Hi Guys been sometime since i last posted, But looking to get a EPS fitted
Been quite a few power cuts around here just recently , and with my son being diabetic we have stuff in the fridge
Does anyone know someone who can fit this in the Burnley area ?
There is a guy on ebay doing this nationwide for around £1000 but don't really trust that site for something like this
My system
Roof 6.2kw Inverter 7.5kw
Ground 3kw Inverter 2.5kw
Battery 9.5kw + AC Coupled 3kw
Thanks
lifco There’s two bits to it:
Number 1 can be done by any electrician. Number 2 you would be best to ask your original installer to do because the system needs to be recommissioned with EPS mode turned on (apparently this is required for the GivEnergy warranty). You could get another GivEnergy installer to do number 2 but then they’d have to take over ownership of the original install which they may charge you for.
If you are getting your installer to do number 2, they could well do number 1 for you as well.
Sounds like you have 3 inverters?
Do any of them have EPS capability?
A grid tied system has to follow the grid power so in a power cut, the inverter also cuts the power.
Some inverters can go into island mode (go off grid) and provide emergency power to a separate circuit.
When grid supply goes off, all inverter output must go off - except EPS circuits - there must be NO AC from the house back to grid in case someone is working upstream of your house that could injure them. So I dont think there is a way to 'couple' your systems.
You may have to think about 2 of them going 'off' when the grid fails and 1 of them running in EPS mode and just supplying your essential circuits.
My calculated total EPS load is about 650W and my inverter can deliver 2.6kW in EPS, so no worry there.
I then installed a small consumer unit (EPS) and disconnected and moved circuits from the house consumer unit and terminated them in the EPS consumer unit.
I run my inverter with EPS always on feeding the EPS consumer unit ,so they always are live and and come back on about 5 seconds after a grid failure. All other stuff then stays OFF.
I also installed a manual bypass switch so I can mains feed my EPS consumer unit. Just in case I ever need to take the inverter out of action for maintenance
Take a look at how much EPS power you need and then figure out which inverter has an EPS function and best suited to deliver the EPS load you need. You will need to see which batteries are connected to which inverter.
It is no good trying to feed an ASHP that needs 5kw if the inverter can only deliver 2.5kw in EPS mode.
It is no good having an inverter with 5kw EPS if it does not have any battery connected to it. As soon as the sun goes in there will be no power to the inverter to convert to AC for the EPS circuit(s)
See what is physically possible in diverting electrical circuits to suit you needs. All my kitchen is NOT on EPS so I dont have to worry that the oven and/or dishwasher is on if EPS mode kicks in - dont want to risk inverter overload and/or drain battery too fast. I have a separate circuit for fridge/freezer that is on my EPS consumer unit. Also house alarm is on EPS, gas boiler, lounge power, router and sky boxes. So we can sit in lounge, watch TV and stay warm for about 12 hours. Boil water for tea in a pan on the gas cooker!!
You will need a TT earth - earth rod if your grid supply is not TT - your electrician can confirm .
Before you do anything though, think about what you want to achieve and how you might get there. You dont want to start and find you have to do a major rewire to split circuits.