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Hi,
Thanks for the detailed billing info.
What is "NC" in the last line that you have added to the bill pls?

NC stand for Network Changes, please refer to this link for the details.

Power bills rising a lot at my home, almost 15,000 per month as in Patna summer and winter both are extreme. We are planning for two Solar units one with 10KW and the other with 5 KW. Please advise, which company is the best in the market. I am okay with spending a premium if the product and service are top-notch.
I have enquired with two vendors one with Tata Solar and the other with Kirloskar.
Is it safe to go ahead with Tata?

Hi All,

Wanted to check if anyone here has gone for a budget solar setup with these kind of inverters

V-Guard Smart Pro 1200 S Hybrid Digital-UPS with Solar

From what I understand, even with an On grid setup we would still need an inverter and battery to provide power when the grid is down. In that case, is there a reason why a setup involving these inverters which would cost around 50k is not more popular in India?

Is it that the solar panels capacity which is supported (640 Wp with this Vguard model) is not enough for a modern household? Or is this setup not expected to bring in any reduction in Power Bills?

It seems to me like your requirement is similar to ours. You may want to check (my) post #33 on this very thread. I have found the setup quite useful for our use case. This setup definitely aids in reducing power bills. However, it wouldn't be possible to specify the figures exactly as the electricity meter at our home was dysfunctional for a long time prior to the solar setup installation, even after repeated requests to the electricity department to replace the faulty meter. The faulty meter was replaced much later.

:) actually navigating to the linked post, I instantly remembered reading it and first thinking how beautiful your surroundings are and later realizing how much effort it takes to live like that (when I read about the power cut scenario in the rest of the post). It was nice to read it again.

I don't believe Microtek sells the model of inverter you have anymore. Is this one the equivalent today?

Thanks! Yes, as you rightly said, there are always pros and cons associated. When pros outweigh the cons, life becomes that much easier. Talking of power cuts, with the current solar setup in place, we don't really 'feel the heat' as much as we did before. :)

Yes, the model has been discontinued. Our inverter went kaput about 5-6 months ago and since it was unrepairable, we replaced it with this one.

Do you have a complex shaded roof? Curious why they suggested micro inverters. Also which solar panels and which inverter combination is this?

640 Wp would generate max ~2 units on good sunshine days and the power output is way too low to run all household appliances.
This might be useful for someone who wants to run a backup inverter with solar in places where there are frequent outages in the afternoon time and will save "some" money, still, it will be better to take 1kw on grid solar for ~50k if the target is cost savings and afternoon outages are not frequent.

With summer in full swing, we get power cuts here in Chennai. The cost of electricity has also creeped up with the usage.

Looking at solar for 2 reasons.

1. Live in an individual house. Inspite of having white painting done, the heat in the floor below is becoming unberable. The solar panel above it might cut the transmission of heat down

2. Reduce overall electricity consumption as there are 3 ac's running in the night and 1 during the day.

Looking at a non grid system. Any recommended brands / references ?

Being a fellow Chennaite I can help here, just painting the terrace floor with whitepaint will not solve your heat problem. You need the reflective power of that paint from fading away for a long time to reap the benefits.

But one good thing is, that the white paint will help you with Bifacial panels (provided you have sufficient spaces on the sides for sunlight to creep in to reflect on the floor and illuminate bottom of the panels).

Having solar panels above the terrace does cut down the radiative heat, but it is subject to the quality of paint material used. I learnt this in a very hard way and costly too.

One good panel (500+ Wp) with ~9-10 hours of Sunlight will generate ~1.5-2.0 units / day. Based on your current consumption you can then calculate your daily import and export potential.

And BTW, why are you opting for Off-Grid when you can benefit a lot with On-Grid ? I am assuming you already have a UPS battery pack in your home, which can give backup during blackouts. You just need to increase the capacity of battery and inverter. Off-grids are costly and bulky. And if you are planning to run your entire home using Off-Grid support, then you will need substantial storage space too.

I have had a very strange phenomenon happen to my powerplant. Is it because of lightening ? Spooky.:Shockked:

If you are referring to the production show between mid night to 3 am, I would guess lighting and not lightning or some fault. If some powerful light was switched on nearby, say flood lights for construction work, bore-well digging, tennis court or fence lighting, it may produce some power.

Yes, the strange peaks at ghostly hours. None of those light sources exist in my vicinity. This anomaly is present only on one of the powerplant. The other (same capacity & config) showed no activity.

Hi experts, we have two power connections at home one with 7KW and the other 6KW.
Planning for solar in a phased manner, the quotation I got is below.

PV MODULE - DCR :ADANI SOLAR - 560 WATT MONO BIFACIAL N
TYPE TOPCON HALF CUT - M10 144 CELL - 30 YEAR WARRANTY @14450*14 +GST (12%) =226576

SOLAR INVERTER:DEYE/GROWATT/GOODWE ONGRID INVERTER
WITH RMS SYSTEM - 6KW / 1 PHASE - 5-8 YEAR WARRANTY @43550

SOLAR STRUCTURE:ELEVATED ROOFTOP SOLAR STRUCTURE - GI @35002

SOLAR ACCESSORIES / SOLAR KIT: ACDB, DCDB, LIGHTNING ARRESTER, EARTHING
KIT, AC CABLE, DC CABLE, EARTHING, LIGHTNING ARRESTER CABLE, CONNECTORS &
OTHER WIRING, STRUCTURE ACCESSORIES & CIVIL WORK MATERIALS @40000

SOLAR ENGINEERING, PROCUREMENT & CONSTRUCTION ( EPC ) @30000

Total Cost: 375000

Please guide me with your expertise on the selection of Solar Panels and inverter. Based on research, I feel Topcon bifacial is the most efficient in 2024. Among inverters, shall I go with "DEYE"?

For panel cleaning, please advise if it is worth installing auto-sprinklers or if I should stick to the pressure washer. I have a Bosch Auatek140 pressure washer but it is too bulky to carry to the 4th floor. Please suggest a lightweight pressure washer for panel cleaning.