Solis S6 mini zero export

[jamieg]

Hi

Wonder if someone can set me straight, if I set my Solis S6 mini to zero export what happens to all the excessive generation? is this a good thing or what?

Currently all our excess goes back to the grid, we could be exceeding 16a and want to prevent that without trip switches going for example.



Thanks

 

[Korishan]

zero export what happens to all the excessive generation

Solar input, nothing. It's like disconnecting the solar wire. For wind/hydro, bad things can happen if you don't have a dummy load. I'm guessing yo are referring to Solar input, though. Just think of Solar as a virtual battery that changes voltage depending on sun light. If you disconnect the battery, nothing happens to the energy. Same here. If you change export to zero, then nothing happens and it's like disconnecting the power source.
But once your load/battery drops low enough, then it's reconnected to supplement the load requirements

 

[jamieg]

Solar input, nothing. It's like disconnecting the solar wire. For wind/hydro, bad things can happen if you don't have a dummy load. I'm guessing yo are referring to Solar input, though. Just think of Solar as a virtual battery that changes voltage depending on sun light. If you disconnect the battery, nothing happens to the energy. Same here. If you change export to zero, then nothing happens and it's like disconnecting the power source.
But once your load/battery drops low enough, then it's reconnected to supplement the load requirements

Brill - perfect explanation - I only got thinking really because we were off grid recently with my powerwall but were making more energy that being used and the house tripped out.

 

[Korishan]

You could dump the extra energy into heating water. Use large storage tanks that are well insulated.
This could serve 2 purposes:
1) Provide pre-heated water for your water heater allowing it to work less when the household is using a lot of hot water
2) Provide radiant heating for the home in colder months. This can be in the form of floor radiant heating, or even setting up old style radiators to pump through it.

Another option, instead of water, use sand. Have large vats of sand that has piping above/below it. The bottom ones transport heat into the "thermal battery", and the top ones would pull it back out. Again it would need to be very well insulated. Thermal Batteries are starting to become more popular and there's even a company that's creating a whole neighborhood battery to give the residences nice and toasty.

 

[prepared1]

You could dump the extra energy into heating water. Use large storage tanks that are well insulated.
This could serve 2 purposes:
1) Provide pre-heated water for your water heater allowing it to work less when the household is using a lot of hot water
2) Provide radiant heating for the home in colder months. This can be in the form of floor radiant heating, or even setting up old style radiators to pump through it.

Another option, instead of water, use sand. Have large vats of sand that has piping above/below it. The bottom ones transport heat into the "thermal battery", and the top ones would pull it back out. Again it would need to be very well insulated. Thermal Batteries are starting to become more popular and there's even a company that's creating a whole neighborhood battery to give the residences nice and toasty.

Hmmm...sand...this is an interesting thought.....lots of mass to absorb and transfer energy.

 

[prepared1]

Korishan: I'm really glad I saw your post about sand batteries. I remember reading a little about them, and saltwater batteries about 4 years ago, but didn't think the concept was ready for reliable use. But now, the timing is really good in our specific case.

We are just beginning the repair process on our primary home that was involved in a 140 mph wind event. We were going to tear down one of the wings of the house that was for bedrooms and bathrooms, and just start over. But after working with a good architect, we have decided it is more effective to repair, and repurpose. So what about the sand battery?

That wing is 24' by 36' long, with an original 4' crawlspace below the floor joists. Dirt floor. It is a sealed crawlspace, but should never have been built in that fashion back in the 50's, in the upper Midwest, USA. We are currently comparing the costs of filling in the space with gravel, and then an insulated concrete slab with PEX tubing, versus removing all the old floor joists, and then pouring a couple inch cap of concrete to seal the dirt, and put back new floor I-joists. I was leaning towards the latter due to the shear amount of fill needed. (Over 100 cubic yards) And that is just one of two wings we will be dealing with, both the same size.

I have a lot of experience with hot water boilers, zoning, PEX tubing, etc. We already have an 11 zone heating system with room to expand to 22. We have about 2500' of large PEX tubing left over from a very large commercial project we did. And I have a couple brand new solar hot water panels, and a bunch of PV panels. And a shelf full of controls. I'm going to be looking really hard at those TES systems, to see how we could apply it in our case. A large amount of the work would qualify for the Federal Renewable Energy Act credit. We are scheduled to start the removal of the floor joists on October 7th, so time is of the essence.

Sorry for rambling, but like I said, I'm really glad I saw your post.