Solar Panels Installed But Only £3 Cheaper Electric Bill!

Estwing

rogerblack wrote: »

Silly problems such as the panels connected to the wrong flats supply are in principle possible.

:shocked::shocked::shocked:

silverwhistle

Luckyone wrote: »

I use electricity like the washing machine about a hour after the panels have had sun on them, only put that on extra, then something else later & so on.

I think you need to wait longer. It's a bit of a half-baked scheme if they haven't provided you with a monitor, but if you had one you'd be able to see the amount of power being generated at any time.

So this morning it was really bright from early but the actual power generated was low, as I can see on my monitor. Maybe you've been switching on things a bit early? I've just made some bread but I didn't switch the oven on until nearly midday (and just in time before these passing clouds have dropped the output from 2.7 to .9 and now back again!)

Luckyone

Thanks everyone,

Where do I buy a monitor from?

Does it need any connecting to things?

Thanks xxx

Kernel_Sanders

Luckyone wrote: »

Thanks everyone,............Thanks xxx

There's a button which does that.

Luckyone wrote: »

I use electricity like the washing machine about a hour after the panels have had sun on them, only put that on extra,

'on extra' what? Your system may only be generating a couple of hundred watts an hour after starting up, so not much impact on a heating element; there's a huge difference at different times of the day. A cheaper way is to use the stopwatch on your phone in front of your generation meter (if accessible). When sunshine is stable, count the number of red flashes in 36 seconds to give the current generation in hundreds of watts. Then make adjustments for when the Sun goes in.

Freepost

Hi Luckyone,

I had a similar problem when panels were first installed, the electric meter was reading the generated power as used power, so my bill went up - it was a problem with the meter and had to be replaced, I also got the money back.

see post here : https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/3871161


Best

F.

jimjames

Have you checked the consumption in kWh rather than in pounds? If the price has gone up 10% then you may be using less electricity but it isn't actually noticeable for a bill perspective other than your bill would have been a lot higher.

If you have a cloudy day then you are unlikely to cover anything but your baseline consumption. On a sunny day then the highest generation is between around 11am and 3pm outside those hours you may not be generating enough to cover the whole electricity cost of running washing machine or kettle.

The graph here shows the change in output during the day with the bell shaped curve. You need to use the most electricity when that bell shape is above the amount the appliance uses.

http://uk-solarpanels.blogspot.co.uk/2012/05/effect-temperature-solar-panel-output.html

londonTiger

Silly question but do you actually benefit from the panels or does the council get the money?

It's the council's property and they can do what they like with it, so I'm surprised they're giving you some of the electricity.

londonTiger

btw if the council does allow you to have some of the electricity for free are you sure you haven't used more electricity? What is your kw usage and what was your £/kw before and what is it now?

Studies have shown that when foods are labelled fat free or low fat, people tend to consume more of it so their net calorie intake is more than if the pack didn't have the fat free labelling.

So maybe you just thought, OK we have some free electricity so there's no harm in having the TV and radio/computer running at the same time.

Martyn1981

londonTiger wrote: »

btw if the council does allow you to have some of the electricity for free are you sure you haven't used more electricity? What is your kw usage and what was your £/kw before and what is it now?

Hiya LT. Domestic PV systems supply the property first, before exporting excess. If generation is less than demand, then import will make up the shortfall, or all of it, if no generation.

It's not a matter of the council 'allowing' some of the leccy to be used, Luckyone can use as much as she likes.

londonTiger wrote: »

Studies have shown that when foods are labelled fat free or low fat, people tend to consume more of it so their net calorie intake is more than if the pack didn't have the fat free labelling.

So maybe you just thought, OK we have some free electricity so there's no harm in having the TV and radio/computer running at the same time.

Whilst this could happen, studies so far seem to show that people with their own generation use a little less energy as they become 'more energy aware' however every case will be different. Plus I think these studies generally look at paid for systems, not 'free' installs, where (initially) there might be some confusion over how it all works.

In Luckyone's case, when I asked those questions, she seems to be trying to use devices correctly to benefit the most from PV, and I've read the info as suggesting a change of time, but not an increase in consumption. But these things can catch us all out sometimes!

Since PV will contribute to demand (including baseload) during generation, then if no change to consumptions patterns, total import should have gone down. Like you I suspect that kWh usage in the two periods are not comparable, either demand, or the exact length, or the price has changed. Hopefully over a longer time period it will work itself out.

Mart.