Balcony solar PV

[Joeboy]

Nice, sadly we are in double figures (Watts) for the solar arrays here today, torrential rain gusty 40mph winds and we are in the cloud base, its always a sign of a dull day when the PIR lights in the bathroom stails and kitchen come on in the middle of the day

I hope the majority are fairing better than us today, I will cross my fingers for more favourable weather in a few days although March has been good so far so I cannot complain.

Moxi

Sorry to hear that, we have just come out of 5 days overcast and this has been a surprise today..

[Joeboy]

Seeing consistent triple digit generation figures spurred me on to have at with the Echainsaw on a couple of cherry blossoms that were overhanging the cabin. Seriously heavy lumps of wood.

The end result is a new PB.


Most surprising is actually live changing kWh gains. Enphase powerhouse has generated 0.15 kWh today since the early Wattage surprise this morning. I'd like to see a momentary 200W input at some point and anything over 1kWh gen in a single day will be beyond where I hoped to get to. Hopefully later in the season as the system is West facing and shaded in the afternoon at the moment.

[Joeboy]

Might have to revise my hopes upwards towards a new hoped for 0.25kW PV. What a difference on a small scale in just a few days. Might even be charging the power tool battery packs on its own?





No1's is doing well, 600W coming in and a Hoymiles record of just over 6kWh a few days ago. For low power users this one stop diy install is really quite something.

He now has his lounge SH dialled right down and the wee solar powered low Wattage panel heater on a mechanical timer is getting it done at no cost to his pocket. It, plus solar gain is all he needs.

[Joeboy]

Binned the BP old panel idea. They were without MC4's. I don't mind rejigging old gear but not to that detrimental level plus age, performance drop off etc. Went for a single longi 60 cell 1/2 cut panel from city plumbing. Being delivered tomorrow.

As is my habit & in the hope of encouraging others,

Enphase IQ7 250W microinverter £75
Longi 370W 1/2 cut panel £93

This panel will be going on vertical to aid in Winter and will be permanently mounted. Now then. i'd better let SWMBO know...

[richbee]

Binned the BP old panel idea. They were without MC4's. I don't mind rejigging old gear but not to that detrimental level plus age, performance drop off etc. Went for a single longi 60 cell 1/2 cut panel from city plumbing. Being delivered tomorrow.

As is my habit & in the hope of encouraging others,

Enphase IQ7 250W microinverter £75
Longi 370W 1/2 cut panel £93

This panel will be going on vertical to aid in Winter and will be permanently mounted. Now then. i'd better let SWMBO know...

exciting - more panels & stuff!
That seems like a very good price for the Enphase.
Panel wise - I don't understand the breakdown of panel prices on City plumbing - there doesn't seem to be a clear power vs price graph - sometime the cheap ones are quite powerful

[Joeboy]

Binned the BP old panel idea. They were without MC4's. I don't mind rejigging old gear but not to that detrimental level plus age, performance drop off etc. Went for a single longi 60 cell 1/2 cut panel from city plumbing. Being delivered tomorrow.

As is my habit & in the hope of encouraging others,

Enphase IQ7 250W microinverter £75
Longi 370W 1/2 cut panel £93

This panel will be going on vertical to aid in Winter and will be permanently mounted. Now then. i'd better let SWMBO know...

exciting - more panels & stuff!
That seems like a very good price for the Enphase.
Panel wise - I don't understand the breakdown of panel prices on City plumbing - there doesn't seem to be a clear power vs price graph - sometime the cheap ones are quite powerful

It was a fella in Southampton. He'd been sent the wrong one and supplier replaced with correct unit (assuming IQ7+ or beyond) but didn't ask for this one back. Win win.

I have been so impressed with the build quality of Hoymiles and laterally oldskool Enphase that I'm happy to install a mini standalone system at 1/4kW just to get my hands on one! The penny dropped on the vertical panel aspect when No1's system was belting out Winter power.

I agree that city plumbing pricing is oddly excellent and doesn't seem to correlate tween cash & power. I'm impressed that they'll deliver a single panel tomorrow at no cost. The penny will then drop with SWMBO.

[resybaby]

Dinner will be in the dog when swmbo sees the delivery man tomorrow Joeboy.
On the positive side. . . bruises dont show after a week or so

[Joeboy]

Dinner will be in the dog when swmbo sees the delivery man tomorrow Joeboy.
On the positive side. . . bruises dont show after a week or so

Email in, its going to be Monday for the panel drop off so we'll hold off on

I think for this one i'll run it as 'Unmetered Enphase' and just know its getting it done. Saves me buying IP rated boxes, glands etc to house the meter externally. The mains connection point (CU) is local in the hot tub machinery housing box so I can just build a board and hang it off inside with the DC cables snaking through a gap or drilled hole. Might fancy it up later in year once the knowing itch becomes too much.

The Enphase powerhouse added a respectable 0.65kWh to the daily take yesterday.

[Joeboy]

Worth mentioning that there is a hidden cost in setting up a standalone Enphase microinverter. The cables to get power into and out of the micro itself.

I have been fortunate that the £20 DC MC4 cable comes with the unit I bought. The AC side is a wireable field connection type for single panel/Inverter install which can be sourced for a tenner. The kicker there though is that postage on the wireable connector can be up to £17!

I had a quote for £27 total yesterday incl postage for one! Anyway, got it into the post for £17 total.

Enphase IQ7 250W microinverter £75
Longi 370W 1/2 cut panel £93
Field wired 230V connector £17

I missed a trick on the city plumbing as a 10% off first order voucher showed up in my mailbox after i placed order. It could very well have been there as soon as i registered but I didn't look. Worth bearing in mind if you are planning to register with City Plumbing for an order?

As usual i'll be rummaging in the E & M spares boxes for JB's, cables, MC4's & Choc blocks etc if needed. Already I am holding back the urge to buy and install the meter!

Predicted total for a 1/4kW micro system diy install is £187, could have been £171 if I could have collected field conn local & clocked the 10% discount voucher faster. Considering its a 9 busbar 1/2 cut panel with decent efficiency (20.3%) and i am overmatching it to the inverter to keep the 1/4kW potential AC output high. I think that's a decent all in price?

I have also just read about the 25 yr warranty on the Enphase Micro's. It won't apply to mine but its peace of mind going forward for system longevity. Anyway, food for thought if you go down this path, cheers!

SWMBO is now in the knowing and OK. Minimal bruising on me, . Another thought that just appeared, when the Solaredge inverter eventually fails we'll still have some PV generation. Victron, Enphase Powerhouse, Enphase Unmetered. This is not deliberate, it just grew that way but worth a thought for those who like a fallback in place?

[Joeboy]

Woohoo, swag!





Tested and operational on an Enphase powerhouse panel and an embarrassingly rough AC connection (now cut off).

Great to see that light turn from red to orange and output flow figures on the DC clampmeter.