Getting quotes

[openspaceman]

Everyone seems to be busy but main problem seems to be finding firms with stocks.

Of a few firms contacted for a new install near Shoreham 3 didn't reply, 2 replied saying they were too busy for new work and the quote from the one who visited yesterday was a 5kW peak system and hybrid inverter for £10,000 and a 10kWh battery for £8500. That's probably about 30% over budget and it leaves sorting out some sort of diversion to other loads for the excess.

As part of the cost cutting exercise we will have to keep the existing 7.5kW Ev charger as replacement with something compatible will be over £1000. The house has a combi with no hot water cylinder.

So what is the likely installed cost of an Eddi and would that allow charging the EV during daylight hours via a 13A plug, I know this would restrict charging to 3kW.

[Countrypaul]

The Eddi is designed mainly to divert excess PV to a resistive load - it is unlikely you could simply divert excess to a 13A socket and use that to charge an EV. The Eddi can operate a relay which is an add-on board fited to the Eddi which could power a 13A socket for EV charging, however this is not the same as simply diverting excess PV production. The relay board can be set to trigger when PV production hits a certain level, say 3kW, but once it operates the relay is on just like switching on a normal 13A socket. If the PV production falls then either the power comes partly from PV and partly from mains, or the relay turns off. I believe you can set a minimum time the relay is on (say 10 mins for example) so that you don't constantly switch off and on when a clound passes over. You can also set times (iirc) when the relay is on. Depending on how much PV you have and how much you need to charge your EV this might work for you. It might also depend on what options the EV allows to control the charging. For example, if you could limit the EV charging to 2KW, then that might give you more flexibility if you only have 4kWp PV and it is a cloudy periods day.

The Eddi can be installed by an electrcian but I suspect the cost of installing it will depend more on your specific site than anything else. Where isthe CU, does it have free slots, where is the mains meter, how far to the outlet, will the socket be outside (weather proof), etc.

[openspaceman]

Thanks for that explanation countrypaul, back to the drawing board then.

[openspaceman]

Everyone seems to be busy but main problem seems to be finding firms with stocks.

Of a few firms contacted for a new install near Shoreham 3 didn't reply, 2 replied saying they were too busy for new work and the quote from the one who visited yesterday was a 5kW peak system and hybrid inverter for £10,000 and a 10kWh battery for £8500. That's probably about 30% over budget and it leaves sorting out some sort of diversion to other loads for the excess.

As part of the cost cutting exercise we will have to keep the existing 7.5kW Ev charger as replacement with something compatible will be over £1000. The house has a combi with no hot water cylinder.

So what is the likely installed cost of an Eddi and would that allow charging the EV during daylight hours via a 13A plug, I know this would restrict charging to 3kW.

Two quotes in now and seem to be about 40% higher than what I was seeing last Autumn, do I bite the bullet??

Now back to the car charging; rather than lash out over £1000 on a Zappi (none in stock apparently either) would it not be possible for an electrician clever enough to sense the battery voltage to control a contactor and charge from the 13A circuit ( on the grounds the inverter will only handle 3kW) and cut off when the battery became, say, 30% SOC?

[sharpener]

I doubt anyone could do this, how would you get at the battery terminals to measure the voltage?

Maybe check out the Victron EV charger which is designed to integrate with solar PV, I think it is in beta test ATM.

[openspaceman]

I doubt anyone could do this, how would you get at the battery terminals to measure the voltage?

Maybe check out the Victron EV charger which is designed to integrate with solar PV, I think it is in beta test ATM.

Two cables run from battery to its own inverter so tapping into that seems feasible but I'm no electrician so it is beyond my capabilities, also the voltage is available on the inverter lcd screen so probably query able at a data port .

Yes I will check with victron, thanks

[Fintray]

I was going to suggest one of these but they are also out of stock.
https://shop.openenergymonitor.com/open ... opean-kit/

[openspaceman]

Last quote arrived and seems more reasonable, JA 390 panels seem to be fairly ubiquitous but does anyone have any experience of FoxESS 5.0kW Hybrid inverter and battery.

I remember Nowty pointed out the hybrid inverters limited loads to their rating (3kW in this case) whereas a separate inverter and battery could deliver its rated power plus anything the solar inverter was generating.

Also it looks like nationwide bank are doing a promotion in the area that I may look at.