OK,( let's install this system!

[SafetyThird]

After the previous couple of threads on choosing my system, I figured I'd start a fresh one just for questions and progress on installing it. Nothing will be connected to the house until I have DNO approval so this is for laying out everything ahead of time, getting opinions on my thought process for the install and answering any questions that I come up with as I go.

Firstly, I have to lay everything out and make it fit in the space shown below. You can see the current PV inverter on the wall. I would love to move it higher but, because of the big main cable coming in, I'm limited to only about 4-6" of vertical movement which probably isn't worth the disruption. The reason I wanted to move it is for future proofing any system expansion.

Currently I have a single Luxpower squirrel pod inverter and (when the backordered 3 batteries are delivered) 4 x US3000C pylontech batteries. The four batteries will fit against the wall in two pairs on wall mount brackets, although they'll actually sit on the floor (well, probably on a piece of plywood so not directly on the slate). There's space above for the inverter but I was hoping to leave room for a second set of up to 4 batteries if I wanted to add more in the future. However, if I can't move the inverter high enough there won't be room.

I also wanted to leave space for a second squirrel pod in case I needed the additional fast charging capacity for that second set of batteries. I may never go that far but thought it would be neat to have them side by side below the PV inverter with batteries below them.

The piece of cardboard is the size of the inverter so I can play with layouts. Ignore the boot dryer (thing with hoses) as that will be moved. I also don't want to have anything below the window as that's the bench for sitting and putting on shoes etc.

[SafetyThird]

Connection wise, here's the main consumer unit with the Eddi diverter to the left and the separate heat pump breaker box below that. My plan is to move the Eddi unit further to the left and add another small breaker box between it and the main consumer unit. I'll be taking 3 lighting circuits and one ring main out of the main consumer unit and putting them in to the new smaller box, those will be the circuits for the EPS output from the inverter. That leaves enough room in the main consumer unit for the breaker for the new inverter.

So, one cable from the main consumer unit to the inverter and another cable from the EPS breaker box to the inverter. No additional breakers needed in between.

Then the battery has to be connected to the inverter. In the manual, it's shown to have a 100A breaker box between inverter and battery. However, when I googled for images of LuxPower setups with pylontech, at least half of the installs I could find, including on the pages of several suppliers/installers show the batteries connected directly to the inverter. Even the YouTube video by Infinity Innovations showing how to install and setup the system shows them connecting the battery directly. So, is it optional and would having one be best practice?

[Stinsy]

I'd move the inverter right up! All you need to to is attach some 3x2 battens to the wall to bring the inverter forward then screw a sheet of 19mm OSB to the battens and screw the inverter to the OSB.

(I hope that make sense).

[SafetyThird]

I'd move the inverter right up! All you need to to is attach some 3x2 battens to the wall to bring the inverter forward then screw a sheet of 19mm OSB to the battens and screw the inverter to the OSB.

(I hope that make sense).

Makes perfect sense, thanks, I should have thought of that.

[SafetyThird]

Been looking at it again and because of the size of the cables and how far away from the wall they are, I'd need to put 4" thick battens on the wall and then some OSB on top. Doable but I'm now thinking I might not need to.

The inverter will charge the batteries at 3.5kw, so each battery needs 1 hour to fully charge; 4 batteries will charge in 4 hours, from grid power. I could fit a single inverter and 6 batteries below the PV inverter without moving it so with a single inverter could charge 6 batteries from flat in 6 hours. Generally they're not going to be empty so I think a single inverter should do the job for the foreseeable but I could add two more batteries and be up to 21kwh if needed and it would still all fit in that space, so that seems like a better plan.

Also, my PV is inverter limited to 3.68kw so that's never going to be able to outpace the inverter's charging capability. I'd only need the additional inverter if I need to charge the pack in less than 4 hours or 6 hours if I get two more batteries.

I think

[Stinsy]

I agree, 6x 3.5kWh batteries are probably plenty (more than you’ll need in summer and will get you through most days in winter without peak power).

[SafetyThird]

Should certainly cover me for 6 months of the year but the heat pump pulls quite a lot of power. My average for April is 34kwh/day so a way to go yet but that's the joy of modular systems.

Mind you, no-one will put you on any other sort of tariff currently, just spoken to uswitch and good energy this morning and they're not offering any changes currently. Also, we're on a business tariff and they don't do EV tariffs (don't have an EV yet) nor do they do smart meters. Have to talk with the accountant about whether it's worth shifting on to a domestic tariff when the market changes again to get cheaper electricity if it becomes available.

Those who went on to a fixed tariff like Octopus Go must be laughing all the way to the bank at the moment.

[SafetyThird]

It's been a busy few weeks but I've finally made a start putting things on the wall. Luxpower inverter is mounted and the first battery is in place. I've built a new rack (still needs a bit of tweaking then taking apart for glueing before screwing back together filling, sanding and painting) to cover some water pipes and give some shoe storage.

There'll be two pairs of batteries sat on the shelf with wall brackets to make sure they can't fall over. There's enough space between them for the fuse disconnect and room above the left pair of batteries for a third pair on wall mounts which I might get before the winter or wait and see how much of our load it'll cope with on the current 14kwh of batteries.

Still waiting for western power to get back to me with the ok on the fast track install then I can get my sparky to do the main connection.

We currently have planning going in to extend this mudroom along the rest of the house to create some extra storage room plus an art room for my wife. When that is built, all the batteries and inverters will move into that and I'll rack mount the batteries in a proper rack which will be neater.

Oh and we test drove a Kia EV6 this week which has gained the wife approval as she's now having to commute up to London twice a month and the old diesel Rav4, despite doing 50mpg is costing a lot to run. We can buy the EV as a business vehicle which makes is much more cost effective. The only downside is that demand is so high and supply chain issues so big that it'll not arrive until spring next year.

Also, having put in the ground source heating last year we don't need anything like the log storage to keep the house heated so we're now using two of the three big bays in the woodshed as car ports so a Zappi charger will be going in one of those when needed. The EV6 comes with a car-to-load adapter or, as I call it, the toaster plug which means we can add the car battery as additional low load house backup if needed

[Joeboy]

Is that battery airgapped to the surrounding walls? Might be worth a thought? Great you are off and running. V2L is handy to have.
We sourced our Hyundai I5 via a Fleet dealer. Took a total of 26 days from enquiry to payment and collection. If I waited for the main dealer I'd still be waiting. 6.5k in and it is an amazing car
PM me if you want fleet dealer details?

[SafetyThird]

When the battery is on the support bracket, there's a gap between it and the wall, probably half an inch or so.

Interesting about the fleet dealer, that might be handy, yes please let me have the details of that and I'll investigate. Looking at the Kia forums, it seems that spring next year seems to be what everyone ordering recently are being told. It does seem to be very popular