Renewables: "talking 'bout my generation" 16 March 2012 at 1:06AM edited 19 December 2019 at 11:25PM in Green & ethical MoneySaving 31.1K replies 1.9M views

KevinG

Totally contrary to the forecast yesterday the unbroken sunshine continued for another day and I achieved my highest daily output since 1 August and my third highest ever, since panels installed in June. This bodes well for spring output.

sly_dog_jonah

We had a misty start & quite frequent clouds throughout the day, but still managed 20kWh which can't be sniffed at, since it was only 9% down on our best day (yesterday).

pinklady21

We got our panels installed on 21st March. 4KW on a south facing roof approx 37 degree pitch.
South eastern Scotland - last week's amazing weather and we generated 175kwh in March. ave 17.5kwh per day.
Still learning about how to optimise usage.

Curious - what does PVGIS mean?

GaryMo_2

pinklady21 wrote: »

Curious - what does PVGIS mean?

It's a website used to get a rough estimation of expected yield based on system size and location.

http://re.jrc.ec.europa.eu/pvgis/apps4/pvest.php#

Martyn1981

pinklady21 wrote: »

We got our panels installed on 21st March. 4KW on a south facing roof approx 37 degree pitch.
South eastern Scotland - last week's amazing weather and we generated 175kwh in March. ave 17.5kwh per day.
Still learning about how to optimise usage.

Curious - what does PVGIS mean?

Hello pinklady, chance for a quick plug for a new thread and post that several PV'ers on here have put together.

It has tips and references for using PV, and an explanation of PVGIS, where to find it, and how to use it.

You can find it at the top of the 'The Green & Ethical MoneySaving Board' forum, or via the link below,

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.php?t=3872445

Have fun.

Mart.

pinklady21

Thanks for that - wow I'm going to turn into a real anorak over this one!!
Checked out PVGIS - thanks!
Will check out the other thread too - thanks!

Another wee question - Does anyone here use a monitor to optimise their usage?
We only have the generation meter that flashes when we are generating, but have to stand on a ladder and peer into a cupboard to check the electricity meter to see which direction the wheel is going in to find out if we are importing or exporting.
Unsurprisingly the novelty of that particular activity wore off pretty quickly.....

We have been quoted a few hundred ££ for a generation monitor and wondering whether it is worth it.
We are at home most of the day, and are not huge users of electricity. Thinking about switching on the immersion heater when we are generating and exporting, but obviously don't want to leave it on if the sun disappears.

Martyn1981

pinklady21 wrote: »

Thanks for that - wow I'm going to turn into a real anorak over this one!!
Checked out PVGIS - thanks!
Will check out the other thread too - thanks!

Another wee question - Does anyone here use a monitor to optimise their usage?
We only have the generation meter that flashes when we are generating, but have to stand on a ladder and peer into a cupboard to check the electricity meter to see which direction the wheel is going in to find out if we are importing or exporting.
Unsurprisingly the novelty of that particular activity wore off pretty quickly.....

We have been quoted a few hundred ££ for a generation monitor and wondering whether it is worth it.
We are at home most of the day, and are not huge users of electricity. Thinking about switching on the immersion heater when we are generating and exporting, but obviously don't want to leave it on if the sun disappears.

Wow, you are truly a gift from the Gods, when it comes to free advertising!

The main post on the 'other' thread also covers ... wait for it ...

monitors,
backwards meters,
using generation when home,
immersion heaters,
links to other related threads on connecting up immersions.

You'll be wanting sections 3, 4, 5 and 6.

Anything else we can help you with?

Cheers.

Mart.

EricMears

pinklady21 wrote: »

Another wee question - Does anyone here use a monitor to optimise their usage?

I wouldn't be without our 'Wattson meter'. Not absolutely accurate (it relies on several clamp type sensors each of which contributes a small error) but it does measure consumption and generation separately then indicate the nett result and whether it's +ve or -ve. When it's showing a large negative number, we switch something (washing machine, dishwasher etc) on that might otherwise have waited until the E7 period started.

A brand new Wattson meter is only around £150 (secondhand ones from eBay somewhat less) though if you need to pay someone to reroute a few cables to make separate measurements possible that could escalate project cost.

Martyn1981

Just to say that the Met Office anomaly maps have been updated with March data now, so you can check the 'sunshine levels' map.

http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/climate/uk/anomacts/

Only the top tip of Scotland was 'normal', the rest of did rather well, for which my TGM is very grateful!

Mart.

sly_dog_jonah

Martyn1981 wrote: »

Just to say that the Met Office anomaly maps have been updated with March data now, so you can check the 'sunshine levels' map.

http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/climate/uk/anomacts/

Only the top tip of Scotland was 'normal', the rest of did rather well, for which my TGM is very grateful!

Mart.

Crikey we were just inside the 170% of average sunshine region.

We exceeded PVGIS by 50%, but there were a lot of cloudy/misty mornings so perhaps a lot of the sunshine was skewed to later in the day, when our SSE panels don't benefit as much.