Hi, only had my system in less than a week but just wondering why I still have to buy power from grid when my ep5 battery is full and the shower is being used. Does my house use not come just from my battery when it has charge in it? Thanks
12 Panels & EP5 Battery
A shower takes a large amount of power - typically 9kW, it's invariably the largest power drawing appliance in a house.
You haven't mentioned which inverter model you have byt the maximum power your system can provide is limited by the inverter capacity or battery discharge capability whichever of the two is the smaller.
For example an H1 3.7 inverter can provide a maximum output of 3.7kW and so with the shower running you will still have to find 5kW from the grid.
The EP5 at 20C has a maximum discharge of 27A - typically around 5kW and so even with a larger inverter you would still need to find 4kW from the grid.
You haven't mentioned which inverter model you have byt the maximum power your system can provide is limited by the inverter capacity or battery discharge capability whichever of the two is the smaller.
For example an H1 3.7 inverter can provide a maximum output of 3.7kW and so with the shower running you will still have to find 5kW from the grid.
The EP5 at 20C has a maximum discharge of 27A - typically around 5kW and so even with a larger inverter you would still need to find 4kW from the grid.
Hello,
Thanks for the reply, probably as I thought, I think. My inverter is a H1 5.0 E G2.
So, most other items in the house will be ok to draw from battery it’s likely just the high powered electric shower this will happen to. I had a shower this morning when sun was bright and it didn’t seem to use anything from grid so would it be when a large amount isn’t being produced the battery cannot supply enough alone?
Thanks for the reply, probably as I thought, I think. My inverter is a H1 5.0 E G2.
So, most other items in the house will be ok to draw from battery it’s likely just the high powered electric shower this will happen to. I had a shower this morning when sun was bright and it didn’t seem to use anything from grid so would it be when a large amount isn’t being produced the battery cannot supply enough alone?
12 Panels & EP5 Battery
The max AC output is 5kW for your inverter the only difference with the sun being out is that it will support the battery to meet that output - it’s possible if your battery is below 20C the performance will drop and the bright sunshine would have boosted it (there are lots of posts about temperature and a really good video by Will that’s worth watching https://foxesscommunity.com/viewtopic.php?p=9592#p9592).
Your shower may draw less power if the incoming water is a bit warmer or the temperature dial was a bit lower, so it’s difficult to tell which effect may be what you have noticed - probably fair to assume that you’ll always draw some surplus from the grid when the shower is on but Kettle, Microwave, Dishwasher, Washing machine etc.. should all be fine (unless you turn them all on together)
Your shower may draw less power if the incoming water is a bit warmer or the temperature dial was a bit lower, so it’s difficult to tell which effect may be what you have noticed - probably fair to assume that you’ll always draw some surplus from the grid when the shower is on but Kettle, Microwave, Dishwasher, Washing machine etc.. should all be fine (unless you turn them all on together)
Many thanks for reply, I’m sure I’m going to ask many more questions as I start on my Solar PV journey. At moment I already think I should have had 10.36kwh storage battery instead of 5.18 as I guess the cost will be more to add to the system rather than the initial install cost if I had done at the start!
12 Panels & EP5 Battery