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

free_juice?

grahamc2003 wrote: »

Just to add to your woes a bit and perhaps save you getting outsmarted by the pigeon, a hose connected to a tap won't give much of a blast - if any - when you're at solar panel level. I'd take extra stcks and do extra poking in the eyes to compensate, or get a pressure washer. But as with everything there are pros and cons, and pigeon pie is lovely.

I can get to within three feet of the panels and the pigeon's favoured spot and my water pressure is nearly 100 pounds psi so a hose might wash him away. (I use it occasionally to flush the gutters clean). However when I got up there I found nothing to see other than a pile of twigs in the gutter.

I had seen the blighter taking the sticks under the panels but they have all slithered down the slope to gutter level. Maybe he will give up.

Cardew

ChrisJD wrote: »

Well, both strings were working, but it seems that on this size of Kaco inverter, the leftmost terminal is for earthing, so one string was not actually connected.

Now producing twice the power :-)

Chris

Have they offered you any compensation for your lost FITs?

You obviously have some electrical knowledge, but I suspect many people would simply not have noticed!

ChrisJD

Cardew wrote: »

Have they offered you any compensation for your lost FITs?

You obviously have some electrical knowledge, but I suspect many people would simply not have noticed!

No compensation offered yet, but you can rest assured that it is something I will be taking up with them.

Yes, I am a (retired) Chartered Electrical Engineer, so I understand more than the average punter, and I have always liked to chart whatever data I can get my hands on.

I would hope that even those not at all technically inclined would at least compare their annual output with the projected figure, and expect it to be somewhere within, say, 20% of it. Mind you, that is a lot of wasted opportunity by then.

teachergirl

Well we are really racking up the kWh at the moment getting at least 20kWh every day...long may it continue:D
Thumbs down to E.on though I'm afraid. My FIT tariff still has not hit my bank account. So I phoned up to complain as it is now 11 working days . Apparently,there has been a mistake it has gone to accounts for paying but won't get to my bank account until next week. Do you think I should have asked for my lost interest:(

free juice? I'm really sorry but I feel sorry for the pigeon;)

free_juice?

teachergirl wrote: »

Well we are really racking up the kWh at the moment getting at least 20kWh every day...long may it continue:D
Thumbs down to E.on though I'm afraid. My FIT tariff still has not hit my bank account. So I phoned up to complain as it is now 11 working days . Apparently,there has been a mistake it has gone to accounts for paying but won't get to my bank account until next week. Do you think I should have asked for my lost interest:(

free juice? I'm really sorry but I feel sorry for the pigeon;)

Scottish Power money got to my bank account on 18th April. The pigeon is going to fix the problem for me, if he nicks any more of the other birds' food he will be too fat to squeeze under the panels.

In truth he seems to have given up already.

furndire

Has anyone one had a faulty electric meter - I'm sure that mine is adding on the KWs which I am producing. Have had the system in 9 mths, and although I thought there was something not quite right, I just left it. However, today we decided to switch everything - bar the invertor - and keep a check on the mains electric meter - sure enough, it was still adding on KW used at approx 1 every 10 mins!!!! So we then switched everything back on gradually, and then the meter started clicking over every 20 mins or so. When we put the dishwasher & washer on, it dropped to us using 1 KW an hour. (the independant monitor was registering between 2800 & 3500 all this time. The electric company are going to put another meter on to check the meter is running correctly but not before 10th May - but will this show up as a fault.

stoozey

furndire wrote: »

Has anyone one had a faulty electric meter - I'm sure that mine is adding on the KWs which I am producing. Have had the system in 9 mths, and although I thought there was something not quite right, I just left it. However, today we decided to switch everything - bar the invertor - and keep a check on the mains electric meter - sure enough, it was still adding on KW used at approx 1 every 10 mins!!!! So we then switched everything back on gradually, and then the meter started clicking over every 20 mins or so. When we put the dishwasher & washer on, it dropped to us using 1 KW an hour. (the independant monitor was registering between 2800 & 3500 all this time. The electric company are going to put another meter on to check the meter is running correctly but not before 10th May - but will this show up as a fault.

did you flick the breakers on all your circuits apart from the inverter ?

Would be strange to see the wheel spinning fast just on the inverter.

Why don't you get an energy monitor, I use the one from alertme.com its really cool, can check on power usage at any time from the PC or iphone. It also updates google power meter.

zeupater

stoozey wrote: »

did you flick the breakers on all your circuits apart from the inverter ?

Would be strange to see the wheel spinning fast just on the inverter.

Why don't you get an energy monitor, I use the one from alertme.com its really cool, can check on power usage at any time from the PC or iphone. It also updates google power meter.

Hi

Looks like fundire was using a monitor ...... 'the independant monitor was registering between 2800 & 3500 all this time' ...


@fundire

Did you isolate the inverter from the AC just to check that it wasn't anything within the unit ? .... 1 kWh in 10 minutes would equate to around 6kW, so somewhere around 25A, therefore if it was anything to do with the inverter the protective fuse on the solar circuit should have tripped (if it has a lower rating).

As you've had the system for 9 months, if the meter was registering 6kW under no load since the system was installed you would have had quite large bills, if this isn't the case it's likely that it's only recently happened, therefore it would be an idea to check your last couple of meter readings .....

Good luck
HTH
Z

Zenoka

This idea was suggested by my Uncle, he is a retired engineer so he is pretty smart (and a little bit crazy, thats another story!) but I'm interested to see what you all think.

Our freezer has a boost function that takes the temp down from -18c to -24c, he said to put the boost on when there is a surplus from the panels and then turn the boost off later in the day when the output drops. The idea is that as the freezer will be so much colder the motor will not need to start up again until the temp gets back down (or up????) to -18c. He said that this is the kind of thing that we will all have in the future when we get the intelligent grid. He said that fridge freezers are one of the biggest household consumers of electric, is this correct? I would of thought our electic oven uses much more?

I cant imagine it would ever save much, but I'm always in the kitchen and its certainly no hassle to press a button twice a day, Maybe over a year it will add up. I'm interested not just in saving money (we are broke an every penny really does help) but I also want to do my bit for my childrens future.

Cardew

Zenoka wrote: »

This idea was suggested by my Uncle, he is a retired engineer so he is pretty smart (and a little bit crazy, thats another story!) but I'm interested to see what you all think.

Our freezer has a boost function that takes the temp down from -18c to -24c, he said to put the boost on when there is a surplus from the panels and then turn the boost off later in the day when the output drops. The idea is that as the freezer will be so much colder the motor will not need to start up again until the temp gets back down (or up????) to -18c. He said that this is the kind of thing that we will all have in the future when we get the intelligent grid. He said that fridge freezers are one of the biggest household consumers of electric, is this correct? I would of thought our electic oven uses much more?

I cant imagine it would ever save much, but I'm always in the kitchen and its certainly no hassle to press a button twice a day, Maybe over a year it will add up. I'm interested not just in saving money (we are broke an every penny really does help) but I also want to do my bit for my childrens future.

Modern Fridge freezers use between 200kWh and 400kWh a year. So say £20 to £40 and of course much of that is for the fridge.

So whilst the 'boost' idea would work, the savings would be marginal - perhaps a couple of pounds a year for a lot of hassle!