solar panel confusion

Martyn1981

Hiya Dreaming, congrats on taking the leap. Just in time for the 'big' months April to August. I think most people would agree with going for a local installer who you feel more comfortable with.

Do you know the specific SMA inverter model? Ideally a 4000TL or the dual tracker version of the 3600TL.

Obviously all south is the maximum generation, but SE/SW is going to give you an excellent generation curve throughout the day (certainly better than mine per kWp).

All the best, and see you on the generation thread, even if you have "too much"!

Mart.

dreaming

:j:j:j:T:T:T

Yay - installation completed today. I am now generating but due to work commitments I have not been able to get home to have the meter bit explained to me - it reads 901 but have no idea what that means.

Ended up with 10 panels SE facing and 6 panels SW. The roof pitch is 30 degrees and no shading but it was fairly overcast here in Northampton and I'm not sure when it was switched on.

Elec. meter is now running backwards so will have to let Scottish Power know. I also noticed that quite by chance, when I moved here 3 years ago and bought new washing machine and dishwasher I bought models with timers so whilst I am still at work I can set those to come on if it looks sunny. Then when I retire (through redundancy in 20weeks (not that I'm counting)) I shall look into other ways to utilise that power.

Can I say thankyou to all who helped me with information and those who post. I know some threads get a bit bogged down with arguments but even those have helped me to consider all sides. I'm not sure if I can post on the My Generation thread as quite frankly I have no idea what you are all on about with E's and O's and KwH etc. but then again maybe after my formal handover .............hmm?

EricMears

dreaming wrote: »

I'm not sure if I can post on the My Generation thread as quite frankly I have no idea what you are all on about with E's and O's and KwH etc. but then again maybe after my formal handover

kWh are quite simply the 'units' which you'll have to report to Scottish Power every quarter and the same units in which you current bills for imported electricity are generated.

Not sure why your meter is reading "901". Seems a very high zero error for a new meter ! If your meter is anything like mine it cycles through various parameters - total generation to date , date time and possibly a couple more. I hope your chap hasn't accidentally set it to show 1 minute past 9 when you were reading it around 8pm or the 9th Jan (today is 10th April. Don't sign your cheque till it's explained !

I wouldn't worry about Es or Os. My E values are a simple way of comparing FIT payments with the cost of earning them and Oscar likes to compare what he would generate if he only had 1 kW of capacity with what others in same situation would make.

Martyn1981

dreaming wrote: »

I'm not sure if I can post on the My Generation thread as quite frankly I have no idea what you are all on about with E's and O's and KwH etc. but then again maybe after my formal handover .............hmm?

Don't worry, it's all a conspiracy to make it look like we know what we're talking about (psst ..... we don't!!).

Congrats, and have fun.

Mart.

tunnel

Martyn1981 wrote: »

Don't worry, it's all a conspiracy to make it look like we know what we're talking about (psst ..... we don't!!).


Mart.

Are you really trying to antagonise the PV police?:rotfl:

dreaming

EricMears wrote: »

Not sure why your meter is reading "901". Seems a very high zero error for a new meter ! If your meter is anything like mine it cycles through various parameters - total generation to date , date time and possibly a couple more. I hope your chap hasn't accidentally set it to show 1 minute past 9 when you were reading it around 8pm or the 9th Jan (today is 10th April. Don't sign your cheque till it's explained !

Doh! Hadn't realised the display changed as I only had a quick look at it when I came in. It's a bit of a PITA where it had to be sited as it means I have to get stepladder to read it but will get used to it.
By the way "my chap" was a chapess called Laura and payment will not be made until I have had handbook etc. and full explanation.

counting_down_the_days...

How exciting! Mine goes in on Friday and I can't wait! :j

Like you, I feel quite intimidated by the generation thread, but I'm sure once we familiarise ourselves with it all we'll be right in there updating everyone too.

Don't know if it's something you've considered, or would be interested in, but I notice no one else mentioned it.... I'm going to have a hot water switch added, so any generation I'm not using, gets diverted to the hot water. Might save on gas heating the hot water, especially during the summer months. I'll let you know how I get on with it.

Enjoy watching your new meter :cool:

dreaming

Good luck CDTD. I was very happy with the firm I chose - they have been very pro-active in advising me about EPC and filling in the Fit form etc., and they even started work early on day 1 to pick the key up so I could get off to work.
I have a combi-boiler so I don't have a tank but will certainly look into ways of reducing my import and utilising my generation.

counting_down_the_days...

We're in a new build and I've never understood the water tank - I thought they were phased out & it was all combi-boilers now. However, it has worked out quite well with the panels Can't wait to check my generation tomorrow! - Really need to get out more!

EricMears

counting_down_the_days... wrote: »

We're in a new build and I've never understood the water tank - I thought they were phased out & it was all combi-boilers now.

It's probably not a 'conventional' DHW tank fed by a cold water storage tank in loft as generally fitted pre-1970s.

Combi boilers were a step forward from that in that they saved storage space and give more or less instant hot water. However, if you want mains pressure hot water at a reasonable flow rate you really have to go back to storing heat in a well insulated tank. Storing it as pressurised hot water is one option but I've gone for storing in a vented tank at elevated tempertures then using that store to feed DHW via a heat exchanger. That of course allows you to mop up huge amounts of free electricity by aiming for a tank temperature of >90 deg C