Renewables: "talking 'bout my generation"

KevinG

Merlin139 wrote: »

Is it safe to sweep the snow off your panels?

Yes, as long as you are careful and don't use anything abrasive.

Merlin139 wrote: »

Also my local window cleaner says he can clean my Panels once every 3 months for £20 each time.

Waste of money that will eat into your return, not enhance it. In my experience they can cope with an incredible amount of dust before the output is affected significantly. Do it when you clear the snow off.

tunnel

A panel shattering 0.6 O's today, should've known really when I got up to thick fog

Oscargrouch

countryman wrote: »

Gas consumption for the month 2.7 units (whatever that equates to in Kwh, I really don't know).
Family of 4

old_grouser wrote: »

Countryman,
A gas unit is roughly 31.3 electric units (kW/h), so 2.7 units is about 84kW/h.
My rule of thumb (last year) was that a unit of gas cost a pound. (If I've got that wrong I'm sure someone will put me right!)

Think that may be a 'tad' out..... The multiplying factor does vary by the calorific value at the time of billing; Countryman, your 2.7 units would be around 30.75 kWh of gas @ whatever price you pay ex VAT and standing charges....:D I currently use 11.25 as the multiplier, the closer number is:- 11.24137931034483 as of this months bill......So 1 unit on the gas meter is more like 37p (with OVO).

This may also be of help: http://www.switchit4u.co.uk/utilities/gas-and-electricity/gas-units-to-Kwhs.php

Yea, the sun is out: http://wattson.energyhive.com/dashboard/oscarsenergy

The_Green_Hornet

Merlin139 wrote: »

Also my local window cleaner says he can clean my Panels once every 3 months for £20 each time. Is it safe to use a squeegy on them. And do they need cleening that often? We do have a arable field behind the house that has bee very dusty in years gone by. Dumb questions I know but before I go and ruin my panels I thought I would ask.:o

I don't know what feed in tariff you are on but if you think that you can make back the £20 with extra generation then it would make it financially viable but personally I doubt if you can.

I have had my panels for four years and I have never cleaned them once.

ChopperST

If you are interested the PV section of the electricians forum (requires registration) has quite a long thread discussing cleaning of solar panels. The consensus appears to be there is no need.

http://www.electriciansforums.co.uk/photovoltaic-solar-panels-forum/86639-does-anyone-recommend-solar-panel-cleaning.html

The_Green_Hornet

ChopperST wrote: »

If you are interested the PV section of the electricians forum (requires registration) has quite a long thread discussing cleaning of solar panels. The consensus appears to be there is no need.

http://www.electriciansforums.co.uk/photovoltaic-solar-panels-forum/86639-does-anyone-recommend-solar-panel-cleaning.html

The window cleaners forum says otherwise........;)

Merlin139

Much better day today until the rain came in.

2.32 O's today.

EricMears

I'm sure panels would benefit from a bit of a clean if they got really dusty. But I really don't think you'd get an extra £20 worth of generation from the exercise and in any case all they really need is a gentle sprinkle from a garden hose - or just wait for next rainy day (and waiting more than a few weeks for that is unlikely)

Oscargrouch

2.08 O's; Gas heating was fired up, costing £0.78p today......

Merlin139

2.61 O's for today. Heating not on. May put it on by Late December :eek: if we have not frozen to death by then! :rotfl:

Cannot believe how much I want to save. I think last year we put the central heating on 1st october, but then we had a warm spell.