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Hot Water Cylinder Questions
Sorry if these have been answered before but I either can't find what I'm looking for or don't have much confidence in what I have seen on other forums: 1. I have a 210 litre hot water cylinder that's about 25 years old and I'm about to have moved so it could easily be replaced for just the cost of a new cylinder (£200 or…
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Home Battery - No Solar
Looking at getting a home-battery installed to store economy7 electricity at night and use it during peak times. I don't want to feed anything back into the grid. We will use it all. Does anyone know what kit I'd require, and what the cheapest supplier / option would be? We will attach a PV array to the battery at a later…
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How do you manage your heating this time of year?
Hi - the title says it all - how do you manage your heating this time of year with cold, frosty morning and warm sunny days? Do you leave the thermostat to care of things for you (and does it work?) or do you have to keep fiddling with it to stop the house getting too hot in the day or too cold at night? Do you turn your…
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Mini Solar panel and draining power
Afternoon All, I have one of these https://www.amazon.co.uk/RAVPower-UK-RP-PC005-Waterproof-Smartphones/dp/B01FH2HYCW On sunny days great for charging up my kindle, phone and a power bank to use later. The only issue is if it goes cloudy or I miss the sun setting it seems to start discharging anything attached. I guess I…
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Solar Post-FIT
(I posted this in Energy but it was suggested I repost here) We have a large roof and I have been thinking about solar for a number of years. We also run a Nissan Leaf and are thinking about changing the diesel estate for something that will plug in. Unfortunately, with the large roof came a large mortgage and that has…
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Home energy Monitors
Hi, Since I’ve just realised the meter in my system is a generation meter and not an export meter :rotfl: I would like suggestions on what to use. I’m not going to fit a smart meter as I don’t want to effect FIT. Although it might turn out I’m exporting more and then I will switch. So this one seemed to have won and award.…
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Inverter with "backup" output
One month ago i had a solar PV system installed which includes a battery and uses a Goodwe inverter. Apart from the feed-in to my mains there is a second "backup" output that was not connected at the time of installation. My understanding is that this output will continue after a mans power failure (after a brief…
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Solar Usage doesn’t add up
Hi, I’m probably missing something here but can anyone help. My system was fitted 11th March. My inverter is a Ginlong and I have an app to see generation. To date it says I have generated 548kwh and my export meter is showing 540kwh. This suggests that I’ve only used 8kwh of energy within the month. However my I boost has…
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Spikes from Solar Panel generation on Sunny Days
Yet another Solar Panel post but this one is a more complex question. I have had Panels installed and they seem to be working OK, but I get spikes in generation even on Sunny days. Average generation is OK for this time of year. So on a cloudless day I can get spikes of 800Ws or more and then generation drops almost to…
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Project Solar panels quote.
Hi all, On Friday I had a quote for panels from Project Solar and would like to hear your thoughts. I have been quoted a 10 panel install of Evolution +10 panels and a Growatt inverter totalling a 2.50kWp with a voltage optimiser -and estimated output is 2255.00kwh per year The current quoted FiT rate is 0.1339. The cost…
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FiTs Rates for 2019-2020
Every year I go to this web site to find the latest FiTs rates ... https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/environmental-programmes/fit/fit-tariff-rates This year they don't seem to have updated the rates (payment tariff) unless I am missing something ? Shouldn't there be new rates from 1st April ?
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Warranty Inverter Replacement
Hi, My Solaredge inverter has failed after only 2 years and SE have agreed a replacement. I initially contacted my installer but his warranty expired 6 weeks ago so he's going to charge me for fitting the replacement. What would you regard as a fair price for this work?
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Sunny boy Warranty Extension
Hey all, Just like that I'm coming up to 5 years since install and my installer has contacted me about extending the warranty on my sunny boy 3600TL. I can also do it via SMA's website which is probably the preferred option as they accept AMEX, whereas my installer doesn't accept cards at all. Prices are the same. another…
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Money Moral Dilemma: Should I start spending more to go plastic-free?
This week's MoneySaver who wants advice asks... I want to reduce my plastic use, and have made some easy changes such as switching to reusable bags. But sometimes it costs more to use less plastic, eg, buying bars of shampoo and conditioner instead of bottles. Should I fork out more for the planet's sake? Unfortunately the…
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The DNO said no
I have previously mentioned that due to an oversight a DNO application wasn’t submitted at the time my panels were installed. A retrospective application was submitted for 10kw as I wanted to add a few more panels. I have now heard back from my installer that the DNO has said we can’t export more than 5.9kw without…
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Installing solar panels and battery storage in 2018 - expensive hobby or viable proposition?
Hi all, Long time listener, first time caller. I had recently taken a plunge and leased a Leaf to cover my daily commute and I have since become sold on the whole idea of EV lifestyle. LEAF was just a gateway drug and I started toying with the idea of installing solar panels and battery storage. I really want to do it but…
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Export Meter/No Export Meter?
Which get's most cashback? Given that I'm in all day and am running a marine fish & coral aquarium 24/7 the panels will be using at least some energy all the time they are running. Of course there's the usual day to day utilities being used where time of day habits can be altered. I'm wondering what people's thoughts are…
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Solar Panels and Smart Meters - compatibility
Hi, I have solar panels on my roof (4Kwp). Now that only SMETS2 smart meters can be installed, can I go ahead and get one. Anyone have experience of this please. I've read of incompatibility issues / lost generation revenue etc. Any advice gratefully received. Cheers - Joe
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Have solar panels, should i get a smart meter?
Just got an email from bulb offering a second generation smart meter. My question is, would it be bad in any way due to my solar panels? I am currently for example deemed for 50% as they cant measure export and i take advantage of this using a iboost to control my immerson heater. My FITS is with EDF. Any advice would be…
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The DNO said yes
:j:j:j:j Woohoo!! We will not be capped! :j:j:j My solar panels in all their glory now the scaffolding is down.
