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

Richmc

Have you tried using it with a wok?

Exiled_Tyke

Richmc said:

But is your electricity 100% green generated? And could you imagine using induction in a professional kitchen?
I'm sure that in a domestic environment it suits you well, I can't work with it.

Of course not 100%green but the percentages are always improving. And of course on bright days it is 100% PV generated.   

Given that I've previously used 'old fashioned' (and slow as hell) electricity in a professional kitchen (which wasn't any fun at all) I could imagine using induction for work and would be happy to do so (after I'd got used to it in that environment). And I would happily admit that I struggled to get used to it domestically but it is very responsive (the main issue with old electric) and so am confident I could work with it in an bigger setting.   

Richmc

Good input I'm learning a lot here, every source has it's limitations and virtues.

Exiled_Tyke

Richmc said:

Have you tried using it with a wok?

Nah - not my kind of cooking I"m afraid

silverwhistle

Richmc said:

Have you tried using it with a wok?

Yep, it's fine. At least as good as any standard domestic hob gas burner: I'm not talking about specialist wok burners. I use a standard thin metal wok.

As a very messy cook I find the induction hob a lot easier to keep not very clean! I'd have been sacked by Exiled_Tyke..:-)   It's also very controllable.

Martyn1981

Richmc said:

"I also query whether gas is always best" - Ask any chef.
"But this isn't green is it?" - Nope, just gives better results.
Powerwall is defiantly NOT green and lithium ion is evil, first the raw materials come from third world countries mined under very poor working conditions, it's poisonous and the workers have very little protection. Next the processing has to be carried out at many different locations resulting in the product traveling twice around the world, lots of fuel miles there. Thirdly lithium ion batteries are dangerous, the Texas fire fighters (my nephew is one) have been ordered NEVER to attempt to extinguish a fire involving them (car or domestic) they burn at temperatures similar to burning magnesium and give off deadly toxic fumes so imagine the cost of insuring a Tesla car that can be written off after suffering very minor damage. Lithium ion batteries cannot be recycled as yet and have zero scrap value. And to produce one ton of lithium uses 1 million gallons of water! Compare this to lead acid batteries, made from common chemicals and materials not that pleasant ones but handled correctly totally safe. Sealed gel acid batteries will not give off inflammable or corrosive vapours. They will not last as long as lithium ion batteries but here's the rub they can be 100% recycled and you will get a very good price for them, offsetting the shorter life by miles.

Guess what I have in my Wattstor system :-)

edit - Forgot to say propane is the most environmentally friendly fuel available zero greenhouse gas production, apart from transport contributions.

I'm struggling with most of that.
Lithium Ion is evil and the raw materials come from third world countries ....... etc etc. Are you sure? Might you just be talking about Cobalt the material that is being reduced, and is also used in the refinery industry to produce low sulphur petrol and diesel that we use?
I believe, but will have to find it, that advice went out in the US quite recently to firefighters that electric car fires are no more dangerous than ICE fires, they just need to know how to deal with them. Plus of course BEV's are far less likely to catch fire than an ICE.
Can't be recycled, are you joking? The latest recycling plants are into the high 70%'s and aiming for 90%+. And that's after considering second life as stationary storage, perhaps 20yrs after 20yrs in the car.
Then finally you claim that propane has zero greenhouse gas production, yet it's refined from crude oil or nat gas.

Martyn1981

Richmc said:

But is your electricity 100% green generated? And could you imagine using induction in a professional kitchen?
I'm sure that in a domestic environment it suits you well, I can't work with it.

Yes, and yes, and I can work with it.
There are no shortage of 100% green leccy supply deals - and whilst of course that might not mean the leccy reaching any given customer comes from a green source, it does mean more green leccy goes into the mix, displacing FF leccy elsewhere.

cdunne

Great posts. During lock-down (with the wholesale price going negative in the middle of the day I invested in a Sofar inverter with 4 x Pylon Tech US2000 batteries (9.6kWh).. The idea being to move to the Octopus Agile Tariff. (This has still not happened because I'm still awaiting a smart meter, despite them going to fit one and cancelling on the day 6 weeks ago!)
Since Dec 2015 (end of FIT) I've had a 4kWp Solar Edge solar setup.  My house has a combi boiler fitted so for now I'm stuck with gas.*
I've had a induction hob and electric oven fitted in addition to their gas counterparts (I'm thinking that during the winter there will be a chance of the batteries becoming flattened therefore having the gas alternative oven / hobs might pay off. The most expensive electrical appliance I've brought is a 2015 20kWh Nisan Leaf (I've also got a 'Ohme' smart charger which they've kindly de-rated to 6 Amp current making it compatible with both solar during the day and the battery store at night.
Has anyone got a Sofar on the Agile tariff? (It's struck me that if you have automated load that comes on when the grid price goes negative and the batteries have charge it will try it's best to stop you importing from the grid! I wonder if there is a way to force them to charge in software.. If not I'm thinking of a hardware botch with a contactor to switch its sensed current to one that fools it into thinking the solar panels are generating full and it's all being exported to the grid! 

* I am maybe thinking about the RHI scheme so this might make me move from gas!

arty688

When you get onto Agile there's a great forum for customers only that will be able to answer all your questions. If you haven't found it already

QrizB

This is probably the oldest post I've ever quoted ...

lanstrom said:

Hi Angela,
Welcome to the forums and don't forget to join the MSE Team on PVoutput ... http://pvoutput.org/listteam.jsp?tid=338
Look forward to seeing your outputs

The "MSE Forumites" team is still live on PVoutput   I wonder how many of the 23 members are still active on the forum?