Just installed Hybrid Solar PV at my house

[KaptainRob]

6 hours ago, Marc26 said:

Very informative ND, thank you

Indeed, and very well written.

I'm not new to inverter technology having 1st sold the 'new fangled' devices some 36 years ago for marine use and  I now utilise a 3kw UPS in my home for all essential circuits to guard against power cuts.

ND's articles have reignited thoughts of installing solar and I've come up with a far better location and installation design than was envisaged during house construction 3 years ago.  Cost is substantially lower and equipment, especially battery type, of a higher spec.

Chiang Mai also has relatively new supplier > https://eyekandi-solar.com/ which is an improvement over 3-4 years back when the best I could get was a brochure and pricelist 

[Noble_Design]

19 minutes ago, KaptainRob said:

Indeed, and very well written.

I'm not new to inverter technology having 1st sold the 'new fangled' devices some 36 years ago for marine use and  I now utilise a 3kw UPS in my home for all essential circuits to guard against power cuts.

ND's articles have reignited thoughts of installing solar and I've come up with a far better location and installation design than was envisaged during house construction 3 years ago.  Cost is substantially lower and equipment, especially battery type, of a higher spec.

Chiang Mai also has relatively new supplier > https://eyekandi-solar.com/ which is an improvement over 3-4 years back when the best I could get was a brochure and pricelist 

There is no better time to install solar than now since it's just a matter of time before the tariff is raised. Only political intervention is stopping that from happening but we all know it's not going to last long and sooner the rates will rise.

I am quite amazed with the inverter's wifi connecting ability which allows us to check on our phones at anywhere what is happening with the solar at home whether it's functioning well, how much the battery is charged, if there's any error etc. Even the installer can diagnose and troubleshoot the system remotely and possibly do adjustments on the inverter as well. Just amazing! 

[Thaidup]

On 8/6/2022 at 6:39 PM, Noble_Design said:

Seems that you would like to cut your electricity bills by about 1,000 baht a month? In that case you don't need a 5kW system like mine.

Mine is tailored for reduction of 2,000 - 3,000 bath. So for you a 2.5kW or 3kW system should be enough. That means instead of 11 panels, you only need 6 panels. 1 panel cost about 8,000 - 9,000 baht so you only need to spend 135,000 baht.

And maybe you don't need a battery for your system if most of your usage is during day time when the solar power is sufficient. That is an additional 40,000 baht reduction. So in the end it's just 90,000 baht which means your pay off period is just 7.5 years.

The beauty of solar power is that it's scalable. So maybe now you need only 3kW and if in the future you need additional power you just add the panels or battery if you require.

Don't get me wrong, I like idea of cheap energy, am considering a 2 panel 350 watt each plus 2 batteries to solely supply 2 outlets covering TV, router, fans, lights and laptop& phone chargers, I want it integrated into charging off the mains while sunlight is down and to be on when the mains power shuts down here(often).

Am basically aiming for a continuous uninterrupted power supply, with the lead supply being redundant if it fails, which is often.

[Noble_Design]

8 hours ago, Thaidup said:

Don't get me wrong, I like idea of cheap energy, am considering a 2 panel 350 watt each plus 2 batteries to solely supply 2 outlets covering TV, router, fans, lights and laptop& phone chargers, I want it integrated into charging off the mains while sunlight is down and to be on when the mains power shuts down here(often).

Am basically aiming for a continuous uninterrupted power supply, with the lead supply being redundant if it fails, which is often.

In that case you may want to consider a solar chargeable power station with built in inverter instead of a full fledged PV system. The power station cost less, is portable and you can do away with all the hassle of installation. Just hook up with the solar panels and AC plug in and you're done.

I think you will understand once you go through these slides: (company name censored since Thaiger has a policy against showing brands/perceived as advertising)

Just need to find one that supports AC 230-240V for use in Thailand. Best of all it's portable so if you're going on a camping trip or just a picnic but feel like using the fan or lights or whatever you can bring it along together with a compact foldable solar panel.

[Noble_Design]

You don't necessarily have to use their panels though... just find one with the suitable connectors

[Marc26]

A little bit relevant to this topic I came upon today

 

Printable solar panels 

 

 

[Noble_Design]

9 hours ago, Marc26 said:

A little bit relevant to this topic I came upon today

Printable solar panels 

In the near future solar panels will be integrated onto our clothes and be able to power an exoskeleton. This will be handy for people who work in jobs that require a lot of strength or disabled/old people

[Thaidup]

On 8/11/2022 at 10:05 AM, Noble_Design said:

In that case you may want to consider a solar chargeable power station with built in inverter instead of a full fledged PV system. The power station cost less, is portable and you can do away with all the hassle of installation. Just hook up with the solar panels and AC plug in and you're done.

I think you will understand once you go through these slides: (company name censored since Thaiger has a policy against showing brands/perceived as advertising)

Just need to find one that supports AC 230-240V for use in Thailand. Best of all it's portable so if you're going on a camping trip or just a picnic but feel like using the fan or lights or whatever you can bring it along together with a compact foldable solar panel.

Do you live in Thailand Noble?

[DesperateOldHand]

Best of luck and success with your project. 

[Noble_Design]

On 8/14/2022 at 2:14 AM, Thaidup said:

Do you live in Thailand Noble?

Yes I do.

23 hours ago, DesperateOldHand said:

Best of luck and success with your project. 

Thanks but my project is already completed and installed.

[Noble_Design]

My latest bill is here. Massive amount of savings.

Just to recap, my PV system started running on the 4th of Jul. I then received my July bill on the 17th of Jul, which is almost 2 weeks after my PV came online. My consumption was 439 units (17/6 - 17/7) which equals to 1,992 baht. 

 

Now the latest bill which I just received today is just shocking. This is the result of 1 whole month of PV usage:

I used only 155 kWh. Massive drop of using power from the grid. And the bill comes up to:

Just 587 baht. I was spending north of 3,500 baht during May and June and now I am getting savings of 3,000 baht per month. That's 36,000 baht a year. And bear in mind that this is during the raining season where you get less sunny days. Imagine during the summer time.

[Noble_Design]

So my solar PV installer recently did another project, this time he installed at a house belonging to an American expat and his Thai wife, said house in Sin City aka Pattaya.

Now the requirement for this couple is a bit unique. They work online according to US time which means that they will sleep during day time and be working during night time. Basically they will have A/Cs turned on 24/7, the one in their bedroom when their sleeping during day time and the one in their home office when they are working at night. With that in mind they have decided to have 2 batteries in order to more effectively support their night time electricity usage.

So far they have been very happy with the results, they used to pay about 3,000 baht monthly, the latest bill after using the PV is now just 350 baht.

[KaptainRob]

1 hour ago, Noble_Design said:

So far they have been very happy with the results, they used to pay about 3,000 baht monthly, the latest bill after using the PV is now just 350 baht.

Rough idea of what their system cost would be appreciated.

[Noble_Design]

15 minutes ago, KaptainRob said:

Rough idea of what their system cost would be appreciated.

Total is 247,000 baht for 2 batteries. If just 1 battery would come to 195,000 baht. Battery price = 52,000/each

[KaptainRob]

22 hours ago, Noble_Design said:

Total is 247,000 baht for 2 batteries. If just 1 battery would come to 195,000 baht. Battery price = 52,000/each

Did they provide a warranty on the battery?   Quoted cycle or lifespan?  They appear to me Li-NicoMn and NOT LifePO4 which is far more expensive.

Even LifePO4 will be outdated before long.

[Noble_Design]

2 hours ago, KaptainRob said:

Did they provide a warranty on the battery?   Quoted cycle or lifespan?  They appear to me Li-NicoMn and NOT LifePO4 which is far more expensive.

Even LifePO4 will be outdated before long.

Let me ask the installer, he is super busy now since he's highly in demand for solar installation

[Thaidup]

Well done, and looks like a really professional job too.  Thanks for the pics

[Megascott]

ND,

I live in CM and am anticipating installing a Solar system similar to yours. I have a residential electrical cert in my home country and an EE degree. So no noob to electrical installations.

My questions are as follows-

What sort of hoops did you have to jump through from the PEA to get permission to install your system?

Did you have to buy an inverter that is listed on the PEA inverter list?

TIA for your response.  Scott

[Noble_Design]

On 4/22/2023 at 2:12 PM, Megascott said:

ND,

I live in CM and am anticipating installing a Solar system similar to yours. I have a residential electrical cert in my home country and an EE degree. So no noob to electrical installations.

My questions are as follows-

What sort of hoops did you have to jump through from the PEA to get permission to install your system?

Did you have to buy an inverter that is listed on the PEA inverter list?

TIA for your response.  Scott

I didn't deal with the PEA to install my system since I am not selling back the excess electricity produced back into the grid. 

No, I didn't buy the inverter from the PEA list because of the reason stated above. Those who are planning to participate in the selling of excess electricity to PEA must adhere by their rules (including equipment, system setups etc.)

[Megascott]

23 minutes ago, Noble_Design said:

I didn't deal with the PEA to install my system since I am not selling back the excess electricity produced back into the grid. 

No, I didn't buy the inverter from the PEA list because of the reason stated above. Those who are planning to participate in the selling of excess electricity to PEA must adhere by their rules (including equipment, system setups etc.)

That’s what I am doing as well. The inverter I have will do grid power, but I’ve disabled that. Basicallly it’s just a big solar powered ups power supply. I read the regulations and it says something about approval if your system is connected to the grid, even though it doesn’t have any grid tie features, but apparently it’s not enforced.  Or perhaps the translation is wrong. Lol Thanks for the response! 
 

S.

[Noble_Design]

1 hour ago, Megascott said:

That’s what I am doing as well. The inverter I have will do grid power, but I’ve disabled that. Basicallly it’s just a big solar powered ups power supply. I read the regulations and it says something about approval if your system is connected to the grid, even though it doesn’t have any grid tie features, but apparently it’s not enforced.  Or perhaps the translation is wrong. Lol Thanks for the response! 
 

S.

The contractor who installed my system told me that there are 2 reasons why the PEA would take legal actions against houses that install PV Solar:

1. Money related - grid tie system that feeds excess electricity back into the grid can actually reverse the meter rotation which means instead of you paying the PEA, the PEA is the owing you money! Not to mention the confusion of the personnel who come to take readings of your meter every month when he noticed that your latest meter is acting strangely LOL. 

Why this is frowned upon by the PEA is because when you participate in their electricity buy back scheme, you actually sell them at a much lower rate than what they are charging the customers. If I'm not mistaken they buy back at around 2-ish baht/unit where as they sell at 4-ish baht/unit to residential customers. If you were to directly feed back the excess electricity with existing meter you're effectively selling back to them at the same price that they sell electricity to us. Those who join their buy back scheme would also need to fork out money to install a new special meter.

 

2. Safety related - Sometimes the grid needs to be shut down for maintenance purpose (changing/repairing transformers, cables etc.) and for safety reasons of the workers there need to be complete cut-off of the supply. Imagine the horror of the worker who have ensured that the supply from the PEA side has been shut off but the cables are still hot due to feeding in from the PV Solar system. That is why those who participate in the buy back scheme would also need to pay a fee to the PEA for their technicians to come and certify that in the event of a grid shutdown/black out the inverter would detect this and stop feeding the grid.

 

As long as the above 2 reasons above are not violated the PEA would more or less not be bothered with whatever you do at your home.

[TWS60]

This is an excellent thread, ND, thanks!

[Scooby]

This seems a decent price for a hybrid system, Do you mind telling me where you bought it Thanks.

[Thaidup]

On 7/18/2022 at 12:15 PM, Noble_Design said:

The cost is around 180,000 baht for my system. It would be cheaper if the system does not include a battery like mine.

This is the reason I dont bother with solar, it will take 10 years to recoupe your expenditure and that is only if you dont have to replace the batteries within that time, then any malfunctions of the equipement means you are down again, you will have to replace or repair the item, I would understand it from a rural point if it cost the same to get power poles and the lines installed,go for it, but for a 1500 baht a month bill just buy a UPS and hook it up to a car battery to cover you for the TV and WIFI when the power drops out, plus cooking over here is 99% gas or wood/charcoal anyway, hot showers arnt needed,either. Just my thoughts on solar in Thailand,will be different in any other country.

[Thaidup]

On 7/5/2022 at 3:11 PM, Noble_Design said:

Over the weekend I just had a hybrid solar PV system installed at my house due to the crazy increase of electricity tariffs lately.

This is a hybrid system which means the PV also charges a battery which in case of a power outage from the grid will still be able to power up the house hold.

Power outages has been quite frequent at my housing area due to the frequent thunderstorms. 

Anyway I'll explain further with the accompanying pictures:

So here you have the PV panels themselves. Monocrystalline 460W each. Originally I planned to have 11 of them installed to give me a total max output of 5,060W but unfortunately the side of my roof can only accommodate 6 panels while the rear roof can only install 4. It will be a bit weird and a bit more expensive to run the wires to the other side of the roof just to accommodate another 1 panel so decided 10 panels for a max output of 4,600W should be ok.

The hybrid inverter and the associated breakers for the system, the electricity from the PEA's grid and for the battery. The inverter will decide based on the load of the house whether to use electricity from PV only, PV+battery, or PV+battery+grid electricity. At night time it will automatically switch to using battery power or combination battery + grid if needed.

At 10.20 AM yesterday on a cloudy morning I was still getting a respectable 2.9kW from the PV. I can't wait for this week's stormy weather to pass so I can check again the max output at 12 - 1 PM when the sun shines the brightest.

And this is the LifePO4 battery with a capacity of 11kW/h which serves as both backup power during power outages and provides power during night time. This battery is enough for my household's 2 A/C unit running the whole night.

Hey NB, it's been year now since you had the system installed, how is it going? would love to hear some pros and cons about your experience so far.