Solar install less then a month ago, battery between 0% and 4%

matt_drummer

badmemory said:

My base load during the day is about 500 & at night around 200.  My battery is much smaller.  We won't mention today because the panels aren't even producing enough to do the base load which has been a rare thing so far.  So using normally around 20kwh per day.  After a normal day my battery doesn't run out until around 5am so far.  I will always use a minimum of 2kwh during the day as we need a power shower due to water pressure.  I must confess to a very bad day today with several things having to be done that I would probably leave if I could.  Even so I look like using about 16 rather than the 25kwh that I would have expected before.  I will take that as a win.  The energy companies should be pleased as they have had over £60 worth foc.

The energy companies have not had any free electricity from you.

Unless they paid for it they can't sell it.

If you don't have an arrangement to get paid for exported electricity it just gets lost in grid losses.

Nobody wins, you just don't get paid.

noitsnotme

I have 13.5kWh house battery.  It is charged to 100% overnight at off peak cheap rate and then powers the house all of the following day during peak hours.  There is usually even a few kWhs left at the end of the day which are exported/sold back to the grid.

You’re not really getting the best out of batteries if you don’t have very good solar production and/or are not taking advantage of a decent TOU tariff.  You also need to move as much other usage to within the off peak hours.  We run the dishwasher and washing machine overnight while the battery is charging.  This means less requirement on the battery during peak hours.

You do however need to do the sums because a TOU tariff often comes with a higher peak rate cost than a standard variable or fixed tariff.  So if your daytime usage is high and your battery is not big enough, you may find your peak rate costs outweighs your off peak battery charging costs.

Reed_Richards

badmemory said:

Reed_Richards said:

One option, particularly for winter, is to find a tariff that gives you cheap electricity overnight and use that charge your battery.  The cheapest overnight tariffs seem to be reserved for those who have an EV but you may be able to find something else suitable.

How do they know you have an EV & not charging a solar system.

I don't think they could tell the difference between a plug-in hybrid EV and a solar battery.  With a full EV you are unlikely to be adding the same amount of charge each night, as you would if you fully recharge a battery. 

noitsnotme

badmemory said:

Reed_Richards said:

One option, particularly for winter, is to find a tariff that gives you cheap electricity overnight and use that charge your battery.  The cheapest overnight tariffs seem to be reserved for those who have an EV but you may be able to find something else suitable.

How do they know you have an EV & not charging a solar system.

With the Intelligent Octopus tariff you have to register either an EV or an EV charger in their app to be eligible.  All usage during the off peak period (11:30pm - 5:30am) is at the off peak rate (currently 7p/kWh) not just an EV so most users charge their house batteries at the cheap rate.

Alexin1970

matt_drummer said:

Alexin1970 said:

matt_drummer said:

Alexin1970 said:

debitcardmayhem said:

Are you totally electric? Have you looked at the weekly reports from Givenergy they will help to see what is going where.

right now we mainly use electricity, radiators are still off . and majority of cooking is done via the Airfryer. The shower connected to the boiler and pump I guess it will consume a bit each day.

I am trying to get my bearing here, but still not sure why the battery level dropped from 100% to 0% in less then 12 hours, is that normal?

Yes, you used it all after the calibration process and you have never charged the battery since.

That 9.5kWh battery will provide you with about 8.5kWh of electricity as some is lost in the wires of your house and the inverter as heat.

You use 8.5kWh of electricity in less than 10 hours.

You have consumed all the solar generation in your house.

How do you think the battery will get charged?

You are not going to get any more `free' electricity than the panels generate, and if you use it all the battery will never charge.

Isn't it obvious?

Not expecting that , but it looks like the panels might not be generating a lot afterall, I am not sure as we just had them installed a month ago with all those promises of generating tot solar energy but not sure if it is going to happen. If everything is working perfectly , fair enough but that is not is shown on the guidance for year 1 I was supplied.

You are judging the annual performance at the wrong time of year.

You will  get the most in May, June and July.

Same as all of us with solar panels, but because of the trees, you won't get much in the other months by the look of it, much less than panels without shading issues.

At the moment, I'm reviewing everything closely because things don't seem to add up. I could be wrong, but when you add 1+1, it equals 2—there's no other answer.

I've gone over my bills, and I haven't changed my lifestyle since the solar panels were installed. The month before the installation, my total energy consumption was about 565 kWh. However, since the installation a month ago, the total consumption has increased to 696.51 kWh (including: Generation to Home, Grid to Home, and Battery to Home).

The only thing I can think of that has changed is the iBooster they fitted to save gas for hot water. I turned it off yesterday, so I'll need to monitor for a while to see if there's any significant reduction in energy usage.

I installed the panels and batteries to save money, not to spend more.

Thanks again for your help and inputs, much appreciated.

Alexin1970

Qyburn said:

Alexin1970 said:

matt_drummer said:

The trees have nothing to do with it.

You didn't need two inverters, one correct one would have done the job.

The optimisers are a good idea though.

What they did mention to me, that if they were going to use Micro Inverters for each panel the cost will be higher, and the Solarhedge with optimizer will be on budget and do the same job.

Too late now, but why didn't they specify the Solaredge battery? Keep it all managed and monitored as one system.

I am not sure why, but my concern is to make sure everything does work ok . Right now I can't apply for the export or import tariff as I haven't received the certificate , in fact I haven't received anything since the installation, I am adressing this with the company since 3 days ago.

Alexin1970

Reed_Richards said:

You have 14 panels, I presume these generate 400 Watts peak per panel so your total peak output should be 5.6 kW.  Last Wednesday I had full sun and I had 3 hours of over 3 kW from a system with a peak output of 4.8 kW.  Given that my base load is only about 200 W then that would have been enough to fully charge a 9 kWh battery.

In your case, either

• Some of your panels are not working
• You have had very little sun since they were installed
• Your roof is so shaded that some of your panels will be shaded most or all of the time.  

The panels are 455W so if I am correct the total peak output shoud be 6.37kW , I am aware that figure is variable.

Looking at the app it has generated between 4 and 6kw per day, if the app is accurate.

I know there will be some shading taking place during the day, but the sunlight still goes to the panels at different times, that was the reason why I increased from 12 to 14 panels in the first place. I guess I will have to spend a bit time analyzing the whole lot, as the consumption is not adding either since the install.

Thanks for your help and advice, much appreciated.

Alexin1970

badmemory said:

Reed_Richards said:

One option, particularly for winter, is to find a tariff that gives you cheap electricity overnight and use that charge your battery.  The cheapest overnight tariffs seem to be reserved for those who have an EV but you may be able to find something else suitable.

How do they know you have an EV & not charging a solar system.

cannot do anything till i get the documents and certificate. I have been waiting just over a month now.

Alexin1970

matt_drummer said:

What optimisers do you have?

I think you have gas?

The solar iBoost is a waste of time.

You are buying electricity at the SVR to pay for solar generation to heat your hot water.

Much cheaper to do it with you gas boiler and use the solar generation for house loads or to charge your battery for use when the sun isn't shining.

I think the optimisers they have used is from SolarEdge. I do have Gas  but not using much now in the summer.

I do think that I have wasted my time and money in getting the iBooster, as it will not work if there is hardly anything in the battery, and as they left it on that could be the reason of the energy usage increase, not sure yet, but I have found lots of discrepancies with the job they have done so far and the aftersales has been very shoody.

Alexin1970

Alexin1970 said:

matt_drummer said:

What optimisers do you have?

I think you have gas?

The solar iBoost is a waste of time.

You are buying electricity at the SVR to pay for solar generation to heat your hot water.

Much cheaper to do it with you gas boiler and use the solar generation for house loads or to charge your battery for use when the sun isn't shining.

I think the optimisers they have used is from SolarEdge. I do have Gas  but not using much now in the summer.

I do think that I have wasted my time and money in getting the iBooster, as it will not work if there is hardly anything in the battery, and as they left it on that could be the reason of the energy usage increase, not sure yet, but I have found lots of discrepancies with the job they have done so far and the aftersales has been very shoody.

luckily the iBooster was not a huge amount, just £300.00 extra, so I can live with that but disconnected as of today.