If solar array I used for winter is no longer needed should I cover them up?

[paulca]

Dish washers are meant to fill cold.  Many food stuffs high in protein "bake in" over 50C.  Eggs, milk etc.

So most good washers start filling with cold and start washing with cold and slowly crank it up.

Also...  I believe we have very different dish washers in EU/UK.  Mine, both of the ones I have owned have only a "cold fill".  They also always do a "steam dry sanitize" cycle at the end.  That involves raising the temperature high enough that the moisture evapourates off the dishs and condenses on the metal sides of the unit.  Leaving the dishes dry and too hot to touch.  This requires a heater and it's not 100W, mine is closer to 2kW.

Same for the washing machine.  Cold fill only.  Washing your clothes in hot water is ... well... depends on what you are wearing and if it comes out the same color and size.

Oh.... I see it.  Our dishwashers, washing machines and driers would all require dual phase 240V outlets in the US.  Can't run a 2kW heater on 110V 15A.  Where as we can run 3.3kW off any plug in the house.

When I mentioned this behaviour (the heater at the start of the run of a washing machine to get the tap water up to 30C for wash), being the reason I do not solar power my landry, someone commented to say they checked their washer mid wash, then red the "average power consumption", went out and bought a 1kW inverter and started up the washer.  It immiediately tripped the inverter when the heater came on.  He was not happy with his mistake.

I have an 800VA inverter and if I put the washer on it, it will just fail back to grid when the heater is on and then go back to inverting.

However.  While the motor in the washing machine is only like 300W and only that when it's on full spin...  Running a stop/start/sit/reverse motor with 8-10Kg of wet clothes in it... I know how torturous that is for the inverter and I know from experience it will transfer switch back to grid under the start up surges.

[brucehoult]

Dish washers are meant to fill cold.  Many food stuffs high in protein "bake in" over 50C.  Eggs, milk etc.

So most good washers start filling with cold and start washing with cold and slowly crank it up.

Also...  I believe we have very different dish washers in EU/UK.  Mine, both of the ones I have owned have only a "cold fill".  They also always do a "steam dry sanitize" cycle at the end.  That involves raising the temperature high enough that the moisture evapourates off the dishs and condenses on the metal sides of the unit.  Leaving the dishes dry and too hot to touch.  This requires a heater and it's not 100W, mine is closer to 2kW.

Same for the washing machine.  Cold fill only.  Washing your clothes in hot water is ... well... depends on what you are wearing and if it comes out the same color and size.

Oh.... I see it.  Our dishwashers, washing machines and driers would all require dual phase 240V outlets in the US.  Can't run a 2kW heater on 110V 15A.

Here in New Zealand both my Westinghouse clothes washer and Bosch "Serie | 2" dish washer are connected to cold water only.

I routinely run the clothes washer from my 2.6kW of solar panels (via the Pecron E3600LFP). It uses 2000W for around 15 minutes for a 40º C wash, then 100 or 150 for most of the cycle, then peaks again at 520W while bringing the spin-dry up to speed and 350W once it's at speed. Total energy usage is 0.55kWh. I've done a 60º C wash and recall it used 0.8kWh but I don't remember how long the water heating phase was.

The Bosch dishwasher runs from a standard 10A socket and documentation says it peaks at 2400W and uses 0.8kWh/wash so the only reason I don't run it from my 3600W solar inverter is that it's hard to pull out of its hole! Plus it really doesn't matter which time of day I use it, so I do it during my Free Hour of Power which I have set to 9-10 PM daily.

With the clothes washer if the battery is already full by 11 or 12 or 1 then it's certainly also an excellent drying day and I can do even several loads in a row and get them all dry.

Where as we can run 3.3kW off any plug in the house.

Oh gosh, we can't. Well not officially. Spec is 10A 2400W. I've found I can get away with the 700W toaster at the same time as the 2100W kettle. Actually, it's the breaker on the power strip that pops if I forget and use e.g. the 2000W microwave at the same time as the kettle, not the switchboard breaker. Well .. ok, that's over 4000W. I dunno .. maybe I can find a combo that is 3300W and try it :-)

We have optional 15A 3600W sockets, which look the same but the pins on the plugs are a little thicker and won't fit into the 10A sockets. 2400W appliances fit fine in the 15A sockets.

I have noticed that if in my Free Hour of Power I'm running the dishwasher, topping up the Pecron's battery at 1800W, and put on the 2100W kettle — all on different power sockets — then a circuit breaker on the switchboard probably does pop before the kettle finishes boiling. I do have two phases and sockets on each one, so maybe I should figure out which socket(s) in the kitchen are on the other phase (or just a different circuit?)

[5U4GB]

Another random thought for what to do with surplus solar, grab some secondhand mining rigs off eBay and run those from it.  It means the power goes somewhere, and you can make a small return off it.

[Zucca]

I seldom understand what anyone is talking about in solar.  I run a large capacity LG washing machine (and most of the house) on just four panels totaling 900W.  No battery is needed.  I just feed the HV DC into the high voltage section of an old MSW inverter.  A direct drive washer only takes about 400W.  In this same system I also have a water heater just for the laundry.  Hot water is piped to cold inlet so all cycles use hot water.  Clothes come out steaming and there is no trace of mold which is often seen in these front loaders.  There is no need to live like a refugee.  My wife said she wanted a dishwasher.  Evidently telling her I thought I married one was the wrong answer.  Even dishwashers are easy.  They draw less than 100W and use about 100WH if the heater is eliminated.   I ran the heating element from the panel DC.  No need to disconnect panels.  All this stuff can operate with panels connected to charge controller.  All domestic hot water is free from PV. I don't have many pictures with me, but these are the panels on my garage facing east.  They supply 70% of the power the house uses each day.  This is not a technology problem, it is an education problem.  Solar people are just drawn to watching idiots on YT and they wonder why nothing works well.

How could convince a wife to not do laundry at night or when is cloudy?

[Zucca]

related:

https://www.eevblog.com/forum/renewable-energy/quick-one-unused-solar-panel-on-the-roof-better-short-or-open-circuit/

[Seekonk]

"How could convince a wife to not do laundry at night or when is cloudy?"   Certainly, the solar world is filled with nothing but crybabies who want their own nuclear plant and don't want to adjust their life.

Getting back to the OP.  "I 'overpanelled' by about 900W to feed my 100ah lifepo4 battery" certainly sounds like subsistence living and any additional creature comfort is greatly appreciated.  Having a crude control system which schedules tasks when power is available will reduce battery needs.  I heat water with excess power and didn't need to add any excess panels to get all the hot water I needed. 

My wife wanted a dishwasher.  It wasn't had to add to a system that had one car battery.   It has a timer that lets you run it any time you want.  No need for a wife to sit and watch it. 

[Zucca]

"How could convince a wife to not do laundry at night or when is cloudy?"   Certainly, the solar world is filled with nothing but crybabies who want their own nuclear plant and don't want to adjust their life.

I have installed 57KWh of LiFePO4 and 16KW of solar panels, but I am tired to educate/fight with my wife on how to use the system efficiently.

[ME]

Why is your flag a french one but you speak as tho you live in england !,What goes?.