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Choice of intelligent switches ?

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  • Rolason
    Rolason Posts: 6 Forumite
    edited 7 October 2013 at 8:20AM
    Am i doing something wrong?

    Wired to my immersion heater (single load) the unit works fine.

    Wired to a secondary load using instructions that need to be written more clearly the unit almost works fine (its a storage heater by the way).

    My question via a ticketing system solarimmersion never answered (3 attempts) was in relation to the relationship between the two loads. The instructions state that the secondary load will come on after a period of time after saturation of the primary load called 'time in'. The secondary load will then operate for a period of time called 'Timeout' and then check the primary load to see if it is still saturated. Brilliant - if it worked like that. I spoke with solar immersion several times and he stated that the instructions were wrong and that the time in was the time that the primary load ran for before switching to the secondary load timeout. The system with two loads is therefore a timed system and does not depend on the mechanical thermostats cut out on your primary load - This means i am having to manually fettle the timings in accordance with the weather, which is an absolute pain. The so called update instructions do not take account of this. The picture is confused as sometimes it works in both a timed manner and when the thermostat cuts out ! The difficulty is is that if the thermostats cuts out when it gets to temperature but the timein period has not elapsed, it sends the unit into an electronic void until that time has elapsed and the unit switches to the secondary load. This wastes energy. I am fortunate because when i had my hot water thermal installed, temperature sensors were installed in my tank so i know exactly what is going on in there.

    Can somebody please tell me what I am doing wrong, because solarimmersion don't seem to be able to. Some clear written instructions would help !

    Many Thanks
  • danesol
    danesol Posts: 46 Forumite
    Rolason wrote: »
    Am i doing something wrong?

    Wired to my immersion heater (single load) the unit works fine.

    Wired to a secondary load using instructions that need to be written more clearly the unit almost works fine (its a storage heater by the way).

    My question via a ticketing system solarimmersion never answered (3 attempts) was in relation to the relationship between the two loads. The instructions state that the secondary load will come on after a period of time after saturation of the primary load called 'time in'. The secondary load will then operate for a period of time called 'Timeout' and then check the primary load to see if it is still saturated. Brilliant - if it worked like that. I spoke with solar immersion several times and he stated that the instructions were wrong and that the time in was the time that the primary load ran for before switching to the secondary load timeout. The system with two loads is therefore a timed system and does not depend on the mechanical thermostats cut out on your primary load - This means i am having to manually fettle the timings in accordance with the weather, which is an absolute pain. The so called update instructions do not take account of this. The picture is confused as sometimes it works in both a timed manner and when the thermostat cuts out ! The difficulty is is that if the thermostats cuts out when it gets to temperature but the timein period has not elapsed, it sends the unit into an electronic void until that time has elapsed and the unit switches to the secondary load. This wastes energy. I am fortunate because when i had my hot water thermal installed, temperature sensors were installed in my tank so i know exactly what is going on in there.

    Can somebody please tell me what I am doing wrong, because solarimmersion don't seem to be able to. Some clear written instructions would help !

    Many Thanks


    Did you review & use the ADVANCED updated installation download pdf or the standard download (pdf ) ????
    2.88kWp, Panels: 12 Sanyo 240HiTs, Inverter: SMA SB 3000hf
    Solarimmersion proportional device fitted
    Location: Cheshire, Roof: South, 30 degree pitch
  • It's almost a year now since I installed my proportional energy diverter which feed excess energy to the hot water tank. I think the following figures may be of interest.

    During June, July and August the central heating is off and gas is used for a gas hob and hot water.

    June - August in 2012 when the diverter was not installed, we used 506 kWh of gas (about 5.5 kWh per day) and in 2013, using the diverter, we used 32 kWh of gas (about 0.3 kWh per day). I'm on a 'no standing charge' tariff so all the gas will have been at tier 1 prices (around 7.5p / kWh). Using these figures, the diverter has saved £35.55 in those three months.

    We are probably a low hot water usage household as there are only two of us here during the summer. The diverter could easily have fed more power to the hot water tank as we were still exporting a significant number of kWh. So the saving would have been greater had we been an 'average family' with 2.4 children.

    At other times of the year, whenever the solar PV produces more than our base-load, the diverter still feeds energy to the tank - the last two days have required no gas back-up for example. In general, whenever a total of 10 kWh per day is generated by the two PV systems, the hot water is entirely heated by the solar PV panels.

    Dave F
    Solar PV System 1: 2.96kWp South+8 degrees. Roof 38 degrees. 'Normal' system
    Solar PV System 2: 3.00kWp South-4 degrees. Roof 28 degrees. SolarEdge system
    EV car, PodPoint charger
    Lux LXP 3600 ACS + 6 x 2.4kWh Aoboet LFP 2400 battery storage. Installed Feb 2021
    Location: Bedfordshire
  • tunnel
    tunnel Posts: 2,601 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Combo Breaker
    Hi DF,

    Concerning your "diverter". Can you tell me how its wired up? Do you have a sender unit connected to both systems giving readings to a receiver or is it singularly attached near the import meter(showing when your exporting). I ask as i have 2 systems and am toying with the idea of adding a hot water tank to the loft to be heated via the solar, i'm just not sure how it'd be wired to both arrays(if you get my jist)

    tunnel

    ps. I have got 2 kids so the savings for me would be much greater
    2 kWp SEbE , 2kWp SSW & 2.5kWp NWbW.....in sunny North Derbyshire17.7kWh Givenergy battery added(for the power hungry kids)
  • tunnel wrote: »
    Hi DF,

    Concerning your "diverter". Can you tell me how its wired up? Do you have a sender unit connected to both systems giving readings to a receiver or is it singularly attached near the import meter(showing when your exporting). I ask as i have 2 systems and am toying with the idea of adding a hot water tank to the loft to be heated via the solar, i'm just not sure how it'd be wired to both arrays(if you get my jist)

    tunnel

    ps. I have got 2 kids so the savings for me would be much greater
    Hi Tunnel

    I am using one sender unit which is connected to the mains wiring between the consumer unit and the incoming mains meter. Whenever there is any power being exported, the diverter increases the power to the hot water tank until there is neither imported nor exported power.

    Both PV systems are connected via MCBs within the consumer unit.

    Dave F
    Solar PV System 1: 2.96kWp South+8 degrees. Roof 38 degrees. 'Normal' system
    Solar PV System 2: 3.00kWp South-4 degrees. Roof 28 degrees. SolarEdge system
    EV car, PodPoint charger
    Lux LXP 3600 ACS + 6 x 2.4kWh Aoboet LFP 2400 battery storage. Installed Feb 2021
    Location: Bedfordshire
  • tunnel
    tunnel Posts: 2,601 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Combo Breaker
    Hi Tunnel

    I am using one sender unit which is connected to the mains wiring between the consumer unit and the incoming mains meter. Whenever there is any power being exported, the diverter increases the power to the hot water tank until there is neither imported nor exported power.

    Both PV systems are connected via MCBs within the consumer unit.

    Dave F

    Thankyou Dave F,

    I know you've probably already said somewhere on here which diverter your using but which one is it?

    tunnel
    2 kWp SEbE , 2kWp SSW & 2.5kWp NWbW.....in sunny North Derbyshire17.7kWh Givenergy battery added(for the power hungry kids)
  • EricMears
    EricMears Posts: 3,306 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper
    tunnel wrote: »
    Thankyou Dave F,

    I know you've probably already said somewhere on here which diverter your using but which one is it?

    tunnel

    Dave is an electrical engineer who has built his own kit.
    NE Derbyshire.4kWp S Facing 17.5deg slope (dormer roof).24kWh of Pylontech batteries with Lux controller BEV : Hyundai Ioniq5
  • EricMears wrote: »
    Dave is an electrical engineer who has built his own kit.
    That's right Eric.

    The details are on my website - check my profile to find details as I'm not allowed to post them here.

    The unit cost around £130 to build.

    Dave F
    Solar PV System 1: 2.96kWp South+8 degrees. Roof 38 degrees. 'Normal' system
    Solar PV System 2: 3.00kWp South-4 degrees. Roof 28 degrees. SolarEdge system
    EV car, PodPoint charger
    Lux LXP 3600 ACS + 6 x 2.4kWh Aoboet LFP 2400 battery storage. Installed Feb 2021
    Location: Bedfordshire
  • Rolason
    Rolason Posts: 6 Forumite
    Hi Danesol - Many thanks for the interest !
    I used the advanced download and the 'updated' advanced download which as far as i can tell is exactly the same as the non updated version. It is marked version 1.0. Do you have anything different i could look at just to check i have the right document ?
  • Rolason
    Rolason Posts: 6 Forumite
    Hi Danesol - Many thanks for the interest !
    I used the advanced download and the 'updated' advanced download which as far as i can tell is exactly the same as the non updated version. It is marked version 1.0. Do you have anything different i could look at just to check i have the right document ?
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