Solar Panel, Power & Battery Discussion

[daft009]

oh and their support is shocking!
hope you dont have issues

 

[Jacques Vert]

Hi JV

Are you still happy with Amber?

Do you have solar and a battery?

Yes I am happy with amber.

It takes a few months for the algorithms to get to know your usage patterns. We have a BnB within our property so usage varies greatly depending on whether we have guests or not.

Initially I used to override the algorithms when I thought I knew better but now I just let it do its thing. It's not perfect but I'm now running a surplus as the days get longer so no complaints from me.

Yes I have 8kW of panels, a 5kW inverter and 16kWh battery. Amber sells my stored power each evening when prices are high and buys back what I need when prices are low (around 0330-0500) each morning. Then charges my battery from solar during the day. Rinse & repeat.

Seems to be working for me. Looking forward to the next price spike.

 

[Jacques Vert]

oh and their support is shocking!
hope you dont have issues

When I've had issues I contact my installer who then contacts amber. So far things have been sorted pretty quickly.

 

[daft009]

When I've had issues I contact my installer who then contacts amber. So far things have been sorted pretty quickly.

2wks still waiting for a support ticket to be answered.

just get an automated email "we are very busy due to the federal rebate blah blah"

 

[exceladdict]

Bumping this thread, I've been working on a simple app to calculate whether a battery is a viable add on for someone with existing solar, using actual usage data rather than the very generous estimates and averages often on solar providers' websites. In other words, if I had a 10kwh battery, how much would my costs have changed in the last year, considering all of the factors raised in this thread (degradation, energy loss, depth of discharge limits, etc).

If anyone in WA is asking the same question and or would like to run their numbers through the system please send me a DM. Would be great to have a few more cases to test, especially for people on different tariffs. Assuming you have a smart meter, you can download your usage in half hourly increments from synergy, and there's no identifying data needed.
Open to building in other states too, but nothing the retail environment and tariff structures are a little more complex so haven't gone there yet.

Hi AFF Brains Trust, have been working on this on the side (with the help of an AI companion) and am at the stage where additional data would be a big help, if anyone's comfortable sharing interval import/export data from their retailer, and are able to download time interval data from their inverter or retailer (e.g. a year's worth of import and export data, every 30 minutes or another interval).

First use case is for people who have solar but no battery, but if people have interval data there could be a future phase for people who have a battery but want to add more, and/or have no solar but could charge for free. But working on first case to start

 

[Quickstatus]

@exceladdict I have data but they are granular to hourly not 30min
However the app does not allow me to download the data in csv or excel format or in any other format (except screenshots)

Happy to chat in DM if it helps to answer some question

Generally I would not recommend getting solar first then adding battery later - this is because the solar needs an inverter to operate. If you get a battery later you are then required to buy a second inverter Possibly Sigenergy can but not sure.

These days get solar + battery = only one inverter is necessary and a lot cheaper

 

[daft009]

Yeah I'd get it together too these days

 

[exceladdict]

@exceladdict I have data but they are granular to hourly not 30min
However the app does not allow me to download the data in csv or excel format or in any other format (except screenshots)

Happy to chat in DM if it helps to answer some question

Generally I would not recommend getting solar first then adding battery later - this is because the solar needs an inverter to operate. If you get a battery later you are then required to buy a second inverter Possibly Sigenergy can but not sure.

These days get solar + battery = only one inverter is necessary and a lot cheaper

Agree 100%! However I went the route (pre rebates) of getting a solar system + hybrid inverter, hoping batteries would come down in price. Assumed there'd be a few people in my situation who might be interested in running the numbers to see if they would actually break even!

 

[Quickstatus]

running the numbers to see if they would actually break even!

I can assist
1) What is your latitude
2)what is the size of solar array and inverter
3) what is your June and December solar production, solar consumption and solar export
4) what is your annual solar production, solar consumption , solar export

The above is to calculate size of battery

5) what is your current electricity tariff


Will you break even with battery?
Definitely yes but depends on choosing the right tariff and right battery size