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Green Building Bible, Fourth Edition
Green Building Bible, fourth edition (both books)
These two books are the perfect starting place to help you get to grips with one of the most vitally important aspects of our society - our homes and living environment.

PLEASE NOTE: A download link for Volume 1 will be sent to you by email and Volume 2 will be sent to you by post as a book.

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      CommentAuthorecoworrier
    • CommentTimeNov 9th 2017
     
    I have a customer who has 25kW of PV on site and would like to heat his hot water cylinder and switch a fridge freezer , using energy that would otherwise go to the grid. I could install an iBoost or immersun and a separate Divice to switch the socket, however does anyone know of a device that could do. More importantly has a recommendation .
    NB; the array is not his he has free use of the energy, it is a three phase installation and the freezer is used for freezer packs not food.
    • CommentAuthortony
    • CommentTimeNov 9th 2017
     
    Raspberry pie
    •  
      CommentAuthorSteamyTea
    • CommentTimeNov 9th 2017
     
    Some inverters (SMA) have a built in relay that can be used to divert power. So check out the inverters first.

    Our old mate JSHarris built his own diverter, you could hunt his design down.
    https://openenergymonitor.org/forum-archive/node/2429.html
    •  
      CommentAuthorecoworrier
    • CommentTimeNov 9th 2017
     
    :bigsmile: glad to see you've not lost your sense of humour Tony, that's a bit above my pay grade.
    Hadn't thought of that Steamy ta, it's a power one . I'll look into it
    Thanks all.
    • CommentAuthorowlman
    • CommentTimeNov 9th 2017 edited
     
    Possibly? you may have missed the Solar and Storage live exhibition at the NEC that ran 3-5 October. It may still be possible to get an exhibitors catalogue to steer you through some of the many manufacturers of power diverters etc.

    I looked into it some time ago for my array, but you may find there are some obstacles e.g. 3 Phase, large array and the ability of domestic diverters to cope, Power company /DNO certified, not all are. I seem to recall Immersun was one of the few that they recognise. That may have all changed though.
    • CommentAuthorGBP-Keith
    • CommentTimeNov 9th 2017 edited
     
    As Steamy suggests, Some (not all) SMA inverters are very adept at switching via relay with very many (installer) adjustable parameters. But the relays Are low voltage so a step-up switch is needed in between the inverter and the socket needing to be turned on.

    Only one set of parameters can be set per Inverter though and I'll add that SMA are a bit behind on the app front. The ones at my wife's farm will not communicate with anything other than a PC laptop by bluetooth last time I checked
    •  
      CommentAuthordjh
    • CommentTimeNov 9th 2017
     
    Is there a problem with two separate devices? Many diverters will handle the heat the hot water cylinder requirement and I'm sure I've heard of at least one device that will switch a device that requires at least a specific power availability (sorry, not sure what but I think it was on here).

    Does the customer have access to the inverter's parameters?

    I'd have thought that if there is a customer involved then the various product and safety laws would disallow a homebrew solution :cry:
    • CommentAuthordbj
    • CommentTimeMar 2nd 2018
     
    you could try talking to a.r. Wooldridge who makes sola controla. I have successfully used his kit for excess power diversion from pv and wt combined for many years. Not sure about 3 phase though.
    • CommentAuthorbhommels
    • CommentTimeMar 5th 2018
     
    For a commercial offering, the iBoost seems to hold the best cards.
    Regarding DIY: the JSHarris, Wooldridge, and my 2012 homebrew project for that matter all make use of a commercial power controller, which is an expensive part and makes the setup not very efficient at low power levels.
    Robin Emley's solution is a) more efficient, and b) can do multiple devices of varying power ratings.
    http://www.mk2pvrouter.co.uk/33001.html
    For more than 2 devices the hardware needs to be expanded and additional triac switches built. It is not too difficult though, and the triac switches are relatively cheap.
    3 phase is more of a challenge, I think the folks at openenergymonitor have tackled that one a while ago.
    Sounds like a nice project, and 25kWp generates a lot of power to play with. Good luck!
    • CommentAuthorowlman
    • CommentTimeMar 6th 2018
     
    All of the single phase solar diverters I know of require resistive loads, heating and the like.
    However there are now some very attractive infra red/ceramic heaters on the market.
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