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

orrery

ctdctd wrote: »

My supplier is EDF but their form is much more complicated and no email

That's fine, provided they will accept the application. Some providers say that you have to be their customer or be with a supplier that isn't large enough to run the scheme.

I'm with EDF and the form was complicated! IIRC there has been a statement on these forii that you could email to EDF and an email address was provided.

Also, don't forget that email isn't a guaranteed delivery service.

ctdctd

orrery wrote: »

Also, don't forget that email isn't a guaranteed delivery service.

I phoned British Gas - their email system has an auto-acknowledgement so that should tell me if they have got it. If it does not arrive, I'll be phoning them again.

You don't have to be a customer to use them for the FIT.

[Deleted User]

orrery wrote: »

Well done. Get that form filled in quickly, check it a thousand times and send it special delivery (not recorded delivery, which is unreliable).

And once you have checked it has arrived via RMs Track & Trace - phone whichever company you sent it to so you can ensure they have actually had sight of it.

This is very different to someone just signing for it - not even oopening it - and throwing it onto a pile of other post to await processing.

Proof of delivery only ensure RM have done their job - it does not guarnatee the utitlity will not lose the form before they have processed it.

Otis_VR

What an incredibly useful thread this is! I've just had my PV system installed (it went live about 10 days ago) and this thread has answered a lot of my questions so far. I'm using an OWL unit for basic monitoring, my meter is not going backwards (or wrongly forward) and all seems basically well. The system is registered with my energy supplier and I have an email from them confirming receipt.

I did have a couple of questions though:

(1) my Owl unit shows a background reading of 0.084kW at rest (even though the inverter has auto shut off at this point). I noticed an earlier comment that these are not great at low level readings, is this acceptable/reasonable? I thought it was a bit high (the inverter spec says 0.5-5W at rest). Could this be the panels, or just the limit of the Owl? (It's difficult to shut down the house power to test).

(2) generation so far is a little less than expected (2-4 kWh per day) for the tail end of November even though the weather and light have been ok, although I still have some minor shading from the scaffolding. Does this sound ok? Can anyone share their generation figures for the last 9 days so I can compare please.

I'm running a 3.43kW system facing SSE on a steep roof (estimated 45-50 degrees), northwest of London (nearest place of note is Watford), typical energy use is 9000 kWh/year (yes, I know it's high).

Thanks in advance

Otis

Dave_Fowler

Otis_VR wrote: »

(1) my Owl unit shows a background reading of 0.084kW at rest (even though the inverter has auto shut off at this point). I noticed an earlier comment that these are not great at low level readings, is this acceptable/reasonable? I thought it was a bit high (the inverter spec says 0.5-5W at rest). Could this be the panels, or just the limit of the Owl? (It's difficult to shut down the house power to test).

(2) generation so far is a little less than expected (2-4 kWh per day) for the tail end of November even though the weather and light have been ok, although I still have some minor shading from the scaffolding. Does this sound ok? Can anyone share their generation figures for the last 9 days so I can compare please.

I'm running a 3.43kW system facing SSE on a steep roof (estimated 45-50 degrees), northwest of London (nearest place of note is Watford), typical energy use is 9000 kWh/year (yes, I know it's high).

Thanks in advance

Otis

I too have owl monitors. My Owl reads 0.067kW when the system has shut down for the night. I have looked at the waveform on the current sense probe at night and find it is just a mush if spikes - hardly any 50Hz (mains frequency) content. The Owl just processes the spikes and gives the erroneous reading. I would not trust the readings as being anything like accurate below 250W.

I am quite close to the notable town of Watford and have had readings of 6, 2, 0, 4, 3, 7, 2, 9 and 1 kWh for the past 9 days - 2.96kWp system.

Dave F

Hungerdunger

orrery wrote: »

I'm with EDF and the form was complicated! IIRC there has been a statement on these forii that you could email to EDF and an email address was provided.

Apologies for being pedantic, but if you want to use the Latin plural of forum, it is "fora". However I'm sure most people here would be happy with "forums".

Ah, the benefits of a Classical education.

Otis_VR

Dave_Fowler wrote: »

I too have owl monitors. My Owl reads 0.067kW when the system has shut down for the night. I have looked at the waveform on the current sense probe at night and find it is just a mush if spikes - hardly any 50Hz (mains frequency) content. The Owl just processes the spikes and gives the erroneous reading. I would not trust the readings as being anything like accurate below 250W.

I am quite close to the notable town of Watford and have had readings of 6, 2, 0, 4, 3, 7, 2, 9 and 1 kWh for the past 9 days - 2.96kWp system.

Dave F

Thanks Dave.

That's what I suspected with the Owl, but great to get your input. very insightful. In my calcs I've been discarding everything below 0.084W on the basis of noise (since this tallies up with the generation stats also), but was keen to make sure I wasn't actually burning all that juice at the same time.

Based on your readings it looks like I'm only getting partial production at this time. (3,2,1,1,3,3,4,2,4) puts me about 25% behind you (allowing for system size). I think I'll put this down to scaffolding shade at the moment and will revisit once it's gone.

Thanks again

Otis

orrery

Otis_VR wrote: »

That's what I suspected with the Owl, but great to get your input. very insightful...

Mine shows steps at the lower end of the range - certain values are common and there is nothing in between.

Mine starts at 101W (when generation is 10 to 40W), then steps to 118W. By the time it gets to about 200W it is believable, within about 10%.

ISTR the specs for these units having an accuracy only specified above a certain value.

As, on these dark mornings, the generation is very poor (58W currently on a dark gloomy wet day) the total cumulative figure on the Owl is a gross over estimate nearing 80kWh since install, when the true figure is only 71kWh.

I've tried splitting the live of the cable out to get it clear of other cables, but it makes no difference - I think that we are seeing a limitation of the instrument.

zeupater

Otis_VR wrote: »

Thanks Dave.

That's what I suspected with the Owl, but great to get your input. very insightful. In my calcs I've been discarding everything below 0.084W on the basis of noise (since this tallies up with the generation stats also), but was keen to make sure I wasn't actually burning all that juice at the same time.

Based on your readings it looks like I'm only getting partial production at this time. (3,2,1,1,3,3,4,2,4) puts me about 25% behind you (allowing for system size). I think I'll put this down to scaffolding shade at the moment and will revisit once it's gone.

Thanks again

Otis

Hi

It's probably just as(/more) likely that it's orientation and location .... even a few miles could make a considerable difference if there's a break in the clouds in one location but not the other, especially so at this time of year ....

HTH
Z

zeupater

orrery wrote: »

Mine shows steps at the lower end of the range - certain values are common and there is nothing in between.

Mine starts at 101W (when generation is 10 to 40W), then steps to 118W. By the time it gets to about 200W it is believable, within about 10%.

ISTR the specs for these units having an accuracy only specified above a certain value.

As, on these dark mornings, the generation is very poor (58W currently on a dark gloomy wet day) the total cumulative figure on the Owl is a gross over estimate nearing 80kWh since install, when the true figure is only 71kWh.

I've tried splitting the live of the cable out to get it clear of other cables, but it makes no difference - I think that we are seeing a limitation of the instrument.

Hi

Mine's quite accurate, displays down to 50W and seems to be pretty good at that level too as individual low power devices such as a CFL have the expected effect on the display.

Regarding accuracy .... what needs to be remembered is that the monitors do not measure Watts, the sensor senses current and as it has no way to measure the voltage has to use the user-selectable voltage parameter .... sensor*parameter=Power .... it is therefore important that the voltage is not set to 220 or 230, but to what is average in your location ....

Check the mains voltage at different times of the day (it varies !) and set the OWL to reflect something close to the average. If you don't have a meter/device to measure the voltage you'll possibly find that either the inverter display or inverter software (such as SunnyExplorer) will provide the information you require ...

HTH
Z