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

themaverick1953

Can you explain what you mean by solar immersion? Cant you use an existing immersion heater?

Martyn1981

themaverick1953 wrote: »

Can you explain what you mean by solar immersion? Cant you use an existing immersion heater?

There are lots of intelligent switches, that monitor export and dial up the power to an immersion to match.

The SolarImmersion is one:

http://solarimmersion.co.uk/

Many others can be found on this thread:

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/4152489

Mart.

themaverick1953

Can any of these be accessed from a computer/webpage and the data stored?

nobby1963

Hi all,
Just wondering if anyone has any thoughts on this situation ....
Our system was installed 2 years + ago! we have a Sunny Beam monitor in our lounge and still take great joy at our real time generation stats especially on sunny days !
When it comes to submitting our FIT readings each quarter I have always read the actual generation meter it's self but this has always matched our Sunny Beams total generation reading.
That was until this reading - due on 3rd March. Turns out our Sunny Beam is now reading about 30 units higher than the generation meter !
I have now been in touch with our installer and he has kindly fitted us a second temporary generation meter running in 'tandem' with our original with the intention of making sure that the original is not under reading our generation.
I was suprised when I contacted them though and they told me that it would not be unusual for the Sunny Beam ( which takes its info via Bluetooth direct from the Sunny Boy inverter ) to not be entirely accurate ?
They were very suprised when I said that both readings had always matched up to this quarter.
Can anyone else with a Sunny Beam give me their experience please ?
I will find it a tad frustrating if the two don't match and I am no longer able to trust the Sunny Beam
Thanks in advance ......
Nobby.

legoman62

I have an SMA SB3800 invertor. I also had a Sunny Beam monitor which I used to check generation. After 3/4 months I noticed that the generation meter was reading lower than the SB. The SB readings were 1% higher than actual generation. I rang SMA and explained this to them and was told, that the reading could be out by 1% and "the piece of kit in the invertor that measures generation only costs about 10p" whereas a generation meter costs about £20.00.

I decided to sell my S/B monitor, and find something that was more accurate (Wattson)

I still monitor my PV using Sunny Explorer on my PC but, know my readings are 1% higher than true.
You can reset your Invertor to the correct reading (I do this periodically) using your PC:D

nobby1963

Thanks for the quick reply legoman.
Not what I wanted to hear but that backs up my installers views though.
I will wait and see after a few weeks to make sure it's not the generation meter but it seems that it won't be.
I guess I was just lucky up to now with the two readings matching.
Nobby.

dfurn

nobby1963 wrote: »

Hi all,
Just wondering if anyone has any thoughts on this situation ....
Our system was installed 2 years + ago! we have a Sunny Beam monitor in our lounge and still take great joy at our real time generation stats especially on sunny days !
When it comes to submitting our FIT readings each quarter I have always read the actual generation meter it's self but this has always matched our Sunny Beams total generation reading.
That was until this reading - due on 3rd March. Turns out our Sunny Beam is now reading about 30 units higher than the generation meter !
I have now been in touch with our installer and he has kindly fitted us a second temporary generation meter running in 'tandem' with our original with the intention of making sure that the original is not under reading our generation.
I was suprised when I contacted them though and they told me that it would not be unusual for the Sunny Beam ( which takes its info via Bluetooth direct from the Sunny Boy inverter ) to not be entirely accurate ?
They were very suprised when I said that both readings had always matched up to this quarter.
Can anyone else with a Sunny Beam give me their experience please ?
I will find it a tad frustrating if the two don't match and I am no longer able to trust the Sunny Beam
Thanks in advance ......
Nobby.

The reason why the reading on the meter is different from that on the inverter is that there will be some loss of what is generated depending on how long the cable is from the inverter to the meter. I know it's AC and hence the loss shouldn't be so great, but there will be some. Unfortunately the only figure that matters is what the meter says.

orrery

nobby1963 wrote: »

Hi all,
That was until this reading - due on 3rd March. Turns out our Sunny Beam is now reading about 30 units higher than the generation meter !

Sounds odd. My SB and meter have very slowly drifted apart (as I would expect). They remain very similar, with the greatest variations being in months of high generation.

I have over 8000kWh now with a delta of 20kWh between the two, which is rather impressive.

If the SB or inverter have suddenly 'jumped' readings (as I think you are saying) then you should be able to see the jump by downloading the data from either the SB (via USB lead) or the inverter (by bluetooth).

themaverick1953

THis one:


http://solarimmersion.co.uk/


seems about half the price of the immersun so was going to go for the former.


Thoughts?

mickyduck

themaverick1953 wrote: »

THis one:


http://solarimmersion.co.uk/


seems about half the price of the immersun so was going to go for the former.


Thoughts?

I have one of these... no bells or whistles and the display seems to be of no value at all... almost always diverting 100 % or zero sometimes something in between. However I have had very hot water almost every day since installed. Thermostat set at 70... I am very pleased with it because after the first few days of checking the display to "see what it is reading" I got bored so rarely look under the stairs anymore. More of an indication about current flow is the flashing light rather than the display. Cannot comment on other systems but as I said in another post only used my electric shower a handful of times since fitting this.