Dillsue

I'm not sure how long it took SolarEdge to respond and remedy the OPs problem but in my experience they provide a very fast response. When an optimiser failed they remotely diagnosed the problem and dispatched a replacement in a day

FIT ended in 2019 and was replaced with SEG that for suppliers over a certain size must pay at a pittance of a rate-5-7p/unit. Both government backed and regulated schemes Octopus offer their own export tariff at 15p/unit, but that can end at anytime as its neither FIT or SEG so no government backing. Loss of that rate is worth considering when calculating battery payback.

Number 1 happens anyway through obsolescence even with a fully functioning manufacturer-spares dry up followed by support a few years later. Lack of spares/support being an issue needs the manufacturer to go bump, no one to take over their business, premature failure and a lack of non OEM parts/secondhand parts. I'm not sure how often number 2 happens that can't be reset with a reset to factory defaults or software reinstallation. I'm not saying it doesn't happen but a manufacturer would soon be struggling with sales if that was actually the case. I appreciate a few people want to be totally independent in looking after their tech but I think for the majority the risks you've identified are low, certainly for me they are. The other thing to consider in not having an internet connection for your inverter is that you loose the possibility for your inverter to send diagnostic info to the manufacturer. This would help them debug and maybe covertly install fixes. Maybe your fault is happening with all Energy Bank systems but those connected to the Internet are getting covertly reset whilst SE work on a fix?? Not saying this happening but it seems plausible to me??

I think we pretty much align ourselves with EU requirements or we'd not be able to sell them anything?? No idea if we have the right to repair but that right likely evaporates if a manufacturer goes bump??

Not sure you'll find a PV inverter from a company with 100% imunity from bankruptcy. You might find a company that's very open with their designs/in depth configuration so you can fault find to the level you want but realistically your likely stuck needing occasional manufacturer support.

I guessing that if you'd disconnected the battery and reconfigured the inverter to remove the battery, it would have fired up. May have needed re setting to factory defaults?? If they go bust youre likely on your own- its same as any company hitting the wall. You'd never buy anything with tech if bancrupcy is a buying blocker

Stopping generation due to faulty peripheral kit doesn't seem such a good idea! We have an HD wave inverter with an unused integrated EV charger that had the comms disconnected so the inverter saw the charger as faulty but the inverter continued to run as normal, other than showing the charger fault. Shame they weren't more open about the reasons for the lockout and the fix for it

Very creative. I'll run with that if I ever get asked about ours

Did you or they do a software update? Intrigued to know if was a known bug or you'd discovered a new scenario. They'd be shooting themselves in the foot if they intentionally installed a "lock" that only they could unlock.

As mentioned previously, you may have been able to do everything SolarEdge support did using SetApp with a local connection. You can update Set App with latest inverter firmware/software wherever or whenever you like and then update the inverter/battery from SetApp without connecting the inverter to the internet

For remote expert diagnostics. For easy failure monitoring. For easy performance monitoring. Not essential to make it work but very handy to have. Why do you think its only going to fail??

AFAIK Solaredge inverters dont need a cloud connection to operate, certainly the one I installed last year didn't as the WiFi aerial was installed months after the inverter was up and running. You've asked them to do remote diagnostics which you may possibly have been able to do via SetApp?? I don't have a battery so don't know what access you'd have via setapp. If you're heading to bin solaredge, don't forget you'll likely need to lift all your panels and remove the optimisers or buy the tool to disable the 1v safe shut down.

Speak to your DNO to get a feel if they'll allow more than 3.6kw of export. Theres a chance they will and you can put in a G99 once you know how much they'll allow. If you want lots of energy in the house but aren't allowed to export as much as you want to use, then set up a G100 export limitation. Unless you want to limit the combined PV AND battery to 3.68kw, you need to know what your DNO will allow before you agree a design and get quotes.

I don't think so. Seems to me that low 400 watt panels, 405's etc, aren't in vogue so prices have dropped and maybe being cleared??

No reason not to, but..... You'd need to work out how to seal between the panels to keep them watertight but allow replacement of seals/panels if there was a failure. Speak to Spirit energy who posted the picture?? If the fixings are from underneath then you'd need access from inside the roof so how they've fixed them in the picture with a room in roof setup is interesting

Assuming the Tesla batteries are Powerwalls, then your mate would likely have needed permission rather than "informing them". AFAIK, Powerwalls can only be installed by Tesla approved installers who are likely reputable and should have done things by the book. That'll likely involve your mate receiving paperwork so he should know for sure that the DNO gave consent. If not, ask the installer to confirm. Same for the solar. If he's charging 3 x Powerwalls and charging an EV at the same time, that's going to be a sizeable load on his supply which might explain the volt drop problem hes got. Try staggering the charging so the load is reduced but runs for a longer period of time? If he schedules the battery and EV charging to happen during the day, he can get a competent spark to monitor the supply and see if there's a volt drop and work out/confirm what's causing it. If the supply is dropping below statutory limits then there's a fair chance the DNO will have to bolster the supply.

The MCS standard requires install by an MCS registered contractor. If you were going to claim DIY to all other aspects of the MCS standard was the equivalent, then whoever did the work would likely need to meet the requirements of MCS registration whilst not actually being registered?? Otherwise how do you demonstrate equivalent compliance with the section that requires the work be done by an MCS registered contractor??

https://www.planningportal.co.uk/permission/common-projects/heat-pumps/planning-permission-air-source-heat-pump Unless you can find equivalent standards, then PD seems to be wholly dependant on MCS standards

I believe there's plenty of systems that will island the house and give several kw of power to the house. I've no personal experience but beleive tesla powerwall does it using their gateway, solaredge now support whole house backup and I think there's lots of others. Whatever you do make sure is certified for UK grid connection and from a reputable manufacturerer- you don't want to be powering the grid when a linesman is trying to fix a fault!

It will(should) only produce power on the back up/UPS/EPS AC output. The AC connection to the grid will shutdown if the grid supply is lost.

Maybe I'm missing something but there seems no point in battery storage if youve got a disc meter?? If you've got 10kwh spare PV and it runs to grid then there's 10 units "credit" on the meter for later use when you draw from the grid. Put the same 10 units into your own batteries and youve got to spend £1000's and suffer the charging/inversion losses when you want to use your PV later. Just make sure your usage is more than generation in the summer so the meter has a small net increase in the reading. Not sure how legit your set up is but net metering seems a reasonable thing to me

Don't forget that any contract you sign accepting a certain level of noise for a meagre sum will likely apply to any future buyer of your house and limit its saleability.

SPEN charged me £300 for a G99 a couple of years ago. Couldn't fault SPENs design guys

Data sheet says that's got an RS485 interface to an energy meter and the battery, so you'd be able to use your cat 5 cable to run RS 485 between an energy meter on the incoming supply and an inverter in the shed. With a base voltage of 240vac ish you're not likely to have volt rise issues at your inverter based on your calcs

Having an RS485 connected energy meter monitoring the import/export is the std way that Solaredge do charging/export limitation. I don't know if Givenergy have that option or rely on a CT directly connected to the inverter. If they rely on a direct CT connection then either the CT signal would likely travel a reasonable distance or they'll be limiting the use of their inverters by needing them to be mounted near to the incoming supply. You should be able to get that info from Givenergy??