Renewables: "talking 'bout my generation"

zeupater

Sirlaughalot wrote: »

Need help please. One salesman has told me that because i have the old type analogue electric meter because these don`t work with correctly with PV systems i will have to get it replaced at a cost to me. Could add £300 - £500 to the cost. Is he correct?

Thanks

SL

Hi

Are you sure that you're not "Sirwindupalot" ?? ....

Ask them to confirm this in writing so that you can pass their comments to the DLO & your supplier to check what the cost will be .... What's the chance that they'll change their minds or not provide anything .... :cool:

There's a published list of meters detailing the manufacturers' responses regarding exporting power which was created as part of the consultation exercise on the web somewhere (probably Ofgem) ...

HTH
Z

Sirlaughalot

zeupater wrote: »

Hi

Are you sure that you're not "Sirwindupalot" ?? ....

Ask them to confirm this in writing so that you can pass their comments to the DLO & your supplier to check what the cost will be .... What's the chance that they'll change their minds or not provide anything .... :cool:

There's a published list of meters detailing the manufacturers' responses regarding exporting power which was created as part of the consultation exercise on the web somewhere (probably Ofgem) ...

HTH
Z

Hi Z,

I`m getting well and truly confused now with conflicting info from different salesman (this week has been a nightmare!). Excuse my ignorance but what has exporting got to do with the electric meter and me having to pay for a new meter.

SL

EricMears

Sirlaughalot wrote: »

Hi Z,

I'm getting well and truly confused now with conflicting info from different salesman (this week has been a nightmare!). Excuse my ignorance but what has exporting got to do with the electric meter and me having to pay for a new meter.

SL

Absolutely nothing !

If your present meter doesn't work properly after you've had SPs installed it's your supplier's responsibility to provide one that does (although in practice they'll delegate that job to your local DNO). You would only need to pay for a new meter if you asked for a smart meter or possibly if you alleged a fault with existing meter that was found not to be the case.

Sirlaughalot

I`m no technical expert but because of conflicting info from various salesman, in terms of choosing a company to install a PV system on my roof i`m back to square one. Due to a fundamental requirement regarding roof size i`m unable to make a decision as to what system to fit.

Asked the same question now to 6 salesman. Will i fit 16 standard panels on to my roof for a 4KW system?

And the results are just in

YES =3 (330 tiles good) 15 rows
NO =3 (300 tiles bad) 15 rows

It`s a draw and a result which is absolutely of no use to me whatsoever!

There`s a roofing company van with ladders parked on our estate going to ask him, for a drink, to measure the roof up for a definitive answer.

I have measured from inside the loft (thanks Mert) and i think it fits but very close due to the dormer. The soil pipe can be modified so that`s not an issue.

SL

Oscargrouch

Sirlaughalot wrote: »

Need help please. One salesman has told me that because i have the old type analogue electric meter because these don`t work with correctly with PV systems i will have to get it replaced at a cost to me. Could add £300 - £500 to the cost. Is he correct?

Thanks

SL

Your man is talking a load of BS. PM Shafeeq, he had problems with his meter going backwards following an install. As Eric points out, not your problem at all as long as you report it to your supplier; up to them to fit a meter that works. "Their Meter; their problem..:rotfl:







Above; the screen shot of generation pattern for the glorious 16th July...:D

Martyn1981

Sirlaughalot wrote: »

I have measured from inside the loft (thanks Mert) and i think it fits but very close due to the dormer. The soil pipe can be modified so that`s not an issue.

SL

Afternoon SL. I'm greedy so going to take Mert's thanks, and hope they are mine.

Ok, where do you go from here. Hopefully the roofer can give you an exact measurement. You should be able to get the width of the roof, by simply measuring the width of your house(?) You can also get a pretty accurate measurement of the 'length', by measuring the height of the roof from inside and using Pythagoras' theorem - you'll need to measure the depth of the house and half it for the other half of the right angle triangle.

Slap the figures on here if you're not sure.

Next, how many panels will fit, well 7m by 5m and 7.1m by 5.3m are both interesting. Remember you'll need to deduct approx 200mm (300mm would be better) from all 4 sides. Panels sit quite high, so they can't go too far up or they will be higher than the ridge and thus need planning permission, plus harder to fix if too close to ridge tiles. Bottom and sides need to be careful of wind lift and any potential encroachment onto neighbours (semi-detached?).

Next, you'll need to check the size of the panels, most will be 1m wide (but double check specs) and somewhere between 1.6m and 1.7m tall. Also need to allow 20mm gap between panels for fixings.

So approx sizes (of interest) for your roof are:
5 panels wide will need approx 5.08m,
4 panels wide will need approx 4.06m,
3 panels tall/long 4.84m to 5.14m and
4 panels tall/long 6.46m to 6.86m.
(plus 200mm to 300mm all round)

Some examples;
16 panels 1m by 1.6m will fit 4.06m by 6.46m after allowing 300mm all round, but 1.7m panels wouldn't.

15 1m by 1.6m panels might just fit if roof is 5.3m if you put them 4.84m by 5.08m.

I'm also thinking you could 'easily' fit 12 1m by 2m panels in an approx 4m by 6m pattern. Not sure what panels are available but have found Canadian Solar make a 295W approx 2m by 1m.

Apologies if all this causes you a headache but an accurate measurement is necessary as both the width and height are very tight when you look at some of those measurements.

[Quick digression - Just found some Sunpowers, remember I couldn't find a direct comparison, but thought they were pretty expensive ... well, the Canadian Solar 295W retail at £175+VAT, and the same store has Sunpower E20 327W for £387+VAT]

Don't let any of this get you down, every day you know a little more, and there is no rush. Take a breather.

[STRIKE]Mert[/STRIKE] Mart.

Martyn1981

Sirlaughalot wrote: »

Asked the same question now to 6 salesman. Will i fit 16 standard panels on to my roof for a 4KW system?

SL

Addendum. Another option (or two) is smaller panels. There are 1.3m by 1m panels, which might squeeze in 20 (approx 4m by 6.5m), so you'll need to find something close to 200W (perhaps 185W+).

Or 1.6m by 0.8m panels, such as Canadian Solar 200W, or Jetion 190W, which should fit 20 panels approx 4m by 6.4m.

Yes, there are lots of problems, but there are just as many solutions (hopefully). Keep smiling.

Mart.

jackieblack

Sirlaughalot wrote: »

Need help please. One salesman has told me that because i have the old type analogue electric meter because these don`t work with correctly with PV systems i will have to get it replaced at a cost to me. Could add £300 - £500 to the cost. Is he correct?

Thanks

SL

Could he have meant the fuse board, rather than the meter?
We had an old one (house built in 1960s) and had to have a new modern consumer unit fitted before we could have our PV system installed. We were quoted £300-£500 from the installer for that, but got it done by a local electrician before the installation quite a bit cheaper

Sirlaughalot

Martyn1981 wrote: »

Addendum. Another option (or two) is smaller panels. There are 1.3m by 1m panels, which might squeeze in 20 (approx 4m by 6.5m), so you'll need to find something close to 200W (perhaps 185W+).

Or 1.6m by 0.8m panels, such as Canadian Solar 200W, or Jetion 190W, which should fit 20 panels approx 4m by 6.4m.

Yes, there are lots of problems, but there are just as many solutions (hopefully). Keep smiling.

Mart.

Thanks mate(Mert)(Mart),

My experiences with the salesman have been enlightening to say the least. Ask them to compare their advised system with another that you fancy in the performance table they have and it`s a `Sorry we cant find your inverter with this panel so they use the most inappropriate inverter available to show a poor annual performance figure. Think the performance tables they use are industry/sap standard and have to be used in performance sap calculations.

Would save a lot of hassle if i could find where this software is available. Anyone know where to get it?

Beginning to think that the info/advice i`m getting is being biased towards the systems that PV companies get the best wholesale prices for and not the best inverter/panel pairing that produce the best performance/value.

As the inverter looks the most important bit of kit might go direct to the manufacturer, if they are uk based, to see which panels they believe perform best with their inverter.

SL

tunnel

Another glorious day here in the centre of England, 23kWh produced and only 1 bought today:j.

I did notice notice on my way back out of Sheffield from work yet another black plume of smoke rising from the city. Wondered if Shafeeq had been having another go at that tree:rotfl:

tunnel