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

Uni-Solar PVL & SMA Sunny Boy - Home Solar Install Finished & Running :-)

My solar contractor, Ecogelec's boss, came today, sunday, before lunch time, to replace the defective SMA Sunny Boy 3000 Grid Tie Inverter by a brand new one, sent by SMA Technical Service few days before

After installing the new unit on its rack, replacing the MC4 connectors with Phoenix Contact ones, because this is what SMA is using now, it initialized with all the 3 LEDs on along with the 2 lines display, and performed well right away pushing between 8 and 900W for our first solar production :-)

From that moment, everything worked fine, I switched on my Energy Storage System (ESS) and it started charging as it should do when used power is lower than produced power, and it went on until close to 9:15 PM when the Sunny Boy stopped because of the sunset light becoming too weak ...

MC4 connectors had to be replaced by Phoenix Contact connectors


Phoenix Contact close up, no crimping tool required

We used a mirror to see the SMA Sunny Boy 3000 display

First Solar Production !! :-) and not bad at 850W

SMA Sunny Boy 3000 is on, completely silent,  and its top heat sink was luke warm the whole afternoon

I found a spot for Wattson transmitter: right on top of the utility meter
The Solar sub panel is now closed and Wattson sensor leads are coming out of it from the top


Then this board was put back in place and the kitchen cabinet can now be used almost like before, except for the upper storage part of course


The consumer unit is also closed now, after adding an outlet for Wattson transmitter

My ESS is on, in charger mode here, and the chargers are switched on to match the generation as close as possible
Production on the left, Net Usage (Usage - Production) on the right

Staying around 0W ... this is good

Production on the left, Net Usage (Usage - Production) on the right
Here the solar panel are pushing around 800W and the ESS - in GTI Mode at this moment - is pushing 570W, during cooking

And finally during sunset, the Generated Power declined slowly but stayed around 150 for a while at the end, still at 9PM,  - Here Wattson is set to indicate Generated Power -

This is the light I add at this moment around 9PM


until the SMA really quit around 9:15PM, Wattson indicating 0W



Wattson Anywhere power graphs for this first day of solar generation

Solar Install 2/3 - SMA Sunny Boy and Wiring

SMA Sunny Boy Grid Tie Inverter is now installed :-)

Today, after Roland Garros tournament - no parking available nearby and non stop bad weather, my contractor came to finish - almost - the Solar installation started in october 2012

First, we had to make some room in the kitchen cabinets for the inverter and the solar junction box/sub panel 

Here they come, in the morning sunshine, start unloading and bringing up their stuff 

Recently changed utility meter and old - but very sturdy - main AC breaker

Solar junction box / sub panel before install: Some lightning fuses on the floor will be added later in a larger panel which will accomodate them along with my outlet for the ESS 

A lot of stuff on the dining room floor: DC, AC cables, connectors, tools, etc

Access is clear now after unscrewing the groceries racks

A close look at the SMA Sunny Boy 3000 waiting in the corridor, apparently a used unit from the few scratches on the enclosure, but in mint condition inside (again this inverter should be there only for a little while waiting for their "home made" special inverter

Beautiful German quality unit 

Holding bracket screwed in the cabinet
Some 20mm holes for the hot air exhaust on top of the inverter, which is naturally air cooled - no fan - 

4mm2 Solar Cables: Red for Positive, Black for Negative ...

Solar DC cables are pushed from the appartment, up to the attic, to end up on the roof

32kg SunnyBoy is now mounted on its heavy duty thick metal bracket

Junction box / Sub panel is mounted right underneath, accessible at human height

Close up: they added a 220V outlet I provided to plug in my ESS directly: from left to right: Differential AC circuit breaker, outlet, DC circuit breaker - for solar DC cables - 

So it all fits nicely in this rather narrow cabinet, where the consumer panel is, next to the fridge

Damaged MC4 connectors: At my request they replaced all the MC3 connectors on the Uni-Solar PVL panels with MC4, the new standard, this is a lot of crimping on the roof, and my contractor could not finish everything in one long morning
But he promises to come back to finish very soon ... 

:

Inverter cover and cables

They left the Solar DC cable rolls here

I should have an SMA Sunny Boy 3000 Inverter installed soon

I recently talked to my solar contractor and since his home made grid tie inverter is delayed for now, he proposed to install a regular inverter few weeks ago, and last tuesday, he said it would be an SMA SunnyBoy 3000 (with galvanic transformer)
If you remember, bmy Uni-Solar PVL124 and PVL68 had been installed on the building zinc roof back in october ...
We talked a lot about the details, junction box, Wattson sensors, integration of my LiFePO4 ESS, etc
We are now waiting for the bad weather to go away  !!  :-)

Solar Panels Installation - 13 Uni-Solar PVL 124W 68W 31W

Today is the Big Day !

When I woke up, I discovered a very clear blue sky (what a relief !)

I had to take my day off to be there when it happens, but still I could not sleep anymore 

I checked right away and noticed that the forecast had not changed :-) and that it should be a nice day (all day)

My contractor called me to tell me he would come with one or two employees from another project nearby to help him out here and that he should show up right after lunch break so that the roof would be dry

And now they are here, the boss and one employee, on the roof installing the panels :-)

My last recommandations given showing pictures of the roof (from the sky) & Uni-Solar PVL technical documentation, ...

... my wife and I helped them passing the panels to put all of them on the roof

The ladder and opening to access to the roof

They installed some safety ropes between the chimney stacks

and started cleaning and scrubbing the the zinc so that the tar would stick better

It is getting hot on top of this roof in direct sun :-)

More pictures taken by my contractor:

All this was installed in only two hours and the employee told me it was the first time he installed this kind of panels and that it was easy

The PVL 68W and PVL 124W have been placed on either side of the U shaped building roof, avoiding attic air conduits, East and  West, in two strings of 3 68W and 3 124W; The additional small 31W has been added to the East chain

Here is a particular problem I was afraid of: the zinc sheets, overlapping each other, create a bump; I ask my contractor to be extra carefull at these points and not to try to put too much pressure on them because it would damage the solar panels ... He followed my advice and did better: he added a some silicone sealant between the zinc and the panel, blocking water and sticking this part too, which is a good idea :-)

Closer look at the nice result
I know, we have a lot of shade from the chimney stack, because winter is coming ..., but these panels are working do not really need direct sun to work well, they are fine with a white/grey sky
Also, if the shade is really bad, the cells affected are automatically shunted (each cell has a diode for that prupose), allowing better current flow only in sunny cells 

Awesome ! I am very happy with the job they accomplished :-)

Now I will have to be patient because their "Super" inverter is not ready yet, butI think it is worth the wait (I talked about it with the boss for an hour after the employee was gone)

Their website: Ecogelec