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

GaryMo_2

RoxyK wrote: »

System will be 3.84kWp (16xSanyo HIT240S40SE10) south facing, 30 degrees with Eltex 4.4HE-t inverter.

Just put that system through PV*SOL and you're looking at around 3670kWh per annum. Bet you can't wait now!

sly_dog_jonah

jackieblack wrote: »

Beautiful day today , 13kWh generated (best since 1st September 2011), makes up for some of the day of 1kWh and 2kWh we've had lately
More weather like this, please :T

You can say that again! Our record day since October installation. Previous best was 17.5kWh, today we smashed that by over 20% with a 21.3kWh. Mainly helped by a great start this morning: the inverter fired up before 06:30 and was consistently over 2kW at 8am and 3kW by 9:45. There were a few cloudy spells as well, so I'm sure 25kWh should be achievable on a clear day at this time of year.

To put it in context, today's generation beat last weeks awful Mon-Fri weather which yielded only 17kWh for the whole working week (the sun only made an appearance too late in the day for our SE panels).

RoxyK

GaryMo wrote: »

Just put that system through PV*SOL and you're looking at around 3670kWh per annum. Bet you can't wait now!

No I can't LOL. I'd have them installed this week if I could and I only signed up Friday after copious amounts of research. Me and DH keep looking at the sun (well we did earlier) saying what a shame they're not installed yet.

Wow, when I try the figures on PVGIS I get 3460 with 10% est system losses, if I get more I'll be even happier

Roll on Tuesday!

RoxyK

jackieblack wrote: »

Hope your installation goes well, let us know how you get on
One word of warning - monitoring your generation gets addictive

Thanks so much. I am so excited already and have been checking figures even though I don't have anything installed yet! I dread to think what I'll be like when they're actually in

I *think* my inverter comes with web enabled access as standard though I didn't speak to a techie today so they are double checking for me . So that's another reason to be glued to the internet.....

GaryMo_2

RoxyK wrote: »

Wow, when I try the figures on PVGIS I get 3460 with 10% est system losses, if I get more I'll be even happier

Many people are seeing their yearly figures exceed those projected by PVGIS by up to 20%
Still, even 3460kWh is very respectable so you're not going to go far wrong :j

larkim

EricMears wrote: »

Even longer ago it was :
Some Of His Chums Are Having Trouble Over Algebra
Sine : Opp/Hyp
Cos : Adj/Hyp
Tan: Opp/Adj

And even earlier than that (so I'm told) it would have been :-
Some People Have Curly Brown Hair ( Till Painted Black)

where P was 'Perpendicular' & B was 'Base'

Computers have taken all the fun away - who gets a laugh from Excel's "Insert Function" ?

Our teacher had Silly Old Horses Can Always Have The Only Apple.

However, being teenage boys we had one which began with Suck. I'll leave your imaginations to the rest. Safe to say I can still remember that one 25 years later.

Matt

buzzy37

I have had a 4kw system installed since October and keep a daily log of solar output and electricity use.
My electricity use is not as low as I expected - with the excess solar input it should be lower.
I searched the internet and found one post that may explain it.
Can my electricity meter distinguish between the flow of electricity into my house and the flow when I am exporting to the grid?
As an experiment today at midday when the sun was shining I switched off every electrical device in the house except the inverter.
The Led on my pv input meter flashed at the same rate as my electric meter. Over a period of 40 minutes the electric meter reading (Siemens meter) increased by 2 units.
I then cut off the pv input at the isolator and the led on the electric meter stopped.
Is it possible that the meter cannot distinguish between electricity flowing from the grid and electricity flowing to the grid but just clocks up a positive flow of electricity for which my supplier will charge me.
In other words whenever the sun shines and my system generates excess electricity to the grid I am being charged by my supplier at the retail tariff for the electricity I am supplying to them!!!!
I have queried this with my installer who says the electric meter is the problem of the supplier.
I have spoken to my supplier Scottish Power's call centre with a young lady who couldn't understand what I was talking about but passed my details on to discuss having a new meter (presumably a one way one) installed.
Does anybody know whether it is possible for a digital electric meter to operate like this or am I paranoid?

Ps If I have been charged for the electricity I have generated I would also expect a credit for 50% of my pv output to date at the retail tariff.

GaryMo_2

That's entirely possible and this is a know problem with certain Siemens meters.

http://www.electriciansforums.co.uk/photovoltaic-solar-panels-green-energy-forum/34780-siemens-electric-meters-adding-exported-energy-used-energy.html

John_Pierpoint

buzzy37 wrote: »

I have had a 4kw system installed since October and keep a daily log of solar output and electricity use.
My electricity use is not as low as I expected - with the excess solar input it should be lower.
I searched the internet and found one post that may explain it.
Can my electricity meter distinguish between the flow of electricity into my house and the flow when I am exporting to the grid?
As an experiment today at midday when the sun was shining I switched off every electrical device in the house except the inverter.
The Led on my pv input meter flashed at the same rate as my electric meter. Over a period of 40 minutes the electric meter reading (Siemens meter) increased by 2 units.
I then cut off the pv input at the isolator and the led on the electric meter stopped.
Is it possible that the meter cannot distinguish between electricity flowing from the grid and electricity flowing to the grid but just clocks up a positive flow of electricity for which my supplier will charge me.
In other words whenever the sun shines and my system generates excess electricity to the grid I am being charged by my supplier at the retail tariff for the electricity I am supplying to them!!!!
I have queried this with my installer who says the electric meter is the problem of the supplier.
I have spoken to my supplier Scottish Power's call centre with a young lady who couldn't understand what I was talking about but passed my details on to discuss having a new meter (presumably a one way one) installed.
Does anybody know whether it is possible for a digital electric meter to operate like this or am I paranoid?

Ps If I have been charged for the electricity I have generated I would also expect a credit for 50% of my pv output to date at the retail tariff.

There is a whole thread on here somewhere from a similar sufferer, It lasted months and reads like a cross between a detective story and a keystone cops farce.

It is amazing how stupid the jobsworths at the local electricity supplier can be. Your Siemens meter almost certainly knows exactly what has happened in its internal registers and all that is needed is the ability to understand how to extract that information.

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/3191844

teachergirl

I also think it is mentioned on this thread by fundire. Search for posts by him/her and you will find it. There is also a whole thread by him/her on the subject.
John....we must be fairly close as my sun rises over the river Crouch. Although it has been quite misty here it has been a good week here. With 20+kWh everyday this week. Which makes up for some pretty poor results in previous weeks. If the fog goes today the weather forecast is for 21 degrees:D