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

John_Pierpoint

"Morning all"

First of all a question about my FiT application form.
There is a thread running on here about the different approaches and efficiency of the power companies paying out the FiT - with EdF getting the wooden spoon.
My current supplier is nPower and it seems that there has been a hardening of attitudes about accepting other supplier's customers for FiT accounts.
So here goes I'm about to be joined at the hip to nPower for 25 years (yes I know in theory you can swap but like bank accounts and ISA's it can become a real hassle)

There are two questions on the application form and I am not sure if I/my installers have the correct answer to these questions:

Installed Capacity (kW}
&
Declared net capacity (kW)

Now I have 18 panels nominally rated at 205 watts each.
so 18 x 205 = 3.690. So does that go down as the answer to both questions?

I also notice that a data item in the commissioning certificate has been left blank:
MAXIMUM PEAK SHORT CIRCUIT CURRENT (A)

From the USA installation manual, it would appear the answer is 20 amps per string (presumably both strings would not short out at the same time).

Any thoughts?

Now on a wider issue - does anyone know what the EU tariff wall against imports of the panel and inverter technology is?

[I remember that some 30 years ago IBM lost an £8million dispute (in those days that was serious money) with Her Majesty's Customs & Excise - IBM was importing massive schedules of parts BUT when the boxes were opened there was a computer inside.:rotfl: ]

cazarol

Brian99 wrote: »

No probs Mart ; I have great respect for your postings

But Cazarol with the E-W roof question, has vanished !!

I am still here but observing. I am afraid I got bogged down with all the technical details so gave up - sorry. Our production has increased over the last few sunny days - thank goodness - we produced 4.557 yesterday and an all time high of 9.024 at the weekend. We emailed our supplier for technical details but havent had a response yet. It is certainly a good game we are playing, at the weekend we went out but found ourselves texting home to my daughter to check on production !! As we have said before, we really should get out more but then we are out we think we are missing out.
Many thanks for the time Mart & Co gave me and keep up the posting, its great reading, a lot better than television these days.
:beer:

Martyn1981

cazarol wrote: »

I am still here but observing. I am afraid I got bogged down with all the technical details so gave up - sorry. Our production has increased over the last few sunny days - thank goodness - we produced 4.557 yesterday and an all time high of 9.024 at the weekend. We emailed our supplier for technical details but havent had a response yet. It is certainly a good game we are playing, at the weekend we went out but found ourselves texting home to my daughter to check on production !! As we have said before, we really should get out more but then we are out we think we are missing out.
Many thanks for the time Mart & Co gave me and keep up the posting, its great reading, a lot better than television these days.
:beer:

Morning Cazarol, glad to hear you are still keeping an eye on us. Your generation looks good.

Hopefully you'll get the full model type and specs soon (there might be a sticker on the side if it's accessible). As Brian pointed out, really needs to be a dual MPPT model. Fingers crossed!

So many people staring at numbers and displays. PV monitoring could become more popular than the XBox soon?

Mart.

Martyn1981

John_Pierpoint wrote: »

"Morning all"

There are two questions on the application form and I am not sure if I/my installers have the correct answer to these questions:

Installed Capacity (kW}
&
Declared net capacity (kW)

Now I have 18 panels nominally rated at 205 watts each.
so 18 x 205 = 3.690. So does that go down as the answer to both questions?

Hiya John, rushing at mo, so just a quickie on TIC and DNC.

If both below 4kWp, then easiest answer is to put 3.69 for both. For DNO approval, there is an argument for putting the inverter limit, if panels exceed 3.68. Look at Don's autosig, 3.9panels, 3.5inverter, and the inverter will almost certainly be limited to 3.68 for G83 compliance (grid approval).

So he may put TIC 3.9, and DNC 3.68 (even 3.5)

I've touched on an argument before (somewhere) that running over 4kWp of panels, but limiting output to 3.68 (via the inverter) could technically be applied for through FITs at less than 4.

However, personal view, not playing within the spirit of FITs, as it's already very generous? What if the inverter was changed? What if it was approved today, but failed future reviews of FITs, and then fell into the 4-10 FITs banding?

Waffle aside, sorry, TIC 3.69 DNC 3.69 but you could probably put 3.68 if you really wanted to, or less if you have an undersized inverter?

Mart.

cazarol

Martyn1981 wrote: »

Morning Cazarol, glad to hear you are still keeping an eye on us. Your generation looks good.

Hopefully you'll get the full model type and specs soon (there might be a sticker on the side if it's accessible). As Brian pointed out, really needs to be a dual MPPT model. Fingers crossed!

So many people staring at numbers and displays. PV monitoring could become more popular than the XBox soon?

Mart.

Good Morning Mart, I suggested at the weekend that we moved the laptop in place of the tv as we were watching that with greater interest !! Have a good day and thanks for your time.

JuniperBerry_3

Casper55 wrote: »

Have purchased a heat pump to heat my koi pond ( Normally heated by gas boiler) and run it during the day. I have estimated that once ambient temps get above 10 degs the Heat pump has a cop of 5 or more so cheaper than gas. My Soalr panels are now producing in excess of 2.8 kw from mid day which I can use 1.2 kw free on the heatpump so none of the energy produced by the panels is going into the grid. Even though the koi pond is only heated to 24 degs in the summer, once the covers have been removed it has been quite expensive to heat using gas . The heat pump Cost me £ 1000 so it will be interesting to see how long it would take to get my money back if I ever do

That's interesting, is it air or ground source heat pump ? Which brand and does it heat the water directly or via coils ? I've been looking at HeatPumps and as you say something with a COP of 5 makes a lot of sense working alongside PV solar

EricMears

John_Pierpoint wrote: »

"Morning all"

First of all a question about my FiT application form.


So here goes I'm about to be joined at the hip to nPower for 25 years (yes I know in theory you can swap but like bank accounts and ISA's it can become a real hassle)

If you've got a query about the FIT form, the obvious person to ask is your installer. Mine filled in all the technical details required leaving me to add my bank account details. Shouldn't they all do that ?

Your contracts with nPower will be three distinct ones :-
Your existing supply contract that you can change whenever you want. It is quite a hassle but not that difficult.
Your new FIT application for units generated. Very little to choose between different RECs as they all pay the same (government set) rates. Possible that one company might pay up in three days and another take three months but it's unlikely to be that extreme and not the end of the world if you get a slow one.
Your new contract for purchase of exported units. Form states quite clearly that you are only tied for one year and free to seek an alternative buyer thereafter.

shadow52

Zenoka wrote: »

Does anyone know if there is a device that can sense when you are exporting and send that electricity to a hot water heater? We would really like to use the surplus to help towards heating our water, DH is good at diy and is already talking about fitting a 500w imersion, but we want a system that will automatically control it for us.

Does such a thing exist? I've searched but not been able to find anything.

Auto control enables use of solar PV for immersion heater - look on yougen on the internet and input this, this from Chris Rudge.

nagswoman

Interesting to see other people's generation.
We had a 3.92KWh system fitted in November 2011.
Unfortunately we have a little shading early morning and late evening, but we will try to negotiate with the neighbours on one side to trim their tree slightly. It is only an overgrown elder and we live in a bungalow! The other side is shading of part of one panel, by our extension.
December was 115 units
January was 139 units
First 3 weeks of February 2012 is 156 units.
We face SSW.
East of England.
Don't know the roof pitch but it is flatter (less upright!) than 45 degrees. Suppose I could work it out as the bungalow is 48ft wide and we can only just stand up in the roof space. Now where, in my brain, is geometry lurking?

Barter

no1farmer wrote: »

...I will tell you how.

I really don't think you're allowed to tout for business on this forum; and I have looked at the Utility Warehouse deal, and it's definitely not worth it.