Home Solar Upgrade Day 1

[Bandersnatch]

Very Nice.... Looks like every inverter has a its own "Dongle" to communicate between each other via WIFI rather than through cable.

The inverters and batteries communicate with each other via LAN cable. The WiFi dongles on the inverter are to communicate with the app on my phone

Each Inverter and it's battery has its own data on the app

[ChuckNorris]

When I see a set up like that it makes me realise how much more I need to learn. A whole lot more.

[iammike]

May I ask about the ROI of a system like this?

[Bandersnatch]

 @iammike
"May I ask about the ROI of a system like this? "


I discussed some of this in my reply to ChuckNorris


"The cheapest entry into solar would be a system with no batteries that covers say 80% of daytime usage with solar panels. 1 unit of electricity (1 kilowatt hour) costs 4 Baht. If you installed 1kW of solar panels and the sun shines for 8 hours a day that would save you 32 Baht per day. So for every kW of solar you have you are saving 1,000 Baht per month of your PEA bill

Solar panels cost about 10 Baht per watt. Inverters cost about 10,000 Baht per kilowatt "

So if your reason for buying solar is purely the maximum financial bang for your buck you would never buy more solar panel kWs that than you can consume. So for instance a 3 kW system without batteries would probably have a 2-3 year payback.

My approach is different  - I have money sitting in the bank earning 0.5% interest  - I don't ever want to have a power cut (quite common where I live)  - I want to produce power for my car.

I am probably looking at a 5-6 year payback but I am off-grid and that costs a premium.

Even if it was a 10 year payback that would be a 10% return on my investment far better than the 0.5% I currently getting.

[iammike]

Thx for the explanation.

I have the same issue as you, I have an amount in my Bank Account because of a land deal that didn't go through (was trying to expand our plot from 3,5 to 7,5 Rai) but I am a bit torn between the inclu Battery option or not.

Most of our electricity usage is either early morning or early evening and at night.

Early morning (between 6 and 7:30) and early evening (between 5pm and 6:30pm) it is watering the wife's extensive garden and filling up the Tanks (also for her garden) and at night it's aircon!

So Solar Panels won't be much help, but I could go for the scheme with the smart meter that will offset our electricity usage a bit. (or for the back spinning meter 555555555555

Also one more issue (I think) with batteries is that there is a EOL after so many charge cycles and what I have seen batteries (for solar) are not the cheapest. (also not the safest unfortunately)

Maybe I am talking BS here because I do not hardly know enough to make an informed decision (yet)

But very interesting thread and very interesting setup.

TiA

Ps: We also have a lot of Power Cuts (that's why I have a separate UPS for all my major appliances. (But the power cuts here are not as bad as in the old house,
normal occurrence there was 1-2 hours a day and even worse in the weekends (up to 18 hours one time)

[Bandersnatch]

Hi @iammike - I would not recommend a system like mine for most people. Going completely off-grid is expensive (if you want to be comfortable) or you have to live a very simple life.

Regarding battery cycle life  - In one of the videos I explained that my lithium iron phosphate batteries have a 6,000+ cycle life based on a recommended depth of discharge of 80%  which is over 16 years. I am currently running my batteries down by only 25% so this would put less stress on the batteries and give them a longer life.

I don't know if you have read my Blog but there are sections on it that may be of interest to you. I have 3 solar well pumps and drip feed irrigation system.

https://ecohousethailand.com/water/

https://ecohousethailand.com/food-farm/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pnrGsZY53P4

[iammike]

Thanks

I see in here https://ecohousethailand.com/food-farm/ that you use a 500 Watt Pump for the Garden. May I ask how SQM meters (in total) it covers?

[Bandersnatch]

Thanks

I see in here https://ecohousethailand.com/food-farm/ that you use a 500 Watt Pump for the Garden. May I ask how SQM meters (in total) it covers?

400m (not square m) of drip irrigation line with a drip point every meter

[BillH52]

"The legal way is to produce some of your own power from solar and so reduce the amount you have to buy from PEA.

The cheapest entry into solar would be a system with no batteries that covers say 80% of daytime usage with solar panels.
1 unit of electricity (1 kilowatt hour) costs 4 Baht. If you installed 1kW of solar panels and the sun shines for 8 hours a day
that would save you 32 Baht per day. So for every kW of solar you have you are saving 1,000 Baht per month of your PEA bill"
[/quote]

This makes sense to me and sounds like a great place to start.  Appreciate you information!

[Bandersnatch]

GROWATT SPF 5000 ES Inverter

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5vtDPisp0pU

[Bandersnatch]

Added a few more solar panels

https://youtu.be/L_dpqTP99P8