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

zeupater

Hi

I've come to find that a better way to make a decision on what the weather is likely to do over the next couple of hours is to have a look at an animated satellite photograph sequence and make our own local short-term forecast depending on what's coming our way .... this still doesn't stop fair-weather clouds bubbling up though, as they tend to on warm clear days ....

Site to try .... http://www.sat24.com/en/gb .... (use the visual view not the IR during the day)

HTH
Z

SallyKing

A friend of mine fills cups with water and uses the microwave to boil them. The great thing about this method is that most microwaves have adjustable power outputs, so use full power at mid day or down to 25% and wait a few mins longer if its early morning. But like a kettle with an adjustable power setting.

And I'll add my advice to this, be careful boiling water in the microwave, when you add the coffee or tea it can make the water boil. Never seen it myself but apparently its more likely if you have new cups and soft water, there is nowhere for a steam bubble to form and the water can become superheated.

zeupater

SallyKing wrote: »

A friend of mine fills cups with water and uses the microwave to boil them. The great thing about this method is that most microwaves have adjustable power outputs, so use full power at mid day or down to 25% and wait a few mins longer if its early morning. But like a kettle with an adjustable power setting.

And I'll add my advice to this, be careful boiling water in the microwave, when you add the coffee or tea it can make the water boil. Never seen it myself but apparently its more likely if you have new cups and soft water, there is nowhere for a steam bubble to form and the water can become superheated.

Hi Sally

We've recently discussed microwaves and their ability to modulate power .... unless the microwave in question has inverter technology, turning the 'power' down simply cycles the magnatron off for a while, then back on again therefore the low power setting will deliver roughly the same amount of energy at the same power level as the 'high' setting, but just over a longer timeperiod, therefore, taking the other power requirements into consideration (turntable/electronics/fan/light etc), the 'low' setting would consume more energy than 'high' to heat the water and would likely result in no change in imported energy use in a pv environment ....

HTH
Z

orrery

SallyKing wrote: »

And I'll add my advice to this, be careful boiling water in the microwave, when you add the coffee or tea it can make the water boil. Never seen it myself but apparently its more likely if you have new cups and soft water, there is nowhere for a steam bubble to form and the water can become superheated.

I have seen it. I re-heated a glass of water with vinegar in it (recommended for clearing cooking odours).

All the water in the glass vaporised instantly and blew the door open, leaving the interior completely dry (and free of cooking odours!).

SallyKing

zeupater wrote: »

Hi Sally

We've recently discussed microwaves and their ability to modulate power .... unless the microwave in question has inverter technology, turning the 'power' down simply cycles the magnatron off for a while, then back on again therefore the low power setting will deliver roughly the same amount of energy at the same power level as the 'high' setting, but just over a longer timeperiod, therefore, taking the other power requirements into consideration (turntable/electronics/fan/light etc), the 'low' setting would consume more energy than 'high' to heat the water and would likely result in no change in imported energy use in a pv environment ....

HTH
Z

Thanks for that - I'll let my friend know. Maybe a better way to save money is to drink less tea

Cardew

EricMears wrote: »

You won't be able to find any calculations for Cardew's £25.

I am not aware I used the figure of £25 - albeit I might have done. I believe this is the subject quote:

post #1534

Whilst I freely admit that if I had PV I would be something of a 'nerd' in trying to maximise my in-house consumption, I just wonder how much extra money would be saved by 'working at it' rather than just putting on appliances around midday.

Less than £20 a year IMO

IMO = In My Opinion!!

Doc N quoted the above in this post:

Spot on - and I say that with around 18 months' experience. It really isn't worth all the hassle trying to achieve some kind of PV 'perfection'. You won't manage it, and you need a life!


A bit of experience and a degree of commonsense should enable most people to maximise the use of the 'free' power, without turning their lives upside down in the process.

I can understand The Green Hornet, with his vested interest, attacking the messenger, however he and Mart would do well to read zeupater's last excellent post.(#2013)

sly_dog_jonah

seagull09 wrote: »

Right, I'm moving house to wherever you are...

Here there's no generation until 8.00 a.m, and thanks to the vagaries of the poxy weather, three days in a row a superb first hour or two has turned into grey cloudy noon and afternoon, just when things could be doing so well. Good job I didn't set the midday timer... :rotfl:

Reckon it'll be raining here shortly, looking at the ominous sky.

Set your Rightmove search window on NE Somerset :beer:

Our system is SSE facing (-36deg azimuth) so the morning generation will be always be better than the afternoon on a perfect day. Still hovering around the 1.8kW mark now at 1340 and only 2.1kWh needed to beat yesterday's record. But there is a cloud front heading our way by the looks of it

Cardew

EricMears wrote: »

I seem to have been conned into accepting that a 3kw kettle produces a couple of cupfulls for 'a fraction of a penny'

In fact, it takes approx two mins to boil that amount.
3kw for 2 mins is 6 kwmins - or 0.1 kwh
I'd pay 11p/kwh in daytime hours or 5p on E7 so those two cups would cost me 1.1p after 8am (or 0.5p before).

Allowing for generating 1kw around 9am but using half of it on 'base load' , the 500w kettle is still 'free' but the 3kw one would cost 5/6ths of 1.1p or around 0.9p. Technically, that is indeed a 'fraction of a penny' - but it's a jolly big fraction !

Who conned you?

I believe I raised the issue of costs and stated '2 cups will cost under a penny'

If my 'back of a fag packet' maths are correct that 0.1kWh is sufficient energy to raise 1 litre of water by 90C.

My tea cups are 0.25 litres not 0.5 litres.

Martyn1981

Cardew wrote: »

If you don’t get the point – then why bother to comment? Unless you simply can’t help yourself in your self- appointed role as moderator on all things solar.

I don’t get the point, I can’t put it plainer than that. People are discussing how to save money with their PV systems, on a thread of that title, on a site titled ‘Money Saving’. You have repeatedly pointed out that they are wasting their time. Why, what is the point?

Cardew wrote: »

If you find people expressing opinions, with which you disagree, and it causes you such angst; why not put them on ignore and save yourself the aggravation.

There is no need to worry. Your posts cause me neither angst, nor aggravation. If anything, I find them quite amusing these days.

It is more your hypocrisy that irritates me. For years you have argued against PV FITs on the grounds that it takes money from the poor and gives it to the rich. You are very concerned about the £2 to £5pa that PV adds to the Green Tariff (calculations differ). Yet you appear to belittle our attempts to save £20 or £25pa on our electricity bills! I should also point out that we are attempting to maximise the value of the PV system, hardly a bad thing.

Cardew wrote: »

I note Doc N – who has had solar for 20 months – escapes your censure despite expressing exactly the same opinion as myself. Indeed the post you ‘don’t get’ was simply agreeing with his last post.

I don’t know why you want me (and Seagull) to disagree with Doc N. I’ve already responded to him. He pointed out that trying to maximise the use of generation should not become an obsession. I agree with that, but in my response I pointed out that we are still learning the basic skills, and enjoying ourselves whilst doing so. When it stops being fun, and the rewards become too small, he is right, we should stop trying to push the envelope any further.

Your post however, as discussed above, was to belittle efforts. Efforts that I certainly don’t mind making.

On a lighter note, my meter has just registered 1,000units, my first MWh. One down, 99 to go!

Mart.

Kernel_Sanders

grahamc2003 wrote: »

But to be clear, and please read this next bit carefully, are you saying that by montioring your solar output and turning appliances on and off throughout the day to try to match the generation, you can save an extra £250 over someone who simply sets a timer or two around lunchitme to turn on some large appliances?

Had you composed this as carefully as you expected it to be read, you would, no doubt, have quoted the difference as £25