Solar Power

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fatbob
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Re: Solar Power

Post by fatbob » May 21, 2017, 4:38 pm

JR wrote:Ordering 250 pallets by a thai firm may not be much of a problem. Have you tried to import something by yourself? I have and am not going through that hassle again.
All purchasing done by ourselves then using an import company to deal with the customs red tape paperwork, in Phuket we used PUSCO, never a problem, don't see where I said a Thai firm...



glalt
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Re: Solar Power

Post by glalt » June 2, 2017, 1:15 pm


minimiglia
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Re: Solar Power

Post by minimiglia » June 2, 2017, 1:56 pm

Believe it when it actually happens

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Re: Solar Power

Post by glalt » June 3, 2017, 10:35 am

There are four electric meters on the pole outside our house. Only our meter was changed to a new electronic meter. It appears that since they have seen the solar panels on the roof, they suspect that I'm feeding the grid. No one has said anything.

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Re: Solar Power

Post by ytrewq » June 26, 2017, 7:11 am

Just had 5 kw grid-tie solar installed atop garage.

320 watt poly panels x 16
Growatt 5000MTL-10 inverter
Various and sundry wiring, mounts, etc.

All installed and documented by a bonafide licensed Thai electrical engineer (not to be confused with the run-of-the-mill rice-paddy "electrician"). The same electrical engineer who correctly connected our whole house to our generator (ATS enabled). This guy literally teaches electrical engineering and would cake walk any USA or EU board exam.

PEA will inspect and change our meter soon. After that, we can legally switch it on. Word is the government will begin paying for excess fed to grid starting this September. That would certainly be nice and welcomed, but not a primary motivation. We simply wanted to just do it so we won't be a burden to our kids in the future.

====Start Tangential Rant ====

In the event of a grid power outage, the solar inverter shuts off. The ATS for the generator (7 kw) turns on the generator. The house is without power for about 10 seconds as that happens.

When grid power returns, the ATS turns off the generator and switches back to grid power (no down time). The solar inverter turns back on and continues its job of supplying power to the grid.

We have a motorized gate, garage door, and some perimeter lights (with day/night sensor switch and remote control dongle). Those are connected to a workstation UPS (had it laying around), which is itself connected to house power. So, even if the generator fails (or we disable it before going out), we can still use remotes to get inside when stormy outside and the perimeter lights stay on at night.

====End Tangential Rant====

Went off on a tangent there, but if anyone has been considering solar, now is the right time IMHO. Prices are reasonable (our 5kw solar system <200k all-in). Electric cars are coming 2020's. Thai grid will be stressed and upgrade projects will be undertaken = per kw prices going up. Solar talent will be short and their prices will go up even as equipment costs go down. Avoid the rush. Start getting net free electrical power courtesy of that nuclear fusion reactor in the sky!

NOTE WELL:

When you spec your system, keep in mind it will be 20-30% inefficient off the bat due to natural (clouds), physical (heat), and mechanical (materials, resistances) issues about which you just have to accept as status quo. So, up your solar panel count accordingly to compensate. If you have a 5000 w inverter, the spec capacity is actually 4800 w. You may want to max your panels per the inverter spec capacity.

4800 w x 1.25 (inefficiency allowance) = 6000 w / 320 w per panel = 18-19 panels.

We chose to go with 16 panels (5120 w) because that is what fits on the garage roof without going over the edges. We chose poly rather than mono panels because the difference in efficiency didn't justify the difference in cost to us (me). If 375 w panels were available at a reasonable cost, then we would have gone with 16 of those instead to get to 6000 w.

We have another project for a building next to the main house planned for later this year. We may put another 10 kw on that (separate meter to keep PEA happy) if they do indeed start paying out for excess fed to grid. Decision delayed until more info received from PEA and our 5 kw performance feedback.

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Re: Solar Power

Post by JR » June 26, 2017, 11:00 am

Cannot send you a message yet. Appreciate if you would send contacts for your electrician. If not here or if you cannot send message, mail me at [email protected]. We need to redo our solar system. Thanx.

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Re: Solar Power

Post by rjj04 » June 26, 2017, 12:19 pm

glalt wrote:
June 3, 2017, 10:35 am
There are four electric meters on the pole outside our house. Only our meter was changed to a new electronic meter. It appears that since they have seen the solar panels on the roof, they suspect that I'm feeding the grid. No one has said anything.
Oh boy. I hope they don't lock your meter.... should be easy to do with a digital meter.

As far as I'm aware, at this point in time, if you are not enrolled in the solar rooftop program of a couple years ago, then you can not "sell" power back to the grid/PEA. I certainly hope this all changes soon, but I will not hold my breath as the power of an utility monopoly seems quite high.

Can Thai solar companies "fanangle" their way to a special waiver of some sort?... apparently.

As far as pure-electric cars flooding into Thailand I will not hold my breath on that either... I believe the average car air conditioning system consumes about 3KW of power. In Thailand for most drivers the air con is going full blast all the time during the day, even while sitting in a parking lot. So in Thailand we are probably talking about nearly 10HP or around 7KW of power consumed by the aircon whilst driving during the mid-day hours. If the car were using deep-cycle lead acid batteries (I know they are all using Lithium or some higher tech) you'd burn through (deplete) 4 150AH (50KG each = 200KG) batteries after just sitting in the car in an uncovered parking lot midday with the aircon on high for one hour (the car sitting at rest... not driving). It would be interesting to see how a Tesla car or the like work out in a high temp high humidity country like Thailand... anyone see data on that?

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Re: Solar Power

Post by glalt » June 30, 2017, 3:16 pm

I'm by no means a sparky but I did a little research on a Tesla. It was estimated that it would take 16 250 watt solar panels to fully charge the battery in a day. The big problem with that is that the Tesla batteries would be difficult to swap since they come out on the bottom of the car. If you drove the car mainly after dark, it may be worthwhile.

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Re: Solar Power

Post by tomo » July 2, 2017, 11:35 am

Hi ytrewq,
I found your post very interesting and exciting, please forward me the contact details of the Electrician who installed your system.
I have wanted to do the same for sometime.
I cannot message you, so please contwct me on [email protected]
Thanks,

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Re: Solar Power

Post by ytrewq » August 13, 2017, 12:16 pm

I will contact all who requested soon after all government paperwork is completed to get us 100% legitimate per all laws and regulations. It is a nightmarish process involving lots of paperwork, multiple cities, authorities, engineers, visits, etc. So much that I will not attempt to write about it. It's totally inane, but TIT.

In the interim, we switched everything on and cut it off when our meter is due to be read. Feedback: Absolutely DO "overclock" with more panels. We'll be adding +8 panels to the 16 in place now so that we max or near max inverter capacity. Heat, clouds (even those too high up to know they are there, air density, and time of day issues are even more significant considerations than I expected. The 16 are on the SE side of the garage roof (after noon). The +8 will go on the NE side to catch the pre-noon sunlight. I figure that should put us at near max capacity for more of the day. Maybe over capacity for 1-2 hours, but inverters are designed for 130% capacity for just this reason (overclocking).

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rick
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Re: Solar Power

Post by rick » August 13, 2017, 4:53 pm

For those interested, Amorn have a sale on of many solar power bits and pieces (batteries, charge controllers, some panels and a few other bits.

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Re: Solar Power

Post by rjj04 » September 13, 2017, 3:38 pm

ytrewq wrote:
June 26, 2017, 7:11 am
Word is the government will begin paying for excess fed to grid starting this September.
How's this going then? Is it the usual, nothing happened?

I'd just like them to unlock my f...cking meter

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rjj04
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Re: Solar Power

Post by rjj04 » November 26, 2017, 10:45 am

So, it is nearly Dec 2017. September is a distant memory now, so where is this new program to allow Thai households to sell back to the grid? I searched the Bangkok Post for a follow-up article of the one mentioned a few posts back... nothing. Current score... PEA/MEA shareholders 200, citizens 1?
ytrewq wrote:
August 13, 2017, 12:16 pm
I will contact all who requested soon after all government paperwork is completed to get us 100% legitimate per all laws and regulations.
No offense meant, but how can contacting people individually take less of your time than one single post here telling ALL at the same time? No doubt the questions coming from these individuals will be relevant to many others interested reading this thread.

The contact information of the company who installed your system would be very nice to have. If you are happy with the service of course. All the documents done now? Selling power back to the grid/PEA? Inquiring minds want to know :)


WANTED:
If anybody sees a cheap solar panel between 250-300W for sale please post here.. cheapest I have found is 270W for 5,490 THB. Delivery cost? Thanks ahead of time!

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Re: Solar Power

Post by JR » November 26, 2017, 1:04 pm

Mine were 6.800B. But they are 320W.

glalt
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Re: Solar Power

Post by glalt » November 26, 2017, 1:20 pm

I doubt you'll find any cheaper than what you have already found. Is that a new panel?

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rjj04
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Re: Solar Power

Post by rjj04 » November 26, 2017, 1:48 pm

JR wrote:
November 26, 2017, 1:04 pm
Mine were 6.800B. But they are 320W.
I have to replace one of my panels. It is in series with two 275/280 watt panels (and three strings in parallel) that have been in use for about four years now. So, they've probably degraded to 270/275 watts or so. Putting a 320 inline with them will drag it's power output down quite a bit. I'd be paying extra for 30 watts or so that would go wasted. But, thanks for the info!!

Glalt
Yes, it's new. URL below. But, I think the quality of the panel is probably pretty low.
https://www.solarshop-th.com/product-pa ... aline-270w
I'm not sure what the shipping cost will be, but I might just take a holiday to Rayong and pick one up on the way back.

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Re: Solar Power

Post by rjj04 » November 26, 2017, 2:02 pm

Can not find the spec online for that panel though.

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Re: Solar Power

Post by glalt » November 26, 2017, 9:14 pm

After all this time, do you have any recommendations for deep cycle batteries? I'm considering another little larger system. My original batteries are BSB AGM and show no sign of weakness after more than 4 years. The dealer I bought them from has changed to a brand called Transpower. No price yet. Supposed to be nearly identical to BSB. I want to keep the batteries in the house.

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Re: Solar Power

Post by ytrewq » November 27, 2017, 2:18 am

Highly recommend:

http://kjsolars.com/

Regarding my prior posts: Paperwork still not finished. Supposedly need just 1 more sign-off from Khon Kaen and then an (optional) onsite inspection and a (mandatory) meter change. 3+ months waiting for just that, so far. Jai-yen-yen regarding my guy's contact info because I won't divulge until after all is 100%. Many will/should appreciate that. I absolutely intend to use him to install +8 more panels, but can't do that until after all the current stuff has been 100% approved lest we create paperwork problems.

I share the frustration regarding the government's supposed incentives for home solar adoption. I call "bull----!" based on our experience thus far. It seems PEA makes it difficult unless you use THEM for the install at inflated prices. Totally screws the independent installers such as my guy (his regular job is with PEA, btw). I think they want the independents totally dependent on PEA for gigs and/or don't want to lose their people to moonlighting. It's a graft culture and TiT.

Panels are performing well. Dust is the biggest pain in the a-- limitation. Hence, more panels so we can get close to max inverter output with moderate dust accumulation and other typical environmental conditions. Cleaning with mild soap and water using a sponge-head on an extension handle is on my handyman's monthly visit todo list.

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Re: Solar Power

Post by rjj04 » November 27, 2017, 8:52 am

glalt wrote:
November 26, 2017, 9:14 pm
After all this time, do you have any recommendations for deep cycle batteries?
Well, I'm not sure that my opinion on deep-cycle batteries is of much use. During most of the year I run the grid-tie inverter(s) because I don't have enough power (2,700W) to even meet my daytime use as A/C and fans are on all the time (nothing much left over for the batteries). This year has been so hot at night time that it was only maybe a month ago that I switched off the A/C and started using the off-grid inverter. So, my battery bank doesn't get much use, maybe four months out the year and I don't let them go below 50% DOD. When using the grid-tie inverters, the off-grid inverter just works as a massive UPS. Typically the power is out in the neighbourhood for a maximum of 2-3 hours as they fix blown transformers. That is nothing for my 22KWh battery bank. I don't even notice an outage unless I look outside at the darkened neighbourhood.

I will say, as before, that the Globatt Inva is garbage. The Volta batteries on the other hand seem to be holding up quite well, at this rate they should last a decade or more out, I should think.

ytrewq
---------
Thanks a lot for the update. I completely understand about not giving details on pricing and whatnot. The guy who sold me my Volta batteries asked me not to disclose the price because it was a damn good price... I think he succumbed to the feminine charms of the wife (and that just over the phone). Oh she is quite useful at times. ;)
ytrewq wrote:
November 27, 2017, 2:18 am
I call "bull----!" based on our experience thus far. It seems PEA makes it difficult unless you use THEM for the install at inflated prices.
Wow, there, I learned something, I hadn't realized that PEA was offering installation services. Yet another reason for the interference pattern Anyway, I hope you get the sign-off. I guess I will have to wait until the government gets some cojones :roll:

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