-2024 15:09

neb: In terms of meters, if you're going to export power your power company may just replace the whole meter with one set up to handle export, so your existing meter's capabilities may not matter too much.

This is what occurred for me, and they removed the ripple control at the same time.

prob

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Master Geek
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#3209798 23-Mar-2024 10:48

Jumping in...

Just got some quotes from Solar Group. They are promoting a battery option (Alphaess Smile S6 HV with 8.2kw battery. With 16 cells - 7kw).

Its $25,000 all in.

Trying to work out whether getting a battery will be worth it?

What is the wisdom of the Geeks?

I can get 8 cells == 3.5 kw and an inverter (not hybrid) installed for about $10,000 (quote says $11,293 but I am sure they will go down).

We use about 11,000 kWh a year, 30 kwh a day and have cheap power here in Auckland. I used to be on Flick and their rate is 15.518 kWh plus 220c a day (plus GST), presently with Z Energy, dearer in day, but good off peak and 3 hours free every day (3 to 6 am). I have a timer on the water heater.

We pay about about $250 incl a month for our power, and given that the daily charge is about $75 inclusive, the most I can save on the current tariff is $175 a month.

That's $2,100 a year and unless I sell some power, probably less.

Anyway struggling to get the battery option to work for me.

For example, if load up the battery at night for free, then even at the higher Z Energy daily tariff the (say) 8 kWh is worth only $2, or $60 a month, $720 a year. This 'saving' is a long way from justifying the $10,000 or so increase in costs....

Also, the inverter is not going to run the oven or induction hob, so I won't be totally immune to power loss.

Love the idea of being totally independent from the grid, battling to justify the cost...

Thoughts?

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