Free solar panel discussion

Jon_Tiffany

energysavingexp wrote: »

iI can run 1kw for 5 hrs so that would be 5kw
i run my tv.vcr,lights and other small elect gagets laptop mobile phone charger etc.

this is from full batterys
it can take some time to charge them depending on the weather.
but when i get my new 4.5kw system installed they should charge in a single day

How many batteries do you have in your system? 5kWh is more than I use overnight, so your system would run my house from dusk till dawn. I'm interested to find out more.

Cardew

energysavingexp wrote: »

iI can run 1kw for 5 hrs so that would be 5kw

That seems to be a big battery for £80 - what size is it? and where do you buy it?

energysavingexp

Jon_Tiffany wrote: »

How many batteries do you have in your system? 5kWh is more than I use overnight, so your system would run my house from dusk till dawn. I'm interested to find out more.

I have 8 batterys
but you cannot run things like a fridge/freezer on it because its start running amount trips the inverter any thing with big motors on them.
but eveythin else is ok.

energysavingexp

Cardew wrote: »

That seems to be a big battery for £80 - what size is it? and where do you buy it?

battery no batterys yes each one is 120AMP
you can buy them on ebay or from most camping shops
remember they need to be deep discharge not car batterys
as this will knacker the batterys.
deep discharge or lesure batterys are ment for this kind of system

Cardew

So you have 8 huge batteries costing £80 each and an inverter(only £100?)

You can charge them during a winter's day?

What safety do you have for an awful lot of amps from the Batteries?

Do you disconnect mains at night(a changeover switch?) and feed the output of this inverter to where?

energysavingexp

Cardew wrote: »

So you have 8 huge batteries costing £80 each and an inverter(only £100?)

You can charge them during a winter's day?

What safety do you have for an awful lot of amps from the Batteries?

Do you disconnect mains at night(a changeover switch?) and feed the output of this inverter to where?

No the batteries are out side in a room (vented) along with the inverter fitted and certified part p.
yes they charge up on a winters day is slow but they do.
no i dont disconnect mains at night i have a socket which i unplug and re plug in to just like moving an hoover.
the socket has 6 sockets for ie tv. lamps. laptop.mobile phone etc.
the system is fully fused and rcd protected and load limited.

jackieblack

grahamc2003 wrote: »

Hi again Jackie ... well you did imply your were willing to be corrected, so I'll be the bearer of bad news this time

I'm more than happy to be corrected..... I'll add it to the long list of bad/mis- information I was given by the various PV 'surveyors'/salesman that came when i was in the process of obtaining quotes
I'd far rather know the bad news than continue under false illusions!

grahamc2003 wrote: »

You immersion heater is probably 3kw. A typical system will generate 3kw only on the sunniest midsummers day, and only for at the most a couple of hours around midday. I'm afraid, even at that handful of hours during the whole year, you are still very unlikely to get free hot water - because you also have some background power requirements for things like fridges, standby, battery chargers etc etc, say typically alternating between 50w (for the very careful) to 200-300w (for the not so careful). So add in the background use, and almost certainly, when you turn your immersion heater on during the most favourable few hours pa, you'll almost certainly still be drawing power from the grid, which you'll pay for.

Of course, the other 99.5% of the time, the panels won't generate anything like 3kw, so at those times, you'll always be drawing grid power. From the distribution of power generated posted above by Zuepater, half the generation (which translates to much more than half the time, probably 90% of the time) is below 1.5kW. .

I had no idea that the immersion heater draws that much power! :eek: (We've never used ours, what little hot water we need is heated by our gas boiler.)

We've just got one of those free energy meters from our energy suppliers so I'm going to go around the house this weekend turning things on and off to see how much power everything uses so I will be better able to judge what I can and can't run with 'free' electricity after my panels are fitted next week.
(We're getting a remote monitor so hopefully that'll make it easier to work out.)

I must say, I really enjoy reading everyone's posts... I can't say I always understand all of them, but I've found it really difficult to find good information on solar PV and this thread (although mine isn't a free system) and the other similar threads on this forum have been really interesting.
Thank you everyone....

Cardew

energysavingexp wrote: »

No the batteries are out side in a room (vented) along with the inverter fitted and certified part p.
yes they charge up on a winters day is slow but they do.
no i dont disconnect mains at night i have a socket which i unplug and re plug in to just like moving an hoover.
the socket has 6 sockets for ie tv. lamps. laptop.mobile phone etc.
the system is fully fused and rcd protected and load limited.

Do you have any special reason for such an arrangement? - e.g. not on mains and use a generator.

It surely cannot make economic sense for a 'normal' householder to have such an arrangement.

Assuming that someone could accurately gauge the capacity of the batteries each day, and as you state, you are restricted in the type of electrical load, your savings from the batteries will be in the region of £100 a year??

Cardew

jackieblack wrote: »

I'm more than happy to be corrected..... I'll add it to the long list of bad/mis- information I was given by the various PV 'surveyors'/salesman that came when i was in the process of obtaining quotes
I'd far rather know the bad news than continue under false illusions!



I had no idea that the immersion heater draws that much power! :eek: (We've never used ours, what little hot water we need is heated by our gas boiler.)

We've just got one of those free energy meters from our energy suppliers so I'm going to go around the house this weekend turning things on and off to see how much power everything uses so I will be better able to judge what I can and can't run with 'free' electricity after my panels are fitted next week.
(We're getting a remote monitor so hopefully that'll make it easier to work out.)

I must say, I really enjoy reading everyone's posts... I can't say I always understand all of them, but I've found it really difficult to find good information on solar PV and this thread (although mine isn't a free system) and the other similar threads on this forum have been really interesting.
Thank you everyone....

Jackie,
Sorry to further complicate matters, but the monitors can give a false impression of the consumption.

For instance your washing machine will show a consumption of 3kW for a short period of the cycle(when the heater is on) but the average will be much lower - probably 0.4kW.

Likewise your fridge freezer will show it costs either nothing or a fortune to run - depending if the compressor is running when you monitor.

In general terms, carry on using your gas for hot water. All the rest of your 'optional' appliances - washing machine, dryer, dishwasher, - try to use either side of noon where possible as that is when the output of your panels is highest. Try to stagger their use as well.

jackieblack

Cardew wrote: »

Jackie,
Sorry to further complicate matters, but the monitors can give a false impression of the consumption.

For instance your washing machine will show a consumption of 3kW for a short period of the cycle(when the heater is on) but the average will be much lower - probably 0.4kW.

Likewise your fridge freezer will show it costs either nothing or a fortune to run - depending if the compressor is running when you monitor.

In general terms, carry on using your gas for hot water. All the rest of your 'optional' appliances - washing machine, dryer, dishwasher, - try to use either side of noon where possible as that is when the output of your panels is highest. Try to stagger their use as well.

Hi
Yes! Got my washing machine on at the moment and have been watching the numbers leaping up and down!

I guess what I'm trying to work out is the best way to maximise use of the free electricity, I'm not usually at home during the day, but if I can get into the habit of, for example putting the washing on in the mornings (once it's got light) instead of in the evenings, hopefully that'll be beneficial.
Don't have a dishwasher or tumble dryer, but I do have a teenage daughter so TV/Wii/PC/Laptop probably make up a good part of our electricity use.

So, just checking that my basic understanding is not totally based on mis-information.........
Am I right in thinking that if electricity usage for any period is greater than the amount being generated by the panels during the same period we'll just be paying for the difference?
eg, panels generating 2kw, usage 3kw, we'll be paying for the 1kw over? (sorry if that is a stupid question )