It all worked out, they got charged up at their hotel.
I think a lot of it was use error as he was pretty stressed by the whole day. They got off to a bad start by realising that they’d booked a hotel at the wrong port* and, while they were trying to sort this out, it was biblical rain and a thunderstorm so tempers were quite frayed in general. They now on their way to here so I’ve suggested they have a break and charge up at Le Mans. They don’t really need to charge there but there’s a choice of Izivia and Ionity there, both of which have always been rock solid for me. Hopefully that will give them a bit of confidence.
*They arrived at Cherbourg and booked a hotel in Caen, which is their departure port. I haven’t yet asked where they’ve booked for the way back
Well…I am that soldier and have the cards or apps for Shell ..never used. ESB ..used 2 times ,Ionity ..Charge Map, Total, Tesla ,Lidl .. and I find it a Russian roulette game at every new stop . There seemed to be a brief period where sanity prevailed and Credit Cards worked ..but that seems to be reversing now . The term is "Enshitification " .. yes a new word and it means exactly how it sounds ..There is nothing made which cannot be made worse in order to extract more money from people .. Rant Over
Up to 4 years ago we had been diesel since 1997 . Then I got the EV and now my wife has her EV …and my son is going Tesla.
I never ever had an ICE which had not a major garage visit within 4 years of purchase ..
This has sent me right down a rabbit hole to figure out if solar works for me and how I might take it forward.
I have a dependence where the roof faces almost directly south and could easily take 6x500W panels with some batteries in the dependence.
Where I’m struggling is finding the additional normes ( C15-712-1 & C15-712-2) for panels, inverters and batteries. I think I’ve got it from reading various bits and pieces but it would be good to go back to the source documents. Any ideas?
John without knowing your technical background discussion is limited … A 3KW DC array is potentially lethal and even a background in Single Phase 230 AC inadequate …A typical single panel is a mere 50V at 10 Amp.in full sunshine..but put 6 in series and it’s 300VDC . Ordinary AC contact breakers or switches are unsuitable as they will likely fail to trip open and contacts weld shut … Many installations will be at higher voltages .. mine has 11 panels . Once on the AC side of the inverter it’s normal operation.
I have glanced at one of these documents ..C15 712 which I found in a Google search in under s minute … The standard is comparable to any of the others I have been familiar with and cross references a rabbit warren of other standards on the fronts piece .. The existence of which is there for Legal and much as technical information .and known in detail only to a few engineers in any national standards office. .I could say you don’t need to worry about them …which will be true 99.9% of the time ..And can ignore them fully if you have a registered contractor doing the installation.
Sorry Corona ..but not true .. my panels are 42V units of 10 Amp peak and are wired into 2 strings ..4 on the south face in series and a 7 on a South West roof also in series .. . The inverter is capable of 10 Amp nominal ..or 15A surge with a minimum input voltage of 96V DC and a maximum of 600V DC . The inverter is rated at 3.6KW nominal and 4200W .peak
That is a typical configuration for a professional and certified installation .
The inverter has a lot of linked functions
. It is a Maximum power controller ..dynamically altering the load it provides to maximise the power intake from the panels .
Combine the two strings ..of different voltsges . As power to the inverter
Synchronise it’s frequency and phase with the local Grid and at a voltage marginally higher so it outputs rather than absorbs grid power .
Reports locally over WiFi it’s instantaneous and long term production ..
So a lot of functions in a 700 euro box I have just chequed and this instant on a cloudy day it’s at 780w with one string atv123v DC and the other at 236Vdc…
I don’t know if anything has changed .. but it’s that cutin voltage on the inverter is 96v ..and it will not work below that…and is rather inefficentat this voltage . If course inverters can e designed to operate at any voltage levels
I’m getting slightly confused by some of the advertising that’s out there, suggesting that plug-in panels and plug-in batteries can be used with no need for a certificate de consuel. Is that right?
I can’t say that I’m comfortable with idea of just plugging it all into sockets but does anyone have the definitive answer on whether it’s legit?
Since the units are for sale in BricoMarches ..they are obviously legitimate But note these Balcony PV sets as they are called are basically an appliance and very limited in power. if you read the response I gave to Corona , the little controller built into them does exactly that … The plug samples the the Grid voltage, and then runs its inverter at exactly the same frequency and phase so it matches it … The clever trick is that if the Grid voltage fails, the inverter instantly shuts off . .. it must otherwise there is a prospect of electrocuting the linesman repairing a supply. There is a slight concern about them preventing the main RCD from tripping at 16 or 30 mA since there is now an current source behind that protection.
The general regulation is that no more than 800W can be generated this way …that is perhaps 3 panels , and according to what I have read , in France , the owner can self install ..but should be informing the local utility . In Germany , while 800 is the limit there is no requirement. Is balcony solar worth it? UK and EU guide with real costs
since your interest was in supplying energy to your remote "dependence " …these are not actually suitable unless you have already a Grid connection.
Well, no, they’re advertised up to 3kW of panels with 5kWh of batteries.
I haven’t found any mention of an 800W limit in France, though I have in Belgium where I’m currently sitting.
I might not have been clear but the dependence would be the installation site as it has a suitable roof in terms of orientation and space for batteries plus it’s already connected to the house, though I’d probably uprate the cable.
The roof on the main house would be better but it’s still under its 10 year warranty so I don’t want to mess with it
The 5KwHr of battery storage is irrelevant for power ratings ..It obviously affects the duration but not the power . And even If one had 3KW peak of panels connected to an inverter controller rated at 800w ..It would just still produce the 800W ..and the extra current capacity of the panels would be ignored ..provided the voltage rating on the controller is not exceeded.
