Edging Towards off Grid Capability?

[@richardsedorski1206]

Wow you are a right whizz kid very well done.👍👍👍😎😎😎🐶🐶🐶

[@IanSampsonRLO]

😂😎

[@michaelmelwani7752]

Very informative. The Fox ess system has a lot of positives.

[@IanSampsonRLO]

It does, especially in this regard. It just lacks with climate ‘control’. If the system was inside a heated / cooled house it would defo help.

[@Robbolagger1956]

@@IanSampsonRLO I have cube batteries installed in a concrete sectional garage with no heating. I built an enclosure out of 50mm celotex PIR foam insulation, the heat produced by the batteries warms up the enclosure and it stays at a fairly constant temperature.

[@nichts_als_die_Wahrheit]

Hey there. I have a question. I have installed this Fox Ess System, but I have one failure. Meter lost fault the whole time. I double checked everything, really everything, the inverter does not accept the meter.

[@keithjohnston1981]

Did you change the dial on the bms to tell it you had more batteries in the stack? How are you finding the fox cube batteries. I’ve been offered them or the solax triple for the same price and they both look very similar specs.

[@rafterselectricallimited1645]

Hmmm, LEDs look out of sequence on your hybrid inverter? Might not matter on the energy cube but on the HV2600 it sometimes indicates an issue. I might be wrong!

[@jonnyswalk_7]

How much do these batteries cost also roughly how much do they weigh when you’ve got the 28kw please? Thanks 🙂👍

[@3604Kvideos]

Thanks Ian. Really appreciate you sharing all the information. I checked the specs for the Fox ESS range and they state 6,000 cycles. Do you really think they'll get that many cycles? Seems a bit high to me. Hopefully you'll let us know in about 16 years.

[@roxychic367]

Always celebrate battery expansion! 🎉

[@IanSampsonRLO]

Always ha ha :)

[@ched999uk]

That's nice and easy. I thin I would equal out the battery stacks to balance things a bit more although does the slave charge from your solar or just from 240v (grid or master inverter 240v output)?

[@IanSampsonRLO]

It would only be balanced in terms of aesthetics as they essentially are independent/stand alone systems. So each have own BMS. They can charge from grid, or just from solar or both based on a rule base.

[@ched999uk]

@@IanSampsonRLO If the battery banks are more equal then the charge & discharge current will be spread more evenly.

[@datahopa]

Ian, the new slaves come supplied with a 50% SoC so you should drain your existing cube to 50% before adding the new slaves or you end up with an unbalanced battery pack which can take a long to to sort itself out. Also you really should get the firmware update after an upgrade to make sure all the slaves are on the same versions.

[@IanSampsonRLO]

Firmware all upgraded (as I have installer access thankfully…as 1st4solar went bust!). Packs all good and working nicely.

[@hsahil]

you put the dip up before adding. Do you need to put that down after you added the two batteries. Also how do you update the firmware?

[@GWAYGWAY1]

Do you have to balance the new ones with the old ones?

[@IanSampsonRLO]

Yes, when new ones installed old packs need to be close to 50% as possible.

[@pmbpmb5416]

Thought occurs what would insurance company say if you have a burn and they ask was it installed by approved installer , I know you likely often know more with your experience , but we all know about insurance companies and the opportunity to say no .

[@ianhailey]

10kW array is a good size, what made you discount Octopus Flux with a smaller battery?

[@IanSampsonRLO]

Octopus Flux as in their energy plan or is there a product? This system due to its ip rating, its broad temp range usage, its prices and ability to expand over time.

[@ianhailey]

@@IanSampsonRLO the energy plan. I’ve also got 10kW PV, still deciding how big to scale the battery. I use about 11MWh/y (inc. EV).

[@longhaul_tyke5981]

How was SoC at 98% immediately after adding the two extra Cubes? Do they come fully charged?

[@IanSampsonRLO]

In this case it would appear so, the initial 2 in that pack came at around 48% SOC

[@jamesking7869]

Just a quick question we’ve had a fox system install but our installer has said it is a grid reliant system so if there is a power cut the system won’t work. Is that the same for your system? If not how do you get it to work without the grid?

[@IanSampsonRLO]

I specd mine to work off grid, and it will do so. we have the auto switch over fitted.

[@jamesking7869]

@@IanSampsonRLO thanks so much for the response. Did your solar installer source that part and is it a Fox ESS part? I asked the Solar sales man that we wanted to be able to use the battery when the grid went down, he never said the system couldn’t do that and then when installed the said it was grid reliant system and there was no way we could use the battery when the grid went down. I’m trying to start a complaint with them so just trying to obtain as much info as possible. I appreciate your help.

[@AntonkoH-vn5pz]

What kind of auto switch do I need? To be working off the grid. Is it expensive? Thank you.

[@MikeBookham]

I was very surprised to see this, I thought that you had been really disappointed with the Fox system and wished you'd chosen another manufacturer. Or was it just the installer, First 4 Solar the cause of your frustration?

[@IanSampsonRLO]

First4Solar was 95% of the problem/frustration. Doing it yourself/in hand with actual expert support ALMOST plain sailing (almost!)

[@paulf3353]

@@IanSampsonRLO DIY is the way... I'm doing everything myself too.

[@bigyin.7710]

When do you think you will break even, when you compare expenditure vs savings?

[@IanSampsonRLO]

I need to sit down and work all this out very soon. Haven’t just yet as want to get the system to where I am happy in terms of getting as near as possible to off grid as I reasonably can (above and beyond the economic side of things)

[@FionaC1]

If only the rest of the process was so straightforward 😉

[@IanSampsonRLO]

Ha ha…soooo true!

[@MrButuz]

20 grands worth of batteries there. That's a heavy outlay to save a hundred a month on leccy?

[@IanSampsonRLO]

£100 saving? How did you arrive at that figure? £100 = just 4.8 cycles of the batteries (~7 days worth of usage), current energy cost £0.47 p/kw peak. (Peak is 20 hours out of 24).

[@Christer885]

😊👍🌹

[@IanSampsonRLO]

👍

[@Christer885]

@@IanSampsonRLO Amazing solar system you have Ian, great to watch these videos, have a great weekend my friend 😊👍🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹

[@IanSampsonRLO]

@@Christer885 Cheers dude, you also!

[@fredflintstone1428]

Have you got a running total approx. of your whole system?

[@IanSampsonRLO]

£27,500 ish

[@fredflintstone1428]

@@IanSampsonRLO Thanks. Good luck with the batteries.

[@IanSampsonRLO]

@@fredflintstone1428 Cheers!

[@garybarry9365]

What the fuck are you doing with all this power. You have enough to run 5 houses???

[@IanSampsonRLO]

Big family, 3 electric cars..no sun ha ha. Usage is around 60kwh a day

[@ilovepizzadoyou]

Did you add this on the existing ac charger?

[@IanSampsonRLO]

New unit (the other pack is on the H1 Inverter)