My Photovoltaikanlage

[Robinson100]

@ Franklan - if it smells like fish, and looks like fish, it probably is fish......

I`ll be keeping an eye on this thread to see if you do make a purchase, and if it really was too good to be true!

[Fraufruit]

I'll show my ignorance here. What would you power with such a thing and how do you connect it to the things you need to be powered when it is on a balcony?

Himself installed solar panels on our boat years ago but they power a battery he built and most things are 12V. We do have a 220 maker for the coffee machine, fan, etc. which aren't used so much.

[Krieg]

I'll show my ignorance here. What would you power with such a thing and how do you connect it to the things you need to be powered when it is on a balcony?

Himself installed solar panels on our boat years ago but they power a battery he built and most things are 12V. We do have a 220 maker for the coffee machine, fan, etc. which aren't used so much.

It is a "balcony" system. You install the solar panels, connect the panels to the micro inverter and finally connect the micro inverter into any electrical socket in the house. The electricity from the panels will be "injected" into the house normal circuit. To use it you do not have to do anything, just continue with your life, maybe using your thirsty devices when there is sun is a good idea, like the washing machine, or cooker.

[Fraufruit]

Thanks, Krieg!

So a cable has to be laid from the balcony to an electrical outlet inside the flat. Got it.

[Krieg]

Thanks, Krieg!

So a cable has to be laid from the balcony to an electrical outlet inside the flat. Got it.

If you do not have any socket in the balcony, yes, however some balconies have electrical sockets. And "balcony" is just the name, probably because more people live in apartments, but they can be installed in different scenarios.

[Alberto]

new month, new data, now also September 2024 included

[Alberto]

New month recently ended

[Alberto]

One more month month ended, new data to post

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[john_b]

@franklan, did you buy one in the end? Or are you waiting till the Spring?

[Franklan]

@franklan, did you buy one in the end? Or are you waiting till the Spring?

No, I didn't buy, something else threw a spanner between my legs...

[Fraufruit]

Ouch!!

[Robinson100]

I have a question for those with a PV Anlage - what about insurance?

We have received a quote to have PV installed, plus a 30KW Battery. The PV would consist of 64 panels.

I am now starting to look into how to insure the whole thing, and bearing in mind that a few years back there was a case in Garmisch, where panels were installed and within half an hour they were totally demolished by hailstones, I want something that will cover the whole thing.

Mr Man spoke to an insurance guy yesterday, and he said that it has to be installed, and the bill sent to the insurance company in order to calculate how much the insurance premiums will be.......... so what happens if the whole thing gets demolished in the meantime?!

Any insider information or recommendations would be most appreciated!

[dstanners]

The prices for PV have really dropped. I ditched the idea of PV a few years back and only got solar panels for heating water (which works brilliantly), but the financial balance has tipped: 1) prices seem to be about 30% less and 2) will need to change cars and we could use at least one car as an EV which sits on the drive most of the day and is only used for small trips.

....So, the reason for mentioning this, is that one of the suppliers (a company called Febesol, which seems to be fairly big and all over Germany) has come back to us with a price for PV panels with a protective cover. By definition that reduces the efficiency of the panels (about 20% of the sunlight is blocked), but apparently it increases the longevity and protects from hail etc. It also looks nicer (in my opinion). No idea if anyone has tried them?

It could be a more practical alternative to insurance, but possibly more expensive.

[Alberto]

We have received a quote to have PV installed, plus a 30KW Battery. The PV would consist of 64 panels.

Is it a "normal" household? Or some business that consume much electricity, at night?
30kW is not a metric for batteries, did you perhaps mean 30 kWh? 30 kWh sounds incredibly oversized.
When I looked at it, batteries were typically 10 kWh, and for us this was already oversized. Beyond 3 kWh we would basically not used any of it (it's in one of my graph above!).

The problem with batteries, that I wrote many many times is: in winter you don't use them significantly, because the very modest daytime light is used directly for PV. And in summer you also don't use them much, because although come evening when the PV stop producing and you start drawing electricity form the grid the Akku is actually full, but nightime consumption is almost zero (ca 200W, over the duration of the night, I measured it and I'm also showing in one of my fig above).

They are slightly better in spring and autumn. When I crunched numbers 3yr ago, starting from our own PV and usege, it turned out the cost of Akku was SEVERAL times what it would have saved us in electricity bill over its 20yr lifetime (btw lifetime 20yr as the greedy vendors say? or 10yr as the manufacturers warrant? whatever...). Crunching energy data with math and algo has been part of my profession since my doctorate 25yr ago, so maybe I know...

Beside, 64 is also a huge number. We have 27 modules, and ca 9kWp, they cover the whole roof of our house (both side E and W, the house footprint is ca 9m x 9m).
With 64 modules you will not get the better feed-in-tarif, limited to max 10kWp, you will get the less good one (or maybe the rules changed? dunno, but I doubt...)

[Fraufruit]

"although come evening when the PV stop producing and you start drawing electricity form the grid the Akku is actually full, but nightime consumption is almost zero"

Are you also charging cars like dstanners plans on doing?

[Alberto]

Are you also charging cars like dstanners plans on doing?

Sorry I was missing that, and thanks for pointing it out.
Ok I have limited knowledge on the specifics, but 30 kWh and num. of modules seems very very huge.

[Alberto]

The prices for PV have really dropped.

I didn't look much into this, but when I did, some years after we ordered our PV and everybody say saying "cost of PV went down", it turned out they actually went up, not down!
We paid ca 1300 eur/kWp (this includes posh WR, and installation).
How much the quotation if I may?

[dstanners]

No problem at all, happy to share
Three years ago I was quoted 34k for approximately 28 panels and a 10kw battery.
A few weeks ago I was quoted just under 20k for 22 panels and a 10kw battery.
I think the earlier quote also included one of those charging points for the car (they used to be subsidised up to 100% in NRW)

I agree that 64 panels and a 30kw battery is large for a private household.

[Robinson100]

Thanks for your input - we have a quote for 64 panels, and the battery - yes Alberto, 30KWH, in total costing 40K.
During the day, we plan to be running the carpentry workshop from this, with various machines and stuff, and then, of course the living quarters..... heating, lighting, etc.
The building only had three wood burners until about this time last year, so we kind of set everything to be run on electricity.
We have roofing facing East, South and West, so should be able to "collect" a lot of sun energy!

[Alberto]

Three years ago I was quoted 34k for approximately 28 panels and a 10kw battery.

Did you shop around?
I ask because this quotation seems particularly high.
Our 2018 quotation was ca 13k€ for 27modules, 9.5kWh and posh WR. No Akku though, Akku price we're ca 1k€/1kWh.
So like for like we paid less, AND we had a smaller system, which should cost relatively more, AND prices of PV allegedly went down.