Pinball info
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Looking at the graph posted my guess would be that your battery is empty and the inverter is doing a short charge twice a day to keep the battery voltage level up as if its like mine the inverter is powered by the battery and not the AC connection and I saw this exact behaviour with my inverter which I have currently turned off as my solar doesn't produce enough at this time of year to put any charge into the battery.
Is there anything in the app to show the State of Charge of the battery?
Is there anything in the app to show the State of Charge of the battery?
Found a nice little 77KWh battery to power the garage / Bertha
So my cheap tariff overnight at 7.1p charges both the 11.2 KWh house battery and tops up my car.
So it got me wondering as the other night the house battery ran out around 8pm due to a 6hr session on Bertha during the day and very little solar harvested due to this shocking weather.
Taa daa! Think I’ve found the perfect solution! Plug my garage into the car during the day as it sits unused most days anyway.
Be interesting to see how it fairs over the day and when I’m not using Bertha I’ll dump the extension in the house and plug a little 2kw fan heater into it.
So my cheap tariff overnight at 7.1p charges both the 11.2 KWh house battery and tops up my car.
So it got me wondering as the other night the house battery ran out around 8pm due to a 6hr session on Bertha during the day and very little solar harvested due to this shocking weather.
Taa daa! Think I’ve found the perfect solution! Plug my garage into the car during the day as it sits unused most days anyway.
Be interesting to see how it fairs over the day and when I’m not using Bertha I’ll dump the extension in the house and plug a little 2kw fan heater into it.
Bi-directional car charging is the way forward to balance the grid and keep people off grid during the peak.
Shame it isn’t easier to just leave the car plugged into the charger and feed the house.
Shame it isn’t easier to just leave the car plugged into the charger and feed the house.
That sounds feasible, was told the batteries are set to get no lower than 15% charge so must be topping themselves up when needed. Currently sat at 16% charged.
Bright, sunny day here and currently PV knocking out 1.4Kw. Hardly anything on in the house but still nothing going to the batteries
Asiapinball
Site Supporter
Octopus Energy were trialling exactly this V2G technology with Nissan Leaf back in 2019. Apparently Nissan were the only ones that would continue to warrant batteries if used in this way. Not sure whether they ever rolled out.
Your car could act as a giant battery to power your home
We’re trialling this tech now with our groundbreaking Powerloop bundle, one of the world’s first mass domestic V2G projects, and the most cutting-edge work being done by Nissan in this field. Click here to read about Nissan’s work with this technology.
octopus.energy
Asiapinball
Site Supporter
Answering my own question, the trial is still ongoing, not yet rolled out.
octopusev.com
Powerloop | V2G | Octopus Electric Vehicles
Learn more about the Octopus Vehicle-to-Grid bundle called Powerloop, a UK first for next gen energy grid management with the Nissan LEAF + Wallbox charger
octopusev.com
It's tech that's definitely on the radar that car OEMs are thinking about. As always with car tech frontiers, the issue is going to be agreeing a standard, especially in a lot of these EV cases where the standard is only useful if everyone follows it (see: Tesla and proprietary charge port designs 
).
I'm sure we'll get there eventually when a few of the big boys agree on a good way to do it, and a few years later it becomes the de-facto and then codified standard.
).I'm sure we'll get there eventually when a few of the big boys agree on a good way to do it, and a few years later it becomes the de-facto and then codified standard.
Or fast track that fusion reactor technology they've just proven. That's where the smart money should be goingWe just need a huge USB C connector
If you are definately producing that amount I would have a look in the loft and see what the panel on the inverter is showing, depending on the model you should be able to go through the display and see if it is showing a grid in/out reading as it sounds like your inverter is possibly not reading the CT clamp correctly or at all.
Also something Ive noticed is for the CT clamps if they are clamped around a cable but not connected to anything on the other end correctly they will make a buzzing noise when powers going through the cable, would be a good indicator if its make noise near the meter that its not connected correctly.
Would also expect to see more info on that graph you posted about generation and self use etc to show picked up from that CT clamp as well.
Would also expect to see more info on that graph you posted about generation and self use etc to show picked up from that CT clamp as well.
Supplier suspects growing cannabis
Wintonmartin
Site Supporter
Looks like I've found the company i'm going to go with. I just need to make a decision on the panels. Its either Trina or Longi. Trina are 420w so generate a little more.
Does anyone have any advice?
Trina 6300w
Or
Longi 600w
With
Solax 5kw inverter
Solax 5.8kw Battery
Does anyone have any advice?
Trina 6300w
Or
Longi 600w
With
Solax 5kw inverter
Solax 5.8kw Battery
If its gonna be a 6kw panels id probably go with a bigger inverter as 5kw little under speced as they panels will generate more at peak, my 4.8kw panels will peak at 5.6k sometimes. Also if you can throw in a another 5.8kw slave battery it really helps out in the evening and you don't have to worry as much about what devices your running (we are electric hob/oven etc.. you might be gas in which case might not matter)
Are all the panels on the same aspect of the house? If they are on multiple sides then the inverter is less of an issue. Mine are on two aspects and I hit the 3.6kW limit only a handful of times from 4.2kW of panels.
Always get the most kW of panels unless there is a quality difference on the panels. Such as how well they deal with heat, we shocks us all when glorious sunshine gets let than a cooler day because the panels loose efficiency in heat.
Always get the most kW of panels unless there is a quality difference on the panels. Such as how well they deal with heat, we shocks us all when glorious sunshine gets let than a cooler day because the panels loose efficiency in heat.
Wintonmartin
Site Supporter
I did query this but they said it was fine. I'd like a slave battery but no way am I selling another pinball. It should be easy enough to add another in the future, although i'll pay the VAT.
They're all south facing on the main roof.
I think the quality is about the same on comparison, same with the warranty. I'll have a look at the spec for heat performance.
Just to explain the panels being limited by the inverter.
At some times, when the sun is at the perfect angle and at its best, your panels could generate 6.3kW but the inverter will kick out less, sounds like 5kW. That is a 20% drop.
Now most days, and most of the time, the sun won’t be able to generate maximum and so the cost of the smaller inverter isn’t that obvious and the bigger panels will give you more all year round.
But a 6kW inverter might not be that much more in actual cost.
At some times, when the sun is at the perfect angle and at its best, your panels could generate 6.3kW but the inverter will kick out less, sounds like 5kW. That is a 20% drop.
Now most days, and most of the time, the sun won’t be able to generate maximum and so the cost of the smaller inverter isn’t that obvious and the bigger panels will give you more all year round.
But a 6kW inverter might not be that much more in actual cost.
Yeah you can 100% add on later (just make sure you normalise them before installation hehe)
The more useful of the two options are definitely battery over panels IMO. Solar generation is quite pitiful this time of year but thankfully I have 11.2kw battery so can force charge it overnight at 7.1p KWh and it just about lasts right through to the next charge so I'm pretty much off grid during the day/peak hours.
Bearing in mind I am in all day where a lot of people would be at work so I wouldn’t be able to do this if I only had a 5.6KWh Battery! My neighbour has done his research and has forgone the panels altogether, opting for a large battery installation using a similar overnight tariff to mine.
During the summer months I am generating more than I can use and theres no need for the overnight charge but the time you most need energy is the 3-4 winter months.
Interesting col. how much do these 11kwh batteries cost and how big are they??
It is also important to check you can get the EV charge tarrif at night that is cheaper. Some suppliers wanted to see evidence of an EV to qualify and the day rate was then more expensive. You want to make sure you can then live off grid during the day.
Batteries are more expensive than panels, and potentially easier to add another later as no scaffold is required.
Batteries are more expensive than panels, and potentially easier to add another later as no scaffold is required.
Wintonmartin
Site Supporter
Throwing a spanner in the works now Col 
. I've been indecisive as it is
. I've been indecisive as it isHas your neighbor got an Electric car? All these cheap night rate tariffs require you to own a EV from what iv found.