Have any of you installed solar panels on the balcony?
Thanks to a podcast I discover: The solar station for the balcony
(no connection to this shop; it’s simply the first one I found that explained a bit how it works!)
So:
Any first-hand accounts?
Slightly older but Get a solar panel for your balcony now ☀️ (2024) - Michael Stapelberg is from someone around ZH.
Very accurate and nerdy, thank you! So, based on his account, it wouldn’t seem to be very cost-effective.
There also plug in ready sets with battery, for example, bus I never did an analysis
it is a pitty that in CH max 600W AC is allowed for plug in systems
It is indeed very cost-effective. If you have some decent base usage (NAS, WLAN Router, Freezer and Refrigerator) and even better when you have some day usage during day (e.g. homeoffice).
For two 450W panels I paid roughly CHF 70.- each. Plus a 600W Micro Converter for 140.- and some cables/adapters on top. All in all I paid around CHF 300.- which will be amortised in two years time.
If you buy it separate and are a bit tech savvy, it definitely pays off quite fast.
On https://erneuer.bar they also have some information about self building, besides their SET offers.
Well that’s a lot cheaper than the 700 the guy paid with the article.
He produced 177kWh in a year, which I estimate at roughly 57 CHF. Maybe a bit more, because I try to use all big ticket items in the low tariff at night or Sunday, so my estimation should be multiplied solely by use of Hochtarif.
Probably moot for me, because I live in a place with many owners and since this would be visible on the outside, everyone has to vote and you never get it through.
That was 2y+ ago, prices of solar have been dropping exponentially in past decade.
aren’t those consuming very little power?
What you describe is very close to my plan. Thx for sharing. Any tips on communicating or dealing with the electricity company? What is its role in the process? You inquire, they approve? or more complex, with on site visits, etc? Thx.
Great website thank you and looking for solar panel I found this:
The EcoFlow Hut mit Solarzellen 
Genial!!
Most Elektrizitätswerke (EW) have a corresponding form which you can fill out (for example CKW). After that you can plug in your micro inverter (unless stated differently from your EW) and enjoy your electricity bill getting smaller.
Für allfällige spätere Prüfungen bitten wir Sie, die Konformitätserklärung sowie das Datenblatt des Wechselrichtermoduls zur Seite zu legen. Diese Dokumente finden Sie in den Unterlagen der gekauften Mini-Solaranlage.
Please keep the declaration of conformity and the data sheet for the inverter module to hand in case of any future inspections. You will find these documents in the paperwork for the mini solar system you have purchased. (translated by deepl)
They have the right to check your installation for correctness at any time (on site). (that’s for example a reason I personally went for the Inverter HMS 600-2T which connect to a openDTU instead of a HMS 800W-2T and limit the output voltage to 600W*.
*some EW explicitely mention that the micro inverter mustn’t exeed 600W.
However they haven’t check my plug in solar since my installation and all others that also have one either (probably they have a bit of a back log or it is not high priority).
The only real downside (at least of my EW, CKW) is, that you have to fill out the form each year again.
my first thought was “wait, April 1st is already over”
They just reserve the right. It is if they detect an issue. they will come. For instance if your energy consumption would decrease radically compared to the solar installation declared, or if they detect unusual oscillation in your “Trafo-Kreis” - your local low-voltage network behind the mid-to-low voltage transformator (around 16kV to 230/400V).
That is kind of pain in the ass. I hope they already implented a system to remind per e-mail/mail, otherwise it is kind of obvious it won’t work.
That is anyway documentation someone should keep of any appliance.
In case of Micro-Solar, you declare and they accept. For larger, you inquire, they approve and will come for a check (at least in our utility), the documentation effort will be a bit larger (security certification etc.). It is all pretty standard, your installation guy will (should !) know.
The main recommendation I can give with solar. Make sure you can use all of it. East-West orientation is better than south. In Summer at midday, you won’t get anything for electricity soon, and might even have to pay if you want to put electricity in the net (energy prices getting negative regularly over this time period because there is too much). So it might be better to invest into a smaller PV where you are sure you use everything than oversizing it.
Storage of energy can be done with a heat pump and a rather large hot water tank in form of heat, or batteries in form of reusable electricity, but only to a certain extent (day to day basis).
If you have a perfectly oriented roof, you can think about ZEV or LEG (basically, you sell the electricity to your neighboors, with lower networks cost). This is possible since this year and can generate some income. You have to aquire your clients though.
My SO just got an offer from a company called EES (“Eigen-Energie-Schweiz”), they would install such a plug-in system on our roof, without the need of scaffolding. Anybody used them or something similar? This 600w cap was new to me and sounds like a waste of energy though.
EDIT: when writing this I thought that scaffolding means new bricks on the roof and not the protection thing. if this post doesnt make sense to you, you are completely right:)
I am always sceptical when small companies having bit words in their name like „schweiz“..
In your situation you should do the math if balcon solar is financially interesting, either DIY or through a contractor like this EES.
since you did mention scaffolding: Very often real PV installation are also put on the roof without scaffolding. The hooks they used can fit under the existing „ziegel“ Or they will weak it a bit on the back So if you would choose balcony solar for that reason it might be worth to double check if you cant put a bigger installation without scaffolding
It’s different topics, though, isn’t it? Any work at height requires proper fall protection, which may or may not be scaffolding, depending on localities and what needs to be done.
A standard-sized PV panel is around 20kg, so these things maybe 50kg? Either way, you want to make sure it’s properly attached, and also it’s statically fine if there’s more of it.
I guess the 600w then include some safety margin, it’s what your local installation can still handle, lest your lines erode or overheat. In bulk, possibly grid stability plays an issue, too?
Put more dramatically, the objective isn’t to limit production, but to prevent death and destruction.
The 600W limit is for plug-in systems, i.e. ones where you just plug directly into a power socket to feed into the home wiring (allowing for a conservative margin in case of sub-standard existing wiring).
The limit is to prevent fires, overloading wires and other things. For normal high-power installations, you normally wire it in with properly specified wiring and with adequate protections.
@Brndete sure, fall protection costs. My thought was about cost per kWp. On my flat roof with some DIY i will land around 2100chf /kWp incl 15kWh storage hopefully.
600w Balcony Solar brings I think 0.8kWp. If you buy them online and install yourself I believe it is interesting. If you have a contractor for this I assume the bill is >1000 CHF which males it less interesting.
Thats probably why these kits are usually installed on the balcony etc where it is for many people possible to do it themselfe.
In Germany they already changes the limit to 800W. I think there is/was also a discussion in CH about this.
Scaffolding is mandatory if there is more than 2 day-man work on the roof.
If this was really cost effective, we’d have companies begging you to install it, run it for 3-5y and leave you with the rest of the profits (or run a profit sharing model).
The fact this doesn’t exist (or I at least haven’t heard of it) probably tells you what you need to know about this. Together with the fact that Solar is a very quick win strategy to expand renewables, I expect solar energy to be even cheaper in summer - so you as a small fish produce the most cheap energy at the time no one needs it.
It may be interesting for yourself - but then again, electricity isn’t that expensive and it’ll probably get cheaper in Europe, once certain political shifts occur.
