A8 Parts Forum - Home Generation

While I cannot recommend inverter for waterwheel I can share my opinions on home generation.

I have been looking at self generation of electricity several times over the years. Not when the FIT 1st started so missed out on initial high FIT rates and then time passing by FIT rates dropped and it seemed like not so great investment considering upfront cost. Some people who got in early are making a killing on FIT payments now but now that FIT has ended and replaced with SEG it's hardly worth pursuing it, better to use as much as possible yourself and DIY fit not worrying about MCS certification as you can easily save £1.5k by doing yourself and if you were exporting 2000kWh per year at 3p that's only £60 in SEG payments

A bit of my history in electricity prices: less than 2 years ago in summer of 2020 I was on Octopus Agile and was paying average of 4p/kWh on the variable tariff, by the November it had gone up to 12p. I thought it's just for winter but when it remained around 12p in spring I switched to Symbio for a fixed rate just under 12p 24h/day. Unfortunately they went bust 03/10/2021 and I was switched to E.ON with 24p day, 12p night and upcoming rise in April to 32.5p day, and 17p nights with predicted rise another 24% in October. So in April it will be 800% increase on what I paid 2 years ago. Solar systems are not that far off to their all time low prices although last summer they were a bit cheaper.

My plan is to get some solar panels and battery storage fitted, it's been a long research for about 2 months but I think I have settled on what I am getting. I wanted the best value I can get for my money and while I would have liked top of the range some compromises had to be done but not going just for cheapest either.

Solar panels I have chosen are 12x Jinko 400W on my SA facing roof on the 20 degree roof, these should generate about 4800kWh annually and I have option to expand in future on NW roof and as it is low angle of 20 degrees it's not going to bee to much of a hit in generation, would be about 4200kWh annually for the same size of array and would better for late afternoon/evening generation. I also have garage roof that I could fit some in future if needed. There was number of criteria to choose panels including the roof dimensions, efficiency, total power and length of warranty. The total for panels, mounting and cables comes to about £3k. Link to panels I have chosen https://midsummerwholesale.co.uk/buy...-type-blk-mono If I look at predicted electricity prices for October and then increase at the rate of inflation after that I am probably 4-6 years payback for panels and they have 25 years product warranty and 30 years output warranty.

While the panel choice was not that hard it was a bit more challenging with inverter/battery/charging. I did briefly consider going DIY with used Tesla Model S battery modules but I did not feel confident about cheap BMS solutions for them and the ones that looked that they will do decent job were not working that much cheaper than off the shelf solutions, at least not for the smaller 5-15kWh storage but might be worth pursuing if going 25kWh+ storage and obviously there is no warranty at all with used Tesla modules.

I wanted either hybrid inverter or AC coupled battery from the same company if going separate solar inverted and battery charger/inverter for better compatibility and control at single point. I did look at Sofar and Givenergy as one of most cost effective solutions, but the problem is that most desirable options are sold out with with 1-2 months lead time at least.

Eventually I came across Fox ESS systems. I was a bit apprehensive at first as I never heard of them before but after doing some research I think they will be best fit for me. So I have decided to go for their 5kW all-in-one system with 4x2.6kWh batteries https://www.itstechnologies.shop/col...ttery-98-d-o-d It also has option of emergency power supply if the grid goes down

If I say my average consumption about 15kWh per day, I should be able to generate about 20kWh per day on average summer day with peak of 30kWh+ on the shiniest days, about 15kWh on the average summer day and about 2kWh at the low end on winter day with average in winter about 4kWh per day. The Fox ESS system also has option to have timed charging from the grid during cheaper night time rate for use later in the day so that should help with the costs in winter as well when solar is not generating enough. At the moment storage does not look that economical, maybe 10 years payback time with a warranty of 10 years and expected life of 15 years but I see electricity prices only going up at least until there are some fusion reactors coming online if they ever will and I do not see it happening for at least 10 years.

I am also fitting Zappi EV charger for Tesla to use surplus solar energy in summer. While I do have unlimited Tesla supercharging for free and also some free local charging points they have become increasingly busy and it would be more convenient to charge at home when I can do it for free. In February I have done 1200 miles and only spent £2.67 charging at home with the rest being free charging but like I said public free chargers are becoming increasingly more busy and even at Tesla chargers there have been several times that all chargers are taken and I have to wait in queue.

I hope Mike or anybody else find my research journey useful and of course I welcome any comments and suggestions and open to change my setup. it's certainly a big investment but considering the increasing electricity prices and uncertainty of the future stability of the grid be it because of extra demands and not enough generation or possible damage to teh grid as weather becomes more severe due to climate change I think it's a worthwhile investment.