Balcony solar PV

[Joeboy]

A mixed bag this afternoon.

The Hoymiles micro isn't here. Should have arrived 10 days ago. Contacted the shop in Germany, see if they can chase this.

All four 245W poly panels from Leith cleaned and tested. Outputting nicely. Best seen on a changing solar day is 5.2A.

The Enphase IQ7 micro inverter brought back from Turkey fired up no problem for testing on the poly panels.

So there's a compatability issue between its UK setting and theTurkish grid. Hopefully the Hoymiles unit will have more auto flexibility for over there than the rigid settings of the Enphase? Surmising this while hoping but as I don't have access to an Envoy to reprogramme, it's a moot point.

I know from anecdotal tales that there can be a fair bit of voltage movement in the Turkish grid. Worst case the IQ7 & Hoymiles units will work here and I'll find an offgrid solution for Turkeys mighty 200W of panels.

I know my Hoymiles trips out as soon as the voltage hits 253, and takes a good few minutes to cut back again once it drops

Thank you for that info. Good to know for reference next time out there. Much appreciated.

Got an update from offgrid tec to say the hoymiles hms 1000 2T is on its way. Nothing on the 350 1T unit from another supplier so I'll get me money back through Ebay for that. No1's house now on Hive plugs for HWT & SH. All good .

Edit- Then of course the 350 1T people come back and said they'd send a 400 1T instead at no extra cost.

[Moxi]

Got to accept really and besides you will always find another place for some extra panels

Moxi

[Joeboy]

Got to accept really and besides you will always find another place for some extra panels

Moxi

My thoughts too Moxi, hopefully arrive before 22nd Oct when we head out again. Offer accepted! Offgrid tec supplier of No1's 800 2T as well as the 1000 2T are very pro indeed.

Interested to see which arrives first and from whom? As both sent DHL numbers today.
Oscar Handel.HMS 400 1T (Turkish hoose mibbees).
Offgrid tec HMS 1000 2T (Scottish hoose certs).

[Joeboy]

First day today of No1's place being off the off peak hot water timer.

Sunday on off peak.


Some decent output from his wee system.


When the immersion coil eventually fails we'll try a smaller one running more time.


It's getting there!
Would be nice to see some days when sub 1kWh grid draw.

[richbee]

Got to accept really and besides you will always find another place for some extra panels

Moxi

My thoughts too Moxi, hopefully arrive before 22nd Oct when we head out again. Offer accepted! Offgrid tec supplier of No1's 800 2T as well as the 1000 2T are very pro indeed.

Interested to see which arrives first and from whom? As both sent DHL numbers today.
Oscar Handel.HMS 400 1T (Turkish hoose mibbees).
Offgrid tec HMS 1000 2T (Scottish hoose certs).

I got mine from Oscar Handel on e-bay - they were very helpful and communicative

[Joeboy]

Got to accept really and besides you will always find another place for some extra panels

Moxi

My thoughts too Moxi, hopefully arrive before 22nd Oct when we head out again. Offer accepted! Offgrid tec supplier of No1's 800 2T as well as the 1000 2T are very pro indeed.

Interested to see which arrives first and from whom? As both sent DHL numbers today.
Oscar Handel.HMS 400 1T (Turkish hoose mibbees).
Offgrid tec HMS 1000 2T (Scottish hoose certs).

I got mine from Oscar Handel on e-bay - they were very helpful and communicative

Thank you, great to know. Its in the post confirmed today.

[Joeboy]

Interesting little wrinkle today in AC micros.

Noticed that my easee one EV charger had faulted showing a red light today. App said it was an incoming supply issue. I checked with my meter and sure enough I was seeing 255V on a wallplate. Got in touch with DNO who were excellent. They remotely checked our smart meter and told us the incoming supply had not been above 248V in the last 48hrs.

Fair enough so I sent a mail off to easeeone, waiting on a reply to see if the can up the parameters on the unit. Another possible would be to add a resistor to knock the voltage down that is reaching the easeeone. That will be a learning curve for me, any help in sourcing said resistor appreciated!

The point is though that my micros have to push harder than grid voltage to get the power off the micros. That figure is dictated by the grid V. The grid won't adjust anything (transformer tappings) unless over 253V maybe more.

I'm not complaining but this was definitely a learning moment for me. I.E the interaction between my micros and the grid. There is no free lunch so to speak. Once I've got the next 1kW AC driving system in i'll have a closer look at what should stay or go. I'd like to keep it all but willing to compromise. Just feels strange that the gird can cause me problems which they won't address (fair enough) due to the operational params. Back in my offshore years frequency variation would cause damage first, followed by over Amps and Voltage was basically for poofs and not to be overly worried about. (Sorry, sorry).

Now i'm back in the more lovely residential world i'd gratefully appreciate any input from you guys experience in over voltage, did it ever become a problem, how & when?

P.S We have now fallen back to 248.9V on a kitchen wallplate. I'm not excessively worried about this but would like to be able to access my EV charger 24/7 on the offchance something goes Pete Tong at distance. EV is on and charging in the wane of the day.

Is this a symptom of the fluctuating RE world we now inhabit? Kinda cool, yet has to be managed.

[MrPablo]

As the main meter is showing acceptable voltage (by DNO standards anyway), could you beef up the conductors runs between the consumer unit and inverter(s)?
Just as voltage drop can become an issue with smaller cable sizes, it can result in voltage rise when supplied from the other end.

As for voltages at the meter, I'm still waiting for SP Energy to unloop the supply so 235 - 250v is not uncommon for heavy import and export here.

[Joeboy]

As the main meter is showing acceptable voltage (by DNO standards anyway), could you beef up the conductors runs between the consumer unit and inverter(s)?
Just as voltage drop can become an issue with smaller cable sizes, it can result in voltage rise when supplied from the other end.

As for voltages at the meter, I'm still waiting for SP Energy to unloop the supply so 235 - 250v is not uncommon for heavy import and export here.

There's actually a route for a new cable that's been on my mind to drive AC power on a shorter run. I might go that way. There is also a simple voltage regulator I could fit on the EV charger line.

Left a plug in meter on all day and didn't go above 248V and was as low as 243V. Thanks for the thought Mr P

[richbee]

Interesting little wrinkle today in AC micros.

Noticed that my easee one EV charger had faulted showing a red light today. App said it was an incoming supply issue. I checked with my meter and sure enough I was seeing 255V on a wallplate. Got in touch with DNO who were excellent. They remotely checked our smart meter and told us the incoming supply had not been above 248V in the last 48hrs.

Fair enough so I sent a mail off to easeeone, waiting on a reply to see if the can up the parameters on the unit. Another possible would be to add a resistor to knock the voltage down that is reaching the easeeone. That will be a learning curve for me, any help in sourcing said resistor appreciated!

The point is though that my micros have to push harder than grid voltage to get the power off the micros. That figure is dictated by the grid V. The grid won't adjust anything (transformer tappings) unless over 253V maybe more.

I'm not complaining but this was definitely a learning moment for me. I.E the interaction between my micros and the grid. There is no free lunch so to speak. Once I've got the next 1kW AC driving system in i'll have a closer look at what should stay or go. I'd like to keep it all but willing to compromise. Just feels strange that the gird can cause me problems which they won't address (fair enough) due to the operational params. Back in my offshore years frequency variation would cause damage first, followed by over Amps and Voltage was basically for poofs and not to be overly worried about. (Sorry, sorry).

Now i'm back in the more lovely residential world i'd gratefully appreciate any input from you guys experience in over voltage, did it ever become a problem, how & when?

P.S We have now fallen back to 248.9V on a kitchen wallplate. I'm not excessively worried about this but would like to be able to access my EV charger 24/7 on the offchance something goes Pete Tong at distance. EV is on and charging in the wane of the day.

Is this a symptom of the fluctuating RE world we now inhabit? Kinda cool, yet has to be managed.

Yes, I do have problems with over voltage on my Hoymiles system. It cuts out at exactly 253V. The Sunsynk main system has been seen as high as 257V (measured at the Sunsynk). We are at the end of a rural supply line, and I guess they try to keep the supply voltage up for eg. the farm next door.
I had the DNO out to measure it - and the grid was of course 'only' at 251V, so they wouldn't do anything.
Interestingly the DNO guy assumed before he arrived that my complaint was going to be that an EV charger was tripping out - he said he sees it often, they seem to overread frequently and cut out!