SolarEdge Dwelling Battery Evaluate: 3 Months In

Two years in the past, I had a 6.6kW SolarEdge/Seraphim photo voltaic system put in on my home in Adelaide. A couple of months in the past I made a decision to affix the increasingly-less-exclusive membership of dwelling battery house owners.

So I known as again my unique photo voltaic installer, and obtained them so as to add a spiffy SolarEdge Dwelling Battery to my home. Three months on, it’s time to put in writing about my set up expertise, preliminary impressions, and bumps alongside the best way.

Why The SolarEdge Dwelling Battery?

Finn has a Tesla Powerwall and has extensively written about it, so he inspired¹ me to get a much less widespread battery.

The SolarEdge Battery was solely launched in Australia 6 months in the past (I imagine mine was the second put in in Adelaide). For some time it was generally known as the ‘SolarEdge Power Financial institution’, however SolarEdge Australia has since reverted to the imaginative ‘SolarEdge Dwelling Battery’ moniker.

And SolarEdge was (and, I imagine, nonetheless is) providing to improve older SolarEdge inverters (like my 5 kW HD Wave) to the brand new hybrid ‘Power Hub’ inverter without cost once you purchase the SolarEdge Battery.

Free improve to SolarEdge Power Hub Hybrid Inverter. Good.

So, I obtained an incredible deal on a newly launched battery + inverter improve (all up, it price $11,000).

The battery can retailer 9.7 kWh of vitality. Over the past two years my common every day utilization topped out at 13 kWh in winter – which means 9.7 kWh of storage was the candy spot of worth and measurement for my scenario.

I Received My Unique Photo voltaic Installer To Come Again

Utilizing the identical installer who did your solar energy system set up for a battery retrofit isn’t obligatory. However I made a decision to ask again my photo voltaic installer from two years in the past – SEM Group.

This was as a result of I needed to maintain all warranties below one roof. It makes issues simpler if I’ve any points sooner or later. Plus – they did a implausible job with my photo voltaic set up, so there was no cause to not invite them again!

130 kg of battery goodness. And a pair of sturdy dudes.

The Battery Set up Was Clean As Butter

It took the higher a part of a day for a two-person staff to swap out my inverter and set up the battery.

Cables within the cavity for neatness.

The bare battery – with out its cowl.

They had been immediate, environment friendly and left me with a neat set up – one whose aesthetics are worthy of a SolarEdge product brochure:

Mmm-mm.

As backup is non-compulsory with the SolarEdge Battery, and I paid for it, in addition they wanted to put in the SolarEdge Backup Field above my switchboard:

Wiring the switchboard (backside) to the backup-box (high).

The ‘ES’ sticker was added to the switchboard after this shot!

One remark I’ll make in regards to the set up – the ultimate commissioning took ages (nearly two hours). If I knew it might take ages, I’d have ducked out for lunch as a substitute of twiddling my thumbs at dwelling.

Commissioning took hours. However to be honest this was solely the second SolarEdge dwelling battery put in in South Australia.

Setting A Minimal Battery Reserve

Throughout commissioning, I used to be requested, “What share do you need to set the minimal battery reserve?” To the non-techies, this implies, “What quantity of vitality do you need to hold solely for blackout conditions?”

I had to consider this one. The extra I saved in reserve for blackouts, the much less I’d use my battery day-after-day – hurting my payback. But when I set it low, and even at 0%, I could possibly be dealing with a scenario the place a blackout hit, and the battery was flat – leaving me with egg on my face.

I took a middle-ground choice and had it set at 25% – protecting 2.5 kWh in reserve to be used in a blackout.

After a number of weeks of checking my monitoring, I realised I’d reasonably totally discharge the battery and abdomen the embarrassment of getting a flat battery if the celebs aligned in opposition to me. The misplaced financial savings from having a reserve was gnawing away at me.

I couldn’t change this setting by my app – so a fast e mail to SolarEdge help had them do it for me.

It Wasn’t All Smiles And Sunshine

Three days after the installers packed up and left, my battery additionally determined to. By means of diligent monitoring of the SolarEdge app, I observed the battery was caught on 35% state of cost:

A fast cellphone name to my installer obtained them again out the subsequent day to attempt to diagnose and repair the issue. Because it seems, the battery was bricked and wanted changing. To make issues worse, SolarEdge was quoting 3+ weeks for substitute below guarantee.

However fortunately – and that is why it’s so vital to decide on an excellent installer – SEM purchased a brand new battery out of pocket and obtained it to me throughout the week.

It solely took a number of hours for them to switch the battery and get it re-commissioned. Which means I may return to displaying off my fancy new SolarEdge Dwelling Battery to my associates.

How Has The Battery Carried out So Far?

Earlier than shopping for, I confirmed with the installer my SolarEdge Dwelling Battery would be capable to present what Finn calls “apocalypse proof” backup – which is when the battery will cost from the photo voltaic panels even when the grid is down.

It may put out 5kW of energy – which is greater than my home has ever used, even with two aircons on on the identical time. So I’ve hardly ever had to attract from the grid on high of my battery.

My typical every day utilization is roughly 7kWh in summer time and 13 kWh in winter. So having a 9.7kWh battery means I’ve nearly by no means fully drained it, besides after I’ve had a run of overcast winter days.

One quirk of the SolarEdge Dwelling Battery’s backup is it takes a full 3 seconds to change over within the occasion of a grid outage. Different batteries – just like the ever-popular Telsa Powerwall – have immediate switchover. SolarEdge claims it is a characteristic, not a bug, because it’ll be apparent when the ability goes out.

As an avid PC gamer, a 3-second switchover isn’t ultimate – nevertheless it’s higher than none in any respect!

Amber Electrical Extra Compelling Than PowerShop

Finn was eager for me to affix a Digital Energy Plant – or VPP – so I’d have an additional dimension of battery possession to put in writing about. My enthusiasm for becoming a member of one crashed after I noticed the one VPP I used to be eligible for was Powershop’s.

In alternate for letting them hammer my shiny new battery, they’d pay me a whopping $10 monthly.

As I used to be making ready to make the final word monetary sacrifice for the SolarQuotes weblog by signing up for Powershop’s crappy deal, Finn invited me to a gathering with the brand new Partnerships Supervisor for Amber Electrical.

We’ve written about Amber beforehand – however for many who haven’t heard of them, they’re an vitality retailer who passes by wholesale charges for electrical energy.

They’re near launching their new “SmartShift” software program to the general public, and so they had been eager to get me to affix the closed beta. It permits them to cost and discharge my battery – paying wholesale charges for electrical energy. This may be as much as $15 per kWh exported!

On one significantly good day (or unhealthy day, in the event you had been an Amber buyer however didn’t have photo voltaic or a battery), I earned $97 in credit for discharging my battery to the grid:

I’ll Be Damned – 3 Second Blackout Switchover *Is* A Function!

I dwell in a strata townhouse complicated, so the principle switchboard isn’t in my home – it’s in an enormous cupboard within the shared driveway space.

Coincidentally or not, since my SolarEdge Dwelling Battery was put in, the mains breaker has tripped a number of instances.

It’s apparent when this occurs – as a result of the ability goes out for a full 3 seconds earlier than the battery kicks in. So I’ve needed to pay a go to to the principle switchboard a number of instances to flip the breaker again on.

Every week in the past, this occurred at 4 am. I observed as a result of the white noise machine I sleep with turned off and again on, waking me up. Additionally, I’ve a one-year-old, so my sleep isn’t one of the best anyway.

Normally I’d be in no rush to flip the grid again on – I don’t sleep with my aircon on, so I may simply go in a single day with little vitality. However as a result of I’m a part of Amber Electrical’s “SmartShift” closed beta – a weary verify of the app confirmed a wholesale worth spike was anticipated for six am.

My battery was solely 30% charged, and at 4 am, electrical energy costs had been low cost. So if I didn’t flip the mains again on, my battery wouldn’t be capable to cost up from low cost grid vitality after which earn me some severe cash by discharging at 6 am.

Telling myself it’d all be value it after I checked my financial savings later within the day, I jumped away from bed in my pyjamas, out into the chilly, to show the grid again on.

Present Transformer (CT) Points

Since becoming a member of Amber, I observed when the battery was discharging to the grid, the indicated energy output was nearly doubling in my monitoring app:

This could possibly be buggy SolarEdge monitoring software program, or Amber instructed the CT clamps could possibly be arrange incorrectly. I’ve notified my installer and am ready on him to rearrange a time to come back out and examine.

Closing Ideas

There have been a number of kinks alongside the best way, some greater than others, however with a model new product coming from an organization who hasn’t supplied their very own battery earlier than – I wasn’t anticipating issues to go off with out a hitch.

The SolarEdge Dwelling Battery does every little thing I’d count on a battery to do, seems to be stylish, and is appropriate with Amber Electrical’s SmartShift – considerably rising my financial savings.

Would I like to recommend the SolarEdge Battery to a buddy with a SolarEdge system? Completely.

(If you wish to see a video of the set up, we’ll be releasing one within the subsequent two weeks. Be part of the 20,000 subscribers to our SolarQuotes YouTube Channel to get notified when it’s launched.)

Notice:  In the event you’re hungry for extra technical particulars, Ronald goes deep into SolarEdge Dwelling Battery specs right here.

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