NGRE’s latest project is the Managing Director Greg Bishop’s own house, with a state-of-the-art smart energy storage system from GivEnergy being added to his existing PV solar system.
The system is designed to maximise self-consumption and achieve grid neutrality by smartly managing renewables, so that Greg and his family use as much clean, self-generated energy as they can and pay for as little energy as possible from their supplier.
Greg said: “I’ve been installing renewable systems for more than 10 years and felt it was about time I put my money where my mouth is on the energy storage side.
“Like all our clients, I also wanted myself and my family to reduce our energy costs and be more green and it seemed a no-brainer seeing as we already had an existing PV system. We’ll now be able to use that green energy any time and we’re looking forward to reducing our bills even more.”
More details of NGRE’s offering can be found at battery storage solution for solar energy.
The System
Greg’s new GivEnergy battery storage system consists of an 8.2kWh Lithium battery with a 3kW AC Coupled inverter, which can be fitted to new builds or, in this case, retrofitted to Greg’s existing PV system.
Greg chose the AC Coupled system as it ensured his existing PV system, consisting of 12, 185w panels (2.2kWp) and solar inverter, could be left unaltered so as not to interfere with his Feed-in Tariff agreement.
GivEnergy also provide a Hybrid Inverter, in 3.6kW or 5kW iterations, combining a solar inverter and battery inverter in one neat package. Batteries are available in 2.6kWh, 5.2kWh or 8.2kWh and 5 can be combined, providing a potential storage capacity of up to 41kWh.
Greg’s new system employs various modes to ensure users get the most out of their renewables and smart energy storage system.
Maximising Self Consumption
One mode maximises self-consumption and minimises energy exported to the grid. When the solar PV generates more than the home is using, the battery stores this surplus rather than sending it back to the grid. When demand exceeds the PV generated energy, the built-in smart energy management system immediately detects it, stops charging the battery, and uses the battery’s stored energy to top-up what’s needed to power the home.
Store Energy for Later
Another mode stores excess solar generation during the day and holds that energy ready to use in the evening. The battery will automatically discharge from 4pm until 7pm, one of the most expensive periods of the day, or at a specific time set by the user. This is particularly useful if you get charged more for your electricity at peak times.
Greg said: “From 4pm until 7pm is most expensive, so using the energy stored in your battery at this time is very cost effective.”
Battery Discharge at Full Power
Using this mode, the battery will discharge at full power into your home, sending any excess to the grid, particularly useful if you have a tariff whereby you’re paid more to export at different times of the day, like 4pm to 7pm.
Benefit from Flexible Tariffs
The family can also utilise their storage system to benefit from off-peak or flexible energy tariffs, like Agile Octopus, whereby they can charge their battery from the grid during cheaper night-time periods, and use it when energy is more expensive, in the morning or evening. This is particularly useful in winter when PV generation is less.
Greg said: “We’ve just signed up with Agile Octopus. They track the wholesale price of energy, which changes every 30 minutes. So when wholesale prices drop, so do your bills.”
Getting Paid to use Energy!
Greg added: “Across the UK, whenever more electricity is generated than consumed, energy prices fall, sometimes to below zero. So, Octopus might send an alert saying there’s a price plunge between 2am and 4am; you can then set your system to charge from the grid at that time.”
Remote Monitoring
The system can be monitored and controlled via the GivEnergy Cloud, an online monitoring portal, or via mobile apps, which provide user friendly visual representations so you can track exactly how your system is operating. It shows home demand, when the battery is charging or discharging, when your solar PV is generating and when your system is importing from or exporting to the grid in real-time and historically so you can see exactly how you are using your energy.
Greg said: “I was waiting for the right product that suited our needs and this product ticked a lot of boxes. The GivEnergy system is a great product at a great price, there’s great customer service, great warranty and it’s easy to install.”
NGRE
Read more about our battery storage solution for solar energy.
If you’re interested taking advantage of the benefits of a battery storage system, whether to add to your existing PV system, a complete PV and battery storage system, or a stand-alone battery storage system, fill out our contact form, and one of our experienced team will be in touch.
NGRE specialise in the supply of the latest renewable solutions for architects, builders and homeowners in Oxfordshire and surrounding areas and have more than 10 years’ experience. We are MSC accredited installers of solar PV systems which all come with a warranty of up to 25 years
GivEnergy inverters come with a standard 10 year warranty and GivEnergy batteries come with a standard 10 year standard warranty or a throughput of 10MWh per 1kWh stored capacity (whichever comes first).