Renewables: "talking 'bout my generation"

Merlin139

Some Sun, some cloud, some wind and a tad of water.

Ended with 3.29 O's

rugbyleaguesmate

42 kw today.........6.25 o's biggest day ever!

legoman62

2.975 O's here today....Roll on summer:D

ASavvyBuyer

3.88 O's today. A good start so far for April.

Oscargrouch

Last post for me today as working away this week; post next Friday night with my 'weakly' average.. 0.00 O's today, again...:cool:..

old_grouser

A lovely day here. Generation was 5.7 Os, and I really thought it would be 6!

EricMears

Martyn1981 wrote: »

Can I just suggest a bit of care here. Even when the inverter is broken, or switched off (power cut) or isolators have been switched, the panels will still be underload with a serious amount of power, so be very careful doing any maintenance during the daytime.

I believe SolarEdge systems are ok, as the power optimisers remove the load (or something), but regardless, be very careful.

The panels will of course continue to generate a high voltage in bright light but the only 'care' needed is not to touch any bare wires.

Power is measured in watts (or kilowatts, megawatts etc) and no power will be generated until the cables are actually connected to a resistive load (though that could of course include a human body if you inadvertently touched a conductor !). But since there's no financial benefit to trying to extract DC power from the system, no sensible person is likely to endanger themselves.

Martyn1981

EricMears wrote: »

Power is measured in watts (or kilowatts, megawatts etc) and no power will be generated until the cables are actually connected to a resistive load (though that could of course include a human body if you inadvertently touched a conductor !). But since there's no financial benefit to trying to extract DC power from the system, no sensible person is likely to endanger themselves.

See bold - Hence my warning, if there is light, there will be power, but you said 'probably not', which might be misinterpreted by anyone considering light maintenance such as checking panel connectors.

I appreciate that no energy is flowing, but as you state (confirming my post) there is power, and this is high voltage, serious amperage DC leccy. It can jump greater gaps than AC, and will cause muscle lock if grabbed, at which point the body will incurr the energy of that power flow.

EricMears

Martyn1981 wrote: »

See bold - Hence my warning, if there is light, there will be power, but you said 'probably not', which might be misinterpreted by anyone considering light maintenance such as checking panel connectors.

I appreciate that no energy is flowing, but as you state (confirming my post) there is power, and this is high voltage, serious amperage DC leccy. It can jump greater gaps than AC, and will cause muscle lock if grabbed, at which point the body will incurr the energy of that power flow.

You're still confusing "power" with "voltage" ! Solar panels may be at a high voltage but that will produce zero power unless and until connected to a resistive load.


"Checking connectors" shouldn't be dangerous. Unless a connector is actually broken and you stick your fingers on to a live portion it should be perfectly acceptable to hold the insulated body of a connector and wiggle it about to check that it's firmly seated.

Martyn1981

EricMears wrote: »

You're still confusing "power" with "voltage" ! Solar panels may be at a high voltage but that will produce zero power unless and until connected to a resistive load.


"Checking connectors" shouldn't be dangerous. Unless a connector is actually broken and you stick your fingers on to a live portion it should be perfectly acceptable to hold the insulated body of a connector and wiggle it about to check that it's firmly seated.

I don't believe I'm confusing anything, power is voltage x amperage, and that's what the resistive load will feel if a mistake is made. I used power simply because I assumed you would correctly state that energy (VxA x time) is wrong, but power is correct in the same way that a 9V battery will give off power if you complete the connections with your tongue. The longer you leave it there, the more energy you will experience.

I agree that you should be ok, but going back to your first response, you gave the impression (certainly to me) that there would be no power, and that is incorrect. It's also dangerous to anyone who doesn't know what you know, and assumes there is no power full stop.

I'm sorry if you think I'm being pedantic, but safety first, there is power available during daylight, so appropriate care is needed.