Balcony solar PV

[Joeboy]

In place on a mechanical timer and set at 220W setting 10.00 to 16.30hrs.

Cloud cover hit and miss. Dipping as low as 90W incoming then soaring to 600W plus.

Any thoughts of battery storage I may be having are NOT required!

[Joeboy]

I'll stop soon.

[Tay]

This is the Hoymiles HMS800



If used as a standalone unit a lead can be bought online to make it an easy hookup.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/B0C6PX ... asin_title

Ouch £35 inc postage seems a tad expensive for a cable. Even my bespoke cable for the WVC<NoNameBrand>1200 was only a few quid.

I got back from a dog walk and the batteries were charged again so I decided to have a bit more of an extensive play to see if I really was being overly harsh.

1. No I wasnt - took 4-5 attempts of turning off virtually and physically to get it to click into action after waiting for 4-5 mins each time.
2. APP really is shockingly bad - it was reporting some made up voltage and current the entire time too so I decided to disconnect and test it myself comparing it to what the Bluetti said and my meter, the Bluetti was almost spot on, the microinverter was some way off, it could still be the APP's reporting, but its a forgone conclusion its going back now as I have no faith in it whatsoever.
3. After 30-40mins the unit did start reporting the right wattage in the app, it seemed to be almost half exactly when it was wrong though, not sure if there is something wierd going on there.
4. Then it started doing a lot of clicking - the noise the virtual switch makes despite the Blue light being on solid. it settled down after a few mins

When it works it works (despite what the app was reading), I was able to see the benefit from it on the iPad sry I CBA to screenshot it).



But, it has just reaffirmed my feeling that, it has to go, I'm not sure I'll even bother replacing it, might as well keep the cash for something.

[Joeboy]

Beer rental is a reliable fallback.

[Tay]

In place on a mechanical timer and set at 220W setting 10.00 to 16.30hrs.

Cloud cover hit and miss. Dipping as low as 90W incoming then soaring to 600W plus.

Any thoughts of battery storage I may be having are NOT required!

I had a similar idea, found an electronic usage meter that appears to work in reverse too, so I could record everything pushing into the house grid. to check against any apps, it depends on my next steps.

Not my finest photographic work, but it works.. just

[Joeboy]

In 16 days he has used 7kWh peak grid power which is a drop from previous months on his already low use.

23/09/23



Interested to see how the hit n miss cloud cover affects that now that we've brought a low limit heater into the mix for 6.5hrs per day.

[Tay]

I couldnt help myself...seriously, thats the worst thing about being retired, I need something to do and this is it now.

I got an HMS-1800-4T coming from Germany via AmazonUK for £250, I didnt want to be limited with dinky panels keeping the voltage down if I pushed it a bit harder gonna be a week or two thanks to our unique relationship with the EU these days. This model also means I'll need a sub 1g wifi unit too, but once I go static (fingers crossed) this will give me some options to play with. The wifi is somewhat inconvenient but more stuff to play with I guess and the openDTU gear supports MQTT so could technically feed it in to my emonTX4 system. Fun times.

Also repositioned the roof mounted panel today to give a bit more during the afternoon rather than midday/midmorning, I'm seeing the neighbours house shadow get perilously close to the bottom of the roof panel. Moved a bit more to the North and angled to the SW so that should help a bit too.

So now I'll need to bite the bullet with the mains connector ^^

The newly positioned SW facing panel *despite the the lateness!! is reaping BIG dividends now

[Joeboy]

Nice one. Great to see you.moving panels about and trying different things. I did similar and it can make a huge difference. Looking forward to seeing the Hoymiles unit.

I really like the fit and forget reliability rather than fit and wait for crater moment.

Qe'ce got 45mph gusts coming tonight to test the PV mounts at No1's. Wish I was harnessing more of it.

[Tay]

Now if only I could actually get somebody to actually sell me one... ^^

"Dear Customer,

We're writing to inform you that your order 203-6871710-59xxxx from SL Elements has been cancelled.

Any payment that has been made on this order will be refunded within 5-7 business days.
If you're still interested in this item, please search for it again on Amazon.co.uk.

We've included your order details below for reference.
"

Fairly blunt, no reason why..

[Joeboy]

Now if only I could actually get somebody to actually sell me one... ^^

"Dear Customer,

We're writing to inform you that your order 203-6871710-59xxxx from SL Elements has been cancelled.

Any payment that has been made on this order will be refunded within 5-7 business days.
If you're still interested in this item, please search for it again on Amazon.co.uk.

We've included your order details below for reference.
"

Fairly blunt, no reason why..

Go to offgridtec on ebay.