web site showing real time solar output wanted

mbeast

I used to have a web site that you could click on different builds around the UK and it would bring up a dashboard showing real time output as well as other info like year to date etc but due to pc change over etc I seem to have lost it.

If you know of a site or even better the one I'm talking about then please post the web address for me.


thanks :beer:

mbeast

ah, seems it may have been naturalwatt.com that is now gone bust or other so any other site that shows live data would be good.

I have a average use use of 1.2 - 1.5 kwh so trying to work out what size pv array would be best to cover that for most part of the day when the sun is likely to be shining

Martyn1981

mbeast wrote: »

I have a average use use of 1.2 - 1.5 kwh so trying to work out what size pv array would be best to cover that for most part of the day when the sun is likely to be shining

Hiya mbeast. Are you a very lower user with an average daily consumption of 1.2 to 1.5kWh, or a very high user with an average consumption of 1.2 to 1.5kW (~30kWh per day)?

Or possibly you average 1.2 to 1.5 kW's during the daytime, maybe 10 to 12kWh's. Regardless, you'd normally be better off going as big as possible (budget permitting) as any install will have some fixed costs such as scaffolding, MCS costs, internal wiring etc.. So whilst say a 2kWp install may be £4k a 4kWp install might 'only' be £6k - 100% more kWp for 50% more £'s.

Also you won't want to match the system size to your consumption, as the system will only produce max (or about 90% of max, once panels are hot, after a few minutes of direct sunshine) in good weather, and when the sun is reasonably well oriented to them.

So for instance, if you have a very steep south facing roof, then the sun to panel angle will be poorer during early mornings and late evenings, compared to mid day, and the sun will have a better 'angle of attack' during the winter than the summer. Whereas, a shallower roof will match the higher summer sun, and perform worse with a low winter sun.

If you've got the budget and roof space, try to aim for 4kWp, any unused leccy will simply be exported, but you'll have a better chance of meeting your needs during poorer weather, sun to panel angles etc.

Some general info contained on the FAQ thread here:

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/3872445

Mart.

mbeast

Martyn1981 wrote: »

Hiya mbeast. Are you a very lower user with an average daily consumption of 1.2 to 1.5kWh, or a very high user with an average consumption of 1.2 to 1.5kW (~30kWh per day)?

Or possibly you average 1.2 to 1.5 kW's during the daytime, maybe 10 to 12kWh's. Regardless, you'd normally be better off going as big as possible (budget permitting) as any install will have some fixed costs such as scaffolding, MCS costs, internal wiring etc.. So whilst say a 2kWp install may be £4k a 4kWp install might 'only' be £6k - 100% more kWp for 50% more £'s.

Also you won't want to match the system size to your consumption, as the system will only produce max (or about 90% of max, once panels are hot, after a few minutes of direct sunshine) in good weather, and when the sun is reasonably well oriented to them.

So for instance, if you have a very steep south facing roof, then the sun to panel angle will be poorer during early mornings and late evenings, compared to mid day, and the sun will have a better 'angle of attack' during the winter than the summer. Whereas, a shallower roof will match the higher summer sun, and perform worse with a low winter sun.

If you've got the budget and roof space, try to aim for 4kWp, any unused leccy will simply be exported, but you'll have a better chance of meeting your needs during poorer weather, sun to panel angles etc.

Some general info contained on the FAQ thread here:

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/3872445

Mart.

i'm a high user so all day my energy monitor is around 1.2 - 1.5kw dropping to around 0.8kw at night (fish tanks lighting and pc extra in the day).
I will take a look at the link now

rogerblack

May http://pvoutput.org/listteam.jsp?tid=110 be what you're thinking of?
This is 'only' 1.6MW of the UKs panels - but it is spread round the country - it's not utterly implausible that multiplying the outputs by 1500 or so would represent more or less the actual solar output of the countries domestic and small industrial solar under the FIT scheme.
(some of the members of the group do not have recent reports, and it's questionable that it's been completely dark over them - and there is about 1.6GW installed.)

mbeast

rogerblack wrote: »

May http://pvoutput.org/listteam.jsp?tid=110 be what you're thinking of?
This is 'only' 1.6MW of the UKs panels - but it is spread round the country - it's not utterly implausible that multiplying the outputs by 1500 or so would represent more or less the actual solar output of the countries domestic and small industrial solar under the FIT scheme.
(some of the members of the group do not have recent reports, and it's questionable that it's been completely dark over them - and there is about 1.6GW installed.)

thank you, doesn't show live data but does give daily amounts generated by different areas and array sizes

just trying to work out what size system would give an output of 1.5kw p/hr or better for most part of the year as i use around 14,000 kw p/year with most being in the daytime.

Martyn1981

mbeast wrote: »

just trying to work out what size system would give an output of 1.5kw p/hr or better for most part of the year as i use around 14,000 kw p/year with most being in the daytime.

Hiya, this already sounds like a very interesting situation. The difficulty with any straight answer, is that generation will vary with panel orientation, pitch, weather and time of year. So generating 1.5kW for many hours on a long sunny June day, is different to a short grey December day.

Given your high daytime demand, then you'd certainly want to aim for 4kWp, giving you a proportionally lower cost (per kWp) than a smaller system, whilst maximising the upto 4kWp FiT band, and staying within DNO regs with a 3.68kW capped inverter.

But .... something Roger and I have chatted about many times is going bigger to get a better spread of generation, and/or a more consistent level of generation. This will depend on your roof(s) sizes, orientations, or whether or not you can place panels somewhere else too, say a ground mount, tracker install, shed/garage. Then you might consider going bigger, placing panels SE and SW giving you better generation in the early and late hours, and flattening the mid day peak a little. For a bigger system, that could output more than 3.68kW, you'll need prior approval from the DNO.

Do you heat your water with leccy? If you go big, and even if you put devices on during 'peaks' (washing machine, dishwasher etc) you'll still have lots of export in the 'BST' months, so a diversion to water heating might help. And if you go 'silly' big, then there are diversion devices that guarantee that export will be capped at 3.68kW, thus getting DNO approval for a larger system, even if the local area/cabling is not suitable - but these ain't cheap.

So .... what size and orientation are your roof(s), what are the pitches (this will alter the when, but shouldn't change the amount too much), can you install anywhere else, water heating?

Have a good play with PVGIS (see section 5 of FAQ), this will give you a lot of info, especially the monthly breakdown.

Lastly, hard to guess what your import savings will be, but fair to say that with high and constant daytime consumption, it'll be more than the general guesstimate in the FAQ.

Is this getting easier or more confusing!

Mart.