5 hours ago, mistral53 said:

@Bandersnatch has what I consider the ideal panel arrangement for Thailand.

Maybe you were referring to my video on panel placement

9 hours ago, Peter Crow said:

Thanks very much for your answer, appreciated very much. Was thinking of and array of 40 panels, so you confirm my numbers. The cells will be ground mounted, with a 2 to 2.5 meter elevation. Right now I'd go for Deye Hybrid + BYD storage. I am not intending to hide anything from PEA, but neither do I plan to sell them much of my production for the ridiculous price they offer. I'll size the battery to store whatever is left with 3 or 4 AC units running (about 80000 BTU) during the day. When I came back from a 12 days holiday this Monday it took about 24 hours to evacuate the heat stored in the building, I'll take that into account as well..

One question for those who know: I have seen diagrams of 3phase installations where the battery array is configured as one subset per phase, this would lead to believe that there is the constraint to add batteries 3 by 3 when upgrading capacity and that thorough load balancing is needed to optimize battery usage. Honestly I'd much prefer if the inverter was able to generated tri-phase current from a single set of batteries.

I cant speak for other installations and the reasoning for their set up - in my case, I have a 3 phase setup with 2 panels (main and back-up for completely separate off-grid powered circuits in case of grid failure) with the Deye hybrid inverter taking power from solar, the grid or a set of LFP batteries and feeding power seamlessly to the 3 AC phases.

On 4/4/2026 at 7:53 AM, Crossy said:

30kWp of panels.

120kWh of storage.

26kW of inverter.

That's a lot of power!!!

9 hours ago, PJ71 said:

That's a lot of power!!!

Thanks @Crossy and @KhunLA for the detailed info on your set ups. Im jealous.

6 hours ago, Crossy said:

That was one of my favourite cartoons " power of the universe!!"

7 minutes ago, PJ71 said:

That was one of my favourite cartoons " power of the universe!!"

There is a live action movie coming out this year.

4 minutes ago, blaze master said:

There is a live action movie coming out this year.

Can't wait - lol.

On 4/4/2026 at 10:57 AM, Hummin said:

Did cost me 12k extra

Sorry, it cost 12,000 BAHT to just register that you have home solar with your local PEA?

9 minutes ago, Packer said:

Sorry, it cost 12,000 BAHT to just register that you have home solar with your local PEA?

I have an engineer dealing with PEA, who create the necessary documents, and inspection when that will be and finalise the approval. The cost to PEA is 2-3k if you do it yourselves, but it is a process of 3-4 months

4 minutes ago, Packer said:

Sorry, it cost 12,000 BAHT to just register that you have home solar with your local PEA?

12k would take me about 2-3 yrs to recoup, estimating if we export about 7 kWh a day, on average. Some days -0-, others maybe -15-. If O&A, then 25 maybe.

We've exported before, at 25 kWh on a decent day while using quite a bit ourselves.

25 minutes ago, KhunLA said:

12k would take me about 2-3 yrs to recoup, estimating if we export about 7 kWh a day, on average. Some days -0-, others maybe -15-. If O&A, then 25 maybe.

We've exported before, at 25 kWh on a decent day while using quite a bit ourselves.

I'm asking because I don't know .

It cost 12,000 Baht, and for that you were legally registered, and set up to export back to the grid which you get paid for ?

Others that just registered themselves, without sending back to grid paid 2,000-3,000 Baht for only registering ?

17 minutes ago, Packer said:

I'm asking because I don't know .

It cost 12,000 Baht, and for that you were legally registered, and set up to export back to the grid which you get paid for ?

Others that just registered themselves, without sending back to grid paid 2,000-3,000 Baht for only registering ?

To register to export for payment is 2140 baht. Additional cost might be for an engineer to certify it complies with regulations, (safe installation) to export. Engineer fee ???

I'll have to pop in and ask one of these, since our inverter is not on their list, if they take rebranded Deye, as our is. The owner's manual is all Deye paperwork, as they didn't even bother having it reprinted with their name.

https://ppim.pea.co.th/project/solar/detail/62885d055bdc7f264c5edcdd

18 minutes ago, Packer said:

I'm asking because I don't know .

It cost 12,000 Baht, and for that you were legally registered, and set up to export back to the grid which you get paid for ?

Others that just registered themselves, without sending back to grid paid 2,000-3,000 Baht for only registering ?

The thing is, most people do not register it, or so I have been told. I prefer to have everything properly in order, which is why I am doing it now instead of waiting until later, when it could become more complicated. At this stage, I can have the system approved legally by a certified engineer and avoid dealing with possible issues further down the line.

And when I later upgrade the system to V2X, having an existing registered file will make the required paperwork much easier to handle. Right now, though, it feels a bit like the Wild West, with people building their own systems without formal training or proper certification. That is a serious risk, not only for the owners themselves, but also for PEA personnel who may later have to work on the electrical lines.

2 minutes ago, Hummin said:

The thing is, most people do not register it, or so I have been told. I prefer to have everything properly in order, which is why I am doing it now instead of waiting until later, when it could become more complicated. At this stage, I can have the system approved legally by a certified engineer and avoid dealing with possible issues further down the line.

And when I later upgrade the system to V2X, having an existing registered file will make the required paperwork much easier to handle. Right now, though, it feels a bit like the Wild West, with people building their own systems without formal training or proper certification. That is a serious risk, not only for the owners themselves, but also for PEA personnel who may later have to work on the electrical lines.

No risk to the linesmen if a PEA approved inverter with anti-islanding is used.

Approved Inverter list ...

https://smartlist.pea.co.th/public/products/inverter/pdf

1 hour ago, JBChiangRai said:

No risk to the linesmen if a PEA approved inverter with anti-islanding is used.

No system is zero risk, especially in Thailand, where far too many expats and so-called engineers act as if they know what they are doing, while lacking the proper education, qualifications, or electrical competence.

ERC guidance says:

the installation plan and calculations must be certified by an engineer with a professional practice license,

the completed installation must be inspected by a licensed engineer,

and permission to connect to the power distributor must be coordinated with the utility, with an electrical engineer licensed by the Council of Engineers inspecting compliance for operation.

Anyway, we all know Thailand, and

1 hour ago, JBChiangRai said:

No risk to the linesmen if a PEA approved inverter with anti-islanding is used.

4 minutes ago, Hummin said:

No system is zero risk, especially in Thailand, where far too many expats and so-called engineers act as if they know what they are doing, while lacking the proper education, qualifications, or electrical competence.

ERC guidance says:

the installation plan and calculations must be certified by an engineer with a professional practice license,

the completed installation must be inspected by a licensed engineer,

and permission to connect to the power distributor must be coordinated with the utility, with an electrical engineer licensed by the Council of Engineers inspecting compliance for operation.

Anyway, we all know Thailand, and

It’s impossible for a lay man to install an inverter with anti-islanding protection in any way that could hurt a lineman.

I have a degree in Electronic Engineering and I couldn’t do it deliberately if I tried.

It’s quite possible to burn your house down however.

3 hours ago, JBChiangRai said:

It’s impossible for a lay man to install an inverter with anti-islanding protection in any way that could hurt a lineman.

I have a degree in Electronic Engineering and I couldn’t do it deliberately if I tried.

It’s quite possible to burn your house down however.

Not sure you could burn your house down either, modern inverters switch themselves off if current out doesn't match current back, and they do it so fast you don't even get a shock with your fingers across the live/neutral output. I was quite surprised how safe they are.

15 minutes ago, BritManToo said:

Not sure you could burn your house down either, modern inverters switch themselves off if current out doesn't match current back, and they do it so fast you don't even get a shock with your fingers across the live/neutral output. I was quite surprised how safe they are.

Please explain. Does the inverter work similarly to a RCBO safety cut at the main box?

13 hours ago, atpeace said:

Please explain. Does the inverter work similarly to a RCBO safety cut at the main box?

PowMr inverters certainly do, and a lot faster than the RCBOs.

Obviously nothing can save you from 'fizzing' screw clamp connections or decaying wire insulations. I'm surprised all electrical connections aren't compelled to use spring clamp connections.

2 minutes ago, BritManToo said:

PowMr inverters certainly do, and a lot faster than the RCBOs.

Obviously nothing can save you from 'fizzing' screw clamp connections or decaying wire insulations. I'm surprised all electrical connections aren't compelled to use spring clamp connections.

Thanks, I checked my documentation for my Anern 6.2 Kw and it has protection. I've gotten into trouble with electricity doing stupid things and need the extra protection. My solar was installed by some locals that install solar pumps on farms. I've added some extras after the installation and I have no real complaints.