zappi electric car charger review
So what is a zappi ev charger and why am I writing this zappi electric car charger review? Well the answer is simple, I am a happy zappi chappy! (you have to watch the following video to see why)
zappi is a mode 3 charging station for your plug in electric car. Zappi works like any regular charging point but has the much welcomed benefit of having two special eco charging modes.
If you have solar panels or a wind turbine micro generation system together with an electric vehicle then you must consider zappi as a charging solution.
I have had an electric Nissan Leaf for almost 12 months, in August 2017 I had a 5.9kW solar panel array installed at my home by Totnes Energy.
I had been using a 7kW Podpoint Charger which was funded with Government OLEV grant and an allowance from Nissan (Plus £95 of my money).
At the time I bought the Podpoint, zappi was not yet available on the market.
So why now change at my own expense for a zappi?
zappi and solar
With my solar system it is restricted to 5 kW output by Western Power & Distrubtion. My Nissan Leaf chargers at 6.6 Kva which means on a sunny day I still have to draw 1.6 kW from the grid to fast charge my car using the Podpoint.
If I chose to use the charging cable that came with the car it uses much less power, just under 3 kW. Therefore on a sunny day I would be sending 2 kW back to the grid but taking hours to charge the car.
Enter zappi. This smart charger monitors what the solar panels are generating and then adjusts the amount of electricity that goes into the car.
It has three modes:
Fast Charge – the same as the Podpoint, delivers the max the Leaf can take at 6.6kva constantly until fully charged. It draws from both the solar and the grid keeping a constant fast charger.
Eco & Eco +. However if I want to use just free solar energy to charge my car zappi can do that too. I can set the eco mode to use just the power from the solar panels. As the power from the panels fluctuates from clouds etc the zappi adjusts the amount it feeds to the car in real time thus avoiding importing from the grid.
This was the feature I most wanted in a car charger.
I hate selling electric back to the grid for around 0.07p and having to buy it from the grid for 13.74p
The zappi allows me to make maximum use of the solar energy and still charge my car at a decent rate using just my own FREE CLEAN GREEN energy.
zappi ev charger
So how does the zappi fit into your solar or wind generation system? The diagram below explains all from the user manual. They show an eddi in the diagram but it works well with my solar iBoost which heats my hot water tank.
The zappi arrived boxed and ready to install.
zappi installer
The next obstacle was to chose an installer.
For me the choice was simple. Aaron from Westcountry Electrical Ltd had done all the wiring for my garage before the podpoint installation when I had the extension built. He is also an approved Podpoint installer. I had initially thought to have two chargers but in reality I would only ever be charging one vehicle at a time when I do eventually get a second EV.
This made the installation for Aaron somewhat simpler as he had only to swap the Podpoint for the zappi.
However Please see update re Aaron at the end of this post – I no longer recommend him
zappi ev charger on the wall
Once all the circuit testing was complete the front was screwed on we were ready to test on the car for real.
I was lucky that it was a dry sunny day so we were able to test it properly using the solar panels.
Below you see it in eco+ mode drawing 4.8 kW from the solar panels and nothing from the grid and at the time of the picture you see it had added 1.92 kWh to the Leaf.
As I said you can use it as a normal fast charger and as you can see below on fast charge it was drawing 1.7 kW from the grid and the rest from the solar panels to make up the charge rate of 6.5, just below the maximum the Leaf can take from a home charger.
If your are still wondering how it works below is another video from the Fully Charged Show demonstrating exactly how it works.
I could have made a video but the below is better quality and explains it far better than I could.
You can buy one direct from myenergi for £495 plus installation costs
Update 04/03/2018
After suffering 6 days of snow from the “beast from the East” and “Storm Emma” I have finally been able to test the zappi properly.
Today we had sunshine and whilst out for most of the mid day period I set the zappi on eco + and left the Nissan Leaf plugged in. You can see from the above graph the blue chart is when the zappi was drawing from the solar panels.
Just after 4pm I returned to the car and found it fully charged.
The zappi had drawn 6.25 kW to fill the car up all of which has come from the solar panels.
This shows me the zappi is doing exactly what I expected and has ensured only green free solar energy has been used to charge my car.
I shall drive around now for the next 100 miles with a warm inner glow knowing I have not paid for it and am not polluting the next generation with toxic fumes!
Update 13/03/2018
Another good example of the zappi at work today
A 93% self consumption rate.
15.29 kW delivered to the car by zappi and 100% of it Clean, Green Renewable and Free solar energy
If you have read all the way to here then you are interested in saving money with solar energy for your EV, so please read my review of my Tesla Powerwall II (installed at end of May 2018) and energy supplier BULB for savings like this….
Update 15/10/2018
Below is a screen shot from my Bulb account showing the cost of energy during June July & August 2018 using the Zappi with my PV and Tesla Powerwall II – £10, £9, & £13 for electricity and that includes the standing charges!!
Update December 2018
myenergi are about to release a new version of its zappi car charger – take a look below – it looks a nicer design than my version! – what do you think?
zappi electric car charger review – Update Summer 2020
Zappi Charger Problems
Earlier this year I had my first problem with my Zappi. I had changed my car last September to a Hyundai Kona which is able to charge at a slightly higher rate than the Leaf (7.2 kWh). I noticed the rate of charge started to fluctuate rapidly.
myenergi were very helpful and at first thought it a software issue which could be sorted out by an upgrade. I obtained a new hub and loaded the latest software. This did not fix the problem but created more as it threw out all the previous settings between the eddi and the Tesla Powerwall.
I spent a long time on the phone to myenergi trying to re configure the units together.
It was whilst preparing for yet another phone call I took the front off the zappi to establish where the CT clamps were connected and saw this…
The main power lead had overheated and was melting the connector block.
I sent these images off to myenergi who asked me to get the electrician who installed it back to look at it.
I called Aaron from Westcountry Electrical Ltd who came and looked at the unit.
After several calls between him and myenergi they agreed to supply me a new zappi.
It was then my problems started.
Once the new charger had arrived I called Aaron and an appointment was made to fit it.
He failed to show up.
I contacted him again and made another appointment.
He failed to show up.
I made another appointment – guess what?
He failed to show up.
He was now ignoring all phone calls and emails from me.
I contacted myenergi and advised them I would need to get another electrician. I contacted the engineer who fitted my solar panels and Tesla Powerwall. He was no longer working for the same company but agreed to help me out. He came and fitted the zappi and configured the eddi and powerwall and got it all up and working again.
I paid him the £75 installation fee zappi had agreed with Aaron and all was working again.
However myenergi a few weeks later had not paid me the £75. They then explained Aaron had been told to send back the faulty unit to them and they had not received it yet. Sadly I did not know this and had already disposed of the broken unit through our council re cycling site.
I have to say myenergi were very good throughout this process and did refund the £75 and on reflection the fact Aaron abandoned me completely may be an indication he did not want to return the unit for scrutiny by myenergi.
That is the reason why I cannot recommend Aaron Olver and Westcountry Electrical Ltd to fit your electric car charger
September 2023 Update
I thought I would update the review to say I am still a happy zappi owner. I have just changed my mobile phone and down loaded the myenergi app to it. Strangely I could not log in. I contacted myenergi support via email. They pointed out I was running very old firmware and the new new app required the appliances to be updated. I have this theory that if it isn’t broke don’t fix it so have never updated the firmware as all has worked well since 2018!
After updating all the firmware and with help from support I now have it all working again as it should. I noticed one big improvement on my version1 zappi and that is there is now the ability to stop the charge from the zappi itself!
Update October 2023
Big Mistake. If you own a version one V1 Zappi DO NOT update your Eddi and Zappi to V5 of the firmware.
Ever since doing the update to V5 the Zappi has not been working properly. It often cycles between waiting for EV and the charging. It just cycles between the two clicking each time. It will not work in eco mode or eco+ mode. It will still act as a dumb charger in fast mode thankfully.
I thought It might have been that the firmware did not load properly so I downloaded v.5 again. Big mistake! that has now thrown the edddi a wobbly. It now reports grid lost ct fault. I then searched the myenergi website and forums and found this could be cured by resetting the eddi as the master device. Wrong again it did not work.
On the 28/10/2023 I submitted a support ticket to myenergi. All my past experience of their support has been very good.
After several days of no reply I submitted a contact form on their website with my ticket number asking what was happening.
On the 2nd November 2023 I received a reply. “We need to push your eddi back as V5 Firmware is not able to be used with a V1 Zappi“ there was also a link to this article on their website
V5 Firmware Update I have a zappi v1 and no other myenergi devices
Which is particularly annoying as I was advised to upgrade to V5 by one of their support staff back in September 2023!
As of today Sunday 5th November there has been no contact since that email on the 2/11/23. Come on myenergi you used to be soo much better than this.
zappi electric car charger review
Great review, thank you. One question: What monitor did you use to produce the graph?
Hello Bob,
Thank you for taking the time to read my zappi review. The monitoring system I have installed with the solar panels is by solaredge. You can click this link to their website to see some of the public installations that are live to see what data is displayed https://monitoring.solaredge.com/solaredge-web/p/home . I did buy an extra bit of monitoring software they produce to give me consumption, solar production and self consumption data which was added after the initial solar installation and this has been invaluable in my domestic energy management.
Regards
Steve
Great review! I have a Renault Zoe and a similar array (though limited at 3.6kW export) and thinking of replacing the ChargeMaster with Zappi.
2 questions if I may:
– in Eco+ mode the zappi may decide to cut supply to the car if solar is under 1.4kW. Have you noticed whether your Leaf accepts this interruption in supply and is able to restart charging when zappi restarts the charge?
– what is the additional kit you got from SolarEdge to be able to monitor beyond solar production? I need to do the same on my system. And where did you buy it from?
Hello and thank you for dropping by and leaving a comment.
In Eco + the zappi regulates the charge quite effectively. The only adjustment I made to the factory settings was on the time delay which came set at 30 seconds. I found that with clouds passing over at frequent intervals the 30 seconds was too long to countdown and restart as another cloud could have blocked the sun just as the zappi was due to kick back in and then it would wait another 30 seconds.
In regard to the Leaf there is no problem with these interruptions as it sits waiting for the next charge to start. I believe zappi have done detailed research with manufacturers and there is no risk of harm to the battery charging in this way.
The additional monitoring hardware and software I believe was another solar edge product and was installed by Totnes Energy who fitted the panels and inverter for me. I may be wrong but this link could be it Modbus Meter
It consisted of another clamp for the meter tails and hard wiring back into the garage to an additional box mounted adjacent to the inverter. There was then a connection from this direct into a port on the mother board of the inverter. I think it cost in the region of £250. Andrew Collenette of Totnes Energy can advise you regarding your particular system if you want to contact him through the link here to his website – I can recommend him and his knowledge of all things solar.
As you have an EV already I suspect you have already reviewed your energy supplier and costs. I moved to BULB and have saved £100’s off of the price of British Gas and EDF. I have also had two referrals of £50 from their customer referral scheme. £100 is a lot of Electric Vehicle miles for FREE so I do encourage all my readers to try their free quote using my link
I have to say I am still impressed with the zappi and am sure as you have solar panels with your Zoe that you will feel the same.
Regards
Steve
Hi Steve
I see you have a solar iboost did it work with zappi or did you remove it
Hello David,
Thanks for reading my review. The Iboost works fine alongside the zappi. The zappi is set to get the feed before the Iboost at the meter clamp which seems to work very well especially as the zappi will not kick in below 1.4kW (the minimum the leaf will allow) but the Iboost can. This is handy on cloudy days when the solar power varies considerably thus making most use of the solar panels generation. I do hate exporting back to the grid if I can help it.
Regards
Steve
Hi Steve
Love the review and the diagrams.
We wrote a guest blog on the zappi website as we think it is the best product out there.
If you get chance to read it is here > http://myenergi.uk/2018/05/03/an-installers-review-written-by-api-electrical/
thanks
Dan
Hello Dan,
Thanks for stopping by and leaving a comment. I have just read your review on the myenergi website and echo your thoughts on innovation, design and quality of this product. I have now been using mine regularly since the sun has started to shine and it really does do its job well. I plug it in on eco mode and leave it ticking over and despite the the ups and downs in PV generation due to the weather the little zappi charges the car from the PV and not the grid – I hate giving kWs back to the grid!
I hope you get to install many more of these little gems!
Regards
Steve
Hi Steve
No worries about leaving the comments, it’s a great article.
We are installing lots of zappis at the moment and the sunny weather is helping.
thanks
Dan
Hello Steve. I been reading your web page with much interest. I am in the same position in that I have a new 5.7kWp solar PV system installed and hopefully next week the PW2 is being installed.
The zappi is of great interest to me. I’m currently charging my Tesla on solar but it’s a real pain to keep popping out and manually change the charge rate!
Anyway, I have two questions for you:
1. How are you getting on with the zappi and PW2 together? If you need an overnight (E7) charge into your car, how do you prevent it drawing from the PW2. I’ve read there is a Time Of Use setting (TOU) but have read it’s not that good (at the moment). Just wondered if you had another solution.
2. Second question. I was looking at the installation of the zappi and where the power comes in. It seems your sparky has wired it up incorrectly maybe? Reading the installation manual the power should go into the main connector block (Lin, Nin and Earth) whilst I see yours is connected to the eSense input. It obviously works but just wondered why this is?
Thanks
Andrew
Hello Andrew,
In answer to question 1. The zappi and powerwall II work well together. I had to change the solar Iboost for an eddi from myenergi as the Iboost was causing problems as set out in my Tesla Powerwall II blog post. I do not have economy 7 so I have no experience of the Tesla time of use settings. The zappi is excellent and varies the charging rate from the solar panels well (I am retired so do most of my charging during the day).
In answer to question 2. You are very astute to pick that up from the picture. You are correct, however I was so eager taking pictures during the installation that I took the picture of the wires during the electrician conducting his tests (he was very impressed with your observation!). The wires were later correctly installed with the input cables in terminals Lin Nin and Ein as you point out.
You have a great advantage over me as the Leaf is only 30kWh storage whereas your Tesla will be considerably more. This is significant for me as an export restriction of 2kWh means when my Leaf & Tesla battery are full my panels throttle back to 2kWh export which is such a waste and should be able to be put back to the grid but Western Power will not allow it!
Thanks for dropping by and leaving your comment. If you have not tried the free quote from Bulb I do recommend them to you. I am currently over £300 in credit from the referral scheme alone which is many hundreds of free electric miles!
Regards
Steve
Hi Steve we currently have a 4.5kWh Pv system and an Iboost hooked up for hot water, like you we had a pod point installed when we got our leaf 1o the ago as the Zappi wasn’t around. We are now planning on getting a Zappi fitted, you say the Zappi worked fine with your iboost?
You mention you had problems after installing a powerwall but due to the current cost of batteries we they are not on our list of things to add any time soon. Was it as simple as having the iboost clamp after the Zappi clamp on the tails?
Thanks in advance.
Kind regards
Gavin.
Hello Gavin,
The zappi did work fine with the Iboost. The problems occurred when we introduced the Tesla Powerwall II which seemed to conflict with the Iboost and we had to change to an eddi from myenergi which sorted the problem (the eddi is a much better bit of kit as well). Choosing priority was just as you say positioning the clamps to give the zappi priority. I have found the zappi an excellent charger to link to a solar system and I always enjoy watching the statistics to see how much I am avoiding drawing from the grid!
Thanks for reading my review and if you do get one please come back and let me know how it went for you.
Regards
Steve
Hi Steve
Thanks for the informative reply
We would love a Powerwall II or similar piece of kit but struggle with the savings vs initial outlay just like we did when deciding to have PV fitted and Solar Thermal 8yrs earlier! Does a battery setup provide all or most of your electricity requirements on a daily basis during the non daylight hours or excess power requirements (given fair weather) during the daylight hours obviously. Has it reduced your electric bill by a reasonable % amount?
1 last question Steve can you charge an EV overnight from the electricity stored in the Powerwall II?
Thanks again for the the great write up and sharing your experience.
Kind regards
Gavin.
Hello Gavin,
Once fully charged the Tesla Powerwall II has about 13.5 usable kWh to discharge to the house. Depending on how you use your home electric supply it will obviously vary from mine. A full charge will only deplete the battery to about 50% overnight during the summer with the lighter evenings and charges very quickly the next morning once the sun comes up.
Yes you can charge the EV overnight. In my case the powerwall discharges at 5kWh and if I put the zappi on fast charge it would then take an additional 1.5kWh from the grid. Some EV’s you can reduce the charge rate from the car itself or you can put the zappi into eco mode and it will avoid taking from the grid until the Tesla empties.
In regard to my electric bill, June was £10.00 July £9, August £13 and that includes the standing charges!
(I have added the latest Bulb screenshot to the end of the article above) Of course now we are in winter mode the PV is generating much less – However what does get saved into the Powerwall does help to offset the early evening spike in usage for cooking etc but I am now importing much more. Were I to consider economy 7 then charging the Tesla overnight would make a lot of sense in the winter.(I am £300 better off with the BULB referral scheme so far this year hence I have not explored getting another meter for economy 7 as switching supplier has made a huge difference to my outgoings – do check out my referral code above)
Regards
Steve
Hi – good review.
However, I am still a little confused – could you help?
I have a Solar Array and having a 12.5kWh Sonnen battery fitted soon.(similar to Powerwall)
I’m also getting an EV soon so I’m looking into chargers.
As far as I am aware the battery will store any excess solar (or off peak energy) – and then I can use a ‘dumb’ charger – why do we need an intelligent charger (Zappi) to divert solar energy to the car when the battery has already stored it?
Hello Colin, Thank you for leaving your comment.
In my set up I have twenty solar panels which on a good day produce over 40 kW of electricity. However the rate of generation varies due to the movement of the sun and any clouds which pass over the panels – it is not a constant level of generation. This is where the zappi comes into its own.
It varies the amount of energy passing to the car in line with the energy being generated from the roof. Therefore if you use it together with the battery you can avoid drawing energy from the grid. For example my Tesla Powerwall can discharge at the rate of 5kWh back to the house or car. My leaf charges at 6.6kWh. With the battery full and the solar generating 5kWh the zappi would take the 5kWh from the roof first and then take the extra 1.5 kWh from the battery. But what happens if the sun passes behind a cloud and it stays dull for sometime? With a traditional charger the car would take 6.5 kWh constantly, that would mean 5kWh coming from the battery and 1.5kWh coming from the grid which I would have to pay for. The zappi however would immediately reduce the flow of energy into the car to match the output from the solar and battery combined. This means it would reduce the rate of charge and not draw any energy from the grid. This ability to vary energy output to match the solar generation is what makes it such a good product.
You can use a “dumb charger” with your battery as the drain of 1.5kW described above is very small compared with the cost and outlay on a zappi and the amount of times this would be of benefit would depend on the orientation of your solar panels and the amount of energy they generate for you. However for me it is a passion to avoid buying as little energy from the grid as I can and the zappi certainly helps with that.
I hope I have understood your question and have answered it for you. If not please do get back to me.
Regards
Steve
Hi
Great information in this article. I live in Ireland where there is no feed in tariff so all my solar energy has to charge my car. I am saving for a zappi with a eddi. As least your energy provider buys your excess as all excess here is received for free. Who the there. Regards lor
Hello Lor,
Thanks for leaving your comment. Good luck with your future purchase of a zappi and eddi. The UK will stop its feedin tariff from this April so new intallations will be in the same boat as you.
Regards
Steve
Hi Steve,
Great article and loads of pertinent information.
I’ve got a SolarEdge 4kW PV system and have just picked up a Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV so your review has been a great source of info, thanks!
Due to your info I’m now in the process of getting the SolarEdge modbus installed for the consumption monitoring and just doing my homework on the new Zappi v2 and newly announced Rolec SolarCharge before I decide which one.
Just to pick your brains on a few things if I can please.
1. Am I correct in saying that the Zappi will not charge from the Solar if it’s below 1.4kW (about 6A)?
Is this a limit on the Zappi or is this due to the Nissan Leaf?, if it’s the Zappi can this lowered somehow so that you can trickle charge the EV (say like 0.7kW).
2. How has it been over the winter months when there isn’t much sun. What has your electric bill been like?
3. How have you found the 5kWh discharge limit on the PW2 in powering your home and car?
I’ve started to look into home energy storage but want a higher discharge rate (say like 7-10kWh) so that I can charge a EV at full rate whilst the electric oven is on in the kitchen or to be able to use the electric shower (9kW) using the battery.
At the moment it seems only BYD do anything like that but it isn’t compatible with SolarEdge.
With a battery that can discharge at a sufficiently high rate I could consider moving to a TOU tariff so that I could charge it up at night for cheap and then use the battery throughout the day with the PV.
Once again thanks for the great review and blog, keep it up. ??
Hello Omar,
Thank you for your kind comments and I shall attempt to answer your questions below:
1. The 1.4 kWh restriction is on the Leaf side and I believe it will be similar on most EV’s. I am not sure about restricting the zappi below 1.4 but you can download the manual here: https://www.manualslib.com/manual/1469567/Zappi-Zappi-32a1p1t05.html I can recommend the zappi. The Rolec I do not know much about as it is new to market but if you search the forums for the old Rolec chargers you will see early models had lots of problems.
2. Solar generation in the winter can be grim but from April to September I am self sufficient heating water, running the house and charging the car included. Last winter figures below in kWhs.
Month Generation Consumption
Nov 196 505
Dec 107 577
Jan 201 519
Feb 378 541
Mar 491 622
Apr 651 537
3. It has been very rare that I have gone over the 5kWh output from the Powerwall II and when it does it tends to be for a short period until the relevant appliance finishes. I do not have a 9kWh shower so this may be quite different for you. OVO do a vehicle to grid charger which at the moment is for Nissan Leaf vehicles only but I think that too is limited to 6 kWh output. I am a BULB customer and have just had my smart meters fitted. They are about to introduce a smart tariff which will mean I can get better value by charging my Powerwall II overnight in the winter which will offset the lack of solar generation. The other good thing with BULB is they have great customer service plus a great referral scheme giving the new customer and me £50 when a new customer signs up with them – (its £75 each for the next couple of days!) get a free quote by clicking here – http://www.bulb.me/stephen5233?utm_campaign=account-referral-share&utm_medium=copy-link&utm_source=copy-button
Once again thank you for your comments
Regards
Steve
Thanks for all that Steve,
I’ve decided to go for the Zappi v2 with their Hub as that will give me consumption monitoring as well and will be cheaper then getting someone in to install the SolarEdge modbus, also their after sales support seems to be a lot better then Rolec’s according to a number of local installers.
Having spoken to a local PV and Battery installer he tells me that the PW2 can be run in parallel so that if you get an extra PW then the output is increased from 5kW to 10kW, time to get saving I guess!
With regards to the minimum charging rate it seems that whilst the Zappi can go as low as 1.4kW (6A), according to Mitsubishi customer services the Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV will only go as low as 2.1kW (9.3A) before the vehicle will generate fault codes and not charge.
I thought this may have been a misunderstanding / error on Mitsubishi’s part so by luck a adjustable granny charger was being sold on eBay which lets you manually adjust the output from 6A-16A. Unfortunately Mitsubishi was right and the Outlander refused to charge at the 6A and 8A settings.
Whilst this means that it won’t be as economical to charge the PHEV via the Zappi without a battery system it’s still future proof and ready (hopefully) for whatever EV/ PHEV I get next.
Glad to be of some help Omar and good luck with your zappi v2! I have to say solar panels, battery storage, smart charger and an EV are the way forward – its just that the rest of the population have not realised it yet!! Thanks for leaving your comments. Regards. Steve
Great review. We are considering zappi for our Tesla Model 3.
Do you happen to know if zappi can be used with Solar panels which are on a lease rather than owned outright?
Thanks,
MS
Hello, Thank you for your kind comment. I do not see why not but a quick call to myenergi would confirm the answer for you. https://myenergi.com/contact-us/
Regards
Steve
Hi Steve, just found your website coverage of the Zappi. Really helpful, thank you. I’ve had a Zappi v1 a few months but am struggling with the ECO+ settings. As I mainly wanted to use this setting with my solar panels I changed it to 100% solar from the factory setting of 50%. However, some days after pretty good sunshine I find there has been very little charge, presumably as the surplus hasn’t managed to get above 1.4 kW. Could I ask: would you advise changing the ECO+ setting if you are trying to maximise the solar charge or leave it at 50%?
Hello Jon,
In answer to your question I leave it at 50%.
This is because I do not use the ECO+ setting.
I found that I did not like the car connecting and disconnecting frequently as the solar supply dipped in and out of the limit. I have since left it on ECO and have found that I was happier with the car always connected to a constant supply even if it did mean drawing a small amount from the grid as the solar supply varied. As I am with BULB at 14p a kWh I found any small drain on the Grid was a matter of a few pence but with the peace of mind the car would be on a constant charge.
I hope this answers your question and thanks for leaving your comment.
Regards
Steve
Just bought a 200Ev. Nissan.
Await charging point installation.
I have solar panels 3.9Kw. and solar edge. Plus a Solax battery storage.
But Solax and solar edge do not speak to each other so Solax graphs of battery usage are gobbledegook!
The installers in Scotland are on a 12 week wait for Zappi 2. units.
If I buy a unit on Amazon I don’t know if my installer would fit it!
however I will ask him.
Thanks for the info on your blog.
Hello Jim, thank you for leaving a comment. I am sure your installer would be able to fit it if you bought it direct. Good luck ith the env 200 I hear they are good vans.
Regards
Steve
Great blog – and thanks for the detail!
Do you no anywhere that has any figures of how UK PV systems vary in terms of daily output. I have a 3kw array, so I know the daily/monthly/annual production.
But what I don’t know is what % of the kWh produced are above 1.5kw
Do you know what this% is for your system ?
Hello Ian, thanks for leaving a comment. I do not think my monitoring software is able to gather that data. I would have to look at the daily charts and make an educated guess for my own system but even that would be not be accurate. As for UK wide data I do not know of any source for this kind of detail I am afraid.
Regards
Steve
Hi Steve
Firstly, thank you for a very informative site – We have only recently taken the leap to solar PV but we now have an eGolf so we’re keen to get the most from our system (read – I don’t want to send any juice back to the grid!)
I read that you had your Zappi and iboost working in harmony, something that I am struggling with so I am hoping you or a solar eco-boffin out there may have the solution?
I have a Zappi fitted to the outside of my house with a CT clamp attached to the meter tail. The iboost is fitted inside a short distance away and connected to the meter tail via an iboost sender. I have a harvi connected to the iboost using a MyEnergy supplied CT clamp fitted to the live feed to the iboost. The harvi appears to be correctly connected to the Zappi and is visible in the Zappi set-up menu.
My understanding is that when (in eco+ mode) the available solar energy is 1.4kW or above the Zappi kicks in and uses this power to charge the car and conversely when the power drops below 1.4kW the Zappi pauses and this energy is available for other uses (in our case the iboost).
The issue I have is that the Zappi does not appear to be ‘seeing’ the energy being used by the harvi as available energy and have priority on any surplus energy. Of interest, I have noticed that if I turn the iboost off and let the Zappi take the all available power but then turn the iboost back on, a small amount of power (sometimes up to 500W) ‘leaks’ back to the iboost. This is not something that happens under any other situation (a kettle being turned on for example) when it turns on and off seamlessly depending on whether an excess power is available.
I’m hoping I have just got a setting wrong somewhere but at the moment I’m struggling to get the two to play together nicely. Any help or advice would be appreciated.
Kind regards
Nick
Hello Nick,
Thank you for your kind comments. Firstly did you read my post http://www.stevefreemanonline.com/2018/06/tesla-powerwall-ii/ ? In this post I describe how the IBoost would not work with my zappi and powerwall II. I will copy the relevant paragraph here
I cured the problem by having an eddi installed which worked much better than the IBoost. I think you will find if you ring the myenergi support team re the zappi they will be able to confirm this.
On a similar issue I still had a small variance with current either drawing or being exported to the grid when it should not have. Much research revealed it could be the electric meter. I discovered there can be an accepted level of tolerance at manufacture that could account for this. I have now had two new smets2 smart meters fitted from BULB and this has now cured this problem and confirmed the old meters were slightly inaccurate.
I hope I have understood and replied to your question. Please do check out my link to BULB and if you find it cheaper than you current supplier we both receive £50 if you switch http://www.bulb.me/stephen5233?utm_campaign=account-referral-share&utm_medium=copy-link&utm_source=copy-button
Regards
Steve
Thanks Steve,
I’m resigned to the fact that I may have to put my hand in my pocket and buy an Eddi to replace the otherwise excellent iboost. We have just received planning permission to re-build our garage and the new build will include solar PV. I am hoping to install a PW2 (if I can hide the extra spend from the Domestic Management Department!) so will probably fit an Eddi at that stage.
Thanks again and keep up the great work – it really makes for interesting reading.
Kind regards
Nick
Very useful review and comments – one question, does the zappi need a hard-wired ethernet connection or wifi? Thanks
Hello Mike, Thank you for your comment. You can do both. If you want to connect via wifi you will need to buy one of the myenergi harvi devices – https://myenergi.com/product/harvi/ or you can have it hard wired. In my case the wifi signal was poor to the garage so I opted to have it hard wired to avoid any connection problems. Hope this answers your question.
Regards
Steve
I am going the Zappi route in the near future. I have a 4kW SolaX Hybrid system. Currently to soak up unused kWHs I have an Apollo GEM optimiser which diverts excess energy to a storage heater as I do not have a hot water cylinder. In the early days there was contention between the SolaX charger and Apollo GEM as to who should grab the excess energy. Fortunately the GEM has ‘slave’ mode which delays the switching process, and all is sunny in my house! I’ll have to see how the Zappi plays with this setup. My supplier has told me the lead time for delivery is about six weeks…
Hello Andy,
Thank you for leaving your comment. I am sure once the zappi is set up you will be please with it.
Regards
Steve
good morning,
I installed a zappi with type 1 plug, I’m about to buy a nissan leaf that needs a type 2 plug.
you know if you can replace the plug of the zappi.
excuse my english but I use the google translator (I’m Italian)
Hello Roberto, Thank you for visiting my blog and leaving your comment. I had to do the same as you when I moved from my 30 kWh Leaf to a 40 kWh Leaf. I used the electrician who installed my zappi to order a type 2 cable from myenergi and fit it for me. I believe you can buy adaptors to convert type 1 to type 2 (One example here https://evcables.co.uk/index.php/type-1-type-2-converter.html ) but they cost almost as much as having a proper cable installed in the first place.
I hope this answers your question.
Regards
Steve
Ciao Roberto, grazie per aver visitato il mio blog e aver lasciato il tuo commento. Ho dovuto fare lo stesso di te quando sono passato dalla mia foglia da 30 kWh a una foglia da 40 kWh. Ho usato l’elettricista che ha installato il mio zappi per ordinare un cavo di tipo 2 da myenergi e adattarlo a me. Credo che puoi comprare adattatori per convertire il tipo 1 in tipo 2 (Un esempio qui https://evcables.co.uk/index.php/type-1-type-2-converter.html) ma costano quasi quanto avendo un cavo corretto installato in primo luogo.
Spero che questo risponda alla tua domanda.
Saluti
Steve
Steve, this has to be one of the most informative blogs I’ve seen in ages. Thanks for all your Q&A too!
I’m just about to go for Zappi to go with my 40kW LEAF and 3kWp PV.
My only hesitation is an *apparent* lack of support for a ToU tariff, e.g. Octopus Agile and readiness for V2G. Can anyone shed any light please?
Hello Paul, Thank you for your comments about the blog I do appreciate it. The zappi is ideal for PV systems with EV’s. The only vehicle to grid company that I have heard of with chargers actually out with customers is OVO energy https://www.ovoenergy.com/electric-cars/vehicle-to-grid-charger. Nissan also had a pilot scheme. As far as I can see there have been teething problems with them both and it is too early to tell when would be a good time to make the change if at all. The one thing that is unclear to me is the impact on the battery life of the vehicle with the increase in battery cycles this kind of system brings. I am with BULB as you will gather and with the exception of winter I have not found the need for a ToU tariff as the Tesla battery is a big help in smoothing out my demand curve.
Regards
Steve
Hi Steve , may I ask where you purchased your Zappi v2 from ? I have such a simple install where everything is ready including a power supply and a board fitted to the garage wall to occomerdate it , yet i,m getting quotes of uo £1200 to install , I know I have to have it checked by an OLEV installer to get the gov.grant , regards Dave
Hello David,
The zappi I have is the v1 which I bought in 2018. It was supplied to my installer Westcountry Electrical Ltd via an electrical wholesaler in Plymouth. I am no electrician so cannot comment on the quotes you are getting but assume you have tried the zappi find an installer function here https://myenergi.com/find-an-installer/ these at least should have detailed knowledge on the zappi and installation.
Regards
Steve
Hi Steve
I have a 7kW array and an SMA energy meter installed to allow me to use all of the power generated, great for charging my Zero m/c. However Western Power only allow me to feed in up to 3.6kW back to the grid. When I asked them a few years ago why they said that their cables weren’t big enough.
Strange as the house supply is protected by a 100Amp fuse meaning that in theory I could use 24 kW of their power.
I gather with your system Western Power insist that the inverters throttle back to 2kW if you don’t use the energy.
Do you know why they have these strange clauses ? I can only think that they can’t cope with the peak production during the summer months.
Regards
John
Hello John,
Thank you for leaving your comment. I was advised I had to reduce my export to 2 kW when I installed the Tesla Powerwall II.I was told this was because the Powerwall could export at 5kW and my Solar at 5 kW would mean a sudden surge of 10 kW until the Powerwall shutdown was unsafe for their engineers working on the network. It seems strange as from what I gather Western Power is the only distributor in the Country to impose such a restriction. It does frustrate me in the summer to see my solar generation throttle back to 2 kW but if it really is a safety issue I guess I have to grin and bear it.
Regards
Steve
Hi Steve, I wish I had seen this review sooner as I had a Zappi fitted by Aaron Oliver in August last year, just before receiving my new electric car on the 1st September. The unit wasn’t set up and the promised visit to sort issues didn’t happen, communication very poor and he just failed to turn up when promised. Zappi RCB fault developed Jan 22 and Arron finally came back in Feb. Identified issue and promised to order replacement which would take a couple of days, no surprise I am still waiting! Alternative fitter due and Zappi have supplied me with the part.
Can you let me know if you reported him to trading standards or managed to claim against him in any way? Mine was supposed to work with a smart hub and my router but this was never supplied or setup. I am trying to think of ways of warning others not to use him so they do not suffer the frustration and disruption of using this company..
Hello Kath, sorry to hear you too have had problems with Aaron Oliver. In answer to your question, I did not report him to trading standards. I am not sure what else can be done other than publishing our experience and hope others check before employing him. I am sure though you will be happy with your Zappi once it is all working properly. Thank you for leaving your comments.
Regards
Steve
I have read the above with interest. I have a Podpoint EV charger (untethered) and would like to change to a Zappi. I have had a quote of £1200 which I feel is high as the Podpoint is up and working. Should I have to pay this much. Thank you.
Thank you for reading my article and leaving your comment. I cannot really comment on installation costs for your particular scenario but can say the zappi is around £780 just to purchase. I did the same thing and swapped out a pod point charger for a zappi and am glad I did. The support from myenergi is really good. You could try filling out their installation quotation service here https://www.myenergi.com/get-a-zappi-quote/ to see if that gets a cheaper quote and I assume you have tried other local electricians as well. I do follow lots of car forums and quotes in this price range are not uncommon but usually for new installation. I am sorry I cannot help further but can confirm you will get a very good charger if you go ahead.
Regards
Steve