So now I have a solar PV system how do I make the most of it???

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  • Cardew
    Cardew Posts: 29,037 Forumite
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    edited 16 January 2011 at 7:25PM
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    teachergirl wrote: »
    Hello again Jon. I will try and post a picture next weekend. It is too dark now and work is quite busy this week so I will probably not see my house in the light! My estimated output is 3301Kw . (where does the 1kw on the end come from???) So far we have produced 75Kw with somedays making nothing at all. Obviously not the best time of year to be starting.
    Thanks for all your help:)
    Where in the country are you?

    Hi Teachergirl,

    You really should get the terminology correct to get meaningful responses.

    Your estimated output will be 3301kWh(kilowatt hours) - a kWh being a unit of electricity on your meter and cost around 10p. So you have generated 75kWh.

    Depending where you live in UK your system will be rated around 3.8kWp.

    At any instant your system is producing electricity which is measured in kW. As you have discovered at times during the day it will produce nothing, and in mid-summer around noon it might produce as much as 3.5kW.

    If it produces, say, an average of 1kW over a period an hour then it will have produced 1kWh.

    The ideal is to find the times when your system is producing the highest level of kW and use devices/appliances to consume that electricity.

    However an electric shower will use anything from 7kW to 10kW and your panels will not make much of a dent in that consumption.
  • teachergirl
    teachergirl Posts: 767 Forumite
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    I stand corrected. As I have explained I am new to this and learning fast. My system is 3.96kWp. I know it won't make a dent in my shower useage...I was having a bit of fun with my OWL.;)
    Enough money to live on so retired early...planning to see where life takes me:D
  • jackieblack
    jackieblack Posts: 10,317 Forumite
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    teachergirl wrote: »
    The best day we have had so far has produced 12kw.(i think) I did read it everyday at first but as we had deep snow on the roof it was not very exciting. Today we have made just under 6KW. My array has just switched off but it is pouring with rain and quite dark(due to clouds not nightfall) We had sun up until about 12.30pm. I am in south East Essex. Which I know is one of the driest parts of the UK but not too sure about the sun factor.

    Well we're not a million miles from you Teachergirl! We're in north east Essex, very north, on the Essex/Suffolk border.

    Our 2.22kwp system has produced 4 kwh today, bringing our January generation up to 25kWh so far.
    We had our system installed on 23rd October and geneated 77 kWh in November and 50kWh in December.
    2.22kWp Solar PV system installed Oct 2010, Fronius IG20 Inverter, south facing (-5 deg), 30 degree pitch, no shading
    Everything will be alright in the end so, if it’s not yet alright, it means it’s not yet the end
    MFW #4 OPs (offset): 2018 £866.89, 2019 £1322.33, 2020 £1337.07,
    2021 £1250.00, 2022 £1500.00, 2023 £1500
    Target for 2024 (offset) = £1200, YTD £460
    Quidquid Latine dictum sit altum videtur
  • teachergirl
    teachergirl Posts: 767 Forumite
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    Hi jackieblack. It will be good to compare notes. I don't get much time to post usually between Mon-Thurs but I try to read them all. Not a lot here at the moment as we seem to have constant rain! (Thats why I can post this morning as my elderly cavaliers always refuse their morning walk if it is raining;))
    Enough money to live on so retired early...planning to see where life takes me:D
  • faganswife
    faganswife Posts: 45 Forumite
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    Thanks Jon Tiffany for explaining how the monitors work ...
    This is a good thread for me , as I need / needed the same info as teachergirl , so thanks

    Thought long and hard about fitting them , due to cost but decided it view it as a long term investment .
  • teachergirl
    teachergirl Posts: 767 Forumite
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    Anybody else see on the weather that we have only had 41% of the average sun in January?:( Trust me to get my solar panels in the winter.
    Produced about 3kwh yesterday when the sun peeped out from the thick black clouds. They said it was going to be sunny today but it sure looks like cloud out there at the moment.
    Enough money to live on so retired early...planning to see where life takes me:D
  • penrhyn
    penrhyn Posts: 15,215 Forumite
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    edited 29 January 2011 at 10:16AM
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    teachergirl wrote: »
    Anybody else see on the weather that we have only had 41% of the average sun in January?:( Trust me to get my solar panels in the winter.
    Produced about 3kwh yesterday when the sun peeped out from the thick black clouds. They said it was going to be sunny today but it sure looks like cloud out there at the moment.

    That sounds a lot, I only use around 6Kwh/day.

    Do you really mean that it produced 3Kilowatts for one hour.

    How do you measure it?
    That gum you like is coming back in style.
  • teachergirl
    teachergirl Posts: 767 Forumite
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    Um no . I mean that is how much I produced in TOTAL all day. Cardew told me off earlier for posting the amount incorrectly so maybe I have done it wrong again:o Sorry
    Enough money to live on so retired early...planning to see where life takes me:D
  • Cardew
    Cardew Posts: 29,037 Forumite
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    edited 29 January 2011 at 3:19PM
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    teachergirl wrote: »
    Um no . I mean that is how much I produced in TOTAL all day. Cardew told me off earlier for posting the amount incorrectly so maybe I have done it wrong again:o Sorry


    No you said it perfectly! i.e. "produced about 3kWh yesterday" is correct.

    What matters is the kWh produced.

    Edit.
    You may award yourself a silver star! You would have got a gold star except you wrote kwh instead of kWh.
  • jackieblack
    jackieblack Posts: 10,317 Forumite
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    teachergirl wrote: »
    Anybody else see on the weather that we have only had 41% of the average sun in January?:( Trust me to get my solar panels in the winter.
    Produced about 3kwh yesterday when the sun peeped out from the thick black clouds. They said it was going to be sunny today but it sure looks like cloud out there at the moment.

    Cloudy again here too!
    We did 2kWh yesterday (ours is only a 2.22kwp system though)

    Only 57kWh produced so far in Jan and only a couple of days left!:(
    Roll on the spring and (hopefully :D) clearer days!
    2.22kWp Solar PV system installed Oct 2010, Fronius IG20 Inverter, south facing (-5 deg), 30 degree pitch, no shading
    Everything will be alright in the end so, if it’s not yet alright, it means it’s not yet the end
    MFW #4 OPs (offset): 2018 £866.89, 2019 £1322.33, 2020 £1337.07,
    2021 £1250.00, 2022 £1500.00, 2023 £1500
    Target for 2024 (offset) = £1200, YTD £460
    Quidquid Latine dictum sit altum videtur
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