Hello, I am new to the forum and looking for guidance on a solar system. Let me start with some background. I live in southern Portugal, there is lots of sun (4,6 hrs/day according to this) so my expectation was that installing solar in addition to existing grid access would be a no-brainer. Walked into a dealership and got quote for a 6kW (likely oversized) system with lithium batteries /without batteries for 16k€ / 11k€ respectively. Based on my back-of-the-envelope math it would take ~30 years to get the investment back (assumptions below).
My initial reaction was to forget the idea and continue using the grid. Portugal has a high share of renewables in the grid and the prices are ok compared to other EU countries. After a few days, I am hoping that DYI might get me to a more economically viable approach (say break-even in 10-15 years), which brings me to this forum.
I am not going off grid, so I don't need to rely on solar. I would like to start with a small(-ish) system, which would allow me to run a few devices (water heater, washing machine, electric oven) on solar during the day. I would like the system to work seamlessly with the grid: use solar as long it is available, otherwise use the grid. Feeding / selling energy into the grid is not important. I would like to have the option to add batteries and/or an electric vehicle in the future.
So my thinking is to start with a reasonable size hybrid inverter (4kW? so I am able to expand in future), a few panels (2-4 x 430W) and a small battery (if at all). I would "stretch" the use of solar over the day by allowing the water heater to run in the morning and running the washing machine in the afternoon.
How does that sound? Can you recommend a specific configuration?
How does a small battery vs. no battery impact the usable output?
Thanks for your help!
Gleb
(assumption: 3000 kWh yearly electricity use (15-20€ cent per grid kWh, 4€ cent/kWh earning for electricity supplied to the grid, 35% of electricity supplied in no battery configuration, 80% w. battery configuration)
My initial reaction was to forget the idea and continue using the grid. Portugal has a high share of renewables in the grid and the prices are ok compared to other EU countries. After a few days, I am hoping that DYI might get me to a more economically viable approach (say break-even in 10-15 years), which brings me to this forum.
I am not going off grid, so I don't need to rely on solar. I would like to start with a small(-ish) system, which would allow me to run a few devices (water heater, washing machine, electric oven) on solar during the day. I would like the system to work seamlessly with the grid: use solar as long it is available, otherwise use the grid. Feeding / selling energy into the grid is not important. I would like to have the option to add batteries and/or an electric vehicle in the future.
So my thinking is to start with a reasonable size hybrid inverter (4kW? so I am able to expand in future), a few panels (2-4 x 430W) and a small battery (if at all). I would "stretch" the use of solar over the day by allowing the water heater to run in the morning and running the washing machine in the afternoon.
How does that sound? Can you recommend a specific configuration?
How does a small battery vs. no battery impact the usable output?
Thanks for your help!
Gleb
(assumption: 3000 kWh yearly electricity use (15-20€ cent per grid kWh, 4€ cent/kWh earning for electricity supplied to the grid, 35% of electricity supplied in no battery configuration, 80% w. battery configuration)