Installation - My Solar Journey - Episode 1

[@NicolasRaimo]

That's a bloody good intro i spat my tea out!

[@JanBartSpang]

Yeah, had to be done.. That is how solar panels in Ireland are viewed.. It is always perceived to be to wet, cloudy, etc. I hope to show that it isn't..

[@RWBHere]

Sounds like the start of a very interesting series. Thanks, Jan. And congratulations on reaching your first 1,000 subscribers!

[@kyarichards2894]

Very interesting... a lot of battery storage! I thought I was over-spec' at 6.3kW. Looking forward to hearing your remarks in the next video.

[@JanBartSpang]

You can never have enough storage!! 😁

[@colmranger]

Looking forward to the series 👍

[@JanBartSpang]

Thank you! Looking forward to having the time to make it! 😅 Very busy at work at the moment so don't expect a regular weekly/monthly video release!

[@gergall1809]

Nice looking setup...must look into the difference of an install "Up North"..

[@JanBartSpang]

You'll probably have a Feed-in Tariff there.

[@gergall1809]

@@JanBartSpang I don't think so :(

[@Daraghfly]

Best of luck, I have a self build mini power wall 3x 345watt panels that over produce on cool sunny days, have fun.

[@MattHill303]

I'm looking forward to seeing future instalments of this, also the first time I've seen an install of frameless panels.

[@JanBartSpang]

It's why I love them. That and the fact they're glass on both sides.. They look amazing..

[@macjim]

Jing's a new look to the show... The beard that is 😂👍

[@JanBartSpang]

Have to change things around every so often. It will probably go in a few weeks.

[@nigelweir3852]

Panels are so different to mine , 5 years makes a difference , you will be surprised , ireland good for solar , not too hot or too cold

[@JanBartSpang]

Loving it so far!!

[@Jamesandkate]

Nice work, Jan. Really interested in those panels, super thin, but high output too. Are they low light panels? Looking forward to your updates 👍🏻

[@JanBartSpang]

I've no idea what "low light panels" means. They work pretty well at the moment anyway. On most days I'm fully solar powered.

[@atdwyer10]

Will this system allow you to have power during a power cut? I know some inverters have a safety feature that isolates from a dead grid allowing you to run the house from either the solar or battery, but that some just shut your power of completely while the grid is down. Also what amount of battery did you install? was it a combined 6.3 or 12.6?

[@JanBartSpang]

One of the boxes near the fuse board is a manual isolator switch which will allow me to disconnect from the grid and run on battery power during a power cut.. It'll be limited by the inverter output (5kW) during the day when it can combine solar and battery output and at night is limited to 4kW of just battery output.. I've two 6.3kWh batteries so about 12.6kWh gross storage capacity.. It's got a 90% Depth of Discharge rating so about 11.3kWh net capacity..

[@nickieredshaw7835]

Nice setup! Did you buy it or Lease it etc and is there Equivalent to feed in Tariff in Ireland ? We miss our solar panels we had on our last house but had to move ,so got ev but no solar as now in uk you don’t get feed in Tariff anymore so not hugely worth the Investment with cheap electricity we are paying about 10 p a kWh less than we was paying at last house so bills about the same just no Payment from the government every 3 months but savings a fortune on fuel now with ev so swings and Roundabout . Would love to get solar and battery but can’t find way to pay for them that will pay for it self in sensible time frame. About 15 -20 years is not going to cut it.

[@JanBartSpang]

I bought it. Took out a green loan to cover the cost. Monthly payments mostly offset by the savings in electricity. No FIT in Ireland either and I've got no night rate electricity. They're currently installing smart meters in Ireland but you can't do night rate with them yet (stupid excuse but.... you know..... Ireland). It's the batteries that make it worth while. I'll probably be off-grid during the summer. And in the winter you could charge the battery on night rate and use it during the day. Having the emergency backup function is a nice thing to have as well. Keep the lights on if the power goes.

[@nickieredshaw7835]

@@JanBartSpang yer good to have power cut back up . Sounds good deal don’t think there is much in uk now. Looked at new grant scheme but not worth the hassle . Was looking at replacing gas boiler with air Source heat pump , but was told 100£ max saving a year and have to pay about £2000 to it to do it Properly as have old radiators etc . So like solar if want to be green it’s going to cost us more than it’s worth . As both not in work. Do know how many people are in it for environmental reasons only but our Decisions are on Money-saving potential first and eco second I’m afraid to say 😔. What was your bills before and after ?

[@allfredcg]

Any thoughts on house resealability? Not asking how much :) but if you thought about it and any finding. Also your heating system is gas boiler + gas cooker? Or all electric? Nice seeing you again!!

[@JanBartSpang]

Our house went up two tiers in the BER rating just from the system I installed. That always helps house prices. My heating is the standard Celtic tiger gas boiler and I indeed have a gas cooker but a electric oven. Both heating and cooking could in time be switched to electric but I have no definite plan or timeline. But when it comes to replacing anything power usage is always something to consider.

[@JanBartSpang]

But no plans to sell. And it was nice to see you as well on Sunday.

[@johnherity4211]

Hi John Bart, I am about to buy pv system, why buy 12.6 kws battery for 3.3kws system. Will the panels produce enough to fill the batteries ?. With the feed in tariff due in January would I not be better buy more panels and forget battery? . Appreciate your views on this

[@JanBartSpang]

No, you will not be able to fill the 22kWh battery my Zoe has with PV. I would have to install probably more than double the amount of PV and I simply do not have the roof space for this. I didn't get solar to fully charge my car. But more on that in another video. Currently in Holland at my parents and I will be filming more about my solar install when I'm back 🙂

[@JanBartSpang]

Also, the FIT will be a fraction of what you will be buying the energy back for. So self use is where the savings are. The battery will allow you to maximize self-use. I've only exported about 6% of my energy.

[@otooleniall]

I presume they have optimisers as the chimney will shadow if they are due south. So production could drop off afternoon if not. Especially in winter.

[@JanBartSpang]

DC optimizers are specific to SolarEdge. This is a SolaX system. So no I don't have DC optimizers. So far I'm not noticing any major decrease until around 6pm. I'm hoping to catch a perfect blue sky day so I can get a uninterrupted solar graph to see when it actually hits. But the system is usually producing enough to cover my house base load until about 8pm with the batteries covering the rest. At that stage the whole roof is in the shade.

[@nickieredshaw7835]

Nice bet your bills have dropped. What was your monthly bill before setup ?

[@JanBartSpang]

I'll have a video about that coming in the next few weeks but I'm not a very high daily user and my usage is variable. Monthly bills are very small.

[@nickieredshaw7835]

Great you still got Zoe ? How many miles you do these days .? Are you putting zappi in to use power from the panels

[@JanBartSpang]

Yeah, still have my Zoe and already had a Zappi since January last year but never made a video about it. But more on that front some other time. Not doing a lot of mileage but am still working (hospitals don't tend to close). Mentally a bit exhausted so not producing much content lately. It's hard to be creative when you're tired.

[@nigelweir3852]

Did you get any government subsidy ?

[@JanBartSpang]

Yes. There currently is a grant available for both the battery and/or the PV.

[@eamonnphelan6693]

Can you charge the batteries from night rate electricity for the bad days when you get very little from the panels

[@JanBartSpang]

Yes, you can. Also might be handy if you know there's a storm coming and you live in an area with frequent powercuts. Charge the batteries and put them in backup mode so they do not get used until there's no grid connection. Will cover those work modes in a future video..

[@macjim]

Do you have three phase electric?

[@JanBartSpang]

Nope. Single phase only.

[@macjim]

Jan-Bart Spang okay ta. Was that something you'd considered installing or was in not needed?

[@JanBartSpang]

Not needed and expensive. 3 phase is only until the substation at the beginning of the street. I'd have to pay thousands to get it into the house. My roof is to small for an array big enough to require 3 phase!?

[@macjim]

Jan-Bart Spang ah! Okay. Cheers

[@tedgreagsbey3654]

@@JanBartSpang Do they not run 3 phase PAST every house and just tap off one phase? So the house next door is on a different phase to you?

[@der-e-wolf]

Great, bru. Whish I had a roof ...

[@JanBartSpang]

At least the German grid has plenty of solar power!!

[@der-e-wolf]

@@JanBartSpang yeah. Probably I can install a single Panel in the garden ...

[@JanBartSpang]

@@der-e-wolf you could but there's things like minimum voltage to think about. One panel wouldn't work.

[@der-e-wolf]

@@JanBartSpang oh, this works well. We call it "Balkonkraftwerk". They have one Inverter and you can attach one or two modules to ...

[@JanBartSpang]

Maybe just put some communal panels on the roof of the building instead? Share the power with the rest and leave the balcony alone! 🙂

[@krusher74]

OK so to save the same questions being asked over and over, next video. How much did the whole install cost? how much grant did to get? How much of your daily electricity needs is this providing, if not 100% why not a bigger system that would? how many years before expecting the system to have paid for its self? what % of your electricity needs did they project the system to provide, is it managing that on a daily basis?

[@JanBartSpang]

Noted. Very interesting questions in there and I will be covering all of them. Thanks. :)

[@krusher74]

@@JanBartSpang interested in the answers, I was interested in sola but salespeople told me so many lies i gave up.

[@JanBartSpang]

What lies were they? The only lies I've been told so far is that it's summer!! The weather would suggest it's not!! July so far has been very cloudy and while I'm not generating the predicted amount I'm generating enough to cover my house needs minus the electric car. But that was never really going to get 100% covered. But I will mention this in a future video. I'm also in a full time job and stuff so I hope you're not expecting a video in the next few days about those questions. 🙂

[@krusher74]

@@JanBartSpang told the full max grant amount that would not qualify for the system they had offered. over-exaggerated numbers on system output , under quotye of years for system to pay for its self. Basically always telling me i was getting a half price farrari when I would really get a full-priced transit van. And never even mentioning without a battery I would be feeding into the grid for free all day when I am out and then in the evening paying ESB to get it back again! (no feed in tariff) Its your channel so your schedule, not like im paying to watch.

[@JanBartSpang]

The grant is based on what you install. So xx amount per kW of solar and per kW of battery storage. And there's a maximum for both. Output really depends on the weather and orientation. And there's a lot of variables in this so I wouldn't expect it to be 100% correct. Payback period really depends on how much of the generation part is correct and how much energy you use. Both of which can vary. I don't expect it to be a swift payback. But my running costs are very low so far. The finance I took out for this system should be mostly covered by the savings in my electricity bill so on a monthly basis I'm only paying very little extra for the next few years. I wouldn't have install solar without a battery or without a feed in tariff. Ireland currently has no feed in tariff so that part was a no-brainer.

[@macjim]

I'd hate to be the windae cleaner that has to clean those panels...

[@JanBartSpang]

Self cleaning because they're smooth glass and frameless. It rains here often enough to give it a good clean!

[@kierank01]

@@JanBartSpang How mush do you pay the sniper, to take care of the birds :)

[@JanBartSpang]

I get the rain to clean the bird poo off the panels. And I've already seen some on it!! Nothing like a yellow rainfall warning to clear it right up!

[@IrishCockneyViking]

Really great video, but the music is a bit annoying and too loud compared to your voice.

[@JanBartSpang]

Noted.. Hard to get the combination right..