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EG4 18kPV 12lv can't be used in Cali as of aug 28 2023

J

jjww

Stuck in PG&E Land
Joined
Jun 17, 2023
Messages
38
Location
los osos california
I've been trying to connect my 18kPV and 2 Powerpro batteries to PG&E for the last 3 months and have finally have a straight answer as to the problem. it is lacking certification for:
UL1741 SB certified inverters and Common Smart Inverter Profile Conformance (CSIP)
Now I'm stuck guys, Is the 18kPV fully certified UL1741SB ? Is this just a paperwork issue and certification in the works?
or do I have a very nice boat anchor? I hope some of you eg4 experts can weigh in on this
 

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jjww said:
I've been trying to connect my 18kPV and 2 Powerpro batteries to PG&E for the last 3 months and have finally have a straight answer as to the problem. it is lacking certification for:
UL1741 SB certified inverters and Common Smart Inverter Profile Conformance (CSIP)
Now I'm stuck guys, Is the 18kPV fully certified UL1741SB ? Is this just a paperwork issue and certification in the works?
or do I have a very nice boat anchor? I hope some of you eg4 experts can weigh in on this
Click to expand...
Will they allow you to use it as a battery backup? I am in California as well and was looking at this option? I want to sell back to PG&E but not sure if you can in California
Thanks Braydon
 
Are you all interested in using 18kpv with adding an ESS to NEM1/2 install?

On NEM3 the amount you’ll make selling back on the glide slope is not nothing, but also not that much. Off grid self consuming mode (with no parallel operation) should provide a lot of savings already
 
I am planning on using the self consuming mode? I had a 7,000 dollar true up last year and on track again for this year. I have a 12.500 KW solar arryay hooked to the grid now and would like to store that energy and sell back with new inverters and batteries?
 
360Reef said:
I am planning on using the self consuming mode? I had a 7,000 dollar true up last year and on track again for this year. I have a 12.500 KW solar arryay hooked to the grid now and would like to store that energy and sell back with new inverters and batteries?
Click to expand...

With a $7000 true up it’s well worth doing an aggressive energy audit, system design, and modeling of the income. Heck you could probably afford to dangle a lot of money at a consultant to analyze 5-10 different scenarios and end up ahead, assuming there is a feasible path that actually save money.

Is it NEM2 or NEM3? With $7000 true up there is probably a scenario where giving up NEM2 ends up ahead.

How are batteries bending the math?

Is the consumption mostly in the summer or winter? Because this affects the NEM2 vs NEM3 analysis. NEM3 means giving up seasonal energy storage so if most of consumption is in winter then that makes a switch harder to swallow
 
I have once or twice a month a 18hr pottery kiln cycle that burns thru about 80 kwh per kiln run so I would really like to have a little grid storage to cover that, So Marcus-any word on that CSIP
yet?
 
jjww said:
I have once or twice a month a 18hr pottery kiln cycle that burns thru about 80 kwh per kiln run so I would really like to have a little grid storage to cover that
Click to expand...

Is the idea that you're going to switch to superpeak plan, charge in 80kWh to the battery overnight, and then run the kiln from that? Maybe have some solar panels to offset about 25% of that in real-time. It may be very difficult to get an ROI on those batteries though, since it only cycles 1 time per month vs 30 times per month, and you only make money back on a battery when it cycles (and prints money while doing so).

If all you want to run is the kiln you can likely just configure it in off grid mode or get a cheaper inverter. 6000XP - save $4000 vs the 18kpv, buy another battery with the savings. 6000XP would not be UL9540 AFAIK though, so you're taking a risk there.

My mental model for PG&E territory is that 18kpv is for juicing exports, getting eligible for SGIP, and making 100% sure code police / insurance etc won't have a conniption.
 
this is a 12 kw pv system (30 x 400W QPEAK arranged in 3 arrays) 28Kwh of Battery (2 Powerpro) and one 18Kpv which has been running offgrid for the last 3 weeks without a hiccup. Did need to switch back to grid for the morning after 2 cloudy days to charge the chevy Bolt,
but other than that its been smooth sailing even with the neighbors 130 ft tall eucalyptus shading us till 11-1130 AM
 
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