MangoKorat

10 minutes ago, Pink7 said:

First i had the idea to do in 2 or 3 steps but then I conclude that for me much better to get it all ups in one project. All In all I spent more or less exactly 300k for all ( 30 kwh batteries included)

The figure that I had in mind was £10,000 at the outset - 440,000 baht at current exchange rates. Sounds like I can get the system I'm looking for within that budget.

The battery issue is going to take some deciding on though.

5 minutes ago, Crossy said:

PEA will bring their supply to their chosen pole.

No problem then, I had assumed that they were the same as the UK - responsible up to the meter.  That explains why I had to pay for some cable + fitting when my current house was upgraded.  My supply is at the other side of the road and they said the cable from the meter to the house would need upgrading. PEA guy did it as a moonlight. I wasn't there at the time.

4 hours ago, CanadaSam said:

 

If this was the case, then there was no settlement for the accident, as the victim did not receive the funds.

 

I would go after the insurance company first (through a lawyer) and the company would have a lot more clout to get the funds back from mum, because it is in their legal interest to see the settlement paid to the actual victim.

The insurers acted properly - the girl was a minor. Not a hope of going after the insurers.

8 hours ago, In the jungle said:

The money was never the issue.

The money might not be an issue for most folks - especially if they will accept the income method. The issue for some may be - if they require it to be in a Thai bank account.

1 minute ago, Crossy said:

I would still recommend a ground or car-port mount, particularly if you are DIYing it. Our 12x6m car port (space for 4 cars) has 10.6kWP on it with room for another 2kW or so.

Noted but with the layout of the buildings I'm planning, that wouldn't be possible. I'll give it some thought though.

Oh and one related question - the PEA just love their overhead wires. I on the other hand hate them.   Does anyone know if they'll bring their supply on to site underground if I dig the trench and put a conduit in?

I will be installing solar whatever, I'm aiming for a 10kw system but I want to but quality equipment so if the cost of that is above what I want to spend at the moment, I'll add to it later.  That said, I really hope I can install a full 10kw system form the start. I've learned in other fields though, that the most expensive isn't necessarily the best quailty - some companies live off their names

Some suggestions say 2 x 5kw inverters may be better so at least some power is available should one fail but doesn't that work out more expensive - I intend having a grid connection so should always have power available.

I'd like to start costing - any recommendations on brand for the main components - batteries, panels and inverter?

Also, I understand that batteries may lose some of their efficiency over time - how about panels, does their production fade with time.

I'm also not so keen on changing my house design and build it with a single pitch roof in order to accomodate enough panels.  I'm going to be pushing it though - especially with allowing space to access the panels for maintenance/cleaning.  The total roof area (South facing) is likely to be 75 sqm, I can enlarge that a little but some of that will be lost through allowing accces.

However, I think I can reduce that loss by fitting the panels to a hinged subframe so they can be raised vertically - allowing access to the row behind once raised.  On the basis that you understand what I mean by that - any reasons why I can't do it? Obvioulsy I'd fit panels with their wiring at the hinged end to minimise movement of the wiring.

9 hours ago, In the jungle said:

 

I am also interested in the answer to that question.

 

If they are consistent with other Thai Consulates and Embassies worldwide the answer would be that they will accept statements from any country provided they show the required amount.

 

As an example the last time I applied for an E visa in London the statement I provided was from an offshore bank.  The application was granted.  

 

 

The problem is, this new requirement for 400k baht in the bank is actually the same as the requirement for a 12 month extension of stay (marriage) - it bears no resemblence to that (stated to be) required either now or in the past by those embassies/consulates that offered MENO's. The cynical side of me thinks that Thai Immigration have realised that some people are using MENO's to in effect live in Thailand without having to show 400k in the bank for an extension, and have therefore made it a requirement for a MENO.  The amount required is out of kilter with the stay provided by a MENO (90 days per entry) compared to that of an extension (12 months). 

For an extension the money has to be in a Thai bank account and seasoned for I believe, 2 months. At the moment they don't seem to be requiring the seasoning but it remains to be seen whether or not they want it to be in a Thai bank account.  If they do, that would also be out of order because as I've said before - technically someone who is not resident in Thailand is not eligible for a Thai bank account.  I know many have one but I suspect that quite a lot of people who are using MENO's as they are intended - i.e. to visit their wife rather than live in Thailand, will not actually have a Thai account.

Hopefully they will accept proof of funds in a foreign account but I'm still awaiting a reply on the subject from Savannakhet.

On 10/31/2023 at 11:06 AM, ikke1959 said:

Madness and brainless... death toll will rise, people will get more stressed by less good sleep, workers are getting overworked and don't get a social life anymore...and many more reasons.. Maybe they should let the people who decide this work after midnight. at least than they are doing something.. and the police?? they will be nowhere to be seen as they only work from 8 to 17.00 ...

Come off it - a hell of a lot of venues are open way past 2am already (provided they pay their monthly dues). I haven't been for a while - not even sure if its still open but I would regularly leave Climax on Sukhhumvit Soi 11 well after 3am and some of the clubs further up that soi were still going full pelt.

Similar used to be the case with several clubs in Pattaya - Lucifers for one.

Agree with you on the police point though but are you sure you want to include the word 'work' in that sentence?

Spicy in Bangkok always used to be open until 6am and didn't even get lively until after 2.

How about a foreigner with a Thai ID card?

1 minute ago, TimeMachine said:

Problem is there are a few unknowns. You can put a lot of effort into calculating wether it's worth solar at current rates. You can tweak figures both ways. For my calculations financially not worth it unless you are pulling some tricks, like doing some work yourself, half price panels, etc. So not impossible to do okay but for your average chap, just focus on energy saving 5 star appliances and be aware of turning things off when not using them. 

Fortunately I'm not doing it for payback per se.  I'm going to install solar for environemental reasons and in order that I can have aircon on whenever I want it without massive electric bills - which also would hopefully contribute to reducing my overall carbon footprint.

I will also be doing most of the work myself.

Well, a lot to take in and no doubt a lot more to come but one thing I'm learning is that my solar energy system is going to cost a lot more than I thought.

So far it seems that with batteries, you either pay a large fortune for ones that will last 'forever' or you pay a small fortune for ones that will need replacing in 10 years.

I wonder if people take account of battery replacement when working out their 'payback period' for their solar?

I've talked to a couple of electric car owners and seen a lot of promotional blurb about them plus the general discussion on TV/in the media over the last few years.  The one thing that's never mentioned is battery replacement.  I believe that battery packs start at around £5000 (220,000 baht). I've also heard of people in the UK having to replace batteries at around 5 years old.  Some car manufacturers offer 8 or 10 year warranties on their batteries but I'd like to see the terms and conditions on such warranties.

All I know for sure is that I read an article either last year or early this year where a guy's car batteries had given up at just over 5 years old and he was looking at a bill of £6000 to replace them.  There's a strong possibility that many electric cars will be worthless when they need their batteries replacing.

Thinking about it, for those that have 8 or 10 year warranties - the situation will be worse.  How much would you want to pay for a 10 year old car that needs a new battery pack?

Do owners take account of this when calculating payback? Clearly this also has a bearing on the total 'birth to death' carbon footprint of an electric car. Surely the same applies to a home solar energy system?

2 hours ago, patman30 said:

we would all have cheap nuclear power

Don't get me going on that........we should be building hundreds of nuclear power stations now!!

4 hours ago, WebGuy said:

That was all. The money wasn't seasoned but was transfered to my bank account yesterday.

Can I ask, was the subject of the money being in a foreign (non Thai) bank account discussed?  I'm just trying to find out if they are wanting the money to be in a Thai account.  If they are, they are out of order given the visa type.

2 hours ago, KhunLA said:

ESSs with LFP chemistry will last quite some time, depending on DOD.   

 

Also why we added a 2nd ESS (10kWh) for longevity of the banks.  With 20kWh, they rarely discharge to <60%.  Good for more than a few thousand cycles and still maintain 80% at end of that time period...........................................................

 

 

Please remember I'm a newcomer to solar.  ESS, LFP, DOD??????????

@Bandersnatch Thanks very much for your input. Sorry that I haven't made much of a comment yet - I wanted to look at your blog first and I'm about halfway through that. Very interesting so far.  I doubt I'm as committed so probably won't go as far you have but there's a lot of ideas in your build that can easily be incorporated into a 'standard' build with little/no cost.

Thanks again.

Jeez, these battery costs are frightening:  Take a look at the information in the link below:

https://www.theecoexperts.co.uk/solar-panels/the-best-storage-batteries

I need to know that I'm understanding things correctly, for example, my understanding of the spec of the 'best buy' Tesla battery recommended is that I would actually need 2 of them to provide 10kw of power usage??  The batteries are rated at 13.5KWh but the maximum power is stated as 5kw.  The information on the website states that 'most homes should function just fine with a single unit' (Tesla battery) yet the consensus here and elsewhere seems to be that an average home will need 10kw...............no wonder I get confused.

At £7450 (328,000 baht) for one Tesla battery - without the 'Tesla Gateway' @ £1480 (65,000 baht), I don't think I'll be using them 😁.

So Patman30 is recommending NIFE batteries - yet a quick search on these seems to suggest they are pretty old tech. The attractive part for me is that they last over 30 years. 

However, a quick Google on NIFE batteries seems to rule them out:

https://www.rpc.com.au/solar-news/disadvantages-of-nickel-iron-batteries.html

Thoughts anyone?

11 hours ago, patman30 said:

10KW would likely be fine for most people
providing you have efficient aircons
what is more important imo is battery capacity for bad days
and if using lithium ideally you don't want batteries fully charged to help longevity,

this is not an issue with NiFe and NiFe can also be fully discharged, whereas Lithium you should shutdown when at 20%

as for panels over your septic tank and soakaway
yes you can but you would likely need more panels than that space provides
i have 30 panels for my 15KW system, panels are roughly 1m x 2m
when planning for your house, design it to have a large flatish roof
you can find the optimal angles online, but most normal tiled house roofs are not ideal

Thanks for that - so a plan is emerging.

There is no way I would ever go for a flat roof but a single pitch modern design with a low-ish angle sounds like its the way to go. I think that would provide ample space for my requirements and also sufficient access room for maintenance. If I go for that, I may completely change the house design that I have in mind

If I install a 10kw system knowing that I might want to upgrade it to say 15kw in the future - are there measures I can put in place when installing the original system that would make an upgrade easier.

This my sound crazy - remember I have little knowledge but what I'm thinking is - would fitting an inverter that will cope with 15kw be OK with just 10kw? So a bigger inverter from the start?

9 minutes ago, BritTim said:

 

When you use an agent who uses unapproved ways to get you a visa/extension, I am not aware of any cases that have resulted in you being prosecuted. However, you can face problems from Immigration later making your life difficult. A classic example, affecting many Westerners, was those who acquired the dodgy Non O (Volunteer) visa and extension.

Thanks for that, I don't think I'd ever risk it - the problems created by not/never being able to visit again are just not worth it.

12 minutes ago, megapix said:

Hmmm this makes me wondering.

 

Would they accept in HCMC or Savannakhet if my wife write me a sponsorship letter and provide statements to them ? 

The HCMC website is as bad as the RTE London - bad links.

They don't say what their financial requirements are just:

2.4.1. Thai spouse:

• Guarantee letter from Thai Spouse, can be Thai or English
• Copy of Thai marriage certificate

                    - If an applicant has another national marriage certificate, the document will need to be translated in English by a notary public

                    - For Vietnamese marriage certificate need to be legalized by Department of External Relation in Ho chi Minh City (Address: 184 Bis Pasteur, Quận 1, TP.HCM)

• Certified copy of Thai spouse’s ID card
• Certified copy of house registration book
• Other relevant document, for example copy of Thai child’s birth certificate with their passport/Id card

      2.4.2. Thai child(ren) 

• Copy of Thai child’s birth certificate with their passport/Id card
• Certified copy of house registration book

2.5. Applicant’s financial statement of adequate finance is required.

https://hochiminh.thaiembassy.org/en/publicservice/non-immigrant-o-accompanying-thai-spouse-and-family-members

Just now, megapix said:

Hmmm this makes me wondering.

 

Would they accept in HCMC or Savannakhet if my wife write me a sponsorship letter and provide statements to them ? 

You need to check the requirements at HCMC - I understand there have been changes there now.  I believe they want financial evidence now - exactly what I don't know. Maybe someone else can clarify?

From time to time there have been reports of Immigration crackdowns - I seem to remember one last year involving corrupt Immigration Officers/Agents/Dodgy bank accounts in relation to extensions of stay.

Out of interest, if you use an agent to get around the financial requirements for an extension of stay and another 'crackdown' exposes the agent/officers involved with providing your extension do you have a problem?  Have there been any occasions where the applicant has also been prosecuted and/or their extension cancelled?

Interestingly - with of course, the caveats that such a visa may no longer be available from the RTE London and that their website often contains innacurate information. These are their financial requirements for a MENO.

3. Financial evidence, e.g. bank statements, proof of earnings, proof of sponsorship from a third party

 -Your recent official UK/Ireland bank statement shows your name, address, and a minimum

closing balance of £500 (for individual single entry) £1,000 (for family single entry), £5000 (for individual multiple entries, and £10,000 (for family multiple entries) , proof of earnings (payslips) or sponsorship letter from your sponsor with official ID and their Bank Statements. (Do not send the screenshot)   

https://london.thaiembassy.org/en/page/spouse-and-family-visa

£5000 for a MENO to visit wife/family = approx 220,000 baht.

These embassies/consulates just make things up as they go along.

19 minutes ago, Highlandman said:

In which case, the question would need to be asked: why not just get an extension of stay at your local immigration office in Thailand? If the requirements to seek a visa abroad are going to be almost like those at immigration offices inside Thailand, it negates the point of going there anymore. 

Not everybody can do that. The time taken from when you are eligible to apply for an extension to going for interview and then collecting the extension may be longer than your stay - for those using the visa as intended.