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Why must the solar gateway be sited near the meter ?
I live in an attractive house in an attractive location. Yes, I'm lucky, I know. I'm so determined to keep things looking nice that I'm probably about to pay a premium for an "in-roof" (as opposed to "on-roof") solar installation.Been talking to 3 installers, but it quickly narrowed down to just one that got my trust. And…
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Overexposed: a study on forced labour in Solar Panel Manufacturing (by Brand)
Incase anyone wondered about the ethics (or lack thereof) in their Solar Panels, this study by Sheffield Hallam University has proved genuinely eye opening for me. A must read for the Ethically conscious among us.
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Ripple Energy - receiving bill savings
I invested in Kirk Hill and have been receiving a small discount on my Co-op Energy / Octopus electricity bills. I have recently discovered by chance that the '100% renewable energy' I thought I was buying is in fact 15 % nuclear. As someone who has a lifelong objection to nuclear power, I am outraged. Whether or not 100%…
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Home Battery ??
Hi folks Would really appreciate some opinions on whether it would be worth us getting some kind of battery storage for our household. Currently on EON Next Drive, so 6.7p/kWh for 7 hours overnight. Our usage for the last 12 months has been 1350kWh cheap rate (inc EV charging) and 2000kWh day rate (approx 27p). At the…
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Solar Panel Quote
Hi all. I'm getting roof replaced, so looking at solar to make use of scaffolding. I know very little, so after any advice on this quote. 4.4kwH system, spanning two roofs, inc battery £7.5k. 10 DMAGC solar panels 1 Fox ESS H1 G2
5.0kW 1ph Hybrid Inverter Fox ESS 5.2kWh battery storage system Expected to generate 3,660 kWh…
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Questions to ask potential solar installers
We're thinking of getting solar panels and battery storage in the next few months. For context, we live along the M4 corridor, we have a south facing area of roof about 10m long by 3m wide, 30 degree pitch, and we use about 5000kWh per annum at the moment (though this could rise in the next year or two as we're considering…
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Government Green Deal Question
Is it completely free? The more I read, the more I think it's a loan that I'd have to pay back. We've moved into an EPC D house. The only benefit we get at the moment is the Child Benefit, which I believe would qualify us to be able to access the Green Deal stuff. The only thing we're really looking for is loft insulation.…
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Major issues with GivEnergy battery and inverter
Greetings! With energy prices soaring to peak levels and solar technologies becoming more affordable, my family and I decided to hop on the bandwagon and invest in a solar energy system. Our equipment was installed with much enthusiasm, and everything appeared to be working seamlessly, until I started paying close…
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Ditching gas, going electric immersion only, a wee project
I think this fits within the green and ethical section of MSE. This is an ongoing project to replace my gas combi boiler with water tanks heated by immersion. (Hopefully finished In next couple of weeks) A common question would be why not use a heat pump, and there are two reasons for this. 1. It would have to run all day,…
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Best Tariff for night time charging - No EV
Ive installed solar panels and a home battery a couple of months ago and Im very happy with them so far. But one issue is that we don't generate enough in the winter to fill the battery, so I would like a cheap night time rate to fill the battery. My problem is that I don't have an EV and I wont be getting one anytime soon…
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Uhome LFP 2400 Voltage Falling Under No Load Conditions
Hi Folks, In June 2022 I’ve had a Lux ACS 3600 and 4 x Uhome LFP 2400
batteries installed at my property (supplied and install by competent person) to
store the surplus solar energy from an already installed roof top solar array.
The system I thought had been working fine and was configured for 90% depth of
discharge (DoD)…
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Seplos Mason battery kits from Frogstar
Hi all, does anyone have any experience or recommendations of these? At the moment I have two Growatt ML33RTA batteries on my SPH5000 inverter with 4.8 kW of solar. The Growatt batts add up to 6 kWh, which is a bit low as we use about 10 kWh per day. The summer half of the year is generally OK, but in winter it's not…
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Shade greener not getting free electric
Hi I have doubted for a while now that I am actually getting any free electric with the Shade Greener panels so I decided to take some pictures of my smart meter and as I suspected the total keeps going up during the day 11am to 2 pm. Is this a breach of shade greenery contract!
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Which storage battery
Hi all, We have recently had a 12kW ashp installed in our 4 bed house (4 of us); prior to this we were reasonably heavy users anyway using anywhere between 5-15kW. Currently we’re between 15 and 25kW and this will obviously increase in winter. I have just started to get quotes for battery storage; we also have solar panels…
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Solar Panel Output Degrades/Reduces over time - How Much?
The standard info provided with solar panels shows that they can lose output over time, I believe around 0.5% per year. My panels are supposedly warranted to still produce 90% output after 12 years. Interestingly the annual variation in sunshine days across the year means that although months can be very erratic the…
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Solar panel help
Hi I thought I would venture into this area in my old age for environmental reasons and to future proof my house (in case family have to move in to look after me or when house is sold in future as it has 5 bedrooms)Anyway I have always read you should get the biggest battery you can but I am having to fight companies who…
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Expanding a 4kW PV Only System
Given the advent of Flux, I've decided to take advantage of the Barclays Green Home Reward and expand upon our 4kW LG Bifacial PV system (roof pictured below). Leaving 100cm for Velux windows at the very North of the roof, it would appear that we may have space for 4-6 additional panels on East & West aspects, making this…
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Deemed export or Smart export?
I had my solar installed in 2013 and have been receiving my FiT pyts (via Scottish Power) since. To be honest I haven't really thought about it much since. I don't have a smart meter fitted for the solar (but do for electric and gas, which is provided by Ovo), so have to read the meter quarterly and send them in, which is…
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Downlight Protectors
I am enhancing the insulation my loft and there are several downlights which need to be covered over before I lay the insulation on them. You can buy downlight protectors from such firms as Loftleg and Thermahood, but the ones I have identified are all too small. My light fitting have those plastic "wings" that you can see…
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Solar Immersion and Hot Fill Washing Machine
I'm working on a new solar PV installation and have opted for a hot water cylinder and Solar Immersion Controller (a Solic 200).I would like to connect a washing machine to fill from the hot water cylinder and make the best of the 'free' hot water. The problem I am finding is a lack of options, as most washing machines now…
