Post #971147

2026-04-02 18:48 UTC

New #blog post: Adding A Balcony #Solar Install to our garage We&#39;ve had solar for nearly 3 years now, but our easterly exposure has been niggling at me: output starts waning around lunch so the afternoon feels wasted (particularly after a cloudy morning) So, I&#39;ve added some west facing panels to the garage using a plug-in solar kit This post talks about the install, setting up monitoring with #telegraf as well as results in the week since https://www.bentasker.co.uk/posts/blog/house-stuff/adding-plugin-solar-to-our-capacity.html

Replies (7)

@mattjhayes@techhub.social 2026-04-02 20:05

@ben nice write-up, especially the details of how you fed the data into Grafana and the analysis

Open ##1737839
@penguin42@mastodon.org.uk 2026-04-02 20:26

@ben Can those microinverters implement an export limit themselves if you had enough to get near the limit?

Open ##1737842
@Slash909uk@mastodon.me.uk 2026-04-02 20:30

@ben ooh, nice. I have a similar issue with afternoon sun as my panels face south east. I might well be using plugin units to help with this when they are legal. I wonder if I can add these as I have already got 4kW peak installed? Does this not break G98 regs?

Open ##1737846
@MikeFromLFE@cupoftea.social 2026-04-02 21:24

@ben Thanks - this is really useful. I've been eyeing up a garage roof installation in addition to the existing panels. The maximum export gotcha isn't something I was aware of. I'm wondering if it might be possible to feed a battery on the sunniest days so as not to exceed the maximum export - but of course, as you say, batteries are much less cost effective.

Open ##1737849
@fedops@fosstodon.org 2026-04-02 21:50

@ben thanks for publishing this, very interesting! 👍

Open ##1737850
@nick@shore.me.uk 2026-04-03 11:28

@ben@mastodon.bentasker.co.uk Very interesting, we currently have a 12 year old 3.6kW system split across East and South, and I'm pondering adding something on our West facing roof to extend the generation day. Also we have no battery storage yet, so I've been pondering an Ecoflow Stream Ultra X with an Ecoflow smart meter to ensure export limit is not breached. I'm still not completely convinced on value for money though.

Open ##1737851
@DamonHD@mastodon.social 2026-04-03 17:12

@ben Does the microinverter let you adjust any of its settings, and if so what/which?

Open ##1737853