The right inverter for battery storage and some other Qs

[Oldgreybeard]

I suspect the majority of inverters are made in China. In terms of market share then I'd guess that Chinese inverters probably make up over 80% of the total. There are a handful of non-Chinese products available, all at the higher end of the price range.

[Stinsy]

I suspect the majority of inverters are made in China. In terms of market share then I'd guess that Chinese inverters probably make up over 80% of the total. There are a handful of non-Chinese products available, all at the higher end of the price range.

You mean like Victron (made in India)?

[Oldgreybeard]

I suspect the majority of inverters are made in China. In terms of market share then I'd guess that Chinese inverters probably make up over 80% of the total. There are a handful of non-Chinese products available, all at the higher end of the price range.

You mean like Victron (made in India)?

I didn't know that, I thought they were made in Europe, like SMA and one or two others. Be interesting to know what the market share of the various makes is. I'd still bet that the Chinese manufacturers, like Lux power, Solis, Growatt, Sofar, etc have the lion's share of the UK inverter market.

[ducabi]

I read @dangermouse thread and I'm happy to see it's not just me struggling to find electrician. The one on Friday was happy to do all the work and sounded good until he went back to office. Then I got email saying they are not approved installers therefore it would void warranty. I challenged it by saying what Sofar says "electrician meeting LA reqs". Then they said they don't have experience in sofar so wouldn't be able to do it anyway.

Another one came today and I was shocked when he said it would cost a day of work + materials. I thought there are no electrician charging by time spent anymore, just fixed prices in £k per anything solar related. Anyway, I'm waiting for a quote from him and will see how it goes.

Plan is:
1) mini CU with:
- SPD,
- RCD A 100mA,
- MCB curve C
- 2 light circuits moved from main CU
- additional double socket in garage.
- contractor switch for EPS

2) Earth rod

3) Perhaps commando socker 32A for EV. Would it then be better suited in main CU or new CU, or doesn't matter?

[Oldgreybeard]

There does seem to be a lot of work about and not enough electricians to do it, so they can be choosy about what work to accept and what to turn down. Becoming an authorised installer isn't usually a road block in practice. I needed to become one to installed a bit of kit when building this house and just rang the manufacturer and asked about doing the training. Did it there and then on the phone, took about 20 minutes of chatting with their technical chap and they then emailed me to tell me I was authorised to do the installation. I've heard that some manufacturers have their authorised installer training online now. You can just register and complete an online training course and you're ready to go.

[ducabi]

There does seem to be a lot of work about and not enough electricians to do it, so they can be choosy about what work to accept and what to turn down. Becoming an authorised installer isn't usually a road block in practice. I needed to become one to installed a bit of kit when building this house and just rang the manufacturer and asked about doing the training. Did it there and then on the phone, took about 20 minutes of chatting with their technical chap and they then emailed me to tell me I was authorised to do the installation. I've heard that some manufacturers have their authorised installer training online now. You can just register and complete an online training course and you're ready to go.

They told me it vary, and for one brand they did 1hr online for another it was onsite with 4hr driving both ways. But that's not the case for Sofar so not sure if that's the real reason they turned it down even though they knew from beginning it was about Sofar.

[Oldgreybeard]

Do Sofar actually care? My impression (as someone that installed a Sofar inverter) was that they didn't give a stuff about who did the installation. If there are hurdles being put in the way then I doubt it's from the manufacturers, most probably from UK importers.

[ducabi]

Do Sofar actually care? My impression (as someone that installed a Sofar inverter) was that they didn't give a stuff about who did the installation. If there are hurdles being put in the way then I doubt it's from the manufacturers, most probably from UK importers.

No, Sofar don't care based on what they say in manual. Electrician sie fine.

[ducabi]

Electricians just left so posting the work.

Battery to inverter


New fuse box:


Fuse box + switches

[ducabi]

I've charged the battery a bit and switched to using them instead of grid. My smart meter shows "2.5kW being exported". Does it mean something is messed up?