We'd like to remind Forumites to please avoid political debate on the Forum... Read More »
We're aware that some users are experiencing technical issues which the team are working to resolve. See the Community Noticeboard for more info. Thank you for your patience.
📨 Have you signed up to the Forum's new Email Digest yet? Get a selection of trending threads sent straight to your inbox daily, weekly or monthly!
Renewables: "talking 'bout my generation"
Options
Comments
-
Me too. After a cold morning with a couple of showers I finished up with 5.2 O's:beer:
Full tank of hot water, everything in the house fully charged, Dehumidifier ran flat out, and grass cut for free......if only I could have got Mrs l to iron in this afternoon:think:
I was thinking of getting a dehumidifier. Do you have any suggestions of features I should look for? Capacity/size/timers etc?4kw (16X250w Sharp). Samil Solar River 3680 TL inverter.
E.mids/SSE. 35 degree roof pitch, no shading.0 -
I was thinking of getting a dehumidifier. Do you have any suggestions of features I should look for? Capacity/size/timers etc?
I bought an Ebac 2650e with a free? 5 year warranty, but there are many cheaper ones. I'd choose one with multiple extraction rates and a large tank, although most allow a gravity drain hose to be fitted. I also over sized re-house. Also some models are noisy when running. When I am making plenty of S/P I run it on max. In the evenings I switch to economy mode. Pre S/P I ran it on the normal setting all the time. I'm still removing the same amount of water...just maximising it when its free.:rotfl:16 Sanyo Hit 250s.4kWp SMA 3.8kWp inverter. SW roof. 28° pitch. Minimal shade. Nov 2011 install. Hybrid car. Ripple Kirk Hill. N.E Lincs Coast.0 -
Having seen how a Hawaii 5O is calculated (thanks OscarGrouch) I've calculated mine since the system was installed on 25 March 2014.
Today was the best by a long shot. Unbroken sunshine from dawn to dusk. 5.8Os. :cool: Quite rare in this neck of the woods. Here's a chart showing energy counts by Os.
One other thing. If you're discussing the best TVs where you live isn't very important. But it is for pv capture so why not include your location in your profile? I really don't think Burglar Bill is going to come around and nick your panels!Cheers,
Ray.
3.84kWp Panasonic / Solar Edge
1.44kWp ESE, 1.2kWp SSW, 1.2kWp WNW0 -
17.4kWh for me today, and my best since install. Peaked at around 2.3kW so I'm guessing it was a little hazy (as I've had it peak at 3.1kW last Sunday).
This is the live data from today, and also the smoothest energy generated curve than I've had of late.4kWp system (Feb 2014) : 1.5 SW, 2.5 NE (16x Bisol BMO/250, Aurora Power-One UNO PVI-3.6 Inverter : pvoutput.org/list.jsp?id=299350 -
An update for you all...
I sent Paul an email outlining my concerns and he was very generous.
He has come back with the offer of free fitting for 4 optimisers, which he'll let me have at cost.
As the scaffolding would need to go back up, then it's either through his subbie or I can source my own, again at my cost.
I don't know yet what his optimisers are, but they seem quite steep looking around?
I have been offered, via a friend of a friend, solaredge optimisers for a bargain price to do all 16 panels! These are not the new indop ones though, so I would need a solaredge inverter.
I've also just been offered a solaredge 3500 inverter (and playing with the solaredge software that's what is recommended) for a cracking price!
I spent the afternoon watching the panels so I know which ones are affected. This has increased the 4 Paul suggested to 6 at least, possibly 7? This would be across 2 strings so I'm not sure how that works?
Anyway, I've assumed that I would also need the monitoring box to go with the optimisers, regardless of how many I have? Unless I replace the existing inverter with a se one as it has the monitoring stuff built-in?
So after crunching numbers I've given myself lots of options:
Fit 6 of the indop optimisers with the monitoring box
Fit 16 of the indop optimisers with the monitoring box
Fit 16 se inverter only optimisors, with a new se inverter and sell the schuco inverter currently - this is sourcing all equipment from a recognised se supplier.
Fit 16 se inverter only optimisors, with a new se inverter and sell the schuco inverter currently - this is through the friendly contacts I've made over the last couple of days.
All are genuine, new equipment with full warranty support.
As I don't know what else would be needed cabling/ancillary items wise, I've not put anything down as I don't know their costs?
Thanks for looking4kWp, SSE, SolarEdge P300 optimisers & SE3500 Inverter, in occasionally sunny Corby, Northants.
Now with added Sunsynk 5kw hybrid ecco inverter & 15kWh Fogstar batteries. Oh Octopus Energy too.0 -
Hiya TBL. What price guesstimates have you come up with so far?
I'm guessing that with scaffolding and labour, a full SolarEdge conversion will set you back about £2k. Less what you can get for the Schucco on fleabay.
I'm a huge fan of SolarEdge, it does an amazing job of mitigating the effects of shading .......... but ......
You'll still have the shading from the chimney, it just won't affect non-shaded panels, and you'll have 16 extra bits of kit on the roof that could go wrong. They have great warranties, but consider the cost of access.
Removing the chimney will reduce the total shading, and this will probably make up for any shortfall in efficiency compared to the SE kit. So the price difference between the two solutions can probably be compared directly.
Apologies if I'm massively understating the cost, but I suspect a good builder (40 to 50 years old, done this dozens of times) wouldn't be the slightest bit daunted at removing that chimney. If scaffolding isn't needed (big if, as panels need to be considered/protected) then the bill may be as low as £250, as making good will require minimal materials. But you may have to offer a hand as gopher, cleaner, and dispose of the rubble yourself.
But do consider how the property will look, match other properties, and any rules/regs about changing the outside appearance.
Also, how bad is it? Do you have monthly PVGIS targets? If you can find folk local (similar weather), can you compare performance against target? Eg if you get 85% of target and an unshaded local gets 90%, or you get 105%, and they get 110% then you're not doing bad. Ideally you need a year, of average weather to do this properly, but comparing monthlies to a local should suffice.
My ESE systems are coming in very close to target, despite the smaller lower roof getting shading from the upper roof as the sun goes over, and the larger system butting right up to the large central (semi-detached property) chimney.
ESE target, PVGIS climate with no reduction for shading is 2,890kWh.
2012 I got 2,833kWh
2013 I got 2,948kWh
The 2.405kWp upper system has a SB2500HF @ 95.3% efficiency.
The 1.18kWp lower system has a SB1200 @ 92% efficiency.
So, all in all, I've no idea how it's doing so well, but long ago gave up plans to convert it to SolarEdge. [Though I do have my eye on 3 (and still growing) inverters that have dual MPPT, higher efficiency, and can cope with the low voltage of the lower system, so as and when I lose an inverter, I'll be able to replace the two with a single higher efficiency upgrade.]
Mart.Mart. Cardiff. 8.72 kWp PV systems (2.12 SSW 4.6 ESE & 2.0 WNW). 20kWh battery storage. Two A2A units for cleaner heating. Two BEV's for cleaner driving.
For general PV advice please see the PV FAQ thread on the Green & Ethical Board.0 -
Martyn1981 wrote: »I'm a huge fan of SolarEdge, it does an amazing job of mitigating the effects of shading .......... but ......
You'll still have the shading from the chimney, it just won't affect non-shaded panels, and you'll have 16 extra bits of kit on the roof that could go wrong. They have great warranties, but consider the cost of access.
I understood that was included in the warranty...?3.924kWp (12X327Wp SunPower). SolarEdge SE3500 inverter.
Surrey/SE. 30 degree roof pitch, chimney shading from mid afternoon.0 -
Thought I was gonna scrape a Hawaii yesterday, first of the year, but fell short with 18 + 9.1 = 27.1kWh 4.86 Os.
Rather sadly checked the inverters on the 'no decimal places TGM' and found them hiding an extra 0.4, but still no cigar 27.5kWh or 4.92 Os.
No complaints though, system built for kWhs not Os, and import was piddly.
Mart.Mart. Cardiff. 8.72 kWp PV systems (2.12 SSW 4.6 ESE & 2.0 WNW). 20kWh battery storage. Two A2A units for cleaner heating. Two BEV's for cleaner driving.
For general PV advice please see the PV FAQ thread on the Green & Ethical Board.0 -
I'm with Mart on this one TBL, look at the chimney first, its THE cheapest option. Or maybe ask installer to alter how the 2 strings are set up, instead of top and bottom then maybe left and right so the one string in full sun keeps banging out.
Haven't a clue how I did yesterday......kids went to grandma's and I went out before generation finished, needless to say I wasn't in any fit state to check when I got in2 kWp SEbE , 2kWp SSW & 2.5kWp NWbW.....in sunny North Derbyshire17.7kWh Givenergy battery added(for the power hungry kids)0 -
Newcomer to this O business. Yesterday my 6.5kW system produced 43.2kW. Does this give an O value of 6.6? What's the highest O value that's feasible?0
Confirm your email address to Create Threads and Reply

Categories
- All Categories
- 351K Banking & Borrowing
- 253.1K Reduce Debt & Boost Income
- 453.6K Spending & Discounts
- 244K Work, Benefits & Business
- 598.9K Mortgages, Homes & Bills
- 176.9K Life & Family
- 257.3K Travel & Transport
- 1.5M Hobbies & Leisure
- 16.1K Discuss & Feedback
- 37.6K Read-Only Boards