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

EricMears

grahamc2003 wrote: »

(Having said that, I agree with Cardew who said he thought however much you try to use more of what you generate, the difference between that and simply setting a timeswitch and hoping for the best will be a max saving of an extra £25pa if you're good at it - so really it isn't worth the hassle. I'll add that I think there's a danger for some of actually increasing bills by trying to use what they've generated).

I don't think the £25 was calculated all that acurately.

Assuming an annual generation of 3000 kwh (or apparently even more in Essex ), if you use none of it you'd still receive 3000 times half of 3p or £45 (which of course you'd get regardless of your own use) but if you then go and use the same amount of electricity in the evening when the panels have stopped generating it would cost you around £300 :mad: (or £150 if you manage to do all those things during an E7 night period). It's therefore possible to save £300 by using all your generated electricity providing you would actually have used that amount during 'non-free' hours.

Unlikely that anyone would actually get no daytime benefit at all (I guess we've all got a fridge & a freezer going all day, the central heating pumps probably run some of that time and even a few electric clocks plus tellies on standby consume something) but there must be plenty of folk who leave home early in the morning & return late evening so would get very little benefit from 'free' electricity.

Perhaps therefore £250 would be a more accurate estimate of max potential benefit than £25 ?

That still doesn't justify paying £1000+ to reap that saving but a few hundred pounds might well be justified for some.

jackieblack

teachergirl wrote: »

OOOps It was supposed to say barmy:o

Or balmy maybe?
Unless the sunshine was crazy?

42kWh generated in the last 7 days - almost 43% of the predicted generation for the month (98.124kWh)!
115kWh generated so far in Feb, already over 117% of prediction and 5 days still to go!
compared to 71kWh generated in the whole month of Feb 2011

grahamc2003

EricMears wrote: »

I don't think the £25 was calculated all that acurately.

Assuming an annual generation of 3000 kwh (or apparently even more in Essex ), if you use none of it you'd still receive 3000 times half of 3p or £45 (which of course you'd get regardless of your own use) but if you then go and use the same amount of electricity in the evening when the panels have stopped generating it would cost you around £300 :mad: (or £150 if you manage to do all those things during an E7 night period). It's therefore possible to save £300 by using all your generated electricity providing you would actually have used that amount during 'non-free' hours.

Unlikely that anyone would actually get no daytime benefit at all (I guess we've all got a fridge & a freezer going all day, the central heating pumps probably run some of that time and even a few electric clocks plus tellies on standby consume something) but there must be plenty of folk who leave home early in the morning & return late evening so would get very little benefit from 'free' electricity.

Perhaps therefore £250 would be a more accurate estimate of max potential benefit than £25 ?

That still doesn't justify paying £1000+ to reap that saving but a few hundred pounds might well be justified for some.

No, not at all. The £25 figure was the extra savings due to monitoring the generation and use, and turning things on and off in an attempot to match them, as opposed to simply setting a timeswitch to switch on things like a washing machine and drier at midday and hoping it's sunny. It wasn't the total savings. The total savings have been estimated by the decc to be typically £100 to £125 iirc, so they think your £250 estimate would be an overestimate I expect. So my view is if you try to match, and are good at it and there all the time to do it, you may save a total of £125 to £150. (One 'problem' being when you try to match, sometimes you use more than the generation, which negates some of the savings e.g. putting a 3kW immersion on when you're generating 3kW, then your fridge clicks on).

teachergirl

:

jackieblack wrote: »

Or balmy maybe?
Unless the sunshine was crazy?

:o:o:o

Oh dear I am having a bad day. Of course you are right Jackie. Well back on thread. Got some soup simmering and slow cooker out for tomorrow. Got DH primed to mow front lawn later and washing was out to dry by 9am. If it stays nice might wash dog beds as well.

EricMears

grahamc2003 wrote: »

No, not at all.

I think I made it perfectly clear that 'my' £250 was the maximum that a (very) few people might be able to coax out of the system. Since that's twice the figure described as 'typical' then I'd suggest it's a pretty accurate estimate of what it sets out to find.

Of course there are many people (myself included) who are at home most of the time so available to get pretty near the maximum usage without any fancy devices. However, (as grahamc2003 notes) anyone who is away from home during generation hours and relies upon accurate weather forecasts and a time switch to make a saving may well find themselves worse off when an unexpected cloudy spell happens around noon. Those are the people who might find it worthwhile to invest in an automated device of some sort.

jamesingram

Just relised the sma4000tl-20 inverters have built in multi-function relay which i believe can be used for switching loads at set generation levels.
this could be good for appliance switching ,ie. immersion etc.

I need to read up more , anyone else used this yet ?


edit more info here
http://files.sma.de/dl/5692/ZusFunktNG-TB-TEN115121.pdf
http://www.navitron.org.uk/forum/index.php/topic,13600.0.html
http://www.navitron.org.uk/forum/index.php/topic,15331.0.html

teachergirl

Jackieblack, just checked my readings compared to last year. February last year was 143kWh and the expected was 180kWh. This year we are at 234kWh already. What a huge difference. I have just been trying to dig my garden and some of the ground is quite hard,I hate to say it but I think we could do with some rain here in Essex

EricMears

teachergirl wrote: »

I hate to say it but I think we could do with some rain here in Essex

You need occasional rainfall else the 'self-cleaning' panels won't self-clean.

Martyn1981

grahamc2003 wrote: »

I sometimes wonder if I've accidentally logged into a divorced and desperates lonely hearts website sometimes. Either that or a place where physics no longer applies, and electrical equipment can take any volatge/current/power you throw at it and not complain. (and where power is measured in watts/h instead of watts ... oopse). And if not those, a place where simply buying solar panels imparts seven years worth of engineering university education in the brain and everyone suddenly is an expert in everything electrical). And if none of those, then simply a rent an argument site, where even manufacturer's operating manuals are declared totally incorrect!

(Having said that, I agree with Cardew who said he thought however much you try to use more of what you generate, the difference beytween that and simply setting a timeswitch and hoping for the best will be a max saving of an extra £25pa if you're good at it - so really it isn't worth the hassle. I'll add that I think there's a danger for some of actually increasing bills by trying to use what they've generated).

Taking each point in turn;

Firstly, cheer up, this should be a friendly site, so people having fun is not a capital crime. It can also make the site and threads less intimidating to newbies, and those scared of making fools of themselves.

Secondly, if you (or I), post incorrect information, people will correct those errors. Qualifications will excuse no-one.

Thirdly, any chance you can show where anybody has disagreed with your SMA manual, or stated that it is incorrect? I have re-read the responses you got to your 'exploding inverters' posts. Nobody disagreed with your manual, we all disagreed with you for posting it!

I answered a simple question asking about the practice (widespread practice as I understand it) of undersizing an inverter. You took that opportunity to criticise undersizing, by wrongly linking it to overwattage, then running with a scare story about exploding inverters.

Many people reading this thread could, or will have undersized inverters (like you!). Only a dangerously installed system will become dangerous. Like anything in life.

If a person asks for advice on the type of boiler they should install, would your response be to tell them that a dangerously installed boiler could leak gas, explode, set fire to the house, and barbecue their entire family? PS SLEEP WELL!

So your post was irresponsible, unnecessary scaremongering.

Fourthly, why are you so concerned about the efforts that others are making to maximise their electricity savings? The clue is in the title of this thread. As long as nobody is causing harm to anyone else, who cares if we are 'only' saving an extra £20 or £25 pa. It might not mean much to you, but to some of us, it does.

Plus going full circle, back to point 1. We are just trying to have fun, cheer up, it's been a nice sunny day. As a fellow PV'er you should be less grumpy, not more!

Mart.

Martyn1981

teachergirl wrote: »

:

:o:o:o

Oh dear I am having a bad day. Of course you are right Jackie. Well back on thread. Got some soup simmering and slow cooker out for tomorrow. Got DH primed to mow front lawn later and washing was out to dry by 9am. If it stays nice might wash dog beds as well.

The important thing to remember is that we weren't laughing with you, we were laughing at you!

Well it's been lovely here too, (about 15 miles from balmy, barmy Barry). Been running stuff all day, slow cooker, bits and bobs. It's the little things in life.

Mart.