ᐅ Balcony Solar System: Costs and Benefits – User Experiences?

Hi, consider the Hoymiles HMS-800 or the HM-800 (cheaper), which has 2 MPPT inputs and can be throttled down to 600 watts via DTU. Unfortunately, I don’t know of any “good” 400W inverter with 2 MPPT inputs :-(

However, keep in mind that you are allowed and should install more wattage since, with an east/west orientation, you usually never reach that much power.

It’s about the power fed into the inverter, not the maximum available power...

I am also currently planning a small balcony solar system but want to use the HMS-1600 (because it has 4 MPPT trackers) with three 410-watt modules facing east (no more fit on the roof) mounted on my bike shed.

I can provide detailed info as soon as the electrician has connected the line. The roof of the bike shed is not quite finished yet either...

So, I will only order and install next year, as I don’t want to go through the hassle of throttling for half a year ;-) and I have plenty of other projects to work on.

You already have photovoltaic panels on your house roof, right? So why go through the effort of installing them on the bike shed as well? Is it really worth it with a reasonably new meter that doesn't run backward?

Balcony power plant in addition to photovoltaic panels? Both for additional self-consumption and feeding into the grid. I plan to do this next year as well. This way, excess electricity can be used efficiently. It is also legally acceptable because the photovoltaic system is generally registered with its nominal capacity (I still have the old 70% regulation, meaning an 8 kW inverter for a 10 kW system), which is rarely reached. This means the output from the balcony power plant cannot be directly attributed.

i_b_n_a_n schrieb:

Hi, consider using the Hoymiles HMS-800 or the HM-800 (more affordable), which has 2 MPPT trackers and can be limited to 600 watts via DTU. Unfortunately, I don’t know of any good 400W inverters with 2 MPPT inputs :-(

Keep in mind that you can and probably should install more wattage since with east/west orientation you usually don’t get the full power output.
It’s about the power fed into the grid (at the inverter), not the maximum available ...

I’m currently planning a small balcony solar system myself, but I want to go with the HMS-1600 (which has 4 MPPT trackers) and mount three 410 watt panels facing east (that’s all that will fit) on my bike shed.

I’ll share more detailed info once the electrician has connected the wiring. The roof of the bike shed isn’t quite finished yet either...
So I’ll probably order and install next year since I don’t want to deal with limiting output for half a year ;-) and I have plenty of other projects lined up.

Issue:
The installation locations (east/west - south) are spatially separated.

I will probably connect the east/west panels in parallel to one controller. That should work fine. Later, the south-facing panels will have their own microinverter.

Yes, the feed-in power would then be 400 + 400, if the change goes through...

KarstenausNRW schrieb:

Balcony power system in addition to photovoltaics? For extra self-consumption as well as feeding electricity into the grid. I plan to do this next year as well. This way, surplus electricity can be efficiently used. It’s also legally acceptable because the photovoltaic system is usually registered with its nominal power (I still have the old 70% throttling rule, so an 8 kW inverter for a 10 kW system), which is rarely reached. So, the yield from the balcony power system cannot be separately allocated.

Interesting idea. Until now, I only considered installing a second “proper” system later on the garden shed and carport. A “balcony power system” would, of course, be much more affordable.

KarstenausNRW schrieb:

It is legally fine because the photovoltaic system is usually registered with the nominal power (I still have the old 70% limitation, meaning an 8 kW inverter for a 10 kW system), which is almost never reached.

This is definitely incorrect. The system is registered with the grid operator with both the generator capacity and the inverter capacity. When you add an extension, you receive the previous feed-in tariff rate for the new system. As soon as a standard photovoltaic system already exists, every extension must be registered and equipped with a separate meter. The yields are then accounted for separately.