Update on the PV Island Project

It has been a while since my last post... I keep saying this all the time. This time, I was held up by a tragedy in my minute family.

Between my previous post and today, I ordered and received another power storage unit, an Ecoflow Stream Pro. Gladly I went for this one, which got 3 PV input ports. This one was supposed to serve in my kitchen to provide power to 1kW kitchen appliances. And it worked fine, being charged from the PV installation via my home's power grid. It kept working fine, however, the Stream Ultra unit, which was collecting all the solar energy, decided to go to sleep forever.
A few times back and forth with Ecoflow, which took some weeks, I was sent a shipping label to return the unit. Yet some more weeks, a new Stream Ultra arrived at my doorstep last Friday evening.

So, we are back to having extra storage. The Stream Pro, on its own, did a great job meanwhile. I guess, I was just unlucky with the Ultra... Never mind!

While I intended to use the setup in island mode, since those Ecoflow units allow for that, I did hook them up to my grid. And yes, I did register the installation with the authorities. Of course I am aiming for a zero grid feed-in. I set the system to 0W base feed and installed smart-plugs for the main power drains. Of course there will still be some consumption from the grid... no problem. However, the majority of my domestic electricity is now served by the Ecoflow storage units.

As soon as I am out of the mourning period, I will start experimenting with one of the storages serving the ham radio station. This is the return of the idea of an island supply for my radio toys.

It appears important to note that the software update to the storage units were essential. When I operated both in unison, before the new firmware, one was draining very fast, while the other unit kept charging up. With the present firmware and my settings, the one unit connected to the solar panels, charges up to 80%. Once charged to this point, this unit "sends" energy to the other unit, until discharged to 78%. Thereby, slowly but surely charging the non-PV unit. I am running my system in and SOC range of 20-80%, as advised by Ecoflow.

Next test would be to actually run the system as an island. I would think that having all (or at least one od the) inverters running all the time, rather than on demand, will probably lead to some losses. I have yet to find out about that however. 

Going Island or something

It has been a really long time, since I posted last over here. I am very very sorry, however, radio and stuff had a very low priority lately. I have not even been on QO100 for the last years.

However, here I am, having something to share.
Everyone around me, and here I am writing about my neighbours, were installing massive PV installations of their roofs. Following local politics and news, this did not make a lot of sense to me. It was something like pre-paid electricity. You pay upfront and might use said energy when you are not at home, or when you do not need light... or something. Yes, storage was out there, but when I looked that up, this was prohibitively expensive. 

Over the last few years some low power Plug&Play solutions came along. Here in NL, the maximum for those is 600W. Not very appealing. OK, the internet stuff and some PC related electricity could be fed by that. 
I am not paid for disclosing the following: I was made aware of the latest EcoFlow products, the STREAM series. Looking at those devices, they seem to for a perfect basis for an island solution. So, I bought myself a starter kit including an EcoFlow Stream Ultra and two 520 Wp panels for €1300. The stuff came in yesterday and today.

Having storage does make so much more sense! The Stream Ultra storage employs for PV input terminals with a total input power of 2kWp. My setup only has 1.04kWp and charged the 1.92kWh accumulator in about half a day under non-perfect Dutch weather condition. My panels, at present, are not in a perfect position, they will be in shadow for about half of a day in summer. There was direct sun hitting them. The peak was about 800W DC, if I remember correctly. Anyway, at the end of the day, the storage was filled.

The interesting bit about the EcoFlow Stream series is that, it can provide AC power up to 1.1kW from a single storage unit, without being connected to the grid. My mind went immediately: radio station! With 1kW in and 1kW out, this would be all I need (not running kW powers). Interestingly, one can hook up 2 storage units to provide 2.3kW. Maybe in the future.

Presently, I have connected the storage unit to my house, feeding in 40W of baseline power for internet, the laption and some LED bulbs. The system needs (costly) improvements, such as a smart-meter and maybe an additional storage unit. 

For now, not running an island though, I will try that in the future.

73!