We're aware that some users are experiencing technical issues which the team are working to resolve. See the Community Noticeboard for more info. Thank you for your patience.
📨 Have you signed up to the Forum's new Email Digest yet? Get a selection of trending threads sent straight to your inbox daily, weekly or monthly!

Silly solar question for the day

Options
(I'm due to have a RaR installation next week, so getting curious as to how it all works)

If we had a power cut on a sunny day, would I still have electricity in my house?

(I'm not as stupid as that question makes me sound, I presume the inverter is powered by the mains, but I just thought I'd ask...)

Cheers!

Matt
«1

Comments

  • albyota
    albyota Posts: 1,106 Forumite
    Not really a silly question, in a power cut, all the power would go off including the inverter, the inverter automatically shuts down in a power outage, to stop an engineer working on the lines getting a nasty wack (burnt or killed) from your system.
    Once power is regained, the inverter will automatically switch on after 3 minutes.
    There are three types of people in this world...those that can count ...and those that can't! ;)

    * The Bitterness of Low Quality is Long Remembered after the Sweetness of Low Price is Forgotten!
  • malch
    malch Posts: 42 Forumite
    Silly solar question for the day





    Are you sure Harry Hill didn't write this heading?:rotfl:
  • Yut_Man
    Yut_Man Posts: 139 Forumite
    Not a silly question, When you think the power is transfered from the invertor to the mains board down a standard mains cable and this is then mixed with the electric coming into your house. how would it know if the electric coming into your house had stopped since the electric your panels are producing is already in the system. There is no cable/controller etc coming directly from the outside electric source telling it. The electric being generated must stop as already stated since you dont want to electicute a poor electricity engineer.

    The answer lies in some quite clever electronics and the fact your inveretor generates electricity a few volts higher than what you recieve from the grid.
  • zeupater
    zeupater Posts: 5,389 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper Combo Breaker
    Yut_Man wrote: »
    ... The answer lies in some quite clever electronics and the fact your inveretor generates electricity a few volts higher than what you recieve from the grid.

    And .... the inverter needs to match the frequency of the grid .... no A/C = no A/C frequency ;)

    HTH
    Z
    "We are what we repeatedly do, excellence then is not an act, but a habit. " ...... Aristotle
    B)
  • larkim
    larkim Posts: 259 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 100 Posts Name Dropper Combo Breaker
    Shame, really, as backup summer power would be mildly useful - but I suppose I could have just switched off my incoming power at the meter and tried to rely on solar for a period (given that under a RaR scheme I'm not interested in the profits). Of course, that would breach my RaR contract, so I wouldn't have done that anyway!

    btw, where does the "solar" electricity meet the "nasty carbon" electricity? Do the outputs from the inverter head directly for the outside meter cupboard for combining there, or are they wired in to meet up with their ugly cousins from nasty smoky power stations in the main consumer unit?

    Cheers!

    Matt
  • Yut_Man
    Yut_Man Posts: 139 Forumite
    All the electric meets up in your consumer box. Because the solar electric is slightly higher voltage it is used up first.
  • forget RaR its not worth it, the company who invest make all the money
  • add Vphase to your set up and save 10% more on elec
  • larkim
    larkim Posts: 259 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 100 Posts Name Dropper Combo Breaker
    forget RaR its not worth it, the company who invest make all the money

    Not worth what? The zero pounds I am paying? The £70 or so per year I'll save on my electricity? The enhancement (in my opinion) to the value of my property as a result? The amount I can buy the system out at in 10-15 years time?

    Personally, with 4 young kids and a sizeable mortgage, I don't have £10k to spend on a personal installation, and I am motivated to reduce my carbon burden through my electricity usage. So I won't forget RaR, and it is worth "it" to me.

    I don't care who makes money out of me for a product that I want to buy at a price I am prepared to pay.

    But we all have our opinions, and you are entitled to yours just as much as I am entitled to my (correct) one!!! :D

    Matt
  • thenudeone
    thenudeone Posts: 4,462 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Combo Breaker
    add Vphase to your set up and save 10% more on elec

    :rotfl::rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:
    We need the earth for food, water, and shelter.
    The earth needs us for nothing.
    The earth does not belong to us.
    We belong to the Earth
This discussion has been closed.
Meet your Ambassadors

🚀 Getting Started

Hi new member!

Our Getting Started Guide will help you get the most out of the Forum

Categories

  • All Categories
  • 350.9K Banking & Borrowing
  • 253.1K Reduce Debt & Boost Income
  • 453.5K Spending & Discounts
  • 243.9K Work, Benefits & Business
  • 598.8K Mortgages, Homes & Bills
  • 176.9K Life & Family
  • 257.2K Travel & Transport
  • 1.5M Hobbies & Leisure
  • 16.1K Discuss & Feedback
  • 37.6K Read-Only Boards

Is this how you want to be seen?

We see you are using a default avatar. It takes only a few seconds to pick a picture.