Solar PV Ordered!

SpudSpud

Why do people keep syaing that they have a 3.8kw or a 4 kw system? they most you are allowed to attch to the grid network is 3.6 kw system.
sound like your installer have taken your money and not bothered contacting your grid network DNO (western power distribution, southern electric) phone you DNO and ask them if your system is registered you will find out who to contact as there is a sticker on your electricity meter telling you who owns it.
if you are in breach of this you could be prosecuted under HSE guidlines and face a fine if you refuse to disconnect it.

jerryd

As an alternative to a low power element I was thinking about connecting two immersion heaters in series to reduce the current?

I also thought about a new range of solar panel products?
Low power kettles perhaps?
I think travel kettles may work?
Or how about conditioning the voltage to 110V and using it to power suitable 240v appliances.

Conservatory floor ????? Not sure yet. Just an idea. Yesterday we produced 24kW and by 6pm our conservatory on an east facing wall was quite cool. As I am about to re-do our conservatory I might put in electric underfloor heating just in case. At 100w/m2 it doesn't take that much power and It's pretty cheap to install. I'l put in water pipes as well to keep my options open.

Controls:
I am currently using two Current Cost power meters one to monitor solar production and one to look at consumption. I think they send an XML stream which I thought might form the basis of a control system.

These are just ideas.

J

zeupater wrote: »

Hi

Agree, some analogue units do run backwards. I seem to remember that there's an OFGEM report available which.details manufacturers' replies to a query on the effects of reverse flow through their meters.

The question should really be asked as to why you would need to use storage heaters or conservatory underfloor heating in the summer .... there'll definately not be enough pv generation to make much difference on these in the winter without importing power for a substantial amount of the time.

The immersion heater is a possibility on cloudless days like today, however a smaller than standard element would probably be better in order to extend the hours which it could be used without the need for importing power. What also needs to be considered is the need for a control system which measures household draw v generation, subtracts one from the other and, when there is the required excess generation capacity to use, switches the heater on/off. There is a unit on the market which can do this, however, it's about £1500 .... without it you'll be running up and down the stairs all day switching the immersion on & off as clouds pass over, assuming that you're at home all day ...

By the way, what was your total production for today ?

HTH
Z

jerryd

Not sure what you have here?
Have you got a link to the 3.6 kW limit?
I believe the maximum size for full benefit is 4kW.
I believe from 1st April that a £250 survey charge is being levied for systems over 3.75 kW. I think this is to protect the grid from local over current. Imagine if you had 50 people in a small estate all producing 4 kW at the same time. The cable into the estate probably wasn't sized for 200kW. However it's unlikely that all or even most people will fit solar panels so in most cases I understand it wont be problem.
All systems have to be registered for the FIT to work.

J

SpudSpud wrote: »

Why do people keep syaing that they have a 3.8kw or a 4 kw system? they most you are allowed to attch to the grid network is 3.6 kw system.
sound like your installer have taken your money and not bothered contacting your grid network DNO (western power distribution, southern electric) phone you DNO and ask them if your system is registered you will find out who to contact as there is a sticker on your electricity meter telling you who owns it.
if you are in breach of this you could be prosecuted under HSE guidlines and face a fine if you refuse to disconnect it.

zeupater

SpudSpud wrote: »

Why do people keep syaing that they have a 3.8kw or a 4 kw system? they most you are allowed to attch to the grid network is 3.6 kw system.
sound like your installer have taken your money and not bothered contacting your grid network DNO (western power distribution, southern electric) phone you DNO and ask them if your system is registered you will find out who to contact as there is a sticker on your electricity meter telling you who owns it.
if you are in breach of this you could be prosecuted under HSE guidlines and face a fine if you refuse to disconnect it.

Hi SpudSpud

People are posting their kWp(Panel DC) not the kW(AC) from their inverters. Regarding the "most you are allowed to attch to the grid network is 3.6 kw system."[sic] etc, I suggest you do a little more research around what G83/1 is based on (16A/phase etc), along with system losses, what the actual UK supply voltage is, what individual DNOs allow to be registered without pre-notification from the installer, followed by the DNO pre-notification process for larger systems ......

HTH
Z

energysavingexp

the firm that is going to fit my solar pv system as contacted me to tell me that they cannot get hold of sharp pv panels due to shortage.
also i found this in todays paper about shortage of inverters.


http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/earthnews/7867727/Shortage-in-parts-for-solar-panels.html :mad::mad::mad::mad:

jackieblack

energysavingexp wrote: »

the firm that is going to fit my solar pv system as contacted me to tell me that they cannot get hold of sharp pv panels due to shortage.
also i found this in todays paper about shortage of inverters.


http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/earthnews/7867727/Shortage-in-parts-for-solar-panels.html :mad::mad::mad::mad:

The article is dated 02 July 2010!

I love this quote - "Photvoltaic or PV solar panels costs around £5,000 to install" :rotfl:

stoozey

energysavingexp wrote: »

the firm that is going to fit my solar pv system as contacted me to tell me that they cannot get hold of sharp pv panels due to shortage.
also i found this in todays paper about shortage of inverters.


http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/earthnews/7867727/Shortage-in-parts-for-solar-panels.html :mad::mad::mad::mad:

No problem with supply, have 21 sharp panels coming a week tuesday.

Cardew

jackieblack wrote: »

The article is dated 02 July 2010!

I love this quote - "Photvoltaic or PV solar panels costs around £5,000 to install" :rotfl:

More examples of sloppy journalism!

I would be pretty certain the reporter doesnt know the difference between Solar Thermal for hot water(which does cost around £5,000) and Solar PV.

Solar panels are all the same aren't they;)

zeupater

Hi

My guess is that the nice bright & mild spring weather in March kick-started the solar season slightly earlier than some distributors had reflected in their supplier schedules.

Sharp seem to be investing in more capacity at their Wrexham plant and no doubt this will cause some disruption to manufacturing for a while, but this would usually be compensated for in a manufacturing environment by building up stocks for a period before the change takes place.

To me it looks like some wholesalers could use the 'short supply' issue to either cover-up their own purchasing ineptitude or possibly as a ploy to move higher margin (/slower moving) products which they are stocking.

HTH
Z

energysavingexp

zeupater wrote: »

Hi

My guess is that the nice bright & mild spring weather in March kick-started the solar season slightly earlier than some distributors had reflected in their supplier schedules.

Sharp seem to be investing in more capacity at their Wrexham plant and no doubt this will cause some disruption to manufacturing for a while, but this would usually be compensated for in a manufacturing environment by building up stocks for a period before the change takes place.

To me it looks like some wholesalers could use the 'short supply' issue to either cover-up their own purchasing ineptitude or possibly as a ploy to move higher margin (/slower moving) products which they are stocking.

HTH
Z

Thanks for that, the company that is fitting mine are saying that the problem is that the parts for the sharp panels come from japan
and are put together in england.
are their any other good panels in stock, that i can track down for them, so that i can send them the info?