If the UK approve the use of 800W Plug in Systems, I would consider adding one to my setup of a Gen 3 5kW Hybrid Inverter with 9.5kWh battery.
Would that adversely affect my current setup and would the readings/stats that generates become wrong and how so?
I have an AC3 with EPS, and I understand that putting plug-in solar on the EPS output is likely to fry the inverter - so I’d attach yours to a breaker/feed that is not on EPS. I have an Ecoflow system (Stream Ultra X, which replaced a Powerstream) configured like that and it works well. Although the plug-in output is not seen by the Giv, so yes it would affect your stats.
I don’t have an EPS so no danger there.
My use case is that I already have 900W of solar panels, supplying an off-grid 24V 100Ah battery in my garage to run certain equipment that takes a steady 30-40W draw. It works well but often, and it will get worse as the days get longer, the battery gets fully charged early in the day and then the potential energy left in the day is just ignored!
I’m looking for a way to maximize the benefit of those 2 panels at minimum cost.
The plug-in system would have a generation only 800 W inverter outputting mains power at grid voltage (nominal 230 V), with the 900 W panels connected to the DC input(s) of the inverter. You would also need a mains to 24V battery charger to keep your 24V system running.
When the plug-in is generating the same or more than the base home consumption, the GE 5 kW hybrid inverter would see 0 Home Consumption even if it is effectively negative.
There can be scenarios where the 800W plug-in contributes to the charging of the GE 9.5 kWh battery under low house load conditions.
This setup would most likely need to be notified to the DNO, as it is potentially capable of exporting 5.8 kW to the grid.
I already have a 24V charger which is automated for when the battery gets to 15%, and it turns off at 30%. I would automate the plug-in system to only export (turn on) when house demand was high, and the 3.6kW limit of the GivEnergy was stretched.
It would make sense, I guess, to put the system currently running off the battery back on the mains. Then the battery is just an additional 2kWh of storage to be discharged down to ~15% when house load is high, and then wait until the sun comes out again (ie no need for the charger).
Let’s see if the plug-in thing ever gets approved in the UK!