Anyone have a SolarEdge StorEdge battery interface installed?

[DanKegel]

Hey folks,
an acquaintance told me he's signed up to get a battery added to his solar house, that it will provide power when the grid is down, and that California's SGIP rebates are currently awesome.

So what the heck, I started thinking about it. It would be nice to
insulate my house from the relatively frequent short power outages in our neighborhood,
and secondarily, to reduce the amount of grid power I pull at night
and thereby eke out a tiny bit more revenue.

I looked up the battery feature for the inverter I used (the SE 7600A).
Its product page is solaredge.com/us/products/storedge, which links to the retrofit and install guides,
solaredge.com/sites/default/files/preparing_for_storedge_upgrade_on_grid.pdf
solaredge.com/sites/default/files/storedge_backup_installation_guide_NA.pdf
and am contemplating whether it's worth it.

SolarEdge used to talk about being compatible with the Powerwall and Powerwall 2;
now they talk about being compatible with LG batteries.

Has anyone here gone from a plain old SE7600A system to a StorEdge with battery?
If so, what battery did you use, how much did it all cost, and do you have any pictures?

[ButchDeal]

Solaredge has not yet released the part numbers and parts to upgrade an SE7600 to a SrorEdge.

[DanKegel]

Solaredge support says they currently offer a $608 buyback credit. Here's the flyer they sent me: SEDG_to_StorEdge_flyer.pdf

[sensij]

"an acquaintance told me" line of crap. Again a complete load of crap from someone who knows nothing about the technology. All Dan has is an agenda plotted out by Green Mafia.

I know it will be controversial here, but CA's SGIP program is in fact re-opening with a significant incentive ($0.50 / Wh). I haven't tried to run numbers yet on how much difference it makes, but it would be nice to have some open dialog about it and figure out where the breakeven cost of a peak shaving storage system is, given peak electricity prices of ~0.50 / kWh in some TOU plans.

[J.P.M.]

I know it will be controversial here, but CA's SGIP program is in fact re-opening with a significant incentive ($0.50 / Wh). I haven't tried to run numbers yet on how much difference it makes, but it would be nice to have some open dialog about it and figure out where the breakeven cost of a peak shaving storage system is, given peak electricity prices of ~0.50 / kWh in some TOU plans.

As an advocate of R.E., I've always been on the fence about rebates. On one hand, if I'm a user, I sure like (and liked in the past) the feeling of a helping hand. But, as a former peddler and born again cynic, I'm more convinced that such incentives do little more than increase the end cost to the user. If you buy one of these things, despite protestations to the contrary by them, your price from any vendor just went up $0.50/Watt. Such incentives help sellers more than users with the added drawback that the added price schtup for sellers allows poorly run outfits to survive a bit more easily and longer.

[solarix]

I'd really like to see an answer to this question as well. I have lots of customers interested in a storage capability, but I generally put them off saying the Powerwall and Storedge have not proven themselves yet. I'm pretty skeptical they ever will, but would like to hear about anyone who has actually tried them....

[J.P.M.]

I'd really like to see an answer to this question as well. I have lots of customers interested in a storage capability, but I generally put them off saying the Powerwall and Storedge have not proven themselves yet. I'm pretty skeptical they ever will, but would like to hear about anyone who has actually tried them....

Me too. Particularly someone who doesn't work for the company selling the equipment and/or didn't get one for a price to sing the praises of the product. I'll also wait for 300-500 charge/discharge cycles and see what floats to the top.

[DanKegel]

He is doing what he always does. Wants to start trouble.

Uh, no, I wanted to find out if anyone has upgraded their SE7600A to add storage yet. When I got my system, I specifically asked my installer for the SE7600A because it was said to be the model that was compatible with batteries, and now that SGIP is opening up again, it seemed time to look into what that would take.
Solarix, Sensij, and ButchDeal consider this a valid question, one that has come up before.

Sunking and JPM, on the other hand, seem to consider this innocent, useful question as something bad. It's like they're trying to create trouble where there is none.

[J.P.M.]

Uh, no, I wanted to find out if anyone has upgraded their SE7600A to add storage yet. When I got my system, I specifically asked my installer for the SE7600A because it was said to be the model that was compatible with batteries, and now that SGIP is opening up again, it seemed time to look into what that would take.
Solarix, Sensij, and ButchDeal consider this a valid question, one that has come up before.

Sunking and JPM, on the other hand, seem to consider this innocent, useful question as something bad. It's like they're trying to create trouble where there is none.

Since I'm about the laziest person on this planet and also suffer fools badly, and for a lot of other reasons, I don't try to start trouble, just call B.S. when I think I see it and believe it can start trouble. As for what others may or may not think of the validity of your stuff, I don't believe I have your rude habit, and disrespectful behavior of presumptively doing others thinking for them as exhibited here and as you've done to me more than a few times.

[SunEagle]

I'd really like to see an answer to this question as well. I have lots of customers interested in a storage capability, but I generally put them off saying the Powerwall and Storedge have not proven themselves yet. I'm pretty skeptical they ever will, but would like to hear about anyone who has actually tried them....

I believe one of the New Hampshire POCO's have set up a plan where a version of the Powerwall can be installed and linked with a home PV system. Maybe someone up in that area can provide feedback on how their system is performing.

[ButchDeal]

Gentlemen, this thread has gone way, way off topic. Can we restrict future replies to the original topic, i.e. whether anyone has upgraded a SolarEdge to add a battery? Thanks.

We have several storedge inverters installed but none with a battery.

[DanKegel]

I believe one of the New Hampshire POCO's have set up a plan where a version of the Powerwall can be installed and linked with a home PV system. Maybe someone up in that area can provide feedback on how their system is performing.

Sounds like Green Mountain Power in Vermont. Incidentally,
I just now looked for installation stories that weren't just
a press release or news story. It took a while, but the query
powerwall installed solaredge forums.tesla.com
finally dredged one up... from the *third* installation in Vermont
Evidently Green Mountain called him at random and
offered to include him in their pilot, perhaps because
he's out in the sticks and has lots of outages (he doesn't
have solar, too much shade):
bryanalexander.org/2016/07/23/powerwall-progress/
He said it kept his water pump, refrigerator, several lights, and
both routers running during a 16 hour outage. But it doesn't
really count, as it was part of the pilot, and it wasn't an upgrade.

So, early days yet. Still waiting to hear about someone who's
actually upgraded a solaredge to add a battery.

[SunEagle]

Sounds like Green Mountain Power in Vermont. Incidentally,
I just now looked for installation stories that weren't just
a press release or news story. It took a while, but the query
powerwall installed solaredge forums.tesla.com
finally dredged one up... from the *third* installation in Vermont
Evidently Green Mountain called him at random and
offered to include him in their pilot, perhaps because
he's out in the sticks and has lots of outages (he doesn't
have solar, too much shade):
bryanalexander.org/2016/07/23/powerwall-progress/
He said it kept his water pump, refrigerator, several lights, and
both routers running during a 16 hour outage. But it doesn't
really count, as it was part of the pilot, and it wasn't an upgrade.

So, early days yet. Still waiting to hear about someone who's
actually upgraded a solaredge to add a battery.

I knew it was somewhere in New England. I just could not remember which POCO and which state exactly. Thanks for the correction.

I know that Tesla was using that area as a test bed for their Powerwall but I have no idea how well they work there or if they are financially a good decision since the electric rates are not as high as places like CA and HI.

[sensij]

...since the electric rates are not as high as places like CA and HI.

Electricity in New England is generally more expensive on average than in CA.

[DanKegel]

greenmountainpower.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/Rate-1-Residential-Service-10.1.16-1.pdf says $0.43/day plus $0.15/kWh

But the pilot customer said he has lots of outages out where he is in the sticks, maybe that makes it attractive.