Balcony solar PV

[Joeboy]

Called at the local Obi (B&Q equivalent) today, balcony solar kit 2 x 410W panels 800W inverter cables and brackets €799

Hopefully at a B&Q near here soon. A pity Amazon Don't push these systems. Especially in light of 2 day prime event just passed.

If you could get people working it from both ends. Cutting loads at home, learning to split and cascade, bringing down the background load, combined with installing this wee DIY system. Could make large inroads in residential consumption. There are a hell of a lot more less financially buoyant folk than there are wealthy. This is accessible. Nice.

https://www.mediamarkt.de/de/product/_a ... 55282.html
600W for 669 euro.

Amazon Germany too!
https://www.amazon.de/dp/B0BN49KGQM?tag ... 0762cb6564

https://www.amazon.de/dp/B0BZWKYW19?tag ... 502646827a

Test site
https://www.testit.de/tag/balkonkraftwerk.html

[Mart]

Could it be that UK retailers don't sell them due to the UK laws about 'plug n play' PV, and the need to notify DNO's about any SSEG (small scale embedded generation)?

My gut feeling is that these small systems will be relatively safe, but I assume their existence*, regardless of fault, would invalidate your home insurance in the case of a serious event?


*Edit - Sorry, should have stressed, if simply plugged in to a socket, rather than the UK requirement that they be hard wired, or plugged into a socket, whose ring has no other sockets/connections/devices.

[Mr Gus]

Don't knpw where the full discussion on these are which was had before in depth, but maybe someone can find it & link it to this thread maybe?

[nowty]

I note the german amazon listings won't deliver to UK, but they will from ebay.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/265970354046

They can always be wired in properly and the DNO notified if you want to be legit.

[Joeboy]

I note the german amazon listings won't deliver to UK, but they will from ebay.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/265970354046

They can always be wired in properly and the DNO notified if you want to be legit.

I went onto Ebay last night then had a hunt about on Aliexpress (for research purposes only). Not too hard to put together a microinverter and matching voltage panels undercutting the buy price at the B&Q type places. It did leave me wondering if for example we existing grid tie inverter owners would end up in an ever upward voltage competition between our existing units and the microinverter until the microinverter hit its limit and stalled?

I know a lot of people don't like them but even a few hundred Watts generating and as a learning curve into solar? I'm not seeing the downside as they won't output unless there is a grid signal? Personally i'd wire it into a fuse carrying switch with a low A fuse and go from there.

[Mr Gus]

To overcome a problem with govt officialdom I think you have to provide a competent solution first & foremost these days..

Put it to your MP Joe / List ?

[Joeboy]

To overcome a problem with govt officialdom I think you have to provide a competent solution first & foremost these days..

Put it to your MP Joe / List ?

Personally I wouldn't piss on my MP let alone talk to them so that kind of closes off that avenue.

Anyway, back to the balcony solar. It will be interesting to see how this segment develops. As we know there are already linked battery units available in a one stop shop diy experience. They might take off if presented in a reasonable looking residential package that is hassle free? As to the UK lagging behind Europe in their implementation, what's new? Fair point on insurance though, ach sometimes ye just have to jump?

I know there are hundreds of thousands of people with a few hundred quid/Euro's that they could build on but not so many with five to ten thousand spare. Yet they'll all be having a similar global impact. Literally, Empower the masses. I could be off by miles here of course.

[Moxi]

Couldn't agree more JB and its been my hobby horse for many years, solar power has to start at the couple of hundred quid bracket to get more people to try it and witness the benefits, small scale solar is also most useful to renters who can take their system with them when they move.

I have just done a home exercise building one of those DIY battery box jobs to see if it can be done for small money so with a solar panel added you can charge the battery and then use the inverter to power something off the grid - takes away the grid connection issues and also means when you go out for a trip you can take it with you, its not finished but so far a 12V 7ah lithium battery (£32) wired to 220V pure sine inverter (£7.99) mounted in a small plastic tool box (£8) linked via a solar charge controller (£6) and a solar panel such as the 80W 18V Dokio folding unit on Amzn for circa £104 although there are 50W panels for as little as £27 quid which may be ok - note panel yet to be bought.

The nice thing is you can seemingly build a small system for circa £100 which you can then add to or upgrade as time and cash flow permits and because you can carry it around you can make more use of it than a static system so I would proffer that the utilisation factor is higher.

It works and it has USB outlets to charge phones and run USB gadgets as well as a single 3 pin outlet, I have enough room to add another battery at a later date to increase capacity. Its a cheap and oh so cheerful proof of concept but I am pleased with it.

Moxi

[nowty]

Sounds like we need photos Moxi.

[Joeboy]

Sounds like we need photos Moxi.

Absolutely! @ very interested.com

Here's one from earlier. The trick would be finding the right panels at a reasonable price.

Micro Inverter 800w Ac Output 110V/230V Auto.Grid Tie Solar Inverters With EU Plug Tuya APP WIFI Monitor
https://a.aliexpress.com/_mqKCKSU