Beat way to optimise solar panels and battery

sondheimsoc

Just had solar panels installed through EDF so we have a year's special export tariff with no standing charges for electricity and they pay 24p per KWh for export.

We have a 5 Kwh inverter and 2 x 5 Kwh batteries (Sunsync)

Just had a training session with the installer, Contact Solar who showed me how to set up the battery to top up from the grid between 1 am and 4 am when the cost  per Kwh is cheapest (16p)

He also explained that during those 4 hours, the system can't use its own electricity to power the house.

My query is, should I just leave the battery set to charge up every night or is there a better way to organise it, especially during the summer months?

NedS

As you are being paid more for export (24p) than for import at the cheap rate (16p), it is best to charge the battery overnight on cheap rate and export as much solar as you can during the day. In other words, you don't want to the charging the battery from solar, better to just export that solar and get paid 24p for it.

It's also economical to run the house from the grid whilst the battery is charging as your import price is only 16p.

You have 10kWh of storage - is that enough to run the house for the day without importing from the grid? If not, see if you can shift any usage such as dishwasher/washing machine to 1-4am overnight when it's cheap.

What is your day time import rate? Is that also ~24p?

Ectophile

sondheimsoc said:

He also explained that during those 4 hours, the system can't use its own electricity to power the house.

That's the laws of physics.  You can't charge a battery and also run things off it at the same time.  So when you're charging, you must be running the house off the grid.  But as NedS says, that's also when electricity is cheapest, so that shouldn't be a problem.

Errmm

Hi,
I know this is a late reply...

So when you're importing during those times any devices running at home will also be getting 'run' at that electricity price as well.  So as much as possible you want to 'load shift' as they call it and set things up like dishwasher or washing machines etc so that they run then.  You want to be in a position where you finish the off-peak period with a full battery to face the day so getting those bigger loads out of the way means you've got the battery to then run most of the day on that cheaper energy from your battery.
You need to use the apps to monitor your battery because whilst you have cheaper energy in the battery when that runs out, you're on the 21p or whatever it is for that tariff.



Mike
killawatt.co.uk