Plug in solar, what do you think?

[ericmark]

There are a few things about the plug in solar, main point is it is not installed, it can be moved house to house, so no registering required, if it is allowed. But clearly those with solar already will be able to export excess power anyway. Once you have the MPAN number for export, hard to work out where the export comes from.

I have looked at both the batteries and the panels and with an over-night tariff of 8.5p/kWh even without the panels there are savings. The stumbling block for me is pay back time of around 7 years, and what will change in 7 years? I have seen the feed in tariff drop from 15p to 12p/kWh and as it stands I produce more solar than I use during the summer.

But what do you think about the idea?

 

[JohnW2]

But what do you think about the idea?

Is that a "widow maker" you're illustrating?

 

[SUNRAY]

Is that a "widow maker" you're illustrating?

Yes we have discussed this system before.

They tend to call them balcony solar system in mainland europe.

 

[ericmark]

Is that a "widow maker" you're illustrating?

For years, yes, that is what we said, seen generators plugged in like that is Turkey many times, does not seem to kill them, maybe because they do it so much and Darwin's theory has got rid of the ones who have not learnt?

However, as the demo showed in this case the plug is isolated so fast when unplugged there seems to be no danger.

Yes we have discussed this system before.

They tend to call them balcony solar system in mainland europe.

Yes, I have my solar on a South-East roof, the balcony faces South, so in winter one solar panels hung from the balcony better catch the lower sun, and second is having a battery in the living room would power all stuff used in the living room during a power failure, the sockets direct on the battery, not back feeding into the house, and it is portable so also can be used else where.

Would not need them stacked up like this

but a portable battery pack which can be used with many different ideas in mind, is maybe better an addition than a fixed unit which only supplies 4 fixed socket outlets and the CH.

I have not delved into them, to look as setting them to auto charge with off-peak and discharge during the day, as yet just an idea, hence why I posted on here, I have been considering an extra battery, at the moment 6.4 kWh and only in March have I been seeing this last the day until next off-peak starts, so for 4 months of the year, my battery is not big enough. May 2025 to date electric has cost £188.40 this bill will go up, as the feed in has dropped from 15p to 12p, but all in all the bill is not really so bad at under £20 per month average. So not worth doing anything to the fixed installation.

But for the portable option with the balcony solar panels and battery, may tip the balance.

 

[plugwash]

Is that a "widow maker" you're illustrating?

It's not exactly a "widow maker" in the conventional sense, because grid-tie solar inverters are designed to shut down on loss of grid.

but it obviously raises questions of how rapid and reliable that shutdown is. Mind you, similar questions could be asked about large motor loads which may take time to spin down.

 

[flameport]

The other problem is whether the circuit this solar is plugged into is suitable for having energy shoved into it in a direction it was never intended for.
No person buying such equipment will check this or even know that it was necessary.

 

[ericmark]

The other problem is whether the circuit this solar is plugged into is suitable for having energy shoved into it in a direction it was never intended for.
No person buying such equipment will check this or even know that it was necessary.

I note they tested the RCBO to see if it was damaged, and it seems to switched off fast enough to stop any damage, but be it damaging the RCBO or staying live after unplugging, not sure, I would want to rely on the device switching off in time. The swapping of RCBO easy enough I know, but the whole idea is it can be moved place to place.

 

[plugwash]

With a DP/SP+N RCD or RCBO it's not so bad, because the device tripping will interrupt the path to earth, even if there is generation on the output, but with a SP RCBO you will have to wait for the inverter to shut down before the fault path is interrupted.

 

[ericmark]

wait for the inverter to shut down

Is a matter of milliseconds really a problem in waiting time?

 

[McrRed]

I'm excited about this as my bills are horrendous. I'm paying a bloody fortune so I need something to offset the costs even if it means shelling out for battery storage and a decent inverter.
Thankfully the cost of panels has plummeted so they're affordable now. Sodium batteries are looming and they look likely to be cheaper once the early adoption phase is done.
I know we have a slightly different system to the rest of Europe but they are so far ahead of us in balcony solar it's laughable

 

[ericmark]

I have solar panels (6 kW) and inverter (5 kW) plus battery (6.4 kWh) professionally fitted, but it took me 20 months to get a smart meter fitted and the second MPAN number needed to be paid for export.

In real terms it is the inverter and battery which have gained most, the charging it overnight, on cheap rate, and using it during the day, the solar panels meant battery does not need to be as big, but cost v return, it is the battery which saves the most.

So numbers first, many items in the home use 3 kW, so the inverter needs to be bigger than 3 kW, so it can cover one 3 kW item plus back-ground use, so my 5 kW does seem about right. Yes there will be times when the solar is producing over 5 kW, but that does not happen very often, so the 5 kW inverter with 6 kW of panels does seem about right.

The battery size is more about what it can charge at, and discharge at, batteries charge at around 2/3 of their rating in kWh, so at first used a 3.2 kWh battery, which would only charge at 2 kW, so I was seeing power being exported even when room in the battery, so doubled to 6.4 kWh so now can charge at 4 kW, the inverter can produce 5 kW, but it is rare that other items in the house are not using the extra kW, so a larger battery would not gain that much more solar stored.

Discharging again was only 3 kW, now up to the inverter maximum of 5 kW, so other than the shower, most items are powered by the inverter and battery.

So the unit shown,

seems 2000 watt output, but only to the four sockets on the unit its self can deliver high output, we are limited to 800 watt into the grid, and clearly limited to 3 kW as that's the plug limit, I can't see any CT in the video to limit export, he does talk about monitoring but not clear if this is to give him info or to limit export.

What I can't work out, is how it stops some one buying 6 and running them all at the same time? It is as he says not a fixed installation.