Self Build PV and Battery in Warwickshire

[PJW]

We are going to break ground later this year and want to arrange for PV to be installed as well as battery storage that fill's up over-night from the grid when the PV doesn't do the job during the winter months. Who has done this already?

There are so many companies out there but who are the good ones?

We are based south warwickshire.

Many Thanks

Pete

[Carrerahill]

We have this, just bought the bits and installed it, roofer helped with the PV panel bit, although I actually installed the rails and panels, I wired it all, installed it all, commissioned it all. I didn't need or want the system MCS certified and as I was 100% self consuming I was not interested in any pay in. I just fired off a G98 to the DNO, I think. 

 

A friend who happens to be an electrician came and helped as he wanted to learn how to do it (I had already done PV on the shed and garage) - so I taught him how to do it all, from how to design the system to crimp up MC4 connectors etc. and he wrote up a minor works certificate. Brilliant isn't it! (facepalm!).

 

 

[frankmcs65]

On 05/04/2024 at 14:19, Carrerahill said:

We have this, just bought the bits and installed it, roofer helped with the PV panel bit, although I actually installed the rails and panels, I wired it all, installed it all, commissioned it all. I didn't need or want the system MCS certified and as I was 100% self consuming I was not interested in any pay in. I just fired off a G98 to the DNO, I think. 

 

A friend who happens to be an electrician came and helped as he wanted to learn how to do it (I had already done PV on the shed and garage) - so I taught him how to do it all, from how to design the system to crimp up MC4 connectors etc. and he wrote up a minor works certificate. Brilliant isn't it! (facepalm!).

 

 

same here,with a good background of electronics I've installed and improved over the years everything myself,beeing now 99% independent.I just finished a 2p17s lifepo4 storage with 34 kw to be more independent when solar is tide.For me. in a way is important to know your equipment-how it works-,in that case you're even able to repair it yourself....of course,if you think you can handle this😇🛠️cheers Frank

Edited January 3 by frankmcs65
more clear

[PaulFC]

On 05/04/2024 at 11:08, PJW said:

We are going to break ground later this year and want to arrange for PV to be installed as well as battery storage that fill's up over-night from the grid when the PV doesn't do the job during the winter months. Who has done this already?

There are so many companies out there but who are the good ones?

We are based south warwickshire.

Many Thanks

Pete

Hi Pete 

 

I'm doing planning similar thing - also south warwicks ( near Fenny Compton) but am at a bit earlier stage. Should get Planning sorted in June for first fix in July onwards..

Still at the point of working through what realistic monthly outputs are from PV / Battery store (with Diesel gen backup) in Winter on assumption I'd get something like a 12-15kw install.. (as preference to significant outlay to connect to National Grid).

 

Any advice re best people to work with would be great!

Don't place much trust in what I get from PV salesmen as doesn't tally up with the horror stories from friends off grid in real winter outputs 😞

 

cheers

Paul

[Dillsue]

Have a look at PVGIS to see what youre likely to get year round. You can get figures by the hour/day/month etc so should give you something meaningful to crunch your figures with

[SteamyTea]

10 minutes ago, Dillsue said:

Have a look at PVGIS to see what youre likely to get year round. You can get figures by the hour/day/month etc so should give you something meaningful to crunch your figures with

Or just size your generator/storage combination for your lowest possible usage on the worse weather day, plus 10% safety margin.

 

So say you normally need 20 kWh/day electrical power, but on the coldest/darkest/windiest days you need 24 kWh/day. 

That is a mean power of 1 kW. 

The smallest practical generator is really about 5 kW (not talking portable ones here). But you do not want to be running a generator all day at 1/5^th power as that is probably not that efficient. 2/3^rd max power, or 3.3 kW may be better. If you need 24 kWh plus 10% system losses for the worse days, you only need to run the generator for a total if 8 hours. Your battery storage would need to be 17.4 kWh.

 

If you run the generator during peak daylight, i.e. 8AM to 4PM, and solar production will either charge batteries or be diverted to other household loads.  So not wasted.

 

These numbers will need adjusting to actual usage predictions, and battery life estimates (charge between 20 and 80% SoC), but you get the idea.