Crossy

It's definitely "horses for courses". The grid can only absorb so much power, if there's more available than is being used then they either have to shut down the exporting systems, or store the excess energy. Of course one option is rather cheaper for the energy companies than the other. If my system was being regularly curtailed I would certainly be looking at storing (or using) the available excess. How viable that would be based upon cost-benefit would depend upon multiple factors. Here in sunny Thailand I'm quite happy to spend the $$$ which I didn't spend on a "professional" installation (which would allow me to legally export/re-import my excess) on an ESS which will let me keep that energy within the boundaries of my property and then let me use it later. I know that one day I'll end up with an electronic meter at which point the unofficial net-metering will end, so I aim at being ready. As a bonus I get UPS functionality that keeps everything but the big pumps and water heaters alive when a cement truck takes out a line of power poles.

Our GTIs will happily ramp up their output voltage until they either reach the available power, the set export power limit or the set maximum grid voltage. Of course if the grid is lightly loaded and thus already a bit high we run out of voltage headroom before reaching the available export power or the export power limit limit at which point any available power remaining is simply not used (and the panel voltage rises).

Is the supply actually low? These things have very basic series capacitor-dropper power supplies which can get "tired", this would make the internal relay buzz. Pop the lid off the really noisy one, you will probably find a 400V AC rated capacitor (similar to a motor run capacitor). Replace it with a similar cap (and replace the electrolytic that's nearby too) and I bet it starts working and stops buzzing.

The latest version of the PEA App goes back two years in "Table" mode, sadly it doesn't show FT, just usage and total $$$.

I don't seem to be able to edit the attribution, so I've simply removed it to prevent confusion.

Don't worry about excess production when there's low load, once the batteries are full the charge control system will simply shut down, the panel output just goes to zero (lots of volts but no amps), they are quite happy in this state. 72 hours autonomy @ 300kWh per day is 900kWh of battery! That's about 66 x 13kWh Tesla PowerWalls. Just the batteries will blow your 2.5MBaht budget ???? 100kWP of panels at current prices would be say 500kBhat. 45kW worth of off-grid inverters say 200kBaht (you are going to need a bunch of additional charge controllers too). Say another 400kBaht for mounting hardware, cable, surge suppressors etc etc. Then double the number for a contractor install, say 2.5MB WITHOUT the batteries. You probably need to talk to an industrial installer. I'm assuming this isn't a home, maybe a resort?

Do you have an idea of your peak loading, that will determine your inverter sizing. 9,000 units a month is about 300 a day (that's nearly 10 times what we use), you are looking at something like 600m2 of panels, say about 100kWP!!! How much autonomy will be needed (for low sun days), backup power supply (genset or is there grid nearby which could be used as backup)? Definitelely LifePO4 battery technology, much safer than Li-ion. With a system that size going directly to the manufacturers becomes viable.

There are many threads regarding Lazada service / support (or lack of it) we really don't need yet another, particularly a non-specific one.

In some areas Oz the supply authorities are also implementing curtailment on domestic solar, the supply authority can turn off export from your solar without your knowledge so you are still making energy, but are neither using nor selling it! https://www.abc.net.au/news/science/2022-02-16/solar-how-is-it-affected-by-renewable-energy-curtailment/100830738 A number of mates in Oz have had this problem, many are investigating moving to hybrid systems with local storage rather than grid export/import and taking back control of their energy supplies. ROI on a hybrid vs export/import isn't wonderful although with the cost of batteries decreasing it's getting better and when curtailment is taken into account it becomes even more attractive (and you have the advantage of UPS functionality so no power cuts).

But, we are not talking about 10 years ago are we??? What was the correct decision then (it likely was) may be not be the correct one now (it probably isn't). If your current units are functioning OK and your bills are not excessive why change anything?

Prices are rapidly approaching parity with non-inverter types, as is the cost of repair and the works are significantly more robust than in the past. Ask me 5 years ago and I would think twice about an inverter, now I would only consider an inverter. The manufacturers really love making inverter A/C units:- Once the development costs are recovered the electronics is cheap. The electronics allows them to use much cheaper motors (they can be designed right to the line as the smart bit protects the motor). They do actually save energy so they have a built in selling point for the masses. So, they have a product that's less costly for them to make that they can (could) sell at a premium, or at least the same price as a conventional unit that costs more to make and the public actually wants the new product. One of those rare occasions where everybody wins, including the environment!

No, but AliExpress has a decent escrow system that doesn't release the funds until you (not the courier) confirm delivery. It does have a time-out so if something hasn't turned up you need to either start a dispute or extend the time or it will automagically release the funds (that's how it worked in the past, it might have changed).

I have some ancient Tesco electronic scales, but they only show to the nearest gram. So I use the "don't have accurate scales" method from here https://www.localfoodheroes.com/dry-cured-bacon-tutorial/

The whole point of an inverter unit is that the compressor doesn't cycle on/off. It dynamically adjusts its output as required by the needed cooling, very rarely actually switching off (most inverter units have a minimum cooling level at which they do power off the compressor). Also inverters are "soft starting" so there's no large switch on surge, this is nice if you have solar or a genset.

Loads of sellers are nil stock, if they have stock it's $$$. Covid being blamed of course.

And more panels to charge them, IF you can get them at present ????

At least it didn't destroy all the miners like the last one did. Overloaded power supply of course, hookey grid connection, maybe.

We recently replaced the 2012 vintage x 18,000 BTU conventional unit in our bedroom with a 12,000 BTU inverter. Of course it's a smaller unit, but since it's producing the same cooling the numbers should be comparable. We keep a detailed log of consumption (an entry every 60 seconds) because I'm a sad individual. Crunching the night time figures does reveal a noticeable reduction, and because there are no start-up spikes our solar inverters should be rather happier too ????

Condensing water out of the air certainly gives up energy which must then be pumped away. Just how much that would reduce the efficiency would be interesting to calculate. Task A. Measure how much water your A/C condenses in a 24 hour period ????

I'm a bit confused by this statement, particularly because it's the compressor which has the "inverter" bit controlling its speed.

We all "know" that an inverter A/C can save on A/C energy consumption. Here's a paper on a reasonably well controlled experiment to demonstate that yes, you could save 49% on your aircon energy! I know it's based in KSA but it's actually the most controlled / realistic demonstration I've found to date. Almogbel2020_Article_ComparisonOfEnergyConsumptionB.pdf

Yeah, it's always on the PC for me. But I hate the App.

It seems to go in spurts, months with no problem then every single time!! Most annoying!