The right inverter for battery storage and some other Qs

[Stinsy]

Which luxpower inverter people buy\ 3-6k?
In terms of batteries is there a difference between US2000c-us3000c-us5000c? I can't find a good review of the differences other than the spec and the specs say they are the same apart from the size but everyone bus us2000.

The £/kWh used to be very similar between Pylontech models so many people went for more, smaller batteries because 25kg is quite enough to be heaving about. Nowadays the £/kWh is significantly better if you choose the US5000 so they’re more common.

[nowty]

The me3000 is just a charger/inverter not a hybrid inverter so if you are likely to add PV next year you might be better off looking at a hybrid inverter now that you can just add the PV to, rather than having to replace the me3000, or having multiple inverters (this obviously is dependant on what exactly you are hoping to achieve in the longer term etc.).

Not planning to buy, but I can see a 2nd hand PV set on ebay with sofar. So does this mean it can either take power from PV or batteries but not both?

I can't see any "like" button here but want to thank everyone for really helpful answers!

If its the ebay listing I've just looked at be very careful, all they appear to be selling is some very old solar panels (no way there are 1 year old) and an ME3000SP battery inverter which is not compatible with Solar Panels. Its not a "PV set or kit" as such.

[Oldgreybeard]

If its the ebay listing I've just looked at be very careful, all they appear to be selling is some very old solar panels (no way there are 1 year old) and an ME3000SP battery inverter which is not compatible with Solar Panels. Its not a "PV set or kit" as such.

I wholeheartedly agree. If it is this listing: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/134226509746 (or one of the other similar ones from the same seller) then there is absolutely no way those panels are only a year old. If I had to guess I'd say they were closer to a decade old, my guess is that they may have been salvaged from a solar farm that has upgraded to better performing panels.

Odd set up to be selling, too, with no PV inverter.

[Thebeeman]

With battery storage I can easily find electrician to do the work between jobs. PVs at the moment would require a lot of planning from my side to find someone who can fit it (scaffolding etc) and provide a good price, and VAT 0% for everything. Atm it looks like getting a set with vat 0% is more than it was before.

I await being corrected BUT I don't think 0% vat will apply to just a battery setup. I've just had to pay 20% vat to install batteries to my system.
Finance permitting I would go with panels and a battery friendly inverter (with as many batteries as you can afford) to get the 0% and add extra batteries later.

[ducabi]

I don't mind doing PV+ batteries and using the 0% relief but I struggle to find a good company in SW England (Bristol) not taking a huge advantage of the current market. I want good batteries, good inverter and a bit less worried about PV. But most of the offers I see are around 10k for 5kwh storage + PVs.

[Oldgreybeard]

I don't mind doing PV+ batteries and using the 0% relief but I struggle to find a good company in SW England (Bristol) not taking a huge advantage of the current market. I want good batteries, good inverter and a bit less worried about PV. But most of the offers I see are around 10k for 5kwh storage + PVs.

I sympathise, as right now it is very definitely a seller's market and there are, unfortunately, more than a few rip-off merchants operating in the PV/battery storage market sector. The level of bullshit from some of them has to be heard to be believed, too.

You can't really go wrong with a well-established battery manufacturer, like Pylontech. They've been around for years and have earned a good reputation. Availability is patchy, depends on when containers arrive into the country, but after having had my fingers burned by one rather shady supplier I ended up buying from ITS Technologies. I have to say that their service was excellent, and I've since bought other stuff from them and not been disappointed, they are just a reliable supplier that seems to offer reasonably good value for money.

If you are just looking for battery storage at this stage, without PV, then I would suggest getting either two 5kWh Pylontech US5000 or three 3.5kWh Pylontech US3000C batteries, and either a Lux, Solis or Sofar inverter/charger. The cost of materials for such a system will be around £4,500, and such a system wouldn't normally take more than half a day to install, and the installation could be done by any competent electrician, so maybe £200 to £300 on top of the material cost.

[ducabi]

Thanks! I've just ordered 3 US3000C batteries from ITS. Firstly, because everyone knows them, secondly, I can see that it's not a company setup 2months ago. And I'm also surprised that they are quite cheap.
Now I have a trouble with getting inverter as there is none available. Given I'm travelling soon to europe I'm considering buying one there. I've never had one in my hands, and thoughts if it's possible to check it in in a luggage?

[Thebeeman]

Question answered before I got there.

[ducabi]

2.4 Kw pylon batteries are about £1400 to £1500 each so if you take your battery cost off the quotes you can see what a "straight" PV install price would be. All suppliers will be creaming a lot of extra profit from any sales at present, demand and supply at it's worst.

Yeah, and 2nd hand "new" batteries are even more expensive. Basically right now we have the same market for batteries we had for gym equipment during covid. I bought 3x3.5 for £4k from ITS so the price looks ok to me. I wouldn't mind the bigger one but the delivery is a few weeks later so I don't want to risk further delays. Now waiting for octopus to install smart meter and moving to GO.

[ducabi]

I was trying to stick to Sofar but given lack of availability I'm checking what else is available.

What's wrong with Solis? I can see one used on ebay quite cheap:
"Solis RAI-3K-48ES-5G AC Coupled inverter for battery storage 5G model"