Solar options for home in 2022.

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#3000320 23-Nov-2022 13:13

We got an update today from the solar installer and they have advised that the SMA inverters and Jinko panels have arrived in Auckland, and they are waiting for the SMA Home Manager 2.0 to be delivered from Australia. The installer advised that there was a problem with the Solar application with Waipa Networks which they are hoping is sorted now. They have penciled 6th December for the installation if the weather is good.

I have also asked the installer to install 3 phase power cable from the power board and have it run underneath the inverter installation location with a wall plate at front which is only one meter away anyway for a future EV charger installation. The installer confirmed that Tesla is one charger that accepts both a three phase or single-phase connection in same unit and it can connect to 2 phase power and provide up to 14.4kW of charging power which is good news because most current EV chargers are 11kW rated anyway even for homes that get a 3-phase charger installed. There are only a handful of cars currently which have a 22kW AC charger on board. Having a 14.4kW AC charging capability is bloody awesome compared to a single phase 7.2kW. I have found out you can connect a lot of 3 phase power tools etc. on 2 phase simply fine as long as your home has 120-degree phase rotation which we do and have two phase worth of power available for that tool :)

SMA has an single phase and 3 phase smart solar EV charger. I am eyeing their 3-phase charger over the Tesla one when we do buy an EV in 2 or 3 years' time.

The installer also mentioned that another plus of going with SMA over Fronius inverters in NZ is that SMA has 10 years full warranty which covers parts, labour and shipping. The Fronius only has 5 years full warranty and next 5 years is parts only. Customer will need to pay for shipping and labour which can easily run into $300 per warranty claim for labour alone for 5th to 10th year in case an issue arises.

The daily power use for the home has also come down by around 20kWh as I sent an email query to the distributor for the Mitsubishi Ducted aircon and ventilation system we have installed in our home. I thought we had a bug on our wall controller which did not update the ambient temperature on screen even after hours of aircon running. One of the very helpful engineers from Mitsubishi HQ in NZ contacted me and spent 2 hours on the phone providing me with service passwords to access parameters menu on the wall controller to check settings and it turned out the useless authorized installers for Mitsubishi system that did our install, had set the wall controller to detect the ambient temperature from the ducted unit itself which is in the attic above insulation, so the outside compressor unit was always struggling and running loud to try and catchup in summer or winter to tempurature we had set on controller by like 4 to 5 degrees. The wall controller inside the home has an ambient temperature reader and it is now set to use that. The insulation in the home was doing it's job but the config on the ducted aircon was wasting a lot of energy.

Engineers also found that static pressure set on our ducted unit was factory default of 50 when it should have been 150 for the size of our home. Our home now cools the bedroom so much better now and 17 degrees heat feels like 17 degrees and not 23 degrees hot at night in bedroom. This has reduced our daily power consumption and I have been monitoring it for the past 2 weeks and we are now averaging 25kWh daily instead of 45kWh.

Do whatever you want to do man.

Newtown

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#3001795 26-Nov-2022 19:22

Tony the Solarman is great, and he’s a really nice person to deal with!

I went down the SMA route too (Sunny Boy, HM 2.0) with REC panels. Sunny Portal where you monitor and set up loads is dated but comprehensive, and their app is nice.

I’m getting the SMA EV Charger 7.4 installed in the new year. It’s much pricier than other chargers, but I wanted it all integrated and automated via HM 2.0.

I wasn’t aware of Smart Appliance Enabler, @billgates, I’ll give it a go.

billgates

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#3001806 26-Nov-2022 19:54

@Newtown Sounds like you have an awesome inverter and panel setup possible from brand/model point of view. Has Tony managed to find a supplier for SMA EV charger in NZ? I did not think they were available in NZ yet so I was going to import mine from Australia in couple of years time if they still were not available in NZ. Have you been given a price on the SMA EV 7.2kW charger?

If you don't mind sharing what you paid for your SMA inveter, HM 2.0 and REC panels and what size is your inveter and PV array here would be great for anyone in Wellington region to get an idea for cost comparison.

Are you exporting your data to pvoutput as well? I would also recommend registering your SMA account in sunnyplaces.com which is run by SMA and uses same login as your existing SMA Portal website. Guests are able to view your system including daily output on sunnyplaces website. You can view every single registered SMA system around the world on sunnyplaces.com

Do whatever you want to do man.

Newtown

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#3005472 4-Dec-2022 11:23

While I don't export data to pvoutput, I have now set up an account on Sunny Places.

My setup is pretty small (3.16 kWp) as the roof limited how many panels we could install. In hindsight, we could've fitted 2-3 more panels but didn't have visibility as this is a two storey house. As a household, our power consumption is low so the smaller setup works well for us but I'm considering extending the system by another 2-3 kWp as there's an unused garage roof. Once you realise how well a PV system works, you just want to add more :P

System wise, I paid about $14k inc gst for everything excluding scaffolding. Costs include gst and rounded for simplicity: 8 x REC 395W Alpha Pure at $550 ea, 1 x Sunny Boy 5.0 at $2.6k, 1 x Home Manager at $1.5k.

With the SMA EV Charger, by the time you're ready for one I wouldn't be surprised if SMA has released a new model given the current gen was released 2020. I have been in touch with SMA AU, YHI, and AC Solar Warehouse trying to figure out its availability in NZ. Initially SMA AU told me the charger was going to be for sale here, but for some reason they changed their mind and limited it to AU only. Plan B was to get one from EU/AU, but then you're facing import charges and uncertainty around warranty. Plan C was to install the Evnex charger. In the end I managed to get the SMA EV Charger via AC Solar Warehouse who will send one from AU. I was quoted a premium of $3k ex gst for the charger only.

Newtown

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#3005540 4-Dec-2022 13:10

A few pics of the install on Solarman's FB page from back in April 2022.

So far November has been very nice to us. We're with Genesis, and just recently switched to their day/night plan.

—

billgates

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#3005673 4-Dec-2022 17:51

@Newtown, the setup photos on Facebook page looks great. Awesome work on setting up the Sunny Places portal as well. I see that it automagically imported all the generation data since your install day from Sunny Portal website. Is Sunny Portal still working for you and showing updated generation data while also updating the Sunny Places website as well? I thought reading some German forum posts in past few days you could only use either Sunny Portal or Sunny Places with updated generational data stats at any given time but it’s awesome if they let you access both sites at same time as SMA must have updated it recently.

Unfortunately our Solar PV installed has been pushed back from coming Tuesday to now 12th December as approval has still not come through to installer from Waipa Networks. My installer did let me know though his supplier has managed to secure SMA EV chargers in NZ and they have already arrived. I will ask him for an supply and install price to compare against AU Solar supply you are getting and let you know. Your 5kW SMA Sunny Boy has plenty of free capacity left to add more Solar so yep I agree on adding more panels where you can on your roofs.

PS- The SMA EV charger comes with 5M charging cable. If you need 7M or 10M cable then you can buy it directly from SMA EU and get it shipped to a freight forwarder in Germany and then couriered to you in NZ. Pretty sure it’s a simple unscrew/screw of the charging cable from bottom of EV charger that user can do themselves.

Do whatever you want to do man.

Newtown

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#3005695 4-Dec-2022 20:17

I think you're right about Sunny Places/Portal. I just logged in with the same credentials as Sunny Portal, so SMA must've done something in the background.

Exciting still that the install is happening this side of the year!

Curious who the supplier is as I feel like I've been emailing every single supplier? Post an update once you know more, fingers crossed it's about the same price as I'm paying. The 5m cable is a good length for us.

Are you getting an EV soon? If you are, perhaps bite the bullet and install the charger too so it's done. The installer has to commission the charger and add it to Sunny Portal. You can see the process in the Videos tab on the SMA EV Charger page

We have a MG ZS EV (facelift). I've been manually plugging it in on sunny days, and used the car's timer during evening top-ups. It does do the trick, but it would be nice with a dedicated smart charger.

billgates

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#3005716 4-Dec-2022 21:36

No plans to get an EV for a couple of years at least hence I am not in a rush for EVSE as you also mentioned that an updated version of SMA EV charger might come about. The current 22kW SMA EV is fairly good and does everything I want it to do. You can also operate it via evcc.io which is an open-source project to add a lot of smarts that SMA EV might be missing as well. evcc.io also works with a lot of cheaper EVSE as well and it has direct integration with SMA inverter and this Sunny Portal to manage non SMA branded EVSE's. I think the supplier might Ideal Electrical but I will ask the installer for an price for the SMA 22kW EVSE anyway since I have a 2 phase connection.

Do whatever you want to do man.

billgates

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#3008882 12-Dec-2022 10:57

Solar PV install day today. Lucky day to book for the install because it's going to be raining all coming week. Can't believe with all the rain yesterday, the sun is shining today.

Installers are not too happy about the 35 degrees roof pitch now that they have seen it in person hehe but they are all good as they knew off the plans it was going to be 35 degrees. A slight change of plans due to this steep roof is that they will install 24 panels on Northwest roof now instead of 26 and 12 panels on Southeast now instead of 10.

The panels are massive in person size. There are 3 guys working with 2 doing the railings and panels and 1 doing the electrical part in the garage for inverter installation. This is there biggest residential install to date.

The heatsink on the inverter is huge I guess due to being passively cooled.

Do whatever you want to do man.

eonsim

398 posts

Ultimate Geek

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#3008894 12-Dec-2022 11:33

billgates:

Solar PV install day today. Lucky day to book for the install because it's going to be raining all coming week. Can't believe with all the rain yesterday, the sun is shining today.

Installers are not too happy about the 35 degrees roof pitch now that they have seen it in person hehe but they are all good as they knew off the plans it was going to be 35 degrees. A slight change of plans due to this steep roof is that they will install 24 panels on Northwest roof now instead of 26 and 12 panels on Southeast now instead of 19.

The panels are massive in person size. There are 3 guys working with 2 doing the railings and panels and 1 doing the electrical part in the garage for inverter installation. This is there biggest residential install to date.

The heatsink on the inverter is huge I guess due to being passively cooled.

Hope it goes well, is that a total reduction in panels or are they moving them somewhere else?

One thing to check early on is the power flows in the app once they get the house monitoring up, it seems very common for the electricians to get the CT clamps around the wrong way (so all your usage becomes export etc) or on the wrong wire (PV CT is on the mains or vice versa). It's a simple change usually but one that needs an electrician to make.

Newtown

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#3008909 12-Dec-2022 11:45

Exciting!

Our install took almost a whole day to set up. If that's the case here too, you should be able to see some generation by late arvo.

I'd recommend hooking up the inverter using ethernet, which SMA refers to as speedwire. HM2 needs ethernet anyway, so better to have both units wired up for that rock solid connection.

Get the SMA Energy app.

One thing to note though, once the system is commissioned and firmware updated to latest, make sure that you get the passwords and have the right user management settings applied to you. The admin password isn't that important for the inverter, but on Sunny Portal under User Management, make sure that you're the plant admin and system owner as you need these to edit Home Manager 2.0 settings. Just be careful not to remove anything critical :P

Newtown

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#3008911 12-Dec-2022 11:54

eonsim:

One thing to check early on is the power flows in the app once they get the house monitoring up, it seems very common for the electricians to get the CT clamps around the wrong way (so all your usage becomes export etc) or on the wrong wire (PV CT is on the mains or vice versa). It's a simple change usually but one that needs an electrician to make.

Everything connects to Home Manager 2.0, a CT clamp is needed if the electricity connection exceeds 63A.

billgates

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#3008921 12-Dec-2022 12:45

@eonsim the number is total panels is still the same at 36 x 415W. For their safety on the roof, they are just going to put two panels from Northwest roof which they had on the plan instead on the Southeast roof. No CT clamps in our SMA setup as it will be all ethernet cable-based power monitoring.

@Newtown Yep, I went and bought 3 x 5M triple shielded CAT7 cables last week. Two for inverters and one for Home Manager 2.0

The installer did tell me that it is AC Solar Warehouse in Auckland for supplier I think and yep none in stock in NZ atm. SMA support also confirmed that their 3 phase EV charger will not work on two phases. It has to be either single phase model from SMA or Evnex support confirmed there three phase model works on two phase power and provided 14.4kW. I have couple of years to decide which EV charger and hopefully by then more new models will release from SMA etc.

Do whatever you want to do man.

billgates

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#3009013 12-Dec-2022 14:39

Inverters have been mounted. I requested the installers to bring and use F17 Formply rather than standard ply board. They will also cover the bottom half of wall below the inverters with same F17 Formply which the SMA Sunny Island battery inverters will go on when we buy those hopefully in 2 years time along with couple of batteries.

@Newtown I requested installer to write down all the passwords on a paper and advised them I have an SMA login n and they said no problem.

Do whatever you want to do man.

Newtown

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#3009339 13-Dec-2022 09:31

@billgates – Any more updates/photos you could share? Is the system up and running? Good call on using formply, looks nice and tidy.

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