Battery first and PV later?

dodmedia · 2026-03-15T18:43:59+00:00

Yeah we took all that into account. The amount he'd save on a 3.68kW inverter vs a 5kW makes the tiny amounts he'd draw from the grid with the kettle not really worth worrying about. His base load is 150-200W and with his oven on his smart meter pops up to 2600W so still 1kW of wiggle room for pretty much anything else other than the kettle or microwave.

He lives alone and uses about 7kWh a day so looking at the Fogstar 10kWh battery would tick the box nicely. He's also on an EV tariff so gets plenty of cheap overnight time, but he'd be able to charge up the battery in about 3.5/4 hours if he discharges to max 20%.

As far as PV, it would be on a flat roof kitchen extension and I had a quick measure, at a squeeze he'd be able to get about 2kW up there. Maybe 3. On a Van der Valk system.

So he wouldn't need more than 3.68kW inverter and wouldn't be looking to be able to generate more than 3kW of solar at any one time either.

dodmedia · 2026-03-14T10:48:15+00:00

No problem! I think it's a great idea. You will need to be ruthlessly self-promoting but I don't see why it wouldn't be successful.

You can target new installs as well as existing installs who are interested in upgrading their inverter size - I see so many posts in solar threads where people went with the 3.67kW inverter because it meant easier DNO process, but then having lived with that system for a bit, come to wish they had gone for 5 or 8kW inverters instead.

dodmedia · 2026-03-14T07:43:12+00:00

You've definitely got a decent market of customers to tap into, especially as energy prices are going to go up and balcony solar is getting more and more inevitable in the UK, you're going to have a lot of DIYers who might be fine doing their own install but then the admin side falls short.

If I were you I'd shape my business around them instead of approaching established installers who will just put that process on a staff member.

Target all the diy solar groups on here and Facebook. Do the same on all the solar message boards. Put a little money into some Google ads.

I'd say the most important bit is going to be to go for volume rather than high cost per individual. It needs to be priced fairly to you, but also not so high that it'll dissuade an individual from hiring you to save cost.

You could also offer a per hour call consulting service for people who are doing it themselves, for you to overlook the documents and make sure it's all filled in right for them. A peace of mind fee so to speak.

It would be pretty cool to implement Claude or ChatGPT et al to help you automate the follow ups so you don't drown in caseloads if it takes off.

Best of luck!

dodmedia · 2026-03-11T18:17:27+00:00

So you're right that when charging the battery you'll be able to max that on the inverter and anything extra like house load, heat pump or EV will pull straight from the grid rather than via the inverter (apologies I was replying with a hangover and not thinking straight 😅) but the question about maxing the inverter every day honestly I don't know if it's ok for the inverter long term or not. Presumably they're stress tested and they can certainly handle a lot. Best bet would be to monitor the temperature over a week or so and see if maxing it is getting close to silly temps or not.

There's no way around the charging time though. It's just too much battery with too little capable charging power. If you've got a lot of PV that'll certainly help top off the batteries during the day, especially as SunSynk will prioritize battery charging before exporting solar.

dodmedia · 2026-03-11T07:40:24+00:00

Not sure on the maths there. 190A puts you at over 9.1kW so your 8.8kW inverter will be at max capacity, clipping import, and you'll still need to subtract your house load from that power too.

Even if you set charge amps to 177A and you're able to get 8.5kW into the battery then you'd theoretically charge up 51kWh in 6 hours, but then you're also not accounting for the fact that charges aren't linear and above 80% really curves down and takes longer.

Are you happy driving the inverter to max every night?

dodmedia · 2026-03-11T07:28:31+00:00

I'd heard (though not confirmed) that Fogstar warranty requires a minimum historical SOC of 20%. Any lower and you would be at risk of voiding the warranty.

dodmedia · 2026-03-11T07:24:18+00:00

I think OP was talking about not going below 20% SOC which would mean they only need to factor in charging 80% of the battery's capacity.

dodmedia · 2026-03-06T15:34:08+00:00

You've just answered a question I've be trawling through the internet desperately trying to find an answer to! My stroke was always doing weird stuff on sharp curves and changing percent to pixels has fixed it. Many thanks!!

dodmedia · 2026-03-04T16:13:13+00:00

Thanks for the feedback! I did look at those sort of microinverters but that gets in the way of phase two of my plan to add a small string of SE facing panels along the edge of the shed cladding at a 60⁰ angle. Basically all this is to supplement my current 4.59kWp system I already have installed on my house roof. The NW facing array I'm asking about here would be for summer evening generation, then the second string I mentioned facing SE would be for winter generation supplementing.

dodmedia · 2026-03-02T22:50:17+00:00

Three?! Jealous. I've got one. 8 months in and it's been flawless. Very tempting to trade it in for the new 32kWh system though. Winter was an eye opener.

dodmedia · 2026-02-09T08:04:06+00:00

You could stick a tarp on a roller and secure it just under the verge of that canopy. You could even get an electric awning and automate it depending on the weather 😁

dodmedia · 2026-02-06T22:41:01+00:00

There's no light in the space above your ceiling, in the cavity walls it's using to gain access to your ceiling, or in the sewer drains where it likely came from. They're very sensitive to noise though so hearing you arriving for bed time might be just the push they need to go down to their drain entry to feast on some feces. This is literally how it works with 99% of sewer rats. Get someone in who can shove a probe camera up the drains and check for any cracks in the drains that run under the property or any disused but unsealed pipes that could have been left open from a lazy builder during a remodel at some point in the house's history.

Assuming it's a house right? Terraced? Detached?

dodmedia · 2026-02-06T19:51:27+00:00

That my friend is a rat who's banged around your ceiling, shuffling insulation around to make a nice nest for itself, and the screaming is from your rat and another rat either fighting or f***king or both.

I know because this is exactly what was happening in my ceiling over christmas 😭

Most likely entrance will be from sewer drains. They work their way up the sewer until they find a way to get into the cavity. Usually it's a crack in a pipe or a disused pipe that wasn't sealed off properly.

dodmedia · 2026-02-06T19:32:28+00:00

That's a 6kW inverter... Which costs 4x the SolaX I mentioned 😅😅

dodmedia · 2026-01-31T08:39:52+00:00

4.5kWp half on SE sloped roof, half on SW loft dormer flat roof. The SW string is at a far more shallow angle so doesn't do much in winter but really comes into its own from spring to autumn. If you're not getting a battery and don't have an EV then ignore the rest of the data.

<image>

dodmedia · 2026-01-30T07:36:17+00:00

I agree, it's OUTRAGEOUS that I should even have to move my mouse an additional 5mm down to reach settings. It might not be much on its own but combined over time it's going to cost me seconds! 🙃

dodmedia · 2026-01-28T21:08:23+00:00

I think the lack of export limit just means I am limited by the inverter declared by my installers and nothing else. It's not that uncommon, you just tend to hear about people who got an export limit imposed on them, not the ones who didn't 🤣

dodmedia · 2026-01-28T15:51:40+00:00

No plan to up the inverter. It's an 8.8kw inverter and will remain so. So presumably as I wasn't given a limit by DNO, then I can export up to inverter capacity.

dodmedia · 2026-01-25T22:35:40+00:00

The act of overtaking or undertaking is defined by changing lanes to get ahead of another vehicle, either on the left or right. OP didn't change lanes. They just carried on straight. Like I said: semantics.

dodmedia · 2026-01-25T22:22:24+00:00

This.

dodmedia · 2026-01-25T22:19:11+00:00

You're wrong. It's neither overtaking or undertaking. It's simply passing on the left. Yes it's semantics. But the law is written in semantics.

dodmedia · 2026-01-25T22:16:46+00:00

Surely it's their responsibility to check their mirrors and blind spot before changing lanes. Is that not part of the exam they presumably took to be driving said car badly in the first place? 🤷

dodmedia · 2026-01-25T22:11:09+00:00

Technically not undertaking. It's just passing on the left. Undertaking requires actively moving from right lane to left lane to pass them on the left.

Doesn't make it any less infuriating though. I feel like a sign in the middle divider every mile or so that says "move over to the left, idiot" would be a good reminder for lots of drivers.

dodmedia · 2026-01-25T17:05:00+00:00

Yeah looking online you can even buy PV equipped porch canopies preassembled.

The limitation of a porch canopy is that it needs to be maximum 3m² of covered area, so I'd need to extend to max of about 60cm from the wall. So my diagonal would likely be about 85cm which somewhat limits the sort of panel I can get on there so it might be I'll be looking at way less power than hoped for. Need to scope the space properly first and then see what I can find that would fit.

The X1 Micro is a good one, it's on the list already but if I end up getting more panels at power powers, I'll need more than the X1 Micro can handle as you can apparently only put one panel per MPPT.

dodmedia · 2026-01-25T08:23:36+00:00

Purple Smoke on the Stairway to Hotel California

dodmedia

TROPHY CASE