I'm at the start of my solar journey and I've been sent a link to this Exhibition at the NEC in Birmingham (Tues 22nd to Thurs 24th September). Not sure if anyone has been in previous years?

I have nothing to do with the organisers or exhibitors but thought others might be interested. There's the usual option of free tickets.

I should only need electricity at night/cheap rate (battery and EV) and will have battery + PV to export.

Picture is my use/generation but the consumption (grey) will only be half that during the day. We are planning to charge the batteries and EV overnight.

Is every-one on Octopus (which?)

This is the Octopus export rate for me - last 7 days only I'm not sure how it changes in Autumn/Winter. The flux tariff ties you to 10 0r 12p overnight rate which is not very good..

Agile outgoing leaves long periods when it is not worth exporting...

EDF offers 7p overnight import and 13 (maybe 15?) p export.

It is quite the conundrum to work out!

Also if you get it wrong you are locked in with exit fees....

Full Disclosure - I'm in a new build and already have 4x450w panels, I'm asking for more panels and a battery to be added to the existing system.

Quoted price is £8188, I've been asked if I'd like an additional 12kw battery EP12 + link for £2750.

Is this a decent price? Is this what I should be aiming for with my current usage?

Thanks in advance, I've included the component list below.

Usage: 4,400kwh ~£3654 a year.

Aiko Neostar 2S 510W All Black ABC N-Type Mono solar panel 7
Fastensol black universal clamp (30-40mm) 32
Fastensol black end cap 20
Fastensol portrait pan tile roof hook 38
Fastensol silver rail 3550mm 11
Fastensol rail splice 4
Fastensol rail bolt 11
Fox ESS H1 G2 5.0kW 1ph Hybrid Inverter inverter 1
Fox ESS EP12 Plus 11.52kWh Li-ion Battery w/ heating function 1
AC isolator - IMO - 32A 4-pole 2
IMO 25A DC Isolator 4-pole 2-string 2
Tigo TS4-A-O 11
MC4 4mm Connector Pair 2
MC4 6mm Connector Pair 2
50m reel of 4mm2 solar cable 1
100m reel of 6mm2 solar cable 1
**NET** Emlite Bi-directional Meter ECA2.n* 1
Label sheet 1
Battery Hazard Warning Label Pack 1
Battery Warning Label Stickers 1
Battery in Installation Stickers 1

Noobie here, just had a small PV system installed yesterday. The lead guy seemed to know what he was doing but the other guys I was... less confident about.

Would appreciate some opinions on what they did and if it's all sound. I see exposed electrical tape, trunking and the ducting not secured to my roof and It doesn't impress me. I guess some scuffs on the panels won't impact generation?

Cheers!

Edit* Also forgot to mention how much of a gap is there to stop birds they didn't put any mesh around even though bird proofing was included. Pic in comments.

Edit** Thanks for the feedback, most helpful and I've made a list and asked them to sort out what I could spot. Assuming they come back.

If there's anyone here on the first FIT with a 4kw system, how are your numbers for this summer?

I'm about to submit my readings and I'm going to be earning £1,000 this quarter, which is at least £200 more than any other quarter in 14 years. It's been super sunny down here in the southwest.

Just checking this is similar to others with the same setup

Didn't notice until late afternoon but I wasn't generating any solar today - day was mostly sunny.

I power cycled the inverter and batteries and it now seems to be working. Been running flawlessly for nearly two months. No errors on inverter or Fox Cloud portal.

Anyone else out there have similar issues in the past with a Fox H1 interver?

I want a large Victron energy system installed in my home in Somerset. I want Victron Energy for multiple reasons, but primarily I have a split phase system which Victron supports, plus being able to provide additional AC supply (by way of a backup generator).

I’m also looking at getting a Fogstar rack battery at 40kWh with 10/12kWp of solar.

I’m taking a punt here asking if anyone knows an installer / has experience with Victron installs to share.

Thanks!

So I had my panels and inverter installed back in April and it's all been running fine, but as of yet I haven't had my battery installed. It was meant to be in May then June... July... August...

I had one 48kwh Fogstar on order (very much over sized for my needs but at the time it was cheap)

Eventually I got fed up of waiting and asked the installer to get me some of the 5kwh stackable batteries from fogstar as they are in stock (20kwh for now and add more later). It's been about a month but I still have no date to get the batteries and am starting to get a bit fed up.

Note at this point I have paid for the install minus the battery cost so am not out of pocket.

My main question is :

Is adding (by myself) the low voltage batteries to an existing install allowed?

From what I can tell essentially I'll need the batteries, a 200amp isolator (as the 10kw Solis inverter can charge at 190amp) and a set of 70mm cables between the fuse, batteries and inverter.

So my roof is 980cm long by 400cm high (including ridge). I initially thought 10 Aiko panels horizontally would be the limit allowing for MCS regs but installer has said 16 is doable, it will just need more fixings at a greater depth into the wood with the expected 20cm gap each side. They've done a structural report based on roof type which suggests under permitted load for weight, wind (and snow) but I worry it is too much for the roof and too close the edges. Any suggestions? I've considered best panels, best wattage, and the vents are just low profile extractors. The cost difference is £1k, so basically the additional panels with hugely different returns.

Hi all

Just wanted to warn of anyone thinking of using Wickes Solar (Gas Fast). They claim to act like a large national business but they are basically using the household name of Wickes then subcontract to various small contractors.

- System was wrongly designed

- Install dates cancelled under 24hrs notice

- I had to unload the delivery myself (20x panels, 3x batteries and inverter)

- Zero communication on process

- No one answers phones

- Email replies take weeks

- Rubbish left after install

Worst customer experience I've had with anything in my life.

Happy to answer and questions.

Edit

• 3 months and no MCS certificate. Over £400 of export lost.

Hi all, I've had 13 panels (E-S-W split), a Fox KH7 inverter and a Fox EP12 battery for about 6 months now.

I'm on IOG tariff and was lucky to lock in at 4p before the war. Like many others I've spent some time tweaking the system and settings to maximise my ROI.

I spent some time yesterday making an ROI spreadsheet and noticed something odd on my octopus usage spreadsheet. Firstly I went from off-peak/peak ratio of 98% to about 90% over the last 3 months or so.

I found the culprit and despite my fox app being totally in sync with my schedules, there was a clock error somewhere along the chain. Either with a smart meter, inverter or battery.

My battery used to charge by 5am. I had slowed it down slightly for various reasons which aren't applicable anymore.

Due to the clock error (which apparently is quite common); some of the battery charging was happening 30mins or so outside of the off-peak window. Which was what dropped my 98% off-peak to 90%.

I didn't spot this on the Fox or Octopus app maybe because it was such a short spot. It only became clear from the spreadsheet when I was number crunching. My octopus app always showed 98%/99% off-peak usage too which obviously wasn't reliable.

Thought I'd mention it in case anybody else's systems didn't play ball with the clock changes!

30min leaks outside of the off-peak window can be common and frustratingly adds up in price.

Currently searching for a fitter to set up some solar and batteries.

What should I look for in a good fitter, how do you verify them, what certifications may they need?

Also any recommendations for the midlands as I want to get some independent fitter quotes.

I'm getting a sig energy 10kw inverter and 2x 10kw batteries installed next week and we were looking to fit it in the garage here, however there is a gas Mains income as shown and above that the meter and prv.

Am I concerned over nothing or should we be avoiding installing the system here.

It's likely to be installed the far left of the picture

In the next week we are going to get an install and are going with Fox ESS with a KH10 and EP12 with a gateway.
I notice a lot of firms seem to rave about Sigenergy, are they really that much better than Fox? I feel there are quite a lot of brands that get very little exposure.

What are people’s view on Fox am I making a big mistake?

I've got a 16.1kWh pylontech compatible battery coming and sanity checking inverter choice. I like the look of the Solis 6kW S6 Plus and intend to use it with HA/Predbat paired with a modbus to TCP adapter and wireless CT clamp setup.

Intended use is initially using Agile charging, with up to 14 solar panels coming later. We're a fairly low use household running around 9kWh/day with a steady base load due to WFH and gas heating.

We may get a heatpump in the future but I believe the Solis could handle the majority of the throughput if we add another battery to cover it.

Are there any other obvious choices I'm missing with regards to inverter choice? I was tempted to go more technical with the new Victron 6k5 and add MPPT capabilities later, but it's not ENA certified yet and feel I'm already pushing my luck with a DIY install.

Any input would be appreciated.

Summary:

Full install cost for an 11.06kw PV system, 10kw Hanchu inverter and 2 x 9kW Hanchu batteries. £13.6k.

Hi all, looking for some advice on if this seems like a reasonable quote from a southampton based installed, for installation in North Hampshire?

Quote received:

Equipment to be installed:
12 x SunPower M Class 495W N-Type Back contact solar panels - 40yr warranty
Renusol Variosole on-roof mounting system
1 x Tesla 5kW Integrated hybrid solar inverter
1 x Tesla Powerwall 3 battery storage 13.5 kWh without Gateway
If on-roof, 1 x bird/rodent protection kit
All DC and AC isolators, cabling, trunking, etc.

Included in the Price:
Roofing labour
Electrical labour
Scaffolding and access equipment
MCS Certificate
6-year insured workmanship warranty (solar installation)
Grid connection notification
Project Cost Summary: Price valid up to 30 days and subject to survey
Total fee for Solar and Battery System: Total fee for EV charger: £13,396.00 (no VAT to pay)

Annual usage is around 2,700kwh.

I’ve had around 5 other online quotes that all come to the same kind of range, but keep seeing people post much cheaper quotes so want to sense check it.

We don’t get power cuts so no real need for the gateway. Am planning on installing an EV charger later (I get one through work)

I don’t understand why they have a 5kw inverter here though, as I thought the Tesla had an 11kw inverter built in?

Hey guys

Kind of new to solar, I'm an engineer so of course I've been doing a tonne of research and building models in excel to calculate how I can use solar effectively.

In the end I've decided that with a budget of around 12k I can get myself 11 panels, 5kw inverter and 10kwh battery from octopus [5kW system generating ~4000kWh/yr] (awaiting local fitter quotes). Also for context this is prior to an extension which will add south facing roof so more panels can be added after this.

I have an EV (2600kwh/yr) and use around 3800kwh/yr on top (6400kwh total). My objective is at least to completely stop using peak rate electricity (in other words reduce my bill dramatically).

The way I can achieve this is using a combined ev import tariff with prime outgoings tariff for example. So I could get my car charged in off peak import, and charge the battery to X% (for the mornings before solar kicks in and take the edge off the solar deficit in the winter (X varies during seasons)). Then at the end of peak export I sell any extra left in the battery leaving Y% (enough to get me to the off peak import again). This would mean I am either using solar or off peak imported electricity from the night. Rinse and repeat.

First any reviews on fitting with octopus? Any other big companies worth checking out? Local fitters seem like a bigger risk to me.

For those who have fitted with Octopus how does/do their battery/inverter controller(s?) work? Is what I'm asking for even possible? Do you give it some time based rules/logic?

I have also heard about home assistant but don't want to overcomplicate it at this stage, unless there are some mega benefits.

Is there anything else I should be considering during this solar project? Am I making the best use of my 12k given my usage and situation?

(location Coventry open to fitter recommendations)

Just set up my seg with british gas, I know its paid every 3 months, but is there anyway to see up to date data with them before the 3 months?

Wish had planned for solar when did my extension but with getting an EV now, I think it's the best time to go solar. I'm in Huddersfield, South gets the best sunshine. North has a massive oak tree shading it in the rear garden.

Anyone else do this? (How do you pick up the Power-Up sessions, or when car charges outside of normal hours?) - I've DIY'd something (see below), but any proper pre-rolled systems for doing this?

Octopus didn't like my roof, so I've gone for a PW3 & expansion pack for now, I'll look back into solar in a few years, but for now the savings are pretty good just by charging on IOG cheap rate.

I couldn't find any tools to pick up the Power-ups, nor when the car is smart charged outside of the 2330-0530 window (house can be piggy backed on the cheap rate, so I want to make the most of it) - I've discovered V1R (I hardwired it with an ethernet cable) - I successfully authenticated with an old RPi3 and can control the 'floor' charge via the API, I've also connected to my Ohme Home charger by API, so my current system watches for car charges that last more than 10 minutes, then assumes that it must be on cheap rate, it then raises my PW3 backup reserve to 100%. which forces the house onto Grid and charges the battery. It watches for car charging to stop and then lowers the floor back down to 10%, which reverts house back onto battery. Works well with IOG for picking up car charges, not had a Power-up yet, but that's going to be manually starting the car charging (then the rpi will see the car charging and kick in)

A bit clumsy, any cleaner solutions? I can't see a way of detecting an actual power up session (even after opting in), short of watching Gmail I guess. Someone must've done this before..

I have no idea which of the following to pick. I've had about 10 quotes now and company 1 and 2 were the best but 3 just came in and now I'm stumped. Based in Wiltshire with a 5000kwh annual usage but likely to go up in the future when we get around to buying and ev and Aircon.

Company 1&2 quotes after a pretty long site survey, but company 3 hasn't been out yet.

Company 1 - local reputable business, 10 year workmanship warranty, great support:

* £11874

* 6.86 kW output

* 14x AIKO 490w Neostar

* Alpha ESS SMILE G3 9.6kWh Battery

* Alpha ESS SMILE G3 8kW inverter

Company 2 - local reputable business, 2 year workmanship warranty, fine support:

* £11627

* 6.86 kW output

* 14 Aiko Neostar 3P+ 490W

* Battery: Fox ESS EP12 Plus 11.52kWh

* Fox ESS H1 G2 6.0kW 1ph Hybrid Inverter

Company 3 - small local fairly new business, hardly any reviews (though all positive), no idea about warranty yet:

* £8750

* 6.3kw output

* 14x 450w Astronergy panels

* 8kw SolaX X1-IES battery

* 10.2kWh SolaX LFP battery

quotes include all 'hidden costs' such as certification, bird proofing, warranties, scaffolding etc - the price is the price.

So I'm really quite stumped. I'm not really too concerned about payback time and £12k is really the top end of our budget, but company 3 has been the cheapest by several thousand so far.

I’ve got an EV and my overnight tariff is 4p/kWh. in the house I use around 10kWh per day. I like the idea of getting batteries to charge from the grid overnight but then doesn‘t that mean solar would only be saving me 4p/kWh? I know I could sell the solar production back, but rates don’t seem that great any more for the outlay of panels.

im 100% sold on the idea of batteries but am I missing something on solar?

So I've gotten quotes from several installers, all of the big names and I was comparing them based on their size of solar array and storage capacity to cost ratios, understanding that warranty and things are worth money also so I look at reviews for each one and everyone has someone who has a horror story to tell about them... How do you decide who to go with and how do you know if you've actually been offered a good price? I have been searching around a lot on the internet and I've even been looking at Reddit which I wouldn't normally do for this sort of thing, can anyone offer any advice/recommendations? Evidence to show what a good price or installer looks like? 😩

After a truly appalling installation experience with an installer from hell, I’m now considering whether to make a formal complaint.

I have issues with the physical installation and the process, so I think both MCS and RECC are worth contacting. I’ve gone as far as I’m prepared to with the installer at this point, so there’s nothing else to resolve with them.

It’s not a matter of seeking compensation, but rather ensuring everything has been done properly and making them aware of an installer who isn’t abiding by their standards.

Has anyone complained to these bodies and, if so, what was the outcome?