I am planning to do a run through of my home assistant setup along with the sensors and switches. I’m not sure when though as it’s all about the outdoor kitchen and brick oven at the moment. Hopefully next month.

Sounds like a good project, let me know how you get on. I’ve heard that bi facials work very well if you mount them vertically, mainly due to more efficient heat loss. I’ve been looking at ways of setting up a cylinder outside with a DC element to use excess solar to heat water, I really dislike exporting solar.

@@DeveloperDIY Wait on those bi-facials ones there has been an issue on a local solar farm of them just cracking.

Thanks, I’m glad you enjoyed it. It’s a great time for buying panels, I’ve never seen them so cheap at the moment. I’m tempted to buy a few and store them in the shed for future use. Good luck with your project, I wonder if you could use bi-facials like a roof light, that would be nice.

@@DeveloperDIY You're very welcome. Yes I've seen panel prices come down slightly, though as usual, I have to priorities spending money, like most! Good point about bi-facials, I don't think they would work in my situation, but I like your thinking 👍 To start with I'll have around 3 x 2m x 1m panels - one might be some tree shade at times, so I might need to arrange them in a way that the shaded one doesn't drag the others down. I've heard some pro installs have panels with their own inverters, I'm betting they're crazy money? If it's working nicely, I have space for 2 more of a similar size within relative proximity to the other 3 (around 2m). Really though, perhaps I should start small like you, it would certainly work better for my budget and give me the same understanding as you if I tried a simpler route. Finally, just a thought about securely mounting on a flat roof without penetrating the felt. May be you could get some 50-70mm square hollow steel lengths, get an upright that's bolted a few courses above the flat roof/wall intersection. Then a horizontal length that goes over the flat roof but doesn't touch it, then a vertical member that goes down to the ground in front of the extension, bolted into a concrete pad. 2 of those space right, might allow for bracing between and make it quite sturdy. Happy to illustrate with Sketchup if helps...might just be a stupid idea! Thing is, some modern roofs have insulation directly under and may not even have OSB that would at least give some fixing to.

@@bikerchrisukk That’s a good idea for the frame. I suspect it might not pass the wife test though, plus I do like the ability to experiment and change configuration. I think a subframe bolted to the house wall might work too.

@@DeveloperDIY Ah, with all the panels and frames, I was unsure if it would pass the wife test. I think certainly having a section bolted 2-3 times to house, then a horizontal bit on the roof might be OK. could put rubber feet on end nearest the flat roof eaves, then 2 diagnonal members to act as a brace, then normal sections for attaching panels to, after the upright bit is done to get the angle right.

Thanks, I’m now googling micro cracking. 🫣

I’d always advise that you get a qualified electrician to check over your work and help implement any improvements or things that don’t meet regulations. This is far cheaper than paying for a full install. In the UK I do think the mood is changing in favour of people doing their own solar installs. I believe Octopus energy had relaxed their requirements for an export guarantee so they don’t always need as MSC certification. Good luck, with your install. Just start small, I bet you have something you could run off grid in a simple low volt setup.

@@DeveloperDIY yes - I think I need a simple set up just to get the hang of a DIY set up. Thank you for your videaos

The G98 is a work in progress, my end goal is to have kitchen roof and south facing garage connected to the Solis 3.6 and grid tied so the G98 will cover that configuration and then setup 10 more panels off grid to test the setup then move those to grid tied which will take me above the G98 and into the next tier. I still have 2 more vertical wall panels to install so the setup is not complete yet.

Let me know how you get on with it.

I’m still waiting to find a new inverter so the Shunt and Epever integrations are not working at the moment. The Epever was courtesy of Colin Hickey so nothing for me to add there. I was going to do a video on the shunt esphome script as it needs re soldering anyway but I’ve been distracted with all things pizza oven the last few months. I don’t know anything about Batmon, but I’ll take a look and see if there is anything I can add.

I could do a run through of my whole Home Assistant setup. I don’t know if that’s of interest to people.

Wow, converting a car to electric must have been a great project. It sounds like you are way ahead of me in your solar journey. Electric car is on my list for the future. I believe most hybrid inverters will do what you want and can be setup with rules for exporting and charging etc. there are hundreds of different makes and models to choose from so I’m unable to recommend anything in particular. All I can offer is my preference in brands. I do like Epever, Solis and Fox ESS. Epever do some cheap hybrid inverters. Solis seem very reliable and Fox also have a nice range. Sorry I can’t be of more help. Try Will Prowse, he has lots of great reviews for products.

​@@DeveloperDIY​@DeveloperDIY thanks, converting the car was the best thing I've ever done and is still ongoing. I posted a video series abut it. As for solar I'm only starting out and know almost nothing so trying to get my head around the various options. I can pick up some new 420W JA panels for £160 locally so might do that first then see what happens.

Check out City Plumbing, 425w panels are £70. Or HDMSolar, they are as low as £58. It’s a great time to buy panels. I did consider buying some and storing them.

​@@DeveloperDIYI'll do that thanks.

I’ll check out your video too.

I totally agree, the cheap inverters were great to get going but both low voltage inverters I’ve had have both failed within one to two years so I agree, it’s worth spending a little more if you can, it will save you money in the long run. I’m still on the lookout for a good 3kw inverter for the off grid setup.

Why not the victron multiplus? 😊

@@skullpoly1967 if I could afford Victron I probably wouldn’t need solar panels 😁. I believe they are great quality though.

Maybe one day I’ll find a broken one that I can repair 🤞

@@skullpoly1967 Victron low frequency inverters are great inverters. Even Victron's high frequency units are better than the Chinese designed inverters because they use much higher quality quality components in their builds.