I normally just go look here. The trade depot one mentioned above does have legit AS/NZ certification. 

$2999 for a 48V battery ready 5kW inverter.  Looks like a nice price.  Exciting times for solar in New Zealand with the market maturing to a point of transparent pricing.

https://www.solarquotes.com.au/inverters/solplanet-review.html

MadEngineer:

 

Spec sheet isn’t a cert. try finding it. 

 

{
    "modelNumber": "ASW10000-S-A (AS4777-2 2020)",
    "expiryDate": "09-05-2027",
    "brand": "Solplanet",
    "manufacturers": "AISWEI Technology Co Ltd",
    "certificateNumber": "AZ 69025613",
    "series": "ASW S-A",
    "equipmentCategory": "Grid Connect PV Inverter",
    "softwareClient": "Inverter Inbuilt",
    "approvedDate": "22-07-2024",
    "numberOfPhases": "1",
    "ratedAcOutput": "9999",
    "integratedPvIsolator": "Yes",
    "integratedPvIsolatorEessRegistered": "Inbuilt",
    "inverterGridSettingsAccessMethod": "Monitoring App"
}

timmmay:

 

MadEngineer:

 

Sux to be those that buy solar from here

 

https://tradedepot.co.nz/10kw-1p-solar-inverter-with-wifi/

 

 

 

Only to find their sparky won’t install it or if they do, get its mains tie in rejected  

 

https://www.vector.co.nz/kentico_content/assets/8611192e-96de-4208-bfb5-fe9a0ffee07e/Vector-Approved-Inverters.pdf

 

https://www.vector.co.nz/personal/electricity/distributed-generation/10kw-or-less

 

 

Interesting that Vector don't support the Sigenergy inverter we're getting in Wellington.

 

Vector are approving Sig, mine at least and aware of 6+ other installs on Vector.

The list is just way out of date. Queried this with the Distribution Generation Team after my approval had come through in Dec, response from mid Jan "The list is updated periodically as we take submissions for the list to be updated from customers, there is an application form for this on our website. That list is the latest list we have yes."

It's now March and same October 2024 list on site 🤯

Not super efficient if multiple customers (and consequentially the DG Team) are going through the non-approved inverter process synchronously for same 'non-approved' inverter..

timmmay:

 

I understand, and I understand the benefit. My only concern is around the payback period, $1500 or more buys a lot of power.

 

Our power cost will be 21c anytime, buyback 17c, they're so close I'm not really too concerned about using grid power or exporting more.

 

You could slum it with the $26 Ali option, the awesomely titled TOMZN 63A 110V 230V WIFI Smart Switch smartlife Kwh Metering Circuit Breaker Timer with voltage current and leakage protection 

Picked up a coupe of these pre Xmas at $13 each somehow. So far so good..

Can integrate with Home Assistant via Tuya Local. Hence if your inverter has decent API can trigger based off generation 

dukezoid:

 

You could slum it with the $26 Ali option, the awesomely titled TOMZN 63A 110V 230V WIFI Smart Switch smartlife Kwh Metering Circuit Breaker Timer with voltage current and leakage protection 

 

Picked up a coupe of these pre Xmas at $13 each somehow. So far so good..

 

Can integrate with Home Assistant via Tuya Local. Hence if your inverter has decent API can trigger based off generation 

 

Yeah... nah, but thanks. I already ordered the parts that have NZ certifications.

I've found that they appear in the list here, so "should" be OK
Inverters | Clean Energy Council

prob:

 

Greetings.

 

Its very competitive price wise out there. I got some quotes from some suppliers last year and just chased up the two leading contenders – Planet Electrical and Harrisons - and they have stepped up with better offers. I also got a flyer from Total Solar which includes a battery for $15,000! 

 

The Total Solar deal looks too good to be true, so I am probably going with Planet Electrical because they seem to know their business (recommend splitting the install with some east facing panels for instance) and also installed my car charger for Z Energy. 

 

Anyway, a good time to be buying solar. (FYI the inverter from Planet Electrical is a Huawei rebrand that is now locally supported.)

 

Planet Electrical ($12,900) - www.planetelectrical.co.nz
Solar Panels - Jinko Solar Co., Ltd.
18 x 440 Watt Panels (JKM440N-54HL4R-BDB)
7.920 kW Total Solar Power 
Inverter - Entelar Energy
6 kW Total Inverter Rating
1 x EESOLAR-6KTL-L1 – (https://entelargroup.co.nz/entelarenergy/eesolar-5-6ktl-l1/)

 

Harrisons ($ 12,960)
15  x AIKO 460w panels
6.3 kW
Fronius Primo 5.0 GEN24

 

Total Solar ($12,500) - www.totalsolar.co.nz
15 x 435 w Canadian solar all black panels and 1 x sigenergy hybrid inverter and tilt legs for 5 panels for $12,500 fully installed including GST
Or
15 x Canadian solar panels plus 6 kw sofar all in one hybrid inverter, tilt legs for 5 panels and 10 kwh of battery for $19,500 including GST.

 

In a recent flyer they have the following offer:
12 panels and a hybrid inverter (battery ready!) fully installed from only $9,999
Add a 10 kW GSL wall mounted battery for only $5,000 or add an EVNEX charger for only $1395 with free installation.

 

what area of nz ? The Harrison’s quote looks good 

I've got a quote underway for 24 panels made up of 3 chains of 8 to make a 10kw system.  If they'll fit on my roof then they'll sit.  Due to having a flying V shaped house, one chain will be facing ENE (more east than north), another will be NNW (slightly west of north) and the third will be facing north.  The easterly facing panels will hopefully cover the breakfast time or morning showers power usage.

Given the export limits etc if you can use it its better to have them split like that imo

It’ll just fit and the install has been approved by the power co so now I just have to wait for the gear to arrive. 

One thing to note is, if you’re getting a Goodwe inverter check that it comes with the GM1000 smart meter as it’s optional 

I'm looking for NZ documentation / sdoc for the Shelly EM-50, in case the electrician asks for it during the install. Does this document look right? If not can anyone locate it?

Also looking for the docs for the Siemens 5TT5 8000 Contactor. I found UK / EU declarations but can't find NZ. Anyone know where I could find this one?

Pretty sure I found the right one for the ABB SD 201 switch.

https://www.jarussell.co.nz/portals/0/PI/ProductDocuments/17792030_SDoC.pdf

We're upsizing our solar capacity and a few issues have surfaced that will need to be navigated around.

Backstory is that our PV upgrade from a 5kW to 8.2kW inverter two years back left us with a 5kW SMA inverter that was surplus to requirements and proving difficult to on-sell. We now have significant renovations due to start which includes a re roof and plenty of scaffolding so the perfect opportunity to throw some panels on our new roof with minimal expenses. (Our existing solar is mounted on our warehouse/shed.) Our current installer came to the party with 14 x 415W Canadian Solar Panels which were sitting stock at a sharp price so game on.

First issue is to gain connectivity to be able to monitor the SMA inverter's data via our Fronius Solarweb system, as the original (technically challenged) installer of our 5kW system was unable to provide this functionality for the SMA. That problem will be solved by way of a Fronius Smart Meter device at some extra expense. 

We are currently in 'discussions' with Powerco regarding excess grid voltages and part of the feedback has been that the phase we are using (out of 2 into our rural property) was "out of balance" so a few weeks back we changed our total house usage including solar export to the other phase. Not a big difference seen but at least we now know what we're dealing with. As we are limited to 5kW export/phase and the existing 8.2kW inverter is throttled to comply with that our 'spare' inverter can be connected using the unused phase with no cap issue as its rated output guarantees compliance.

Next issue is that Octopus have a 10kW maximum installation size for PV customers beyond which they would require us to move to their Peaker Plan, and they were non-committal in terms of redeeming accumulated credits. Their Peaker Plan has lower daytime (off peak) FIT with higher peak export rate which isn't great for those like us without a battery to timeshift export, so after some hunting around I've found that Ecotricity have no installation size limitation and also have facility for us to 'cash out' accumulated credit. FIT is comparable to Octopus's and their higher supply rates aren't really relevant as we will be net exporting for most, if not all, of the year.

Having had a 5kW installation at a previous property I know that we can expect close to 7,500kWh annually which equates to ~ $1,300 in FITs. Our current shortfall on electricity charges is a bit more than $300 so we will be in credit by around $1,000/year which is a very acceptable ROI for the exercise, a good utilisation for a the old inverter and a nice nestegg to look forward to as we draw down the credit each year.

The only weakness I can see is the reliance on FITs remaining at current levels but as we will have >15kW of generating capacity we will be positioned well to go off grid if those turn to custard, by way of adding batteries or preferably by using one of our EVs in a V2G capacity. Cutting ties with the grid is also attractive in light of the poor performance of our lines company which is currently compromising our generation and export capacities by more than 10% due to excess grid voltage.

Comments welcome and I'll report back on progress as things get going.

MadEngineer:

 

https://www.jarussell.co.nz/portals/0/PI/ProductDocuments/17792030_SDoC.pdf

 

Thank you!