Our Solar And Battery Journey Begins

[@MultiTut69]

We have had PV system for 10 yrs. Love it!

[@kruz2727ify]

Sitting here above the Arctic circle with 30 minutes of sunlight as I write. Lol. Good luck in your endeavour. Definitely a long-term money saver . I always take electric cost into account when the reflux is in action. I avoid looking at the meter and just wait for the bill.

[@highly-spirited]

Thanks buddy. We all get by, the best way that we can, don’t we. And it sounds as if you’re coping with what you’ve got to contend with up there. I don’t mind the cold, but I like it too much either. Stay safe and warm.

[@sirrkerbin2525]

Interesting content twist. If I could send you some sunshine, or moonshine, I would. 🙃 I would look at the antipodes for a larger roof and a brighter outlook. lol Carry on.

[@highly-spirited]

Cheers mate. I’m just dabbling around this experience of solar and hoping I can do it along side the booze videos. Why try and have two failing channels, when I can just as easily shoehorn this in stuff in, and stick with just one failing channel 😝 Shine on my lovely 😎

[@anthonybarra2391]

Thanks for that, quite informative. Just be aware, panels on your roof could affect your home insurance and might make it difficult to sell your house. You might want to look into that side of things.

[@highly-spirited]

Funnily enough it doesn’t effect the house insurance at all, if anything they didn’t care if we were getting it or not, but we still informed them anyway. Thanks for your comment, it’s always nice to hear from you buddy.

[@bertiesworld]

Having recently gone the same way, the experience was much the same. A one day, on time install. Only difference is my batteries and most of the associated control gear is up in the loft. I slung some boarding up there a week before they arrived. I couldn't fault the electrician who did a very neat and tidy job. I'll be very interested in hearing how your externally mounted batteries perform in the winter when the cold might affect them. Last year we used 2275kwh day and 2353kwh Night. So relatively high users. Currently, having had the system running now for a month, I have the batteries charging on the cheap rate for 2 hours each night and that is about it for our usage from the grid for the day. Lowest SOC for the batteries has been down to 25%. Come summer proper and I'll reduce that grid charge period even more. Yes, buying solar is a lot of money but I think it'll pay for itself. And round these parts (Lincoln) its becoming a blizzard of installs. They are popping up everywhere. I don't think it will be difficult to sell a house if they all have them.

[@highly-spirited]

Sorry for the very late reply. I love hearing about other peoples systems and experiences, so I do appreciate your comment. We have the PV inverter in the loft and would have loved to have the rest of the gear up there as well, but it wasn’t practical in the end. I now envy people with garages lol I will be making a slightly more detailed video of our system, including what has happened to the battery, as it’s now protected! According to the GivEnergy data sheet the battery still charges at 0, discharges at -10 and is stable down to -30. Not that I would ever let it get down to those temperatures. Anyway a good tip to keep the temp up a little on a mega cold night would be to chuck some charge in it from the grid or force a discharge. Not ideal granted, but it’s worth me remembering that. This winter the battery has faired very well outside. Even on the coldest of nights the battery has only dropped to 5 degrees.

[@mauistevebear]

Congratulations mate! Welcome to the world of solar. We have a large 2-story house with an amazingly large electric draw. We put a 10K system on our roof and it has paid for itself in less than 10 years! (6 actually) Here on Maui, the sun is well, you can imagine...(not an issue)we still draw a little from the grid but also feed back to the grid as well. I do wish we went all in for battery backup, but for the most part the system has saved us a ridiculous amount of money!!!

[@highly-spirited]

Cheers buddy, it’s nice to hear from you. I have to say, we’re definitely excited about it all. But I wish we could have some of your endless sunshine. Over here it’s dull and overcast for like 4 months of the year lol

[@highly-spirited]

Hey there buddy, hope you get this. Seen the news about the wild fires! Are you ok?

[@mauistevebear]

I am physically ok but emotionally distraught! the scope of this disaster is beyond belief! The whole town of Lahaina is gone! Words cannot describe the feelings we Mauians are experiencing! This is a 'small' island so can imagine. Thx so much for thinking of me! It means a lot to me!! "MAUI STRONG"@@highly-spirited

[@highly-spirited]

So glad to hear from you! Must be a living hell over there, and I can’t imagine what you must be going through right now. Not that I can do much, but my email is [e-mail] if you ever want to contact me privately. Wishing you all the best and safe my friend!

[@johnh7718]

That was a different signoff meaning than the usual Keep on Shining.

[@highly-spirited]

Yeah, it does work both ways doesn’t it 😎