My Issan 10kw on grid solar project fully installed by contractors 337,500bht

[Crossy]

On 3/22/2021 at 8:55 PM, Thaifish said:

Even if they say 1 month to fix I can live with that. Just want to know what's going on.

 

If they don't sort it "soon" I'd just swap the CT wires and see what happens, you won't damage anything.

 

Note: One normally would never let a CT go open-circuit if there is current flowing as they can generate very large voltages on the secondary without a load resistor. These baby CTs used for sensing aren't going to kill anyone but try to avoid touching the wires. If worried turn off the main breaker first.

[Thaifish]

Quick update.. Contractors sending a bloke to fix  performance readout next Friday. The Issan Luv Machine told them I wanted my money back and that they had to come and collect the solar panels.!! True Story.. My approach was different which was I was getting Fizzed off and they will be talking to my Solicitor if not fixed before Songran... Apparently the fix it man is the best in the country and can even make it work of a night time..!!! I wont bother with figures but I am bouncing below the meter read slowly over a few days only to lose it with a cloudy day... Like walking up the stairs and catching the lift back down. Will update as it develops.

[SPREX]

On 23/02/2021 at 17:34, Crossy said:

La question est donc: comment se déroule la paperasse PEA?

 

À quoi êtes-vous inscrit exactement?

 

An excellent question that few people can answer I studied and installed a set of 5KW PV ongrid as well as a 5.5 KVA generator the set has been working perfectly for 6 months
So I proceeded to my request for an export contract on the grid
know that it is not PEA which examines the file and finances the takeover but the energy ERC

Request recording is only online the process for VSPP is very long (3 -6 months) 

office of BKK which gives its agreement and transfers the file to the Provincial energy office
First of all there are requirements and an installation certification to do this is what I did an Engineer came to check the conformity of my installation which requires certain technical provisions in accordance with the standard for the Mono phase it this is the M3 plan
moreover, be aware that any installation with panels placed on the ground is not eligible
The PV and their grounding in wells must be dedicated and not be connected to that of the house
Protective surges must be installed as well as other provisions
Please note that inverters must be part of the official list recently released by the PEA and MWA operators
reminder it is strictly forbidden to connect your installation to the public network without authorization from the unencrypted operator to run the meter upside down
the risk of sanction if the operator finds out about the thing, he will install a way acronym at your expense, i.e. around 10,000 baht and may, in accordance with the regulations, recover the amount of sums that have escaped him by the drastic amount of the counting
I therefore attach you the general installation plan of my set
an example of the obvious advantage of the gain on the last invoice of Feb-March 2021

My installation is searchable by the public here  https://www.solarmanpv.com/portal/Terminal/TerminalMain.aspx?pid=130304

  For any questions you can contact me through my Facebook page

https://www.facebook.com/bernard.duleroy.5/

All my information is free and without intention of  monetization 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[SPREX]

On 23/02/2021 at 22:21, Thaifish said:

Je suis le jour 4 dans la mise en service de l'unité ... Les questions que vous posez sont difficiles mais je vais répondre avec ce que je vois .. Il y a eu des tas d'interruptions sur l'unité. Nous avons eu une panne de courant pendant 4 heures (arrêt solaire) + un affichage d'avertissement majeur apparaît qui, à travers le système, s'est éteint, a augmenté et s'est arrêté pendant quelques heures. L'avertissement a été déclenché par une surtension du fournisseur d'électricité. J'ai remarqué que depuis que le solaire est allumé, nous obtenons environ 230V ... avant qu'il ne soit autour de 210V ... si tôt dans la scène avec le soleil toute la journée.

 

Les finances ont l'air mieux que ce à quoi je m'attendais .. Je m'attendais à une production de 40kw mais ça a l'air de 60kw par jour !!! les premiers temps. J'ai de gros problèmes avec les lectures de l'ordinateur et du téléphone, mais le chiffre de production semble proche.

 

La meilleure estimation à ce stade avec seuil de rentabilité est de 5 ans 11 mois. La consommation moyenne est de 1196Kw p / m ou 5,0000bht. Coût par Kw 4,18 Bht. Le compteur a en moyenne 13,3 Kw de gain après une nuit de consommation .. : -)

 

Est-ce que je gagne de l'argent en vendant au réseau? .... Oui, comme l'a confirmé mon Terak à Nang Rong PEA aujourd'hui. Le prix d'achat est de 1,96 Bht Kw .. J'attends toujours l'installation du compteur intelligent ... cela pourrait prendre jusqu'à 6 mois ?? C'est la Thaïlande ... Mètre payé en installation 4K Bht .. donc en cours sur des chiffres supérieurs à environ 731Bht par mois.

 

Amortissement et durée de vie prévue? Aucune idée ... Livré avec une garantie de 5 ans ... toux toux ... l'argent payé le jour est lorsque la garantie s'arrête en Thaïlande. Les onduleurs ont 5 ans ... Peut durer 10 si chanceux ... vraiment chanceux ... Panneaux solaires peut-être 20 ans ... 1 coup de foudre peut changer tout cela .. Le système est mis à la terre pour un tel événement.

 

Entretien prévu ... Nettoyez les panneaux photovoltaïques tous les six mois, ce qui est inclus dans le coût d'installation pour les 5 prochaines années .... C'était une surprise dans le contrat ...

 

Coût de réparation?? aucune idée ... 5 ans de garantie pour s'inquiéter à ce sujet ...

[Thaifish]

On 3/28/2021 at 12:06 AM, SPREX said:

reminder it is strictly forbidden to connect your installation to the public network without authorization from the unencrypted operator to run the meter upside down
the risk of sanction if the operator finds out about the thing, he will install a way acronym at your expense, i.e. around 10,000 baht and may, in accordance with the regulations, recover the amount of sums that have escaped him by the drastic amount of the counting

 

SPREX it looks like you have already done the hard yards getting set up to sell extra KW back to PEA. I have been warned it is a mammoth task. I am on the waiting list for the smart meter already paid for in the installation.. Maybe 1 month to 5 months to go now. In hindsight after 6 short weeks of installation I am wondering if the smart meter was the way to go. On average I have been consuming 10KWH more than what has been produced in a 24 Hr period. The old meter I have appears to spins backwards at the same speed as it does forward with similar Amp's. I was of the understanding that the meter would be ratcheted and spin backwards at a slower rate. The Smart meter may go backwards at a slower rate.... ie be ratcheted?? I don't know.. Time will tell... What I do know is the old meter is a great storage of excess power. I'm sort of wishing to keep it now. The installers and My Issan Luv Machine are not concerned about the feedback of power back into the grid and PEA finding out.  (famous last words)!!!

 

On a bonus side of not exporting excess power back into the grid means I have not over capitalized with a 10Kw system. I am effectively getting a return of 4.2bht/KWH produced instead of 2.21Bht/KWH selling price. I was quoted by Nang Rong PEA 1.96Bht purchase price P/KWH verbally but I would agree more with your purchase price of 2.21Bht (2021). I read that also in some PEA literature.  

[Thaifish]

As promised the Installers turned up Friday to fix my software issue with readouts. The Image below is from today showing what went on with production and consumption. We had 10/10 high cloud which ended up as rain after the sun went down. Not a good day for solar but the graph explains the software system is working which also compares with my manual Grid Meter readings.   I now have a plethora of information available on my computer. Maybe to much info than what I actually need!!!! Shows everything about the system... Will update through the week with how the contactors rectified the software and some of the readouts I'm seeing now... 

[Crossy]

That looks significantly more sensible.

[BritManToo]

6 hours ago, Thaifish said:

As promised the Installers turned up Friday to fix my software issue with readouts. The Image below is from today showing what went on with production and consumption. We had 10/10 high cloud which ended up as rain after the sun went down. Not a good day for solar but the graph explains the software system is working which also compares with my manual Grid Meter readings.   I now have a plethora of information available on my computer. Maybe to much info than what I actually need!!!! Shows everything about the system... Will update through the week with how the contactors rectified the software and some of the readouts I'm seeing now... 

 

64 too high, 16 too low ...........

Let's hope for a sunny day so we can see if my prediction of 35 units/day is correct.

[Thaifish]

15 hours ago, BritManToo said:

 

64 too high, 16 too low ...........

Let's hope for a sunny day so we can see if my prediction of 35 units/day is correct.

 

Another day as it happens.... Noticed production not as good again as I would have expected even with clouds the last few days.. Slowly getting in sink with what I would expect with the installation performance..  Even though all lights blinking green like " Thunderbirds are Go" Something appeared amiss. With software operating now I picked up that one of the inverters was not operating since the tech guys were here. A phone call to Contractors and 30 minutes later the errant inverter is back working again. All rectified by internet connection. I could see that the inverter had not started up as the software tells you down to the second the start up time and shutdown time. The production attachment below shows a bump in production around 1430 hrs when 2nd inverter was kicked in by Contractor and the other attachment shows hours etc inverter online for the day..  

 

I hope I beat 35 units... I'm confident I will.... In fact I'm sure I will....

[Thaifish]

 

Going back a few days the Contractors turned up from Bkk to rectify my software readout issues. Arrived 1600hrs Friday and left Sunday 1600hrs! The guy scratching his head I called Brains after the "Thunderbirds"

 

 

As expected the wires connected the wrong way around to Smart reader where turned around.

 

Brains wanted to fit a Huawei Dongle to communicate between the 2 inverters. Problem was they did not bring one with them. Saturday morning and its of to Korat to pick up said Dongle from the bus which was sent from Bangkok. Installed late Saturday but sun had gone down so wait till the next day to check operating properly.  Dongle cost about 4000Bht but provided free.

 

 

 

Today is probably my first day of installation where I am 100% confident everything is working 100%. Yes had some issues getting to this stage but they where only minor issues. The plant has been performing prior. It has only been the readouts which has fissed me off. Now I have so much info available... For example.. Below is todays production. There was a drop out of production 1245Hrs till 1330Hrs. Move on to next screen shot to explain

 

 

The history shows shows fault('s) and sugestions to rectify.. I this case it was an over voltage alarm

 

 

I can then go and look up the Voltage changes through the day which shows 248.8vlt peek before protection shutdown. The drop box I opened just to show what other history parameters you can look up.

 

 

Just to finish it off there is a pretty display picture of you helping the world out with your efforts that you can display on your computer. You can have a warm and fuzzy feeling!!

 

 

 

Overall I am really happy with the installation. Maybe 6ish years for ROI???

 

 

[yeikloen]

Hi Thaifish,

 

Do you mind to share your installer for your place as I am keen in this Huawei system as well. I am currently using this system in Malaysia and would like to install the same system my place in Kanchanaburi as well with the similar setup I currently have

- 5kwh

- 12 x 410w jinko panels

 

Thank you.

 

Cheers,

Loen

[Thaifish]

6 hours ago, yeikloen said:

Do you mind to share your installer for your place as I am keen in this Huawei system as well.

 

No problems.... The link to their homepage is below.. I will PM a direct phone contact also.

Good to see someone happy to stick with the Huawei product after a previous installation.  

 

dragonenergysolar.com

 

There is a quick quote available on the home page.

 

 

Edited April 21, 2021 by Thaifish

[KhaoYai]

Well done for taking the plunge, hopefully it will pay you back eventually.

 

I will be building a new house sometime (covid keeps putting it bacck) and will  be building solar power in. I hope to recover my costs but that's not my main reason - environmental concerns are the main driver for me.

[Thaifish]

8 minutes ago, KhaoYai said:

covid keeps putting it bacck

 

Covid actually helped me fund the project. I was stuck in Ozz for 9 months and my pot of gold over here was not being spent. I'm the same. I want a return on investment but if it takes a while and I get free A/C while it happens then I can live with that.... 

[yeikloen]

12 hours ago, Thaifish said:

 

No problems.... The link to their homepage is below.. I will PM a direct phone contact also.

Good to see someone happy to stick with the Huawei product after a previous installation.  

 

dragonenergysolar.com

 

There is a quick quote available on the home page.

 

 

Thank you very much ????

[Thaifish]

My production for April.... 1.15MWH. I had my software issue with readouts sorted on the 6th so a bit dubious about accuracy although my manual readings from the Grid Meter appear to agree with the production. As you can see consumption is higher than production. A few words where had with the "Freeloaders" end of month about maybe they could close windows and doors while the A/C is on and turn the lights off when not being used!!!! etc etc etc. (Need to make a note to myself to count no solar panels missing). The wet season has kicked in early this year with afternoon cumulus build up and lightning to boot. I'm happy with production....

[Crossy]

Looking good ???? It does sound better to talk about Mega-Watt hours rather than kilo-Watt hours ????

 

With the grandkids here for the duration and me working from home we have a similar issue with local consumption levels (although I am saving on fuel and road tolls) ???? 

 

 

[Thaifish]

Bin read day. The meter reader was like a policeman catching a kid with his hand in the lolly jar... Not our regular reader which when we explained last month that we now have solar and waiting on new Smart Meter..etc etc..all good chock dee...cheap Bin... This new reader was on the phone to HQ looking for blood (Saturday). For some reason the meter would not print out the consumption as shown below. I was expecting a Bin of around 400bht. It was a 1018hrs meter read so the meter wheel was spinning backwards big time. My Issan Luv machine now on station phones the contractors which back up the story about waiting on PEA for new meter... So now Monday...Nothing more heard from PEA.. Contractor says good because now they will hurry up installing the new Smart Meter.

 

 

 

Looking at production this month so far have averaged 40Kwh per day. On the first day of the month the grid was down for 5 hours so no production...

 

 

 

While I wait to hear back from PEA with the outcome developing I have done my checks..... Grab Bag ready....Keys in Bike facing down drive... Go fund me page ready....

 

 

[Thaifish]

Monday 31/5/21 and PEA turned up and installed a new meter. Yep no feedback to the grid. Hindsight!! Should have set system to non export around meter read time. Anyway no hassles and no fines.. Was exporting low 20kwh to sometimes 30Kwh back into the grid so now it is just wasted power going nowhere. Obviously a big bight on ROI also!!! So now still waiting on the already purchased Smart Grid Meter 4 and a  half months ago to come from Korat PEA so Nang Rong PEA can install. I don't know how the new meter still waiting on works with feed back into the grid. I am hoping it is 1 for 1 and the leftover when the meter is read you get the rebate 2.2bht p/Kwh. In other words I hope it is not ratcheted so export Kw is the same as whats being fed back into the Bahn..

 

My monthly output below.... Averaging 40kwh production per/day. Can't complain about that with a lot of cloudy days and rainy afternoons..On the 1st day of the month the grid was down for 5 hrs...and of course a sunny day... 1.24Mwh production for the month.

 

For the hell of it I am getting a quote for a Huawei Battery with 25KWH supply for overnight consumption.. I know the cost will be over the top...

 

Edited June 1, 2021 by Thaifish

[gamb00ler]

46 minutes ago, Thaifish said:

Monday 31/5/21 and PEA turned up and installed a new meter. Yep no feedback to the grid. Hindsight!! Should have set system to non export around meter read time. Anyway no hassles and no fines.. Was exporting low 20kwh to sometimes 30Kwh back into the grid so now it is just wasted power going nowhere. Obviously a big bight on ROI also!!!

Install an ice making machine and sell the ice or mine cryptocurrencies ????

Edited June 1, 2021 by gamb00ler

[Logosone]

So is Thaifish now self-sufficient in terms of electricity, you do not require electricity from PEA at all?

 

If there were a blackout you would still have electricity?

[Crossy]

7 hours ago, Thaifish said:

Monday 31/5/21 and PEA turned up and installed a new meter. Yep no feedback to the grid.

 

Is it a conventional or electronic meter?

 

There is a report that the electronic meters actually bill for power going in both directions!! I'd certainly set to zero export now, no point giving PEA energy for nothing.

 

Obviously this won't be an issue for you once you get your proper export meter. It might be a idea to chase up on that just in case they have "forgotten".

 

My understanding is that the export meter logs the power you send to the grid and the power you use from the grid separately (it knows nothing of power you generate and use internally). PEA pay you for what you export (2.x Baht per unit) and charge you for what you import (4.x Baht per unit). So you are effectively being charged 2.x Baht per unit by PEA to "store" energy (could make that battery pack more attractive).

 

It will be interesting to see what the Huawei pack costs compared with a DIY solution.

 

We are in process expanding our system (got to extend the car port first) and I'm seriously considering going hybrid despite the increased cost to avoid issues with PEA. The emergency power source (UPS mode) would be a bonus.

[sezze]

31 minutes ago, Crossy said:

 

Is it a conventional or electronic meter?

 

There is a report that the electronic meters actually bill for power going in both directions!! I'd certainly set to zero export now, no point giving PEA energy for nothing.

 

Obviously this won't be an issue for you once you get your proper export meter. It might be a idea to chase up on that just in case they have "forgotten".

 

My understanding is that the export meter logs the power you send to the grid and the power you use from the grid separately (it knows nothing of power you generate and use internally). PEA pay you for what you export (2.x Baht per unit) and charge you for what you import (4.x Baht per unit). So you are effectively being charged 2.x Baht per unit by PEA to "store" energy (could make that battery pack more attractive).

 

It will be interesting to see what the Huawei pack costs compared with a DIY solution.

 

We are in process expanding our system (got to extend the car port first) and I'm seriously considering going hybrid despite the increased cost to avoid issues with PEA. The emergency power source (UPS mode) would be a bonus.

true but a Huawei battery pack , bought in Thailand would be extremely expensive . It will never pay back for it themselves , depending on the choice you make , since also the "officially" installed solar grid tie already costs at least double of a non official version . So either you go non official , hybrid with a battery pack ( lifepo4 batteries not expensive anymore but getting packs are more of a issue , plenty of sellers on lazada , but very limited supply + do not forget a BMS ) , or go official and forget about batteries . Higher investment , but plug and play , no need to worry about anything .

[eisfeld]

10 hours ago, Crossy said:

PEA pay you for what you export (2.x Baht per unit)

 

Should be 2.2 THB per kWh since January. Raised from ridicolous 1.68 THB. Still too low but I would suggest the OP to sign up now that they block his export anyways. Might as well get at least half of the money instead of nothing.

[Crossy]

3 minutes ago, eisfeld said:

Should be 2.2 THB per kWh since January. Raised from ridicolous 1.68 THB. Still too low but I would suggest the OP to sign up now that they block his export anyways. Might as well get at least half of the money instead of nothing.

 

Yeah, I thought it was 2.something hence the "x".

 

He's already signed up, just waiting for the export meter (4 months now).

 

[Thaifish]

22 hours ago, Logosone said:

So is Thaifish now self-sufficient in terms of electricity, you do not require electricity from PEA at all?

 

If there were a blackout you would still have electricity?

Logosone quite the opposite since I got busted by PEA which was my fault. Without the meter spinning backwards I have no storage and excess power is just wasted. Before any power sent back to grid was returned when the sun went down at the same rate... In a blackout all Solar systems are designed to shut down automatically so you do not fry a sparky repairing the blackout somewhere back down the grid. Safety. With battery back up I believe you can set it up with a Uninterrupted Power Supply (UPS) so you have continual power as long as the batteries can handle it. If you look at my graph above I am consuming slightly more than what is being produced. Early days for me learning about solar but even if I had batteries being charged I'm thinking I will not produce enough power to fully charge batteries... I could reduce consumption which would solve the issue..I have to many free loaders so by getting rid of them would be a start to becoming self sufficient...!!

 

16 hours ago, Crossy said:

Is it a conventional or electronic meter?

Its a conventional meter with a disk.

 

15 hours ago, sezze said:

lifepo4 batteries not expensive anymore but getting packs are more of a issue , plenty of sellers on lazada , but very limited supply + do not forget a BMS

Will start doing some research prices, lifecycle, warranty and all the rest. I'm not going to commit to anything until I get the new electronic meter. I'm thinking already it is going to be cost prohibitive.

 

What is a BMS... (grasshopper bow's his head trying to learn). I will possibly void my 5 year warranty if I do not stick with a Huawei battery?? Plug and Play easy....

 

16 hours ago, Crossy said:

got to extend the car port first

 

Crossy came across this cradle design months ago to fit PV's. The photo is of one with a 12 volt motor so you can adjust angle for optimum solar through the day..... 9,000bht..6,000bht without motor. My local welder could make one up for a lot cheaper. You could build it into your carport roof and give the neighbors something to talk about.. I sorta like concept...

 

 

 

 

Edited June 2, 2021 by Thaifish

[Logosone]

I always thought it would be incredibly sexy to use solar panels to make my house completely energy self-sufficient. Particularly with a view to having power during a blackout.

 

But I see it's more expensive than I thought, and not easy at all. I had read that but good to see your hands on experience. Good stuff.

[sezze]

7 hours ago, Logosone said:

I always thought it would be incredibly sexy to use solar panels to make my house completely energy self-sufficient. Particularly with a view to having power during a blackout.

 

But I see it's more expensive than I thought, and not easy at all. I had read that but good to see your hands on experience. Good stuff.

All is depending on the power you need , small users , small money , big users big money .

Hybrid inverters take care of all the self sufficient needs , 3kW roughly costs 7000-15000 baht . 5kW-5.5kW 12000-25000 baht -> some models here are possible to put together to get even higher power by buying a 2nd/3th/4th ... unit . Add solar panels to this setup , and then the cost of batteries . 10kW batteries Lifepo4 will cost you about 30k to 40k baht , and if you use them not more then 80% capacity they should last +2500 cycles . Add a BMS , which is something you need if you are using Lithium type of batteries . It makes sure that all batteries in a serial string ( each batt is 3.3V so 4 batteries in series makes a 12V system ) does get charged until 100% same lvl . Such BMS is very depending on voltage and amps needed but roughly 700 to 7000 baht .

So if you only need a few kW of power , then it can be quite cheap . If you need 10kW of inverter , and 30kW of batteries , 10 kW solar , then you are certainly adding the cost .

PS , in the plug and play versions of the batteries , like the Huawei type , but there are many , then all the battery management is taken care for and many times they offer extensive lifecycles many times giving 10y warranty . Price of these is also expensive , but its in a nice box and you can be sure about the quality , and no need to know anything about it , its plug and play .

[Logosone]

Solar panel suppliers in Germany told me you can only satisfy 80% of energy requirements for a family home (unfortunately I have wife and kids so my energy consumption is unreal), but I think that is not the case, given enough outlay you could probably make a house in Thailand 100% energy self-sufficient, even for a family of 4.

 

But the outlay is considerable, and looking at the OP's posts I see that the components do not last a lifetime, have to be renewed, cleaned. It's not as hassle free as I thought. And you keep incurring cost, albeit it's clearly worth it in the long run.

[sezze]

3 hours ago, Logosone said:

Solar panel suppliers in Germany told me you can only satisfy 80% of energy requirements for a family home (unfortunately I have wife and kids so my energy consumption is unreal), but I think that is not the case, given enough outlay you could probably make a house in Thailand 100% energy self-sufficient, even for a family of 4.

 

But the outlay is considerable, and looking at the OP's posts I see that the components do not last a lifetime, have to be renewed, cleaned. It's not as hassle free as I thought. And you keep incurring cost, albeit it's clearly worth it in the long run.

Germany isn't Thailand . In Germany it is indeed impossible without generator due to winter months . You will have days or even more then a week were the solar panels produce 0.0 watt , when in winter time . That is in a period where consumption of electric is also high due to short dark days . In Thailand , your panels will always deliver something , even in very cloudy days .