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Renewables: "talking 'bout my generation"

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Comments

  • Oscargrouch
    Oscargrouch Posts: 4,393 Forumite
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    legoman62 wrote: »
    A better than expected 2.075 O's here today:D
    Me too; much better than yesteryear..2.28 O's...:T...coffee.gif
    2.5 kWp PV system, SSW facing, 45 Deg Roof. ABB Inverter, Monitor: 'Wattson'.
    Reg. for FIT Nov 2011. "It's not what you generate; it's how you use it that matters". One very clean Vauxhall Diesel Sri, £30.00 Road Tax: B)

    Definition of 'O's = kWh/kWp (kWh = your daily & accurate Generation figure) (kWp = the rated output of your PV Panels).
  • JKenH
    JKenH Posts: 5,139 Forumite
    Seventh Anniversary 1,000 Posts Name Dropper
    Zarch wrote: »
    Looks like i'll be finishing with 1.9O for 75% of PVGIS today....... but I did max out the 3.68 inverter today for the first time this year. A really bright 10 mins or so just after noon!!! :eek::eek::eek:

    40292752413_7564688184_z.jpg

    Am I worried that I sized/approximated things wrongly? Yep, still am! But nowt I can do now!! :D


    I had similar peaks of generation today, between the clouds, hitting over 3500w compared to a max of about 2700w during the sustained sunny weather last week.

    Like you I am pretty new to this but last September on similar partly cloudy days I saw some very high peak kWs, much higher than in July and August so I wouldn’t worry too much about sustained production over the 3.68kw rating of your inverter.

    Also, and I stand to be corrected on this, my understanding was that inverters can cope with outputs of the order of 20% over their quoted power ratings.

    Finally, again bowing to the wisdom of more experienced PVers, I thought that running an undersized inverter can actually increase your overall PV compared to an oversized inverter.
    Northern Lincolnshire. 7.8 kWp system, (4.2 kw west facing panels , 3.6 kw east facing), Solis inverters, Solar IBoost water heater, Mitsubishi SRK35ZS-S and SRK20ZS-S Wall Mounted Inverter Heat Pumps, ex Nissan Leaf owner)
  • Martyn1981
    Martyn1981 Posts: 15,404 Forumite
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    edited 3 March 2019 at 1:17PM
    JKenH wrote: »
    Finally, again bowing to the wisdom of more experienced PVers, I thought that running an undersized inverter can actually increase your overall PV compared to an oversized inverter.

    You are bang on, at least according to the theory, which is that a smaller inverter is a little more efficient at low generation times. The industry suggestion was for an inverter to be undersized by 10%-20%, but taking into account orientation and location, since that might be unsuitable for a south facing system on the Cornish Coast with cooling breezes.

    Also, the idea is one for the UK, and countries with similar weather, where taking into account low gen is sensible. But in, say Spain, you wouldn't want to cap generation, nor undersize an inverter that might be running closer to max for longer periods.

    Personally, I've seen my 3.58kWp ESE system go over 3.7kW's on quite a few occasions, but it won't hold it once the panels heat up and performance drops off a bit, but still fun in April/Oct on sunny, cloudy and cold days.

    PS @Zarch. Sort out that Lego man, it's driving my OCD crazy! Upside down, sideways .... what were you thinking! ;-)
    Mart. Cardiff. 8.72 kWp PV systems (2.12 SSW 4.6 ESE & 2.0 WNW). 20kWh battery storage. Two A2A units for cleaner heating. Two BEV's for cleaner driving.

    For general PV advice please see the PV FAQ thread on the Green & Ethical Board.
  • Cottage_Economy
    Cottage_Economy Posts: 1,227 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper Combo Breaker
    Martyn1981 wrote: »
    PS @Zarch. Sort out that Lego man, it's driving my OCD crazy! Upside down, sideways .... what were you thinking! ;-)

    I thought it was just me that gets annoyed by that sort of thing :rotfl:

    First thing I looked at was which way up the lettering was
  • Cottage_Economy
    Cottage_Economy Posts: 1,227 Forumite
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    Zarch wrote: »
    I opted for the slightly cheaper 3.68 inverter (by about £100 compared to the 5.00) because the DNO (northern) also wanted £300 to consider the application which I swerved in the end.

    I didn't reckon (calculate) i'd get that £400 back in generation/export and savings over time.

    So i'm now bound by the 3.68 limit of the inverter.

    Is there any way of getting an indication as whether the DNO might say yes? I'm thinking of a 6kWp plus system and applying to see if I can get the cap lifted but it annoys me that it seems to be so shrouded in mystery. I dislike the idea that I'd spend £300 and get a flat no.
  • Zarch
    Zarch Posts: 393 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 100 Posts Name Dropper
    Martyn1981 wrote: »
    PS @Zarch. Sort out that Lego man, it's driving my OCD crazy! Upside down, sideways .... what were you thinking! ;-)

    Honestly i'd not noticed when I built it....... I don't get close enough to it to notice.... purposely chose a large font on the display and it go red/green whether importing / generating. :rotfl:

    But have just resolved to keep you all happy. :p
    17 x 300W panels (5.1kW) on a 3.68kW SolarEdge system in Sunny Sheffield.
    12kW Pylontech battery storage system with Lux AC controller
    Creator of the Energy Stats UK website and @energystatsuk Twitter Feed
  • Merlin139
    Merlin139 Posts: 7,259 Forumite
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    Better than expected 2.49 O's yesterday.

    Back to rubbish with 0.82 O's today.
    3.795 kWp Solar PV System. Capital of the Wolds

  • Oscargrouch
    Oscargrouch Posts: 4,393 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper Photogenic
    Merlin139 wrote: »
    Better than expected 2.49 O's yesterday.
    Back to rubbish with 0.82 O's today.
    Just rubbish here and today with 0.68 O's :eek::mad:...coffee.gif
    2.5 kWp PV system, SSW facing, 45 Deg Roof. ABB Inverter, Monitor: 'Wattson'.
    Reg. for FIT Nov 2011. "It's not what you generate; it's how you use it that matters". One very clean Vauxhall Diesel Sri, £30.00 Road Tax: B)

    Definition of 'O's = kWh/kWp (kWh = your daily & accurate Generation figure) (kWp = the rated output of your PV Panels).
  • legoman62
    legoman62 Posts: 4,998 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper
    Oscargrouch wrote: »
    Just rubbish here and today with 0.68 O's :eek::mad:...coffee.gif

    I'll stick with the rubbish:eek: 0.6 O's here today:mad:
    16 Sanyo Hit 250s.4kWp SMA 3.8kWp inverter. SW roof. 28° pitch. Minimal shade. Nov 2011 install. Hybrid car. Ripple Kirk Hill. N.E Lincs Coast.
  • shavy65
    shavy65 Posts: 562 Forumite
    Tenth Anniversary 500 Posts
    Zarch wrote: »
    Honestly i'd not noticed when I built it....... I don't get close enough to it to notice.... purposely chose a large font on the display and it go red/green whether importing / generating. :rotfl:

    But have just resolved to keep you all happy. :p

    It`s not resolved unless we see another pic! Please, on behalf of my OCD.

    6.6 O`s last 2 days, beautiful mornings and poor afternoons.
    3.975 kWp System, South facing, 21 degree pitch, 15 x Canadian Solar Elps, Samil Inverter, location NE Scotland (Fraserburgh) Bring on the Sun :beer:
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