Thank you everyone 🙏
Cheers. Glad to help you get the best option for you and not whatever suits the installer best.

Tariffs will change but generating all your own energy will always be useful and I'm sure you'll end up with a system that will be flexible to work with whatever tariffs end up being in place.
 
I've been led to understand by watching videos & reading etc that inverters can operate at 133% of their rated value, so 5kw = max 6.65kw.
Others have covered it but you can have more PV power connected to an inverter's solar PV inputs than the inverter's rated AC power output. How much more is a function of the inverter's specifications and local installation codes.

133% is a pretty nice DC:AC power ratio as others have explained, providing more power over longer period of the day and better performance in cloudy/low light conditions or when arrays are split over different azimuths or tilts, or are just not facing in an optimal direction for maximal energy generation.

This assumes the array(s) is (are) not overly impacted by shading. No point adding extra panels if they are just going to be in the shade most of the time.

The most important piece of advice when it comes to home solar/battery system installation is to choose your installer wisely. Due your due diligence on them. Good installers will go through a decent appraisal of your home's energy needs, as well as understand what future changes may need to be considered. They will have been in the business for a long time and have a good reputation for the standard of their work and post sales support, as well as understanding the specific installation issues in your local area. They will also use their own staff for the installation rather than sub-contract it out.

In some cases homes add electrical energy demand by getting off fossil fuel sources (gas, petrol/diesel). Having a system designed with any future changes in mind is helpful. Changing it later is usually a PITA.

It is advantageous to have an EV charging solution which integrates with the solar/battery system. This means it can be programmed to charge in a manner that best suits you, be it on a schedule, or from excess solar energy, or when grid energy is cheap, and to avoid draining the home battery to charge the EV etc.

That said, if your EV energy demand is low and likely to remain so, then you can probably manage it fairly well manually.

The V2X uses the DC connection in the MG4 CCS2 socket, so they can certainly do V2X.
While the MG4 (and frankly most EVs nowadays) are capable of working with V2X, the issue comes down to what impact using it has on your car's warranty.

I don't know about MG in the UK but in MG Australia have made no statement about potential warranty impacts of using V2X. They are clearly reserving judgement on that and I guess it's a get out of jail free card for them. The same applies to most of the EV manufacturers, with a few exception for specific models. They are just not fully on board yet.

The tech in my case (Sigenergy EVDC charging module) clearly works as I have tested it with both our MG4 (2023 64 Essence) and MG ZSEV (2023 Excite) but I have no intention of using our cars for regular V2X duty. For us that functionality is for the scenario of an extended (multi-day) grid outage and even then only in case we need some supplemental energy to support the home battery and solar PV system (e.g. a run of very poor solar production days).
 
Others have covered it but you can have more PV power connected to an inverter's solar PV inputs than the inverter's rated AC power output. How much more is a function of the inverter's specifications and local installation codes.

133% is a pretty nice DC:AC power ratio as others have explained, providing more power over longer period of the day and better performance in cloudy/low light conditions or when arrays are split over different azimuths or tilts, or are just not facing in an optimal direction for maximal energy generation.

This assumes the array(s) is (are) not overly impacted by shading. No point adding extra panels if they are just going to be in the shade most of the time.

The most important piece of advice when it comes to home solar/battery system installation is to choose your installer wisely. Due your due diligence on them. Good installers will go through a decent appraisal of your home's energy needs, as well as understand what future changes may need to be considered. They will have been in the business for a long time and have a good reputation for the standard of their work and post sales support, as well as understanding the specific installation issues in your local area. They will also use their own staff for the installation rather than sub-contract it out.

In some cases homes add electrical energy demand by getting off fossil fuel sources (gas, petrol/diesel). Having a system designed with any future changes in mind is helpful. Changing it later is usually a PITA.

It is advantageous to have an EV charging solution which integrates with the solar/battery system. This means it can be programmed to charge in a manner that best suits you, be it on a schedule, or from excess solar energy, or when grid energy is cheap, and to avoid draining the home battery to charge the EV etc.

That said, if your EV energy demand is low and likely to remain so, then you can probably manage it fairly well manually.


While the MG4 (and frankly most EVs nowadays) are capable of working with V2X, the issue comes down to what impact using it has on your car's warranty.

I don't know about MG in the UK but in MG Australia have made no statement about potential warranty impacts of using V2X. They are clearly reserving judgement on that and I guess it's a get out of jail free card for them. The same applies to most of the EV manufacturers, with a few exception for specific models. They are just not fully on board yet.

The tech in my case (Sigenergy EVDC charging module) clearly works as I have tested it with both our MG4 (2023 64 Essence) and MG ZSEV (2023 Excite) but I have no intention of using our cars for regular V2X duty. For us that functionality is for the scenario of an extended (multi-day) grid outage and even then only in case we need some supplemental energy to support the home battery and solar PV system (e.g. a run of very poor solar production days).
A member of the Adelaide AEVA branch has just had his V2G fully certified at the real work model, not a test case where short term readings and effects were measured. The people who did the install and came along to do the talk on it, later said the MG4 was well suited to the task and they had a good two way information channel with SIAC regarding the V2G application .....

T1 Terry
 
The people who did the install and came along to do the talk on it, later said the MG4 was well suited to the task and they had a good two way information channel with SIAC regarding the V2G application .....
Good to hear but unless and until MG Australia make a definitive statement about V2X and impact to the car's warranty, I would be treading very carefully.

All that data I gather about my car in Home Assistant comes from SAIC servers. They know what every car is doing and you can bet it would be examined if a battery related warranty claim is made.
 
You might find these videos interesting





Also this Youtube channel has lots of examples of good and bad installs and what to look out for


On the first video, unless you live somewhere the panels will never see a lot of hot direct sunlight any time of the yr, forget about bi facial panels and microinverters.
Bifacial panels rely on light reflection from the underside to catch the solar that passed through the panel and gets reflected back off the roof.
At the very best, todays panels at around 20% efficiency for the average and maybe 25% for the latest and greatest ..... I'll get back to this difference later ....
Now watch this video ...

As far as the microinverters ..... they are on the back of the panel, think about how hot it get under the glass in a glasshouse in mid summer if it was all closed up ...... that microinverter is suffering that and more, it is attached to a panel that is designed to let light through, heat is just light at a different wave length.
I previously bought some very cheap second-hand 10 yr old solar panels that were still putting out their full output, made by a local all Australian manufacturer for Australian conditions ..... but they missed thinking deeply about those Australian conditions and fell for the promise of a better performance, so they were fitted with these microinverters. These microinverters all failed within 10 yrs, they did a deal where they replaced the panels for the latest and greatest and the owners just paid the difference between the costs ..... They lost a lot of money because of that, but they did sell container loads to some of the islands that were developing their own renewable systems.

Now, let's get back to the output difference reported. In the video he is talking about a 20% output improvement for the same sq mtr area in just 6 mths, the video doesn't mention how long there was between the two systems being fitted, but you can be sure at least the 20% improvement had occurred between one system being installed and the next ......

No one does a side by side comparison of the early EV to the ones you can buy today, solar is the same.

The life time warranty only means something if you plan to keep and reuse the panels somewhere else, the efficiency at 15 yrs to 20 yrs is the important part along with how degraded the output is per degree above 25*C ..... and that is panel temp, not ambient temp ..... does your roof remain wet of snow covered under the solar panel after the sun comes out ..... yet it's still wet or snow covered outside ..... in full sun, panel underside temp will exceed 70*C flat mounted on the roof .....

T1 Terry
 
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