Hi all
Long time no see
With all that going on we thought we might add some more PV and some storage but seems everyone is of the same mind and getting hold of an installer is proving tricky so thought I would try and learn as much as I can before we do manage to get hold of anyone.
We have an all-electric house with a wood burner as a backup. Our current south-facing PV array is a 3.8 kWh ground mount which is tied to FITS. We have room to add another ground mount and it could face any direction with only slight potential shading from the west. Yearly energy use varies depending on how much the wood burner is used but the current annual estimate is 5500 kWh. I know we cant have 3 phase so will be limited on how much we can export. I understand there are devices that can limit how much you export to not upset the DNO?
I did not really follow the development of storage and PV management since our installation over 10 years ago so need some education on where to start and what parameters to consider ie PV orientation, how many kWh of storage, smart tariffs, DIY? etc etc
Many thanks
Beau
Where do I start?
Re: Where do I start?
Hi Beau,
Usually there will be lots of questions first followed by suggestions ideas and information.
For example my first thought for the ground array is why not make it an east west split array with a solar edge style inverter ?
Moxi
Usually there will be lots of questions first followed by suggestions ideas and information.
For example my first thought for the ground array is why not make it an east west split array with a solar edge style inverter ?
Moxi
Re: Where do I start?
Thanks, Moxi.
East-West was a thought. From the point of view of generation fitting with use, it would certainly be the way to go but not so sure of the equation when you add storage.
East-West was a thought. From the point of view of generation fitting with use, it would certainly be the way to go but not so sure of the equation when you add storage.
Re: Where do I start?
Does your current inverter support adding batteries?
Something that is perhaps a little bit out of the box - but quite a few people have done on here is to invest in ripple (cooperative wind farm) where by you can own a share of the windfarm and the electricity it produces (evaluated at whole sale rates) will be credited to your energy bill. So it is bit like owning solar but the benefit is that the power generation will also work in the winter and can move with you if you ever move house.
There are others on here which are much more up on this than me - One project was fully funded a couple of days ago ... but there will probably be more in the not too distant future?
Just a thought
Re: Where do I start?
An east west split system would smooth out any day time generation across the day so if you work from home or are retired it allows you maximum use during the day with steady charging of the batteries as well ready for the evening and over night - size of battery depends on your usage and time of use profile so it’s very specific but taking my own arrangements as an example (noting I’m still not fully up and running) we use around 7kWh in a day and 2kWh quiescent load overnight in winter so I’ve got a 14kWh battery to hopefully lose the 2 kWh overnight load and if I have spare some load through a day also - heating is by WBS in winter and hot water and cooking by lpg with a contribution from the WBS. I’m the better months I hope the battery is sufficient to see me off grid for most days excepting a prolonged spell of exceptionally bad weather.
You say your house is all electric with a WBS do you know your average typical daily electric consumption ?
Could you indicate roughly where in the country you are so people can assess your likely solar gain.
Most importantly before going to far along the extra solar and batteries route have you insulated everything everywhere and got reasonably well sealed glazing (double or triple) as it’s easier to conserve what you have than it is to generate more to replace losses to the environment
Moxi
You say your house is all electric with a WBS do you know your average typical daily electric consumption ?
Could you indicate roughly where in the country you are so people can assess your likely solar gain.
Most importantly before going to far along the extra solar and batteries route have you insulated everything everywhere and got reasonably well sealed glazing (double or triple) as it’s easier to conserve what you have than it is to generate more to replace losses to the environment
Moxi
Re: Where do I start?
Might be helpful to know the split between heating and general use too to see where the bulk of your use sits as that can influence your options.
Moxi
Moxi
Re: Where do I start?
[/quote]
Does your current inverter support adding batteries?
Something that is perhaps a little bit out of the box - but quite a few people have done on here is to invest in ripple (cooperative wind farm) where by you can own a share of the windfarm and the electricity it produces (evaluated at whole sale rates) will be credited to your energy bill. So it is bit like owning solar but the benefit is that the power generation will also work in the winter and can move with you if you ever move house.
There are others on here which are much more up on this than me - One project was fully funded a couple of days ago ... but there will probably be more in the not too distant future?
Just a thought
[/quote]
I don't think so. It's a 12 year old Sunny boy
I heard about Ripple but not really grasped what the deal was. Now I have had 2 people recommend them in 24 hours so I will research it more closely. Thanks
Does your current inverter support adding batteries?
Something that is perhaps a little bit out of the box - but quite a few people have done on here is to invest in ripple (cooperative wind farm) where by you can own a share of the windfarm and the electricity it produces (evaluated at whole sale rates) will be credited to your energy bill. So it is bit like owning solar but the benefit is that the power generation will also work in the winter and can move with you if you ever move house.
There are others on here which are much more up on this than me - One project was fully funded a couple of days ago ... but there will probably be more in the not too distant future?
Just a thought
[/quote]
I don't think so. It's a 12 year old Sunny boy
I heard about Ripple but not really grasped what the deal was. Now I have had 2 people recommend them in 24 hours so I will research it more closely. Thanks
Re: Where do I start?
Our consumption is very variable, to be honest. I can heat the whole place with the wood burner if need be and have been doing so since Jan (I run a logs business). Still use the GSHP for the DHW. The last bill said 222 units for the month.Moxi wrote: ↑Thu May 05, 2022 10:40 pm An east west split system would smooth out any day time generation across the day so if you work from home or are retired it allows you maximum use during the day with steady charging of the batteries as well ready for the evening and over night - size of battery depends on your usage and time of use profile so it’s very specific but taking my own arrangements as an example (noting I’m still not fully up and running) we use around 7kWh in a day and 2kWh quiescent load overnight in winter so I’ve got a 14kWh battery to hopefully lose the 2 kWh overnight load and if I have spare some load through a day also - heating is by WBS in winter and hot water and cooking by lpg with a contribution from the WBS. I’m the better months I hope the battery is sufficient to see me off grid for most days excepting a prolonged spell of exceptionally bad weather.
You say your house is all electric with a WBS do you know your average typical daily electric consumption ?
Could you indicate roughly where in the country you are so people can assess your likely solar gain.
Most importantly before going to far along the extra solar and batteries route have you insulated everything everywhere and got reasonably well sealed glazing (double or triple) as it’s easier to conserve what you have than it is to generate more to replace losses to the environment
Moxi
We are in Devon (good) but up on the west of Dartmoor (bad from a solar perspective)
The insulation is pretty good but probably not up to the latest standards. We converted our barn around 15 years ago and surpassed the regs at the time by a little bit. No easy gains to be made apart from internally insulting all our 4 T & G external doors. Yes that's way too many doors but it's a barn and we had to please the Dartmoor planners who didn't want us filling in existing doorways. Also, have 3 double glazed French doors just to aid heat loss. Draught proofing around all of the doors could be better but not easy as they have to be wood and being large the seasonal movement makes sealing variable.
Re: Where do I start?
Thanks Beau thats some good info there,
Joe Boy is on leave at the minute but check his threads as he did a lot to insulate (winterise?) his extension and theres some good stuff in that thread. I would say two of your T&G doors could possibly be "closed off" internally with celotex sheets that are faced in material to match the internal finishes if they are not used / used much especially in winter. If you recall Biff used to do this to one of his doors in winter at his place in Ireland, then in summer when that door was more in use he took the stopper out and stored it away for the following autumn winter season. Given that a degree of your electrical power is being used for space heating that could help you reduce some power demand at the least productive period of the year?
Theres also some good use being made of thermal mass and storage heaters thats worth looking at as these offer a cheap alternative to batteries where heat is the end point requirement.
A log business in Devon as well !
you lucky man you ! Have you considered a back boiler and heat store to compliment the heat pump - you appear to have your own source of wood fuel.
Next easy win is to get a power meter and go around the house office and garage ad check everything that plugged in to see what it draws when on and what it draws in standby then get yourself a whole bunch of smart plugs a schedule stuff to be switched off outside of time of use or until required.
Again this will reduce loads a little bit overall and help with the bigger picture.
Moxi
Joe Boy is on leave at the minute but check his threads as he did a lot to insulate (winterise?) his extension and theres some good stuff in that thread. I would say two of your T&G doors could possibly be "closed off" internally with celotex sheets that are faced in material to match the internal finishes if they are not used / used much especially in winter. If you recall Biff used to do this to one of his doors in winter at his place in Ireland, then in summer when that door was more in use he took the stopper out and stored it away for the following autumn winter season. Given that a degree of your electrical power is being used for space heating that could help you reduce some power demand at the least productive period of the year?
Theres also some good use being made of thermal mass and storage heaters thats worth looking at as these offer a cheap alternative to batteries where heat is the end point requirement.
A log business in Devon as well !
you lucky man you ! Have you considered a back boiler and heat store to compliment the heat pump - you appear to have your own source of wood fuel.Next easy win is to get a power meter and go around the house office and garage ad check everything that plugged in to see what it draws when on and what it draws in standby then get yourself a whole bunch of smart plugs a schedule stuff to be switched off outside of time of use or until required.
Again this will reduce loads a little bit overall and help with the bigger picture.
Moxi
Re: Where do I start?
Thanks again Moxi
I will have a go at insulating the doors but beyond them, any improvements would have to be major structural jobs for ever-decreasing gains and loss of space. The barn is only 1 1/2 story and 4m wide so any increases on roof or wall insulation will eat into our limited space. Space heating is not my biggest concern as I can heat the whole place with the wood burner for minimal cost but not the most convenient or clean heating system I admit.
I do have a plug-in energy monitor and haven't found any surprises. The fridge and freezer are top specs on efficiency. We do our best to run the washing machine and dishwasher during the sunnier times. Its just lots of little loads adding up as far as I can tell. I have a meter on the GSHP and it used 6218 kWh hours since my last reading (far too long ago) on 7/1/20. To be honest, taking a reading just now did surprise me as that's more than I was expecting. I will take another reading in the next few days to see how much its using for DHW. The last time I did a calculation on this the DHW it was averaging at 2.7 kWh a day but that was a long time ago!
A back boiler for wood burner would be a bit of a nightmare as its at the opposite end of the long barn from the GSHP that has the water tanks built into it. It heats the space OK anyway and I think the UFH (circulating but not heated) seems to spread the heat about the place a bit anyway. A back boiler would be nice for the DHW but as said it's difficult plus most wood burners I see with back boilers tend to not burn as cleanly due reduced running temps.
I have a quote through. Can I post a picture of it for others to critique?
I will have a go at insulating the doors but beyond them, any improvements would have to be major structural jobs for ever-decreasing gains and loss of space. The barn is only 1 1/2 story and 4m wide so any increases on roof or wall insulation will eat into our limited space. Space heating is not my biggest concern as I can heat the whole place with the wood burner for minimal cost but not the most convenient or clean heating system I admit.
I do have a plug-in energy monitor and haven't found any surprises. The fridge and freezer are top specs on efficiency. We do our best to run the washing machine and dishwasher during the sunnier times. Its just lots of little loads adding up as far as I can tell. I have a meter on the GSHP and it used 6218 kWh hours since my last reading (far too long ago) on 7/1/20. To be honest, taking a reading just now did surprise me as that's more than I was expecting. I will take another reading in the next few days to see how much its using for DHW. The last time I did a calculation on this the DHW it was averaging at 2.7 kWh a day but that was a long time ago!
A back boiler for wood burner would be a bit of a nightmare as its at the opposite end of the long barn from the GSHP that has the water tanks built into it. It heats the space OK anyway and I think the UFH (circulating but not heated) seems to spread the heat about the place a bit anyway. A back boiler would be nice for the DHW but as said it's difficult plus most wood burners I see with back boilers tend to not burn as cleanly due reduced running temps.
I have a quote through. Can I post a picture of it for others to critique?