Hi all.
Hoping some people especially Brits can chip in with advice .
Deep breath...
I live in the UK and run a small business from my remote rural family home (in outbuildings) so I have an office and storage barn etc , and also a tea room with fridge/freezer and washing machine etc. It is a farm type of place but only has a domestic type electricity account/ tariff.
As I like tinkering and want to reduce fossil fuel usage I wanted to get some solar PV. I also would like battery backup as I do get power cuts maybe once or twice a year, sometimes lasting a day or more.
I can't fit any panels to the house as it is an old listed building so not allowed to bolt stuff to it, and also to get a Government Feed In Tariff, the building has to have a 'EPC' rating. It has no chance of getting the higher rate of D, becuase the house is from literally the 1600s, so timber framed, wattle and daub, single glazed windows, and a 20+ year old LPG/propane central heating boiler.
So i want to mount panels on one of my more modern outbuildings etc (or on the ground) Maybe I can still grid tie to the house/outbuildings?
I am currently using a DIY installed off grid system which comprises
9 x 250W mono panels (2250W)
Outback FM80 charge controller
300Ah 48V gel battery bank. (14kwh)
2700W UPS (as an inverter)
This is only connected to my outbuildings (i physically swap over one of those big 16A blue caravan type plugs)
My daytime loads are the CCTV system, and office computer, plus a few intermittent loads such as vacuum cleaner , toilet maccerator etc. The batteries then run everything for the evening and night time loads (mostly same as daytime with some lights added)
This actually works reasonably well keeping the large loads such as air compressor on the normal grid and I have fitted LED bulbs etc.
During the summer days I find I am not using all of the available solar power, the Charge controller charges my battery pack then my load is only about 300 watts so it would be nice to do something useful with the rest and put it back into the mains so it will help run the fridge and freezer in the house and any other daytime loads such as central heating pump and appliances.
So can I buy and install a grid tie inverter? Would it have to be installed by an MCS approved installer? Will they be happy to connect my existing panels to it?
Am I right in saying grid tie inverters have much higher string voltages , My current strings are only 114vp but I can always rewire them but that would then mean I can't use them to generate any power to my batteries, so I'd have to a: have another set of panels altogether, or b: do they make a grid tie inverter that can also provide off grid power during a power cut (so i could power my things and charge the batteries with a mains battery charger)
Maybe I would have to just rely on battery power and the solar go to waste in a power cut situation?
Even if I can't get a feed in tariff at all, can I still feed into the grid so the house can use some of the solar power and if the solar power is equal to the amount being consumed, the meter will stop?
The house has a fairly modern electronic meter. If I am feeding into the grid, will this just stop, or will it count backwards or will it in fact.. count forwards, being indiscriminate of the direction of the power?
Any thoughts welcome! Thanks in advance.
Hoping some people especially Brits can chip in with advice .
Deep breath...
I live in the UK and run a small business from my remote rural family home (in outbuildings) so I have an office and storage barn etc , and also a tea room with fridge/freezer and washing machine etc. It is a farm type of place but only has a domestic type electricity account/ tariff.
As I like tinkering and want to reduce fossil fuel usage I wanted to get some solar PV. I also would like battery backup as I do get power cuts maybe once or twice a year, sometimes lasting a day or more.
I can't fit any panels to the house as it is an old listed building so not allowed to bolt stuff to it, and also to get a Government Feed In Tariff, the building has to have a 'EPC' rating. It has no chance of getting the higher rate of D, becuase the house is from literally the 1600s, so timber framed, wattle and daub, single glazed windows, and a 20+ year old LPG/propane central heating boiler.
So i want to mount panels on one of my more modern outbuildings etc (or on the ground) Maybe I can still grid tie to the house/outbuildings?
I am currently using a DIY installed off grid system which comprises
9 x 250W mono panels (2250W)
Outback FM80 charge controller
300Ah 48V gel battery bank. (14kwh)
2700W UPS (as an inverter)
This is only connected to my outbuildings (i physically swap over one of those big 16A blue caravan type plugs)
My daytime loads are the CCTV system, and office computer, plus a few intermittent loads such as vacuum cleaner , toilet maccerator etc. The batteries then run everything for the evening and night time loads (mostly same as daytime with some lights added)
This actually works reasonably well keeping the large loads such as air compressor on the normal grid and I have fitted LED bulbs etc.
During the summer days I find I am not using all of the available solar power, the Charge controller charges my battery pack then my load is only about 300 watts so it would be nice to do something useful with the rest and put it back into the mains so it will help run the fridge and freezer in the house and any other daytime loads such as central heating pump and appliances.
So can I buy and install a grid tie inverter? Would it have to be installed by an MCS approved installer? Will they be happy to connect my existing panels to it?
Am I right in saying grid tie inverters have much higher string voltages , My current strings are only 114vp but I can always rewire them but that would then mean I can't use them to generate any power to my batteries, so I'd have to a: have another set of panels altogether, or b: do they make a grid tie inverter that can also provide off grid power during a power cut (so i could power my things and charge the batteries with a mains battery charger)
Maybe I would have to just rely on battery power and the solar go to waste in a power cut situation?
Even if I can't get a feed in tariff at all, can I still feed into the grid so the house can use some of the solar power and if the solar power is equal to the amount being consumed, the meter will stop?
The house has a fairly modern electronic meter. If I am feeding into the grid, will this just stop, or will it count backwards or will it in fact.. count forwards, being indiscriminate of the direction of the power?
Any thoughts welcome! Thanks in advance.
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