How about a solar car port on a budget?

[Thaifish]

Gents a question and to the point hopefully. I am sold on using Amoran Solar products after my research. A 7.5Kw system.

 

My question is to do with Micro Inverters which I am sold on also albeit with the added cost.

 

Is it standard software for a computer readout that a Micro Inverter will identify individually which PV is lagging behind power output or will it only show which string of PV's is lagging. Or have I got something wrong being a novice? 

 

I'm big on seeing the performance via computer and plan to put a dedicated computer screen on the wall showing all the parameters.

 

Fanx in advance for replies.... 

 

 

[Crossy]

8 hours ago, Thaifish said:

Is it standard software for a computer readout that a Micro Inverter will identify individually which PV is lagging behind power output or will it only show which string of PV's is lagging. Or have I got something wrong being a novice? 

 

The software for the micro-inverters I have (Kaideng) shows the power output of each inverter, it doesn't identify which of the panels on each micro-inverter is generating how much.

 

Likewise, the software for our 6kW Sofar unit shows the power for each string but it can't identify down to individual panels.

[Muhendis]

10 hours ago, Thaifish said:

My question is to do with Micro Inverters which I am sold on also albeit with the added cost.

At this time of the year micro inverters are a reasonable choice but in the heat of the summer you may have problems keeping them cool. Check out a few of the earlier posts of the right honourable Mr. Crossy.

[Crossy]

36 minutes ago, Muhendis said:

At this time of the year micro inverters are a reasonable choice but in the heat of the summer you may have problems keeping them cool. Check out a few of the earlier posts of the right honourable Mr. Crossy.

 

Yeah, the heat / inefficiency was why I moved away from them. 

 

I think I'll resurrect them at least temporarily once the car port is extended but only run with 50% of their rated solar attached. They are currently in my workshop looking folorn when they could be generating power.

 

Of course units from other manufacturers may have less of a cooking issue.

[Muhendis]

21 minutes ago, Crossy said:

Of course units from other manufacturers may have less of a cooking issue.

What a novel idea. Re-site them into the kitchen where Mrs. Crossy can put them to dual purpose.

[Crossy]

Our 6.5kW of installed panels (8x300W + 12x345W) made 694 units in January.

 

 

System has made 4.5MWh since going online in its current form, heading for payback in under 3 years.

 

 

[Thaifish]

Gents... I have just put a deposit on a 10Kw 330,000bht system... On Grid no batteries. Dragon Energy fully installed next 2 weeks (Thai time????) with Smart Meter from PEA. Rather than steal this thread I might start another one with the fun and games to begin.... Already I have been told that it could take 3 to 6 months for PEA to approve instillation. Too long... I told the missus to tell PEA that Bangkok TV (Ammp News reader...famous!!!...her name is really Ammp!!) is coming to film the switch on and how good PEA is leading the world in Green Energy.. Might hurry things up......

[Crossy]

11 hours ago, Thaifish said:

Gents... I have just put a deposit on a 10Kw 330,000bht system... On Grid no batteries. Dragon Energy fully installed next 2 weeks (Thai time????) with Smart Meter from PEA. Rather than steal this thread I might start another one with the fun and games to begin.... Already I have been told that it could take 3 to 6 months for PEA to approve instillation. Too long... I told the missus to tell PEA that Bangkok TV (Ammp News reader...famous!!!...her name is really Ammp!!) is coming to film the switch on and how good PEA is leading the world in Green Energy.. Might hurry things up......

 

Go for it, another build thread, this time by a contractor would be handy for comparison.

 

Price seems to compare well with other published numbers.

 

Also useful to know how you get on with PEA, I expect you'll be spinning the regular meter backwards for a goodly while.

 

[sometimewoodworker]

17 hours ago, Crossy said:

Also useful to know how you get on with PEA, I expect you'll be spinning the regular meter backwards for a goodly while.

If you are in the process of getting an official installation would you connect to the grid before approval? And if so is it likely that spinning the regular meter backwards will be overlooked?

[Muhendis]

4 hours ago, sometimewoodworker said:

If you are in the process of getting an official installation would you connect to the grid before approval? And if so is it likely that spinning the regular meter backwards will be overlooked?

So this is a new supply. How long did you have to wait for this? Our utility supply took seven years to be installed so during that time I had the "joys" of a temporary/construction supply which made my solar installation much more necessary. There is a rule that at least five people in the same area need to be on the waiting list before the government will pay for the new installation. Now we have a road and electricity posts and our very own under powered transformer.

[sometimewoodworker]

2 hours ago, Muhendis said:

So this is a new supply. How long did you have to wait for this? Our utility supply took seven years to be installed so during that time I had the "joys" of a temporary/construction supply which made my solar installation much more necessary. There is a rule that at least five people in the same area need to be on the waiting list before the government will pay for the new installation. Now we have a road and electricity posts and our very own under powered transformer.

interesting post BUT 
You didn’t actually answer either of my points.

 

Do  you have an officially sanctioned install?

[Crossy]

I'm assuming that @Thaifish already has a permanent supply and is getting a grid-tie system along with membership of the solar roof campaign.

 

The few members who have "authorised" systems who've talked about it say that any PEA approval is retrospective, get the kit installed and working (with the meter going backwards on export) then ask PEA nicely if it's OK.

 

Of course things may vary by region and date.

 

It will be interesting to find out exactly what's required NOW.

 

 

[Thaifish]

I am connecting to grid already there. I have been informed that Nang Rong PEA (my local) does not have a smart meter so it will have to be sent from Korat. If the meter does spin backwards you would think I would be covered if I get busted as PEA have been informed of the upcoming instillation.....however TiT!!!!

[Crossy]

3 minutes ago, Thaifish said:

I would be covered if I get busted as PEA have been informed of the upcoming instillation.....however TiT!!!!

 

One would assume so since the application is already in process. But, as you say, TiT.

[Muhendis]

2 hours ago, sometimewoodworker said:

interesting post BUT 
You didn’t actually answer either of my points.

 

Do  you have an officially sanctioned install?

Sorry, didn't answer your points because you raised some interesting, to me, issues. 

The original instillation was definitely officially sanctioned. It has to be to get the meter. This was the temporary supply but the meter was about 1km down a barely navigable road from the house. The builder ran the 25mm cable amongst the trees to site and made the meter connection. Cost per unit was 7.4 Bht which made solar quite competitive. Spinning the meter backwards is not something I ever did so I can't comment on the possibility of having that overlooked.

[sometimewoodworker]

2 hours ago, Muhendis said:

Sorry, didn't answer your points because you raised some interesting, to me, issues. 

The original instillation was definitely officially sanctioned. It has to be to get the meter. This was the temporary supply but the meter was about 1km down a barely navigable road from the house. The builder ran the 25mm cable amongst the trees to site and made the meter connection. Cost per unit was 7.4 Bht which made solar quite competitive. Spinning the meter backwards is not something I ever did so I can't comment on the possibility of having that overlooked.

That is still not addressing my points, as the official sanctioned install relates to a solar generation supply. (Hint the thread topic) not a PEA mains supply. They are very different beasts.

[Crossy]

My having to work from home has uncovered a minor quirk of our Sofar inverter.

 

Once the meter reader has been and gone I've re-enabled export (disconnected the current transformer) to get the most out of the sunshine.

 

I noticed that whilst the inverter was exporting it wasn't at full power, closer examination showed that one string was shut down. Re-starting the inverter (all off, then on again) returned normal operation.

 

I wondered if the problem was that I was actually disconnecting the CT so I re-jigged my little controller to short the CT rather than open it. I also added a second relay for when we install a second inverter.

 

Sadly it made no difference ????

 

Under normal operation it's not an issue as the CT is connected/disconnected at midnight when the inverter is powered down, it's only a problem when I'm trying to extract that last kWh of export out of the system (and it only takes a couple of minutes to re-start the inverter).

 

[tjo o tjim]

On 2/6/2021 at 8:38 PM, Crossy said:

I noticed that whilst the inverter was exporting it wasn't at full power, closer examination showed that one string was shut down.

Could you just do a current divider on a relay for the CT?  Shunt 90% of the current when you don’t care about export and 0% when you do?

[Crossy]

1 minute ago, tjo o tjim said:

Could you just do a current divider on a relay for the CT?  Shunt 90% of the current when you don’t care about export and 0% when you do?

 

The dead short confused the beast even more, so we're back on the "disconnect the CT to export" system.

 

Pulling the CT connection from the inverter didn't make it go back to full power. It's likely a software "feature" (bug) but since I'm using the unit in a manner for which it wasn't intended it's not worth worrying about.

 

[Thaifish]

Has anyone experience with the new smart meters and getting credit for excess power going back into the grid. I have an old meter and it is going backwards with the excess... Happy days... The installation was done by contractors and includes a smart meter...yet to be fitted. I was told by the installer that once the new meter was installed I would be able to get a rebate from PEA on the excess power sent back to the grid. Payment method would be in either keeping the banked power for later use or a baht payment. All legit. Since installation I am now hearing that "cannot do!!". Can only do with 3 phase power... Some things are so hard to comprehend in Thailand..

[Crossy]

3 hours ago, Thaifish said:

Has anyone experience with the new smart meters and getting credit for excess power going back into the grid. I have an old meter and it is going backwards with the excess... Happy days... The installation was done by contractors and includes a smart meter...yet to be fitted. I was told by the installer that once the new meter was installed I would be able to get a rebate from PEA on the excess power sent back to the grid. Payment method would be in either keeping the banked power for later use or a baht payment. All legit. Since installation I am now hearing that "cannot do!!". Can only do with 3 phase power... Some things are so hard to comprehend in Thailand..

 

Did you join the "My Solar Roof" scheme which is where the feed-in tariff is available (loads of paperwork and a Contract involved)? I don't recall any ruling that it only applies to 3-phase installations. There are certainly many single-phase inverters on the PEA "approved" list.

 

The official line is that net-metering (spinning the meter backwards) is definitely not permitted and getting the FIT paperwork sorted is time consuming. Hence an awful lot of people just doing the job on the QT (like we did).

 

Time to talk to your contractor again (good luck there, I assume he's been paid), I suspect you will end up with a no-reverse meter (smart or otherwise) which is of course exactly what you don't want.

 

Please keep us informed as to how it goes, I suspect there will be many others in a similar position.

 

EDIT It does seem that you can (indeed must) apply to get the FIT retrospectively after the installation is complete and has been inspected. You may still be able to make it happen.

[Thaifish]

On 2/22/2021 at 2:14 PM, Crossy said:

Did you join the "My Solar Roof" scheme which is where the feed-in tariff is available (loads of paperwork and a Contract involved)

Crossy I am double posting this as you will be aware. This thread has helped me big time. My new thread about my 10kw system 337,500bht fully installed is here.

 

 My Issan 10kw on grid solar project fully installed by contractors 337,500bht - Alternative/Renewable Energy Forum - Thailand Visa Forum by Thai Visa

 

On a big note today my Terak informed me about PEA (Nang Rong) purchasing excess solar at 1.96Bht per K/w. The paperwork and inspections etc etc will follow on my thread.. So far easy maybe because of contractor contacts with PEA.?

[Crossy]

4 hours ago, Thaifish said:

So far easy maybe because of contractor contacts with PEA.?

 

Could be, will follow your updates in the other thread. Looking good thus far.

[Crossy]

Meanwhile I've adapted the Wife (always right) Clock Mk2 to also be a remote display for the Solar Monitor a push button switches between the displays.

 

All the communications is over WiFi which has allowed me to move the main unit of the Solar Monitor to be next to the energy meters and dispense with the trailing RS-485 lead. This has made Madam happy (I'm still her "crazy farang husband" mind) ???? 

 

I've also added a "Local Energy Consumption" plot to my ThingSpeak channel https://thingspeak.com/channels/991448

 

[Crossy]

6.5kWP of installed panels (8x300W + 12x345W) made 624 units in February. Short month but most acceptable.

Predicted payback still under 3 years ???? 

 

[BritManToo]

1.68KwP made me 133 units, same number as January, my electricity bill was just under 400bht.

[sidgy]

Well im still here at the moment, will probably be heading for work in a week or two.

So we have had 6 x 360w panels producing for seven months now for a total of 1360kwh

At approx average of 4.5 baht thats  6,120bht saved on bills so far for an average of 874bht / month

With total outlay  around 31000, thats still keeping me on track for R.O.I of less than 3 years so very happy with the project.

So anyone considering their own project, i would say it is well worth the time and money especially with the efficiency of panels getting better vs cost

[Crossy]

March generation was 739 kWh (6.5kWP installed) despite a few miserable days.

 

 

[Crossy]

April generation was 716 kWh (6.5kWP installed) very variable daily production (11kWh to 34kWh) due to the weather.

 

[BritManToo]

1 hour ago, Crossy said:

April generation was 716 kWh (6.5kWP installed) very variable daily production (11kWh to 34kWh) due to the weather.

My 5 panels produced 136 units, leaving me a bill for 846bht.