My Energy Storage System - DIY ESS - has been running with Solar for 3 Years now and saved me 800 EUR

On July 7, 2016, my home made Energy Storage System, named DIY ESS, has been running fine for 3 full years :)



Link from July 7, 2013 : http://www.myelifenow.com/2013/07/uni-solar-pvl-sma-inverter-finished.html



After several months of building and testing it back in 2012 & 2013, I finally had my Solar panels connected to a working SMA inverter and I have been storing my Surplus Solar Enegry ever since ...
(Solar panels install had been done several before that http://www.myelifenow.com/2012/10/solar-panels-installation-13-uni-solar.html)

During these last 3 years I had no breakdown what so ever, and absolutely no LiFePO4 Battery pack problem using it 24/7 (8 CALB CA180FI prismatic cells)



Today, few days after, it shows that I saved 577 EUR but you have to add 220 EUR approx. that were not taken into account during the first months (Wattson Anywhere portal data gathering came later)
For more details on my last 500 EUR update in April : http://www.myelifenow.com/2016/04/diy-ess-update-500-eur-of-savings.html
So the total savings as of today is 577 + 220 = 797 EUR, almost 800 EUR :)



I also sold few kits online to people around the world during the same period and it is still available here : http://www.diyesskit.com

I will continue using it until I have a Tesla Energy Powerwall installed later .... and the beauty of it is that all the of the shelf components used in it will be sold and bring me a good part of my money back ;)


Links:
http://wattson.energyhive.com/dashboard/diyesskit
http://www.ustream.tv/channel/chris75sf

Finally installed 2 SunPower Flexible Solar Panels by my windows to catch more Solar Energy

Announced 2 weeks ago, I finally purchase 2 SunPower flexible solar panels of 100W each, from the UK for 100 GBP only
After watching their prices for the last 2.5 years I finally found a good deal and got them right away



The panels arrived few days later, with again a low shipping cost of 20 GBP for both with DHL (very reasonable)



So these panels are made with the famous SunPower high efficiency cells, made in the USA


36 cells : 9 x 4, with standard MC4 solar connectors


and the idea is to install them right behind the wall, outside, between my windows, vertically to catch the reflection coming from the south oriented wall of the building in front of us


Ordered also a 1m long MC4 extension cable on eBay


I also got some chain and rapid connectors form the local hardware store



Extension cable arrived, just before last week end, now I have everything to install them


So I did that last sunday morning, and it didn't take long, because I already had big screws and chains installed by my windows back in 2010, when I installed my very first solar panels (13W each, but 3 of them), which have been charging AGM batteries, used to charge iPhones, iPad, and power a battery charger for radio, Wii, or other home devices ... This has been working well by the way and they are staying in place
I just had to attach the new connectors to the existing chains (holding 20kg each, way more than enough)



Of course these panels need a micro inverter and I got several used ones for my DIY ESS V2 experiments last year, so I used one of them


I is screwed to a piece of chain using a bolts, washers, and all this is tighten very well


I had to drill a through hole in the lower corner of the window and that was not too difficult ...


The Enphase Engage cable can now go directly inside my apartment


All the cables are fitted so that they don't block the light coming onto the panels


Now, after everything has been connected and installed, there was absolutely no sun, and it has been like during the whole week almost, very frustrating ... :(

I was watching closely on wednesday from work using my DIY ESS Live Cam, and saw clearly that the overall solar generation was more than usual: maybe 60-70W more (we are still in winter and my max generation when the ESS is empty, is 250W or so, maybe 280 now that the sun is a bit higher, still low compared to the 1100W I see in summer)


This morning (saturday), I am home for the week end and as soon as I saw a little sun (half sunny/cloudy, I looked at the wattmeter installed on this specific new line, and it only showed 15W (!! that's not possible, the Enphase M215 can not produce this little power)

BTW the ESS is empty by

So I siwtch off the main solar array DC input on the solar electric panel and there I saw that the 2 SunPower + Enphase M215 were producing 80W :) that's better



DC breakers OFF on Uni-Solar Array on the roof


Enphase M215 is blinking Orange, so it is producing and Orange is normal since there is no Envoy Gateway


This is the reflection light I got when read the generation figure


This small meter gives me wrong figures I guess ...

15W


235V


0.18A

My Mini ESS with LEAF Batteries gets an Enphase M215 Micro Inverter ! and becomes my DIY AC Battery ;)

In a way this like getting my own Enphase AC Battery ;) well, sort of ...



If you recall, I have been testing 3 LEAF Battery Modules for 6 months, then put them into a 6-bottle wine crate along with a Charger and Grid Tie Inverter to make what I called a Mini ESS - Energy Storage System -

Since November 2014, it has been running 24/7, for more than 4 months, until last weekend when a strange smell caught my attention while it was pushing power back into our grid in the morning, after its usal night low TOU rate charge cycle; It must be a vented capacitor, leaking inside .... It happened on another of the SUN-250G grid tie inverter I am using since the beginning of my Energy Storage activities

During last week I stumbled across an ad for 18 used Enphase M215 - 2 years old - Micro Inverters at 79 EUR per piece, and decided to give it a try; I already did try to use them last year but realized the US version will not work in France (split phase/single phase & 60Hz/50Hz)

I got in touch with the seller, a professional in Solar and Wind, who was nice enough to deliver 2 units for free saturday morning at home; In our email exchange I learned that they need to have a profile flashed into them before they can operate, and this is done during their first comissioning via the Enphase Engage gateway, using power line communication



So the 2 units I got have this profile already inside and he told me they should operate just fine, once they have DC through their MC4 connectors and the grid with 230V AC on the other end of the Enphase Engage cable - which I already got last year, EU version -



I quickly took my Mini ESS downstairs, unscrewed the cover, and connected the Battery pack to the  DC side using crocodile clamps and MC4 connectors, plug the AC side to a wall outlet, through a wattmeter, and turned main switch to the GTI - Grid Tie Inverter - position



After a long 2mn and 20s, and different status LED colors, it started producing 235W :) ! which is normal but I was happy to have working units now, opening my Storage experience new horizons ...



After running fine for an hour or so, the external temprature is only reaching 32°C, no fan required, no noise (you have to put your ear onto it to ear something), it's just great !


It pushed a steady power for 3 hours or so ... nice !



Sunday morning: now let's swap the 2 GTIs and make this Enphase M215 fit inside the box


After trying different positions and measuring the length of DC wires, I cut them and soldered them to their MC4 connectors


Voila ! DC side is wired and fits inside the crate :)


This new layout will leave the 10A charger outside, and I decided to hang it in the back, less vibrations this way


After testing both Charging and Discharging, I put my Mini ESS back upstairs, next to its big brother in the living room, right in time before night rate kicks in ...


It charged during the night, and this morning pushed all this stored Energy back into our home grid for 4 hours in a row, helping the heat pump warm up the apartment and breakfast consumption



Notes: After realizing it takes the M215 2mn and 20s to initialize and start producing power and I was disappointed first, because it takes only few seconds for my SUN-250G to start doing the same! Thinking over this during the weekend I tried leaving the DC side ON, and it worked, now reducing the startup time to 15s, much better !
Also there might be the fact that I am not using the Envoy GAteway, and the M215 might be waiting, trying to connect to it before producing ...

Well I still have to learn about that part, but overall this is a huge step towards more Efficiency and this is key !

All about my 2 DIY ESS : http://www.myelifenow.com/search/label/DIY%20ESS 

Follow my 2 ESS units 24/7 live: http://wattson.energyhive.com/dashboard/diyesskit