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

orrery

Cardew wrote: »

Large solar farms could be errected on scrubland, Brownfield sites even supermarket/factory roofs - preferably in the South West where output is higher.

True, and I'd support this - but, again, this isn't an either/or discussion. We need it all and we need to get moving. The use of roofs for solar power should be part of planning requirements. I've just seen a new estate go up and the design of the whole estate isn't conducive to fitting panels on the roofs - absolute madness. Even street layout could be planned to ensure maximal roof area in the right directions.

The other problem with concentrating on certain areas is that power transmission losses are high. Is it cheaper to generate solar in the SW (or Libya) and tolerate the transmission losses to the north of Scotland or put up with local generation that is less efficient? Note also the pressure to get rid of pylons. An awful lot of the trade-off here is just what the public will put up with. Just how many wind farms will people tolerate? Will they allow a joint incineration power station, or a new nuclear facility, or wetlands to be flooded for a new dam?

Roof-space local to the point of usage is a very attractive option.

orrery

OK, to try to get back on topic...

I've been trying to reduce consumption now that I've got a better awareness of the issues. I've just switched over the 4th room in the house to be lit by LEDs. I've installed six 5W LED GU10 - 50W equivalent. The saving isn't 10:1, as I removed a very old 70/80W strip light to do it:

http://www.ledlights4less.co.uk/gu10-leds/5w-interlux-gu10-daylight-white.html

With the brilliant white bulbs the kitchen now looks like an operating theatre. I've been investigating LED lamps for a couple of years now and they have all been poor or 'almost there' at best, but with these new generation at least LED lamps have now made it mainstream.

The_Green_Hornet

Dave_Fowler wrote: »

Yes, let's stop the debating on whether the FITs should / should not have been set to such a high level or whether they should have been reduced earlier. Get back to the thread topic and have a reasoned discussion on how to make the best of a PV system.

Davfe F

Great idea.

If you want to discuss the merits of Solar PV FITs why not move onto this thread:

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.php?p=50185541#post50185541

jimjames

Martyn1981 wrote: »

So, possibly, by thinking about energy on a daily basis, he may have reduced his consumption by a further 8% (800/10,000). Meter due for replacement, and one son left for college in September, so he won't be able to compare like for like again, but interesting situation.

Mart.

I think this could be the same for us. Since the panels being installed in November we are much more aware of what we use vs what we produced. Our usage in December had dropped by over 150kWh compared to Dec 2010 but we are taking specific measures to try to reduce consumption eg using low energy lights @11kW rather than main lounge lights @400kW as one example so overall we may come out a similar amount under by the end of the year.

themaverick1953

I already have an Owl monitor monitoring the differnce between import and export, so when i RECEIVED A FREE MONITOR FROM MY LECCY COMPANY I THOUGHT ID TRY THAT TO RECEIVE SOLAR OUTPUT READOUT IN THE KITCHEN. i TESTED IT ON THE SAME CABLE AS THE OWL AND THEY READ WITHIN 50W OF EACH OTHER. i THEN FITTED IT TO THE INVEROR OUTPUT - BUT - NOT A BEEP. tHERE AND 4 BLACK CABLES GOING IN PRESUMABLY FROM THE PANELS AND ONE THICK FLAT GREY CABLE COMING OUT AND THIS IS THE ONE i ATTACHED THE MONITOR TO - BUT NO MEASUREMENT - sorry just seen caps - any suggestions?

penrhyn

The output cable from your inverter will probably be two or three core. To measure the output current you need to be clipped around the live conductor only.

themaverick1953

The monitor can be seen attached here on the grey cable bottom right - cant see any other option for it:

http://www.woldsweather.co.uk/Invertor.jpg

mysterons

That's not going to work as it's around 3 cables (live - neutral - earth)
See if you can get it atached to just the live, possibly where the individual cables enter the bottom of the generation meter?

KevinG

mysterons wrote: »

That's not going to work as it's around 3 cables (live - neutral - earth)
See if you can get it atached to just the live, possibly where the individual cables enter the bottom of the generation meter?

That's right, you need to get as close as possible to the point where the generated power enters the rest of your system, it has to be split somewhere. In my case it's beyond the generation meter, an isolation switch and another RCD protected circuit breaker.

themaverick1953

Still just the thick grey cable going in to the generation meter so it looks like I have a spare monitor.