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

zeupater

Hi John

The difference in the Ceres fuel cell technology means that the unit performs at lower temperatures where ceramics can safely be replaced with stainless steel ....... my only gripe is that BG have effectively hijacked the project in order to provide Ceres an accelerated route to market, effectively resulting in a hybrid gas boiler/CHP system. I would see the real benefit of the technology as being the building block for an extremely high efficiency gas powered GSHP with the reaction heat simply being used to boost the heating circuit flow temperature ..... but then again, I don't sell gas

Z

John_Pierpoint

The 250% efficient gas boiler because there is a freezer motor attached to pre-heat the water?
Sounds like a neat idea.
Less call for super large aluminium radiators in existing homes?
Shame I have not got a gas supply.
Perhaps Centrica should realise they own a wasting asset that took millions of years to create and that won't last for ever.
Come to think of it they are already in bed with EDF to build nuclear?

themaverick1953

John_Pierpoint wrote: »

I found a posting on the web from someone who had rigged up something to count the red flashes, complete with picture and wiring diagram.:rotfl:

Your meter sounds like mine - have you proved that it STOPS counting anything when you are exporting?
Mine displays decimals of a kWh

My average usage before panels was 18 kWh per day and is now 8

zeupater

John_Pierpoint wrote: »

The 250% efficient gas boiler because there is a freezer motor attached to pre-heat the water?
Sounds like a neat idea.
Less call for super large aluminium radiators in existing homes?
Shame I have not got a gas supply.
Perhaps Centrica should realise they own a wasting asset that took millions of years to create and that won't last for ever.
Come to think of it they are already in bed with EDF to build nuclear?

Hi

That's about it .....

Roughly, for each 2kW potential of gas input 900W of heat & 900W of electricity .... for each 900W of electricity produced to run the heat pump you get around 3.6kW of heat drawn from the ground, the temperature of which is boosted by the 900W of reaction heat giving 4.5kW of heat from 2kW of fuel .... confirming 250% efficiency if the system is designed and balanced correctly.

This would be an almost perfect fit for an 'off grid' solution, whether the term 'off grid' refers to gas, electricity, or both, and would be seen as a natural replacement for LPG or oil heating systems as well as being suitable as a high efficiency heating system for those have a mains gas supply.

I suppose that we should get the thread back on track now as although it's a greener solution than most, it's not exactly related to solar pv ..... ...... so, has anyone tried the personal generation forecast link (meteoblue) which I posted yesterday, if so, what do you think ????

HTH
Z

furndire

I did take a quick look - didn't know what I was doing, so bookmarked to go back to it when I have a [STRIKE]bit[/STRIKE] lot of time to read properly :) & I am in the mind set to understand

furndire

themaverick1953 wrote: »

My average usage before panels was 18 kWh per day and is now 8

Are you using most of this at night? Or have you ever checked what you use overnight, say from when the panels stop producing to roughly when they start again in the morning? Just curious.

John_Pierpoint

John_Pierpoint wrote: »

Today they should be doing heat pumps.

Well today they did get round to doing heat pumps (35 minutes in from start of programme).

Nothing particularly new in the programme and no obvious school boy howlers.

Ground versus Air source?

Energy Saving Trust trials results showing unacceptable variance on efficiency and performance for both types.
Gas is still roughly 1/3dr the price of electricity so main market is people off the gas grid.
60% of your energy expenditure is heating even when on mains gas.
More for people with detached houses and tanks in the garden.
Ideal for new build, high insulated with underfloor (low temp.) heating.
Much more tricky if supplying radiators at 50+ degrees.

Must accurately estimate the quality of good insulation installed
Then accurately forecast energy demand of the building
Then balance the source with the output and get a pump to manage the situation.

Vox Pop with happy GSPH customer with 8,000 sq ft (800 sq meter) house !!! [I bet he can use it for the swimming pool in the summer too?!]

Phillip Pullman (Author) - his garden looked like the battle of the Somme during installation - but it soon recoverd.

Vox Pop - really happy with ASHP as replacement for old gas system (bottled gas?) in a listed cottage - better heat up from cold than before?!?

Make sure installer is MCS qualified.
Renewable Heat Incentive coming, at present some sort of grant may still be available.

Costs:
Up to 10K for ASHP
Up to 20K for GSHP

But ALWAYS (insulate) save before trying to generate.

Next week: How to SAVE energy.

ChrisJD

ChrisJD wrote: »

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

Just to complete the story (for new readers half my panels were not correctly connected) my installer has accepted my compensation claim.

I simply added up the lost FIT and export values, together with the consumption I should not have had, They agreed with me, and rounded it up.

Equaliser123

free_juice? wrote: »

QUOTE]

One little point - why has MSE in its "infinite wisdom" removed Freejuice's signature which, I believe, linked to his own solar generation system???

Interested to know which part of his signature was offensive....

themaverick1953

My installer told me (in good faith) that I would receive my FIT paymets from the 0 reading on the meter. I registered wth British gas today and the form I filled in said that you could only start at 0 if you registered within 5 days of commissioning.

Since you have to pay the installer, then wait for the MCS certificate before then applying for the FIT payments, 5 days seems extremely unreasonable. Has anyone else come up against this?