Lux ac battery controller

Verdigris

madswitcher said:

Pylontech  US2000c spec. 2.4KWh ???????? Why 1.2

2.4kWh is the energy capacity. 1.2kW is the output power.

Solarchaser

madswitcher said:

correction. Usable capacity 1.92 KWH

You should find on a 2000b or us2000 a dod of 90% so 2.4x 0.9 gives a useable capacity of 2.16kwh

That's what I set mine to, I believe most people do the same.
If its a 2000C then it's a 95%dod

Starfrog

Solarchaser said:

madswitcher said:

correction. Usable capacity 1.92 KWH

You should find on a 2000b or us2000 a dod of 90% so 2.4x 0.9 gives a useable capacity of 2.16kwh

That's what I set mine to, I believe most people do the same.
If its a 2000C then it's a 95%dod

Solarchaser with my new plyontech battery array of 5 x 2.4kWh what do you suggest I set the various settings on the Lux with. I basically want to make sure im maximising their performance. I dont have a smart meter so im wanting to stop sending back to the grid (1500kWh last year for nothing !!) and store that so i gain the benefit of it 

Solarchaser

I would and do set mine to 100% charge and discharge and on grid discharge limit of 10% which gives you the 90% dod.

I totally understand what I mean about sending to grid, I sent about 2000kwh to grid last year.
This year I will be getting a thermal store to soak up as much as possible, as certainly in mid summer, there is just not enough batteries to soak up all the solar

Starfrog

Solarchaser said:

I would and do set mine to 100% charge and discharge and on grid discharge limit of 10% which gives you the 90% dod.

I totally understand what I mean about sending to grid, I sent about 2000kwh to grid last year.
This year I will be getting a thermal store to soak up as much as possible, as certainly in mid summer, there is just not enough batteries to soak up all the solar

Maybe I dont know enough about thermal stores (lets say I dont know anything about thermal stores !) When i read about them i just think how is this different to a hot water tank that your heating but in this case has an option to allow for multifuel such as Solar PV ? ? I think in winter its just not going to provide enough excess to be useful due tot he massive drop in solar production and the batteries could totally soak up the excess (what little there is in winter) 

I would like to use something that powers my radiators in an effective way. and provides hot water for showers without needing to obtain grid power to do that (i only have Oil for my central heating and its so expensive right now that the local provider didnt even give me a price yet other than they dropped off 500ltrs of oil as i needed it but now im thinking its gonna cost a lot of money £1 a ltre maybe ?) 

I have looked at the mixergy as a hot water tank replacement as it seems to be efficient and solar compatible so it might help with providing a least cost effective hot water and I can finally get rid of my electric shower and existing hot water tank that uses electric and Oil power 

Solarchaser

I'm hearing from friends in the South East of England that they are paying between £1.60 and £2.30 a litre for oil, so I think £1/litre may be optimistic I'm afraid 😨 

Mixergy seems a clever solution,  but my problem with mixergy and indeed hot water tanks in general is that you have a large body of water of which the majority is largely stagnant, and I'm not a fan of that.

If its an unvented cylinder you need a pressure inspection every year, if its an vented cylinder, your water pressure is gonna be pretty rubbish.
Thermal store means mains pressure hot water, ideal for a strong shower, or fast filling of a kids paddling pool.

Take the lid of your toilet cistern in Scotland and you see a black band around the water mark, that's all the bugs in the water that have died and floated to the top. Not great.
The bonus of a thermal store is that all the water you run through it for showering and washing hands, or brushing sensitive teeth only ever runs through a copper coil, so it's never stagnant,  the mass of water in the tank is seen as dirty water which heats the coil the potable water runs through, so there is a physical barrier between the mucky stagnant water and the clean water that you use.

Something like a coil just at the top of the tank controlled by a mixergy type system would be ideal imo, but no-one seems to make one of those.

Solarchaser

Sorry missed the other bit.
I do have a smart meter and am planning to use my cheaper period to heat the thermal store in winter time and have the central heating water then heated with a heat exchanger off the thermal store.

Batteries are great, but you will find next month (April and September are our brightest months) that your batteries will be full and you still send some to the grid, whereas if you could divert some of that to your hot water tank /thermal store then you save the cost of heating the water.
On the flip side in winter you won't have enough to fill the batteries,so definitely not enough to heat the tank, but thats where the cheaper rate of octopus comes in for those of us with a smart meter

Starfrog

Solarchaser said:

Sorry missed the other bit.
I do have a smart meter and am planning to use my cheaper period to heat the thermal store in winter time and have the central heating water then heated with a heat exchanger off the thermal store.

Batteries are great, but you will find next month (April and September are our brightest months) that your batteries will be full and you still send some to the grid, whereas if you could divert some of that to your hot water tank /thermal store then you save the cost of heating the water.
On the flip side in winter you won't have enough to fill the batteries,so definitely not enough to heat the tank, but thats where the cheaper rate of octopus comes in for those of us with a smart meter

yeah agreed about the Octopus smart metre it would be good if they came and installed it, ive been asking for two years and still no date for when they will fit it. I also believe that they have said that the tariffs for cheap rate at night now is no longer available if you dont have an EV ? 

Solarchaser

Since you already have an electric heated hot water tank, id suggest looking at solar diverters.

If I already had a tank I wouldn't be looking at thermal stores 

Starfrog

good plan