Great job! For those living in cloudy/rainy areas, pay attention to the solar cell design! The "half cells" make a HUGE difference over the square cells!!! Bunch of companies now offer them, Hanwha, Quingbo, etc to name a few. Perfect for UK weather! or the PNW where I live. I have generated solar on bright rainy days! its crazy! Lithium batteries are a game changer if you can afford them. I would love to see if or how you setup a monitoring system maybe with home assistant or other open source solutions. Also a gaming pc on a DC power supply off of the battery! Cheers from Canada.
@@nikkithuillier5519 I think he means poly vs mono, poly being actually better on cloudy days even though they're less "efficient" spec wise and considered older tech they perform better in cloud coverage from what ive read, and also had great results with my poly panels I got recently but admitiedly no mono's to compare with.
@@mikejones-vd3fg No - half cells are normal cells cut in half which halves their current output but allows you to fit twice as many. This way you get a higher panel voltage which reduces cabling losses.
Nice, I am going to plant a galvanized steel pole in my back yard, build a steel frame and make rotary, tilting mechanism to manually follow the sun, leave it in a flat way if the wind gets too strong.
£3000 - to pay that pack in a year when you're producing 400w per hour; 400w per hour = 9.6kWh per day = 3504 kWh per year. £3000 / 3504kWh = 85p per kWh. Price cap is 34p per kWh, so 85 / 34 = 2.5 years to recover £3000.
Great project, I am preparing to make a frame from wood to put on my garage to host 4 solar panels. I like to have them running say March/May next year. It is all doable just takes some time preparing. Not going for battery yet, but will in the future, especially when getting an electric car.
I got excited at a small off grid system from my garage roof.Hit full stop and market silence : Can you advise any information on a manual grid/solar power transfer switch Understood it was possible to select some existing house circuits: Switch them to solar as and when ? Many commercial manual power transfer devices in USA but UK appears silent ? Ms O
Can you link up that 90 deg clamp that you used to drill the frame together please, looks like a useful piece of kit. Good to see someone in the UK doing this I'm about to do something very similar but using micro grid tie inverters.
The specific one I have I bought from B&Q a few years ago - www.diy.com/departments/magnusson-corner-clamp/1797805_BQ.prd - reviews on there say it's terrible quality but I can't say I have any problems with mine beyond it being obviously cheap.
Be careful of those passive balancers, they do explode if any cells haver too big a delta. Only use those on Lifepo4 when the battery is fully charged and cells are above 3.55v. Let it balance whilst you monitor with a multi meter then disconnect the BMS when it has finished. Do not leave in the pack as it will try to balance all the time and cause the opposite to happen and a big fire hazard. They work but only when top balancing and then only use once a month...good lifepo4 cells stay in balance for a long time.
Hi there, great video. I trying to build a solar system to charge my electric car. I normally consume around 500 kWh per month from the grid. How could do this with solar? I live in the uk grrrrrrrrr. I haven’t got a clue home panels or battery’s to buy?? Any help would be appreciated
Fantastic video Can you put links to where you got the different parts from for this project please. (PV panels, eve 280ah cells etc) I'm also in the UK was looking at grade A Eve 280ah / 305ah cells (305ah cells where same physical size, slightly greater capacity but were £50 extra cost each so will be choosing 280ah capacity) Most I found would have been shipped from china (long wait and shipping costs, not easy to return if faulty) A lot of the 3000w- 4000w contiuouse power pure sinewave inverters I'm interested in getting, on the Internet have 110v outputs meaning a lot less units to choose from, for UK 240v use. Looking forward to your next video about the inverter you use to power inside your home from this project. Thanks Paul
I ordered my system last week. 12 x Trina 425W panels and Givenergy 5KW inverter + 9.5 KWh battery + 7KW EV charger. In case the price still go up, my investment can be returned under 2 years.
Ah that's going to be amazing! Let me know how you get on with that - I'd also love to know what that ends up costing once it's installed (I assume professionally?)
@@TechteamGB Nope, as a hobby electrician I will give it a try my self, and call over a certified electrician friend when everything is done, or if I stuck somewhere. Professional installers have 6 to 8 months waiting list, tons of enquiries... And cost a lot more too.
@@TechteamGB off grid or on? I'm doing an off grid but with grid back up and 18kw of batteries, don't need to inform the power company because I'm not able to export
It's interesting to see someone doing an off-grid stye system in urban UK, so thanks for that. How are you handling the possibility of battery power running out overnight?
I'm planning on adding an automatic transfer switch to switch back to mains should that happen, although I'm currently planning my loads so that even with minimal sun input it should still run fine.
Not bad but you should look at a off grid hybrid inverter and with this you can connect your grid and use it as a ups with solar and battery priority. Also in the UK planning permission is required for non building fitted solar unless under a certain size, yours is fine for sure, I'm just about to fit 4kw to my 'pergula' at the bottom of my garden 😉 max 4m high and 2m away from boundary
@@TechteamGB you can even if you don't own the property and you don't need to 'grid tie' hybrid off grid goes between your main fuse and the consumer unit which then uses the incoming when you don't have solar or battery and easy to put back to normal when you leave
True, although I'm currently dealing with a failed electrical safety certificate for a number of faults and the landlord still hasn't had the electrician fix the issues let alone do the necessary upgrades. I currently don't have a proper consumer unit, nor any ground fault protection. Hell every plug socket in my house are on the same ring, including my boiler!
@@TechteamGB You can drill your own earth/ground system in the ground in the garden, works well with renting house. They are like 2-3 long pipes. Put your drill on them to push/make them go into the soil and deep soil. Then connect your cable to it. That sort of idea. Look more on the internet how to exacly do it. Shouldn't be too dear and you can diy it. So much better than having no earth/ground on your systems.
Ironically, those selfdrilling screws are meant for metal and they work bad in wood compared to screws meant for timber which you should be using. And predrilling the hole actually makes em work even worse .
Hi Andrew, I've literally just discovered you 2 days ago and about to embark my own solar system to help my home electricity supply and keep costs at bay. (Owned 4bed detached house Sunderland Tyne and wear) shed has 20 deg pitch 6.5 mtrs x 1.9 x 2 do you have a costing list and point me in right direction in terms of a basic system for a battery storage plan then at a later date maybe adding on for a grid hook up. oh and possibly additional panels on a frame system at a later stage like your youtube prt 1 . Warm regards john (working in construction for over 40 yrs so can handle all the set up )
Recouping £3k in under a year with a 3 panel solar setup is not happening lol. 400W all day every day for starters isn't going to happen with UK solar irradiance, especially going into winter. You'll be lucky to get 4-6 hours of decent production. Using pvwatts for a 1.3kW system you're looking about 1000kWh a year. Even at the old 0.34p/kWh rate thats 1/10 of what you predicted, coming in at roughly £366 a year in savings, so over 8 years to pay it back
Great set of videos. Can you advise if the metal bracket connecting the panels to the wooden beams is universal and likely to work with multiple panel manufacturers - and where to buy them please? As I'm wanting to place a couple of panels on top of a garden purgola. Secondly, those sections of frame which are higher than the panels may cast a shadow which will reduce the efficiency of the panel - especially when the sun is low in the sky. Thanks!
I've just added links to the description, but the cells were from Fogstar Wholesale - www.fogstar-wholesale.co.uk/product/eve-lifepo4-prismatic-cell-280ah/
BEWARE your 13A ring main is 2.5mm2 cable with a 16A (3600W) circuit breaker on it. There's a reason 3.68+ kWh inverter installs have to be signed off by the grid provider and an electrician, they can kill. 6000W is scary!
The batteries expand while charging and discharging apiece of plywood on each end of the pack and clamped together with 4 threaded rods one each corner and tightened the battery case will crack if it compressed. Hate to see you loose the money invested
Additionally, those support beams extending beyond the panel surface, will cause shadows, which will disproportionally reduce performance too. A small sliver of shadow will reduce the panel output by 10-30%. Having those triangle corners will similairly disproportionally reduce performance.
I noticed that right way. A few blades of grass greatly reduces output when testing my panels in my yard. Those shadows on the panel can also cause resistive heat spots and fires.
no no no no no! it will not take you a year to recoup the cost of your set up! I've built my own too, cost me £1854 in total. I use about 1-3kwh of electricity from the solar. with the days getting shorter, my solar is reducing, especially with the bad weather now. I did my calculations on my system, would take 9.5 years to recoup the cost!! How on earth are you getting 1 year? Another thing, you should not be keeping those batteries in a shed over winter. The cold weather frost will kill them if they are charged at a minus temperature 😬 I've had my system since May, and have used aprox 214Kwh on it, that does not equal hundreds of pounds saved tho. Even at the fixed rate I'm on now, 57p a kwh, that only equals £121.98, thats for just under 4 months if usage, over summer. Maybe revist your maths in your payback time 👍
I got solar power for emergencies. I may be able to shave some cost off my monthly power bill once I finish my main 2000 watt inverter system using a 300 ah battery but the real blessing and value will be emergency power for cooking, heating water, backup for my refrigerator and freezer batteries, and cooling off using a tiny window air conditioner after hurricanes.
Well, they have to lie about solar so the leftists feel great about it. Many of them think you can put a solar panel on a car and never need electricity again.
Either your calculations are off, your a light enerygy user or you have overpaid for a very small pv system or not using it to its full potential. I paid approx £1.5k for a diy install system and at current costs and based on my usage (approx 0.6kw/h) with an estimated 8 hour usage window per day, I estimate 2-3year payback.
@@IXISSV Sorry perhaps I didnt explain well. My daily average at the moment is 20-25kw, my hourly average during the day/sunlight is about 600watts (higher peaks during night for hot tub, evening cooking etc..). So my calculations are 0.27p (my electric rate) x 6 hours a day (average sunlight per year - a guess) = £1.62 per day I can save using solar. So a year would be a saving of £591, taking me to approx 3 years payback. There are lots of variables to take into account but this calculation seems achievable at a minimum.
You work at the electricity place? Solar panels earn themselves back in no time these days. And as the prices keep spiking of energy, becoming more independant is really good for your wallet. And it is cleaner energy.
@@jankees4037 Not really clean, and economically they are good for the manufacturer and the one who installs them, and when they get old 15-20 years later, you have to buy new ones and batteries as well
I thought you need planning permission to put panels on anything that isn't a building or shed in the UK. How did you get away with placing them on that frame you built?
Great job! For those living in cloudy/rainy areas, pay attention to the solar cell design! The "half cells" make a HUGE difference over the square cells!!! Bunch of companies now offer them, Hanwha, Quingbo, etc to name a few. Perfect for UK weather! or the PNW where I live. I have generated solar on bright rainy days! its crazy! Lithium batteries are a game changer if you can afford them. I would love to see if or how you setup a monitoring system maybe with home assistant or other open source solutions. Also a gaming pc on a DC power supply off of the battery! Cheers from Canada.
Thanks for the tip on "Half Cells"
@@nikkithuillier5519 I think he means poly vs mono, poly being actually better on cloudy days even though they're less "efficient" spec wise and considered older tech they perform better in cloud coverage from what ive read, and also had great results with my poly panels I got recently but admitiedly no mono's to compare with.
@@mikejones-vd3fg No - half cells are normal cells cut in half which halves their current output but allows you to fit twice as many. This way you get a higher panel voltage which reduces cabling losses.
Thanks for this mate. Surprisingly not many good guides like this for the UK.
Won't you get better transfer if you have the inverter in the shed and run mains to the house?
Nice, I am going to plant a galvanized steel pole in my back yard, build a steel frame and make rotary, tilting mechanism to manually follow the sun, leave it in a flat way if the wind gets too strong.
£3000 - to pay that pack in a year when you're producing 400w per hour;
400w per hour = 9.6kWh per day = 3504 kWh per year.
£3000 / 3504kWh = 85p per kWh.
Price cap is 34p per kWh, so 85 / 34 = 2.5 years to recover £3000.
1 year payback is pretty good for a battery backed system
Great Video Andy, starteed to make me think of getting dome of thoughs panels and get my Bro (Spark) to do the Electic setup
Nice video, well done, I would recommend looking into earthing your panels etc too. 👍
Yes, you need to earth your panels for sure. At where they are connected to the lip that goes on the wood.
Great project, I am preparing to make a frame from wood to put on my garage to host 4 solar panels. I like to have them running say March/May next year. It is all doable just takes some time preparing. Not going for battery yet, but will in the future, especially when getting an electric car.
I got excited at a small off grid system from my garage roof.Hit full stop and market silence : Can you advise any information on a manual grid/solar power transfer switch Understood it was possible to select some existing house circuits: Switch them to solar as and when ? Many commercial manual power transfer devices in USA but UK appears silent ? Ms O
Can you link up that 90 deg clamp that you used to drill the frame together please, looks like a useful piece of kit. Good to see someone in the UK doing this I'm about to do something very similar but using micro grid tie inverters.
The specific one I have I bought from B&Q a few years ago - www.diy.com/departments/magnusson-corner-clamp/1797805_BQ.prd - reviews on there say it's terrible quality but I can't say I have any problems with mine beyond it being obviously cheap.
Thanks for this, very interesting. It's not clear (to me at least) how you distribute the power to your appliances. Any chance of elaborating? Ta.
Nicely done. I'm seriously considering something like this myself given the meteoric rises in power costs lately.
Be careful of those passive balancers, they do explode if any cells haver too big a delta. Only use those on Lifepo4 when the battery is fully charged and cells are above 3.55v. Let it balance whilst you monitor with a multi meter then disconnect the BMS when it has finished. Do not leave in the pack as it will try to balance all the time and cause the opposite to happen and a big fire hazard. They work but only when top balancing and then only use once a month...good lifepo4 cells stay in balance for a long time.
Hi there, great video. I trying to build a solar system to charge my electric car. I normally consume around 500 kWh per month from the grid. How could do this with solar? I live in the uk grrrrrrrrr. I haven’t got a clue home panels or battery’s to buy??
Any help would be appreciated
Fantastic video
Can you put links to where you got the different parts from
for this project please. (PV panels, eve 280ah cells etc)
I'm also in the UK was looking at grade A Eve 280ah / 305ah cells (305ah cells where same physical size, slightly greater capacity but were £50 extra cost each so will be choosing 280ah capacity) Most I found would have been shipped from china (long wait and shipping costs, not easy to return if faulty)
A lot of the 3000w- 4000w contiuouse power pure sinewave inverters I'm interested in getting, on the Internet have 110v outputs meaning a lot less units to choose from, for UK 240v use.
Looking forward to your next video about the inverter you use to power inside your home from this project.
Thanks Paul
I've just added links to the description for you!
I ordered my system last week. 12 x Trina 425W panels and Givenergy 5KW inverter + 9.5 KWh battery + 7KW EV charger. In case the price still go up, my investment can be returned under 2 years.
Ah that's going to be amazing! Let me know how you get on with that - I'd also love to know what that ends up costing once it's installed (I assume professionally?)
@@TechteamGB Nope, as a hobby electrician I will give it a try my self, and call over a certified electrician friend when everything is done, or if I stuck somewhere. Professional installers have 6 to 8 months waiting list, tons of enquiries... And cost a lot more too.
Ah nice, that makes plenty of sense! The commercial stuff is pretty plug and play so shouldn't be too bad.
@@TechteamGB off grid or on? I'm doing an off grid but with grid back up and 18kw of batteries, don't need to inform the power company because I'm not able to export
It's interesting to see someone doing an off-grid stye system in urban UK, so thanks for that. How are you handling the possibility of battery power running out overnight?
I'm planning on adding an automatic transfer switch to switch back to mains should that happen, although I'm currently planning my loads so that even with minimal sun input it should still run fine.
I've just spent £5000 on 8 x 550w panels, a hybrid inverter and 4.8kw battery packs...... can't wait to get them up and running!!
550wp ones are big ones. I have already 400wp panels and for next years project aiming to add some 450wp panels.
@@jankees4037 they are big!!!
This is a great video. Well done you
Not bad but you should look at a off grid hybrid inverter and with this you can connect your grid and use it as a ups with solar and battery priority. Also in the UK planning permission is required for non building fitted solar unless under a certain size, yours is fine for sure, I'm just about to fit 4kw to my 'pergula' at the bottom of my garden 😉 max 4m high and 2m away from boundary
If I owned the house I'd use a hybrid/grid-tie inverter for sure!
@@TechteamGB you can even if you don't own the property and you don't need to 'grid tie' hybrid off grid goes between your main fuse and the consumer unit which then uses the incoming when you don't have solar or battery and easy to put back to normal when you leave
True, although I'm currently dealing with a failed electrical safety certificate for a number of faults and the landlord still hasn't had the electrician fix the issues let alone do the necessary upgrades. I currently don't have a proper consumer unit, nor any ground fault protection. Hell every plug socket in my house are on the same ring, including my boiler!
@@TechteamGB You can drill your own earth/ground system in the ground in the garden, works well with renting house. They are like 2-3 long pipes. Put your drill on them to push/make them go into the soil and deep soil. Then connect your cable to it. That sort of idea. Look more on the internet how to exacly do it. Shouldn't be too dear and you can diy it. So much better than having no earth/ground on your systems.
Ironically, those selfdrilling screws are meant for metal and they work bad in wood compared to screws meant for timber which you should be using. And predrilling the hole actually makes em work even worse .
Hi Andrew, I've literally just discovered you 2 days ago and about to embark my own solar system to help my home electricity supply and keep costs at bay. (Owned 4bed detached house Sunderland Tyne and wear) shed has 20 deg pitch 6.5 mtrs x 1.9 x 2 do you have a costing list and point me in right direction in terms of a basic system for a battery storage plan then at a later date maybe adding on for a grid hook up. oh and possibly additional panels on a frame system at a later stage like your youtube prt 1 . Warm regards john (working in construction for over 40 yrs so can handle all the set up )
Excellent video, I'm about to start m own project in Ireland.
So what has been your total daily yield over the 2 weeks?
Recouping £3k in under a year with a 3 panel solar setup is not happening lol. 400W all day every day for starters isn't going to happen with UK solar irradiance, especially going into winter. You'll be lucky to get 4-6 hours of decent production.
Using pvwatts for a 1.3kW system you're looking about 1000kWh a year. Even at the old 0.34p/kWh rate thats 1/10 of what you predicted, coming in at roughly £366 a year in savings, so over 8 years to pay it back
Remember you can't have an inverted connected to your house at the same time as a grid connection.
Unless it’s a grid tied inverter of course.
thanks
coop
...
Well done mate, good video. I've built a similar (not as good as yours) system that I try to power my WFH set up.
Great set of videos. Can you advise if the metal bracket connecting the panels to the wooden beams is universal and likely to work with multiple panel manufacturers - and where to buy them please? As I'm wanting to place a couple of panels on top of a garden purgola. Secondly, those sections of frame which are higher than the panels may cast a shadow which will reduce the efficiency of the panel - especially when the sun is low in the sky. Thanks!
The brackets are universal. EBay is good for getting them.
@@gazPious1464 Thank you!
Where did you purchase the eve cells from?
I've just added links to the description, but the cells were from Fogstar Wholesale - www.fogstar-wholesale.co.uk/product/eve-lifepo4-prismatic-cell-280ah/
BEWARE your 13A ring main is 2.5mm2 cable with a 16A (3600W) circuit breaker on it. There's a reason 3.68+ kWh inverter installs have to be signed off by the grid provider and an electrician, they can kill. 6000W is scary!
Started & Some - soz for the mistakes
The batteries expand while charging and discharging apiece of plywood on each end of the pack and clamped together with 4 threaded rods one each corner and tightened the battery case will crack if it compressed. Hate to see you loose the money invested
You can't have the triangle corners on the panels, you're killing the outputs.
Additionally, those support beams extending beyond the panel surface, will cause shadows, which will disproportionally reduce performance too. A small sliver of shadow will reduce the panel output by 10-30%. Having those triangle corners will similairly disproportionally reduce performance.
I noticed that right way. A few blades of grass greatly reduces output when testing my panels in my yard. Those shadows on the panel can also cause resistive heat spots and fires.
you need to watch the video before commenting,you will see they are only on during installation.
Brilliant video thank you for making it. ✌️
I think you would have been better buying a Ecflow pro ,the cost is ove £2000 but is all inverter ,bms ,and battery in one box,,,checkout Ecoflow
I feel sorry for your knees, mate!
frame looks a bit flimsy, but cudos on going ahead with the solar build :)
no no no no no! it will not take you a year to recoup the cost of your set up!
I've built my own too, cost me £1854 in total. I use about 1-3kwh of electricity from the solar. with the days getting shorter, my solar is reducing, especially with the bad weather now.
I did my calculations on my system, would take 9.5 years to recoup the cost!! How on earth are you getting 1 year?
Another thing, you should not be keeping those batteries in a shed over winter. The cold weather frost will kill them if they are charged at a minus temperature 😬
I've had my system since May, and have used aprox 214Kwh on it, that does not equal hundreds of pounds saved tho. Even at the fixed rate I'm on now, 57p a kwh, that only equals £121.98, thats for just under 4 months if usage, over summer. Maybe revist your maths in your payback time 👍
I got solar power for emergencies. I may be able to shave some cost off my monthly power bill once I finish my main 2000 watt inverter system using a 300 ah battery but the real blessing and value will be emergency power for cooking, heating water, backup for my refrigerator and freezer batteries, and cooling off using a tiny window air conditioner after hurricanes.
Well, they have to lie about solar so the leftists feel great about it. Many of them think you can put a solar panel on a car and never need electricity again.
Either your calculations are off, your a light enerygy user or you have overpaid for a very small pv system or not using it to its full potential. I paid approx £1.5k for a diy install system and at current costs and based on my usage (approx 0.6kw/h) with an estimated 8 hour usage window per day, I estimate 2-3year payback.
@@_Miner so your usage is 600watts a day? On solar? How much does your electricity supplier charge you per Kwh?
@@IXISSV Sorry perhaps I didnt explain well. My daily average at the moment is 20-25kw, my hourly average during the day/sunlight is about 600watts (higher peaks during night for hot tub, evening cooking etc..). So my calculations are 0.27p (my electric rate) x 6 hours a day (average sunlight per year - a guess) = £1.62 per day I can save using solar. So a year would be a saving of £591, taking me to approx 3 years payback. There are lots of variables to take into account but this calculation seems achievable at a minimum.
preface
Hello
It shouldn't be too hard to shave up to £500 off that total by shopping around.
Dude at least cut the weeds
Solar panels in general are not economically viable !!
How so?
You work at the electricity place? Solar panels earn themselves back in no time these days. And as the prices keep spiking of energy, becoming more independant is really good for your wallet. And it is cleaner energy.
@@jankees4037 Not really clean, and economically they are good for the manufacturer and the one who installs them, and when they get old 15-20 years later, you have to buy new ones and batteries as well
I thought you need planning permission to put panels on anything that isn't a building or shed in the UK. How did you get away with placing them on that frame you built?