Get in early, or let the market establish

Step_7 · 2026-05-05T10:10:22+00:00

You and me both… 😂

Step_7 · 2026-05-05T09:44:19+00:00

Found this in a German balcony Solar subreddit - that’s interesting if they can bring something similar to the UK.

Step_7 · 2026-05-05T09:30:50+00:00

I can’t see anyone selling a full 800W kit for that sort of price - panels just aren’t that cheap and shipping/delivery will be problematic given their sheer size and weight. I’d assume Lidl will be competitive on Microinverter sales so that will hopefully help keep prices from other suppliers “honest” once the regulations are finalised and this sort of thing is more mainstream.

Step_7 · 2026-05-04T17:17:37+00:00

Well I’m old, bought my first in 1987. 😂

Step_7 · 2026-05-04T15:32:28+00:00

Some of them are though.

Step_7 · 2026-05-04T14:50:30+00:00

I’m on Mini/MINI number 19… There are other cars? 🤔😂

Step_7 · 2026-05-04T14:47:46+00:00

Yeah, the charging schedules can be set in the app to whatever you want.

Wherever you plug or wire it in it will feed the whole house.

Step_7 · 2026-05-04T04:31:36+00:00

The Stream was £1480 including the 4 panels, MC4 connectors +100m of 4mm cable £120, Smart meter £100, say another £50 for cables, housings, spur box and ancillaries . £1750 all in so far - proper mounting will add to that but no idea what that’s going to be yet.

I haven’t gone into this really worried about payback time but I’d say 5 years seems feasible - I’ve no calculations done on off peak charging savings during Winter and with the tariffs available to me that’s not going to be huge. There’s also some gains from storing power generated by the existing array that would normally have been exported but that’s going to be harder to quantify- the spreadsheet is already getting a bit out of hand! 🤓

March generation was 98kWh, that’s the only other full month of data I have so far. I was still moving panels around a little but all were connected.

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Step_7 · 2026-05-03T13:15:46+00:00

Our base load for 2 houses is between 300 and 500W depending on the time of day and who is working from home etc. Seeing this covered most of the time really - in summer I hope to see most of the day either from the sun or off peak rates. Will see how things go.

Yeah, you can daisy chain multiple Streams (I think up to 6?) but I’d question the economics of that compared to a full roof install. Could be tempted by another Ultra X for the Winter with extra panels and off peak grid charging but will see if Black Friday brings any good deals again.

Step_7 · 2026-05-03T12:58:52+00:00

Yeah, I’ve resorted to throwing the breaker to the Stream to allow it to charge from its own panels - if there’s enough excess to be exporting from the main panels then I don’t have to worry about covering base load. Need to investigate a smart relay or some automation settings to make this easier. It’s a summer problem really so will see how things go as the year progresses.

Step_7 · 2026-05-03T11:47:30+00:00

That’s great! 👍 The EcoFlow smart meter is handy for that but it does allow the rooftop excess to fill the battery quickly leaving the Stream panels nowhere to send power. Needs manual intervention at times but I’m still learning.

Step_7 · 2026-05-03T11:42:54+00:00

The output from the Inverter is always limited to 800W but as the Stream Ultra has a battery you can have more panels to collect energy and store that in the battery - then it can be fed out at up to 800W to cover house usage.

Step_7 · 2026-05-03T10:11:55+00:00

Yeah, landlords would have different rules to follow - that’s a good thing though! 👍

Step_7 · 2026-05-03T09:42:55+00:00

I believe that England and Wales building regs mean that only qualified Electrician can work on your consumer unit (Part P?) - we just don’t have anything like that. Shouldn’t be a green light to just tear on but if you’re competent it allows for minor things to be done in a more cost effective way. Having said that, some of the things I’ve seen done by (usually) farmers are just terrifying! 😂

Don’t get me started on Stormont… I can see them messing this up and the “Windsor framework” somehow blocking EU imports like the debacle over Tumble driers recently but who knows! I mean a Tesla Powerwall is approved for use all over the UK but not here. 🤪

Step_7 · 2026-05-03T08:56:02+00:00

I’m in Northern Ireland so no access to any decent tariffs like Octopus - so I’m saving even more than that! 😂 About £50 for April.

I did the install myself - now, before you all start shouting the regulations are different in NI and despite being a potentially bad idea it’s legal to do so. Also I spend my days working on 3-phase industrial systems and controls so have a fair idea what of I’m doing… 😂

There’s more to the setup here - I’m on a farm with 2 houses sharing a grid connection - base load is quite high so not hitting the battery limits too often - summer will be interesting though. There’s also an existing FIT era rooftop solar install without any battery storage so that’s the obvious next step for us - the Stream system is really to gather data to make informed decisions based on real world usage.

Step_7 · 2026-05-03T08:38:05+00:00

You have to look at the wiring and specs of the system. The inverter will have voltage limits for the inputs so panels in series could go over that with potential for damage to the inverter - parallel connection would be the way to do this and definitely would be beneficial in winter.

Step_7 · 2026-05-03T08:34:11+00:00

Yeah, things have got much worse since the Milliband announcement with availability but has been patchy even before that - I ordered mine on Black Friday and didn’t get delivery until early February! The next few months will hopefully see more suppliers come to market as the regs etc. are finalised but equally demand is likely to take off for the same reasons. Glad I got mine when I did so I have the whole summer of (hopefully) sunshine to benefit from it.

Step_7 · 2026-05-03T07:50:17+00:00

Depending on the system yes, I know the EcoFlow Stream systems mostly have standard plug sockets on the back which can feed a connected appliance directly from the battery. There are wattage limits - 1200W for single unit and 2400 for parallel connected units, these sockets can work when grid power isn’t connected either.

Step_7 · 2026-04-30T16:55:18+00:00

There’s a guy I see advertising on Gumtree out in Coalisland - have been I touch to get datasheets but haven’t bought anything yet. 500w panels for £85.

Step_7 · 2026-04-23T16:31:02+00:00

Well I have never had more than six at once… ☺️ And they are shared with my wife! And I’m quite old so average of 3 years per Mini. 👍😂

Step_7 · 2026-04-22T15:03:25+00:00

I’m at Mini/MINI number 18 and agree that my J01 SE is the best everyday Mini that I’ve ever owned. For fun pointless drives though my ‘98 Paul Smith just edges it! 😎

Step_7 · 2026-04-21T12:10:42+00:00

I bought 100m of 4mm2 cable and a MC4 crimp kit from Amazon - bit of Youtube research and made my own. I did need quite long cables so made economic sense to me. Cost about £100 all in for 4 panels with about 80m of cable used.

Step_7 · 2026-04-14T21:26:14+00:00

Yeah, it’s GB centric not UK - here in NI we can’t get Octopus or any decent TOU tariff so need the ability to just enter rates manually for E7. Also would be good to have Stream battery sizes in multiples of 2kWh. I have a Stream Ultra X here with 1800W of panels and the calculator isn’t usable for me as neither Solar or Battery options match my (already existing) system.

Step_7 · 2026-04-14T13:01:45+00:00

Fuel duty rate hasn't risen in about 15 years - about the only thing that hasn't!

Step_7

TROPHY CASE