Storage

[The Solar King]

Thought there should be a dedicated thread on this as it is going to come up time and again. Would be great to see useful information all exchanged in one place. Like others, we are actively evaluating differing options and will post links to anything felt helpful.

For a bit of humour, thought I would quote the Telsa install manual:

STEP 11 - MOUNT POWERWALL

1. With Powerwall still in its box, keeping it as level as possible, lift it so that the mounting cleat is just above the lip on the wall mount bracket. Use the tape or pencil marks on the wall as visual guides.

2. Lower Powerwall so that the cleat on the back of Powerwall fits securely over the lip on the bracket.


It only weighs 100kg for Christ's sake! Even as a two man lift the risk of a hernia is extreme! Seems Health and Safety are not an issue in the U.S. Also doesn't seem you can remove the batteries to make installation safe. It does warn that the Powerwall is heavy and challenging to fit..............

Interestingly, the 7kw unit is actually 6.4kw, same as the LG Chem unit.

 

[The Solar King]

Interesting blog here:

DEEPGREEN: Battery Storage 1: Which battery is best?

 

[The Solar King]

BRE technical guide here: BREbookshop.com
BRE consumer guide here: BRE: Storage

 

[whinmoor]

A negative view on the finances on SPP today:

Power price tumble preventing storage from taking off in the UK, panel concludes | Solar Power Portal

 

[solarfred]

Grid supplied energy prices are manipulated just like any commodity according to supply and demand. Storage solutions are no different. Redflow reduced there storage solution price by 50% last year to try and jump start their entry into the market. Any new player will set their price according to the market cost of energy to maximise profit as there is no reason to be a moral pathfinder for the cause. You have to recoup your development costs asap and then drop prices to maintain a market share ahead of the competition. Some systems have a large margin to play with and some have a very slim one. You do the research and make your choice based on financial, moral, safety, and ease of installation/use criteria.

 

[Worcester]

Got this in the email box yesterday
Growatt SP2000 Storage System - DC Coupled - so replaces your existing solar inverter (single MPP) Inverter
plus 5kWh Li-ion battery pack (no mention of DoD figures though) (52V - that's unusual )
Offer Price £1,999.00 + Vat & Delivery
http://www.stealthenergy.co.uk/stea...-growatt-inverter/storage-inverter/index.shtm

 

[Gavin A]

Got this in the email box yesterday
Growatt SP2000 Storage System - DC Coupled - so replaces your existing solar inverter (single MPP) Inverter
plus 5kWh Li-ion battery pack (no mention of DoD figures though) (52V - that's unusual )
Offer Price £1,999.00 + Vat & Delivery
http://www.stealthenergy.co.uk/stea...-growatt-inverter/storage-inverter/index.shtm

it doesn't replace the existing inverter, it works with your existing inverter, it has no capacity to invert dc to ac and match to grid etc, it's just a charge and discharge controller on the DC side of the inverter.

 

[Gavin A]

So far I seem to be doing battery tech support for 3-4 suppliers.

 

[Worcester]

Sorry link got broken somehow (should have had an "l" on the end .shtml ) SP2000 Growatt UK Storage System, Solar Battery Storage, storage inverter, wholesaler

 

[whinmoor]

I think it only works with single mppt inverters. Growatt plan to introduce a twin tracker model later this year.

 

[whinmoor]

Went to Segen's storage day near Manchester today. Decent presentations from many suppliers. Solar Edge & Tesla look like a premium combo.

Most interesting was SMA's new offering - "Sunny Boy Storage". It will be white (Boy = red, Island = yellow, Tripower = blue).

The presenter said that it may be possible to fit it to properties without PV but with Economy 7. So, you'd be doing the opposite of PV - filling the batteries at night with cheaper leccy and discharging during the day. He said the DNOs would love it as it helps to balance the Grid.

I guess it will all boil down to finance as usual.

 

[Gavin A]

using economy 7 is in no way economic when you take into account the lifetime cost of storage + the economy 7 cost of leccy.

There really is far too much pie in the sky stuff being spouted on this at the moment.

 

[SibertSolar]

I've heard this a couple of times today. I'm booked in for next week's seminar on Weds

 

[Marvo]

Thought there should be a dedicated thread on this as it is going to come up time and again. Would be great to see useful information all exchanged in one place........

I've pinned this thread for now so hopefully any discussions on storage as the technology progresses can be kept here. If it becomes a hot enough topic I'll look into getting a 'Storage' sub-forum created if necessary.


*Edit*
Do you specifically want this thread in the Lounge for privacy reasons Solar King or can I put it in the public facing 'Photovoltaic / Solar Panels Forum' where it will probably attract more interest?

 

[Worcester]

Do you specifically want this thread in the Lounge for privacy reasons Solar King or can I put it in the public facing 'Photovoltaic / Solar Panels Forum' where it will probably attract more interest?

We put it in the lounge to discuss deep technical stuff and market drivers etc out of the public eye deliberately. So we don't get drawn into educating joe public and having the usual circular discussions

There is another similar thread in the public forum which we've agreed to update with important / key information after we've thrashed out our debate.