Renewables: "talking 'bout my generation"

EricMears

tunnel wrote: »

Thought i'd post earlyish, my ESE only managed just over 3kWh today, if the SSW did the same that's a measly 1.5 O's. In fact when I returned from work at 5.30 the ESE had shut down due to a thunderstorm then sprang back to life around 6-ish. I only wanted 20kWh in 12 days to make my PVGIS target, should do it(just) if it keeps on like this(flippin weather)

The SSWs should have done a lot better.

Looking at my own generation curve, we had very little before 12:50 - just one 'peak' of 1kW and several smaller ones. But between 13:10 & 14:30 we had several peaks around 3.5kW and another one of almost 3 at 16:00.

Day yield is 9.638 kWh at moment but they're still doing almost 100W so that should creep up a little.

But todays hot news is rainwater :T

Yesterday afternoon, two of my 4x 1tonne tanks were almost empty (other two kept as 'reserves' were still full). Now they're completely full and other tanks in the garden have collected another 700litres.

WC flushing now assured until September


And of course we've now overtaken the pvgis forecast for July

tunnel

Hi Eric,

I just couldn't be bothered to check the other system as its in the garage and it was persisting it down. Just assumed it'd be much the same as the other.

tunnel

PS Garden water butt full(not that I need it now:mad:)

legoman62

Only 2 O's today. Had a power cut for nearly 2 hrs around 16.15:mad: when we were making almost 3kW:D
Should have been earlier when we had torrential rain;)

Oscargrouch

Sirlaughalot wrote: »

But the roof inspection has highlighted another problem just as the dormer one has been solved. The guttering has struggled to cope with the deluge of rain we have had overnight and as a result a downpipe has come away from the guttering. This is not the first time the guttering has struggled to cope with extreme conditions so it has not come as a complete surprise but it has left me with some major concerns.

My main concern now is what`s the effect of extreme conditions i.e torrential rain/snow when using solar panels on the drainage system(guttering and facia).

Thanks

SL

Not wishing to be rude but, if you are trying to cross all the T's and dot the I's with a PV system; then I should go buy a Hornby Model Railway. If you put your PV system on your Building Insurance, then your problem would be solved... If you keep stalling; the present Gov. will have probably withdrawn FIT payments in their next spending review.....do what most of us have done; "jump in feet first and hold your breath".....

4.6 O's today, could have been worse....;)

Sirlaughalot

Oscargrouch wrote: »

Not wishing to be rude but, if you are trying to cross all the T's and dot the I's with a PV system; then I should go buy a Hornby Model Railway. If you put your PV system on your Building Insurance, then your problem would be solved... If you keep stalling; the present Gov. will have probably withdrawn FIT payments in their next spending review.....do what most of us have done; "jump in feet first and hold your breath".....

4.6 O's today, could have been worse....;)

Hi Oscargrouch,

I don`t think jumping in head first is the best way to make a sound financial judgement. Some of the spin by these solar panel salesman has been quite incredible and i`m not surprised the industry has such a bad reputation. Here are just a few examples i have experienced.

1 - Not getting the basic roof measurements correct - Major embarrassment on their part turning up on the day of installation with a system that wont fit.

2 - Not one company to date has made reference to the house requiring a Energy Performance Certificate of d or above to qualify for the higher rate of FIT

3 - Most of the salesman have inspected the electricity meter have at my home nobody has mentioned the implications of a old analogue meter running backwards except for one on line company who has yet to make a survey.

4 - All salesman bar none have calculated a 50% energy saving on the energy we use during the day even though the household during the working week is unoccupied.

5 - All salesman bar none have estimated that the system will pay for itself within 4 - 7 years when in reality the figure is closer to 10 - 12 years.

6 - All salesman have quoted a energy inflation rate of between 10-15% in their figures as opposed to the governments DECC figure of 3%.

7 - Three companies have tried to sell me a Poly system!

8 - Only two companies have mentioned the need to fit a special(dopla) valve on the soil pipe in side the loft most will just cap it (Naughty - Naughty).

9 - High pressure sales tactics by two of the companies to get me to sign a disclaimer to waiver my 7 day cooling off period in order to qualify for a discount ( dead against MCS rules of conduct).

10 - No one has mentioned the fitting of snow guards yet all the houses with panels, one exception, have them fitted.

11 - Switching of energy suppliers (solar panel) is frowned upon by the big six energy companies according to some installers and they can be quite intimidating when switching and making FIT payments

With a product you need to last 20 years a few months taking my time to make the right choice is not a problem for me and thanks to the positive comments of most posters i`m more than happy with my progress.

Thanks SL

EricMears

Sirlaughalot wrote: »

8 - Only to companies have mentioned the need to fit a special valve on the soil pipe most will just cap it (Naughty - Naughty).

That may not be quite as 'naughty' as you think. Building regs don't call for every house to have a SVP - just a high enough proportion to ensure that the sewer is properly ventilated. Not sure of actual figures but I think that for example a line of terraced houses would only need a SVP (or an Air Admittance Valve) on every fifth house or so. Of course every large mansion standing in 5 acres would need its own SVP or AAA but probably only one for the building even if there were multiple WCs

Also, assuming a 50% saving on "energy used during day" is probably fairly reasonable - providing you allow for the fact that some days that quantity will be very low

I don't think jumping in without some investigation is the right way to go either but you do need to consider when the next FIT rate change is due and try not to just qualify for next period's rate.


P.S. this thread was originally intended for discussing recent generation figures - you really needed to start a new thread.

Sirlaughalot

I don't think jumping in without some investigation is the right way to go either but you do need to consider when the next FIT rate change is due and try not to just qualify for next period's rate.


My basic investigations suggest the government will reduce the fit in line with the number of new installations/green energy produced with in a set period. It looks like new installations in this period have stalled dramatically. If that`s due to the anti dumping tax i don`t know but i`m hoping current FIT rates will stay for a little longer yet. But i`m sure i can negotiate a good deal with the installers anyway as they all seem to be on their bums at the moment.

SL

sly_dog_jonah

10.9kWh yesterday, despite a cleansing of the array overnight by the mother of all thunderstorms. Overcast this morning but frankly it's a relief that the temperature has dropped the past 36hrs.

tunnel

Sirlaughalot wrote: »

Hi Oscargrouch,


10 - No one has mentioned the fitting of snow guards yet all the houses with panels, one exception, have them fitted.

Thanks SL

And yet i don't have snow guards and looking around all the houses around me(including RaR) no one has them. In fact last winter,the snow ripped off my guttering on one side of my garage yet the side with the panels....clear

As Eric states, please start another thread, people will be more than happy to help, but straddling your queries over several threads helps no-one.

Sirlaughalot

tunnel wrote: »

And yet i don't have snow guards and looking around all the houses around me(including RaR) no one has them. In fact last winter,the snow ripped off my guttering on one side of my garage yet the side with the panels....clear

As Eric states, please start another thread, people will be more than happy to help, but straddling your queries over several threads helps no-one.

Thanks Tunnel,

At least that`s one issue i can cross off the negatives list. Apologies if i have in crotched on the subject topic as i was looking for advice with my future PV project from solar panel users

Unless there is a direct question for me i will put my negatives list up here perhaps i can get help there!

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/62463883#Comment_62463883

Many Thanks and hope to be back posting my daily results here soon!

SL