GivEnergy Batteries/Inverter!

[Adokforme]

Having purchased a Nissan Leaf 3 years ago in the hope that a system would eventually be available to hook it up for it's V2H capability and with nothing showing on the horizon I'm now considering an 8.2kwh GivEnergy Battery and Inverter(GIV-AC3.0) installation and wondered if anyone had experience or opinion of either or both please!

Battery warranty, 10 years unlimited cycle guarantee, 100% depth of discharge.

Inverter 3 kW AC coupled warranty 5/10 year(optional) 15 year (optional).

Apparently the Inverter is capable of coping with additional batteries. We've an 8.85 kWp PV array and wonder if I shouldn't consider more than just the 8.2 kWh battery capacity. We are all electric with an EV, two A2A heat pumps and a 210 litre thermal store.

Any thoughts most welcome.

[Countrypaul]

Something doesn't appear to make sense to me (it may be just too late in the day but...
You say you are all electric, with 2 A2A heat pumps, but with a thermal store, in which case how do you heat the thermal store?

[Stinsy]

Something doesn't appear to make sense to me (it may be just too late in the day but...
You say you are all electric, with 2 A2A heat pumps, but with a thermal store, in which case how do you heat the thermal store?

Immersion IIRC.

[Stinsy]

I don’t have personal experience with GivEnergy but their stuff seems decent. I wouldn’t worry too much about battery capacity because you can easily add more later. About 3x your kWp of solar in kWh of battery seems to be a decent guide but if you can heat your DHW and charge your car while the sun is shining you won’t need as much battery.

I’ve always been sceptical about long warranties. You’re relying on the company surviving long enough to honour it!

Where were you thinking of sourcing the gear? These guys are generally competitive on price: https://www.itstechnologies.shop/collec ... ry-storage. Are you installing yourself or paying someone?

[Mr Gus]

I’ve always been sceptical about long warranties. You’re relying on the company surviving long enough to honour it!

Agreed, totally.
Make a decent warranty part of any pre-sales conditions.

You need to read any copy that is given as "warranty" to understand warranties, because they can & will make up their own rules which can be a bit like the internets "visit our site regularly to stay abreast & read our updated terms & conditions.

A good warranty is underwritten & paid up to protect it & any consumers in the event that it go's pop (with neither mis-use nor negligence on the users part) & even then the underwriter doesn't really want to bung you cash, (wriggle room).

Like for like are words to watch out for, (in a positive manner) however where the paperwork says it can use old parts to basically bring something back front he dead with degraded stock is always debateable & those components need the consumer to be aware of what they are & research around them, you may only have one chance at a repair & then your insurance has been claimed, anything further is deemed invalid, ..so many things to look at.

People are right to be wary, of warranties but they also try to cheat the system, either that or not read the extent / limitations of something they buy into.

A problem frequently encountered with chinese companies is communications shut down. .. mostly they simply are not interested in maintaining / advising on older product within their catalogue, or will simply not understand / care because you are miles away & chinese law is way different, they are in a fortress where brand takedowns via public outings are concerned.

[Adokforme]

Many thanks for reply Stinsy. ITS prices are similar to what has been suggested by the engineer who installed our ashps. He has taken on installing GivEnergy batteries and having installed one in his own place to begin with to check them out, has installed several since.
Because of the Leaf's capabilities I haven't given them to much thought until now, but having read of complications in the product of the OVO V2G trial then it wouldn't appear that anything is going to be readily available for quite some time. Unless someone can advise otherwise!

With energy prices still rising then it is maybe worth considering battery storage more seriously. I'm not fussed about charging the EV thro them but it would seem to make sense to have sufficient capacity to run both ashp's and other domestic base load through peak hours and up until Go Faster kicks in at 1.30 am.

Regarding DHW CP, as pointed out it's covered by PV and Go Faster via immersion. I like to keep things simple, they match my being!

Thanks Mr G, will trawl through to see if I can make or tail of them.

[Stinsy]

If you're on Go Faster then batteries make sense because they pay their way all year round! With a big enough battery, and a little energy efficiency, you can use very little peak-rate electricity at all.

I shared this on a different thread recently:



Nowty came along shortly afterwards and roundly trumped me!

[Adokforme]

Thanks for reminder, it's certainly encouraging seeing the ratio between your day and night rates approx 1:7 whereas the best I can achieve, charging the EV and DHW at this time of year is 2:5. Impressed with your average cost 6.01p/unit against our 10.8p, nearly 5p/unit difference circa £30 month. Guess that's only in the darkest months while PV generation is limited but presumably in summer there should be little if any import at all?

[Stinsy]

Thanks for reminder, it's certainly encouraging seeing the ratio between your day and night rates approx 1:7 whereas the best I can achieve, charging the EV and DHW at this time of year is 2:5. Impressed with your average cost 6.01p/unit against our 10.8p, nearly 5p/unit difference circa £30 month. Guess that's only in the darkest months while PV generation is limited but presumably in summer there should be little if any import at all?

Exactly!

In summer, it is effortless to avoid peak electricity usage completely. In winter, my little battery pack struggles to get me through to mid-afternoon.

[Adokforme]

Based on your estimate of approx three times PV kWp figure, ours is 8.85, then reckon I should go for a minimum of two(8.2's) to stand a chance of making it thro until evening!