A few questions- Carbon Intensity, 2600W, Smart switches/plugs, Mixergy

We’re new to getting solar and GivEnergy, installation was finished Friday. We’ve got GivEnergy solar battery GivEnergy 3.6kW hybrid inverter, 9.5kWh GivEnergy battery and it fully charged for the first day yesterday. These are connected to Solar panels 11 x JA Solar 385W Mono MBB Percium Half-Cell Black Short Frame MC4 (mostly paid for by Home Energy Scotland loan).

My first questions are:

Why are the limits set at 2600W by the installer? I’ve already noticed that at times we exceed this usage in the moment eg making breakfast. Is this something which can be increased? In the app, 2600W is the highest it can be.

I like seeing the carbon intensity icon and have linked it to my postcode. Is there a way to set up automation so that the battery only charges from the grid when this is green? Or when we’re linked up with Octopus Agile, would that be a proxy for this because energy would only be cheap in peak wind or solar times?

We’re having discussions about smart home automation and how to schedule this around solar and battery. Are there any detailed tips on home automation linked to solar/sunshine anywhere? We’re not new to smart home stuff we already have smart bulbs, plugs, heaters, Tado, Alexa etc so it’s more about adjusting to the solar aspect. Do you have some plugs which are only on in sunshine or linked to Octopus cheap times? Are people using IFTTT?

Has anyone here installed Mixergy hot water tanks? Or has anyone got a more standard gas& immersion hot water tank controlled via a switch like this one: SwitchBot Smart Switch Button Pusher - No Wiring, Bluetooth App or Timer Control, Add SwitchBot Hub Mini to Make it Compatible with Alexa, Google Home, IFTTT (white) https://amzn.eu/d/0EOE66s
I bought one of these switches but we can’t use it on our current hot water tank. My partner wants to return it, but what else would you use it for? I’m wondering about washing machine/ dehumidifier/ light switch.

To the first question: you likely have a Gen1 Hybrid of which 2600w is all it can do from battery only.

The rest RE home automation is probably best answered by others as mines all done through Powershell to make life difficult for myself!

No it is a Gen2 hybrid. What would the limit be for Gen2? In the handing over spiel from the installer the wording was something around them setting it at that but when I thought about it later I wondered what advantage there is in doing that?

Does it have a Dongle on it or say that the battery output is 3600w on the inverter sticker.
2600w is a very suspicious value to set it to given you have a more than capable 9.5 battery that should be maxing out the Gen 2 at 3600W if it really is one.

Long story short I think you installer has fitted a Gen 1 and is Bullsh…. you.

Sorry double post, another easy way is serial number shown in the app or portal.
Starts SA should be Gen 1 Hybrid
SD is Gen 1 Hybrid (5kW)
CE is AC coupled
ED (from memory) is Gen 2 Hybrid
FD is some elusive mystery device I’ve seen pop up.

Gen2 inverter has a maximum output of 3.6kw. As supplied it may have been a 5.00kw version, but you need prior approval and a G99 generation certificate from your DNO hence the downgrade. You probably have a G98 certificate which limits you to 3.6kw which approval for is much easier. I cannot see why the installer would limit you to 2.6kw. Make sure you have a Gen2 inverter....this has a black WiFi aerial rather than a led Dongle. If indeed you do have a Gen2 installer then contact GE and only 2.6kw output then contact GE as it may have been commissioned incorrectly.

anthonypar hoggy I’ll have a look again but the installer definitely thinks it’s gen2 because he was talking about what’s different on our one compared to the gen1. Is it plausible he doesn’t know that the gen2 could be set higher?

I know we don’t have the G99 certificate but that would mean we can have 3.6kw which is a substantial amount more in terms of how frequently we’d tip into needing grid electricity.

@hoggy the serial number starts SA

anthonypar Well it says nominal AC output power 3.6kw. On the inverter text it says max battery discharging power 2500W.

What I believe is a dongle is white with GivEnergy logo on it. They did need to get a dongle, which held up the installation. Do Gen2 ones not require a dongle then?

He did straight up point out in person the ways this Gen2 was different and how it had been easier to install because more of the wiring was already connected beforehand.

Looking at photos on the GivEnergy site it is gen1 not gen2. They have told us they were sourcing gen2, fitting gen2 and then as I said already on Friday explained how the particular inverter installed in our house was better than the gen1 ones they’d installed previously. I’m just having a look to see if the gen2 aspect of it is in writing anywhere.

It’s taken ages to get to this point and we do have a functioning system now. But would we need a lot less grid electricity with a gen2? Does it limit the usefulness of having a larger battery? What would you do at this point? I’m definitely going to query with the installer and GivEnergy.

SA is the serial code for Gen 1 Hybrid 3.6 and the dongle being fitted also confirms the suspicions (Gen 2 doesn’t have or need one)
You should also notice from the Givenergy website that the battery and PV string connections are transposed between generations 1 & 2 but I very much think that your install is Gen 1 without this based on the other things you’ve noted.
I guess it will come down to your contract - if it’s in writing a Gen 2 (or a discharge rate above 2.6) then you will need to speak to the installer about switching it out or some sort of compensation.

Sorry - not the start anyone particularly wants to the world of PV. You may find you can manage the lower discharge rate (bear in mind we are still in Winter and you will likely have some support from your panels most of the year at peak times 4pm - 7pm) but if you’ve planned to have 3.6 available all year round then you will need to do some calcs as to the additional costs of 1kW grid import at times when needed.

hoggy Slight caveat on the dongle. My Gen2 "square" model (colloqially called a Gen1.5 originally) did come with a Gen1 wifi dongle attached and configured. The installer then came back and enabled the internal one instead.

Definitely worth checking the serial number rather than judging the Gen model by the wifi dongle, as you said earlier 😀

Riscy what would the serial number be for the in between model? Ours is SA2237G150

JennyHorner My 3.6 Gen2 Hybrid is an "ED" serial number.

Mine too.