Solar PV Quote seems excessive

silverwhistle

I'm guessing you already had an immersion heater which I don't.

Ah yes, that'll make a significant difference. I'm currently shoving a couple of kw into the tank at the moment as I had a nice hot bath last night after footie training in the cold fog.

As you say, living with it will be enlightening. Mine went in last August not yet a full year but I'm pleasantly surprised by February and March production (so far!).

Ageing_Stick_Insect

Install started at 09:30 and was completed by 16:00. Light rain for most of the day but little wind so installers were okay with that.

Very pleased with work and optimiser looks the business. I should have my Solaredge account set up tomorrow so will wait for that before posting some pics. Now can I have some sunshine please God? :cool2:

tunnel

Ageing_Stick_Insect wrote: »

Install started at 09:30 and was completed by 16:00. Light rain for most of the day but little wind so installers were okay with that.

Very pleased with work and optimiser looks the business. I should have my Solaredge account set up tomorrow so will wait for that before posting some pics. Now can I have some sunshine please God? :cool2:

If you'd only spent a week instead of 2 tweeking your system requirements you'd have had a full week of high daily totals(last week)......only kidding......can't wait to see your pics.....nice one Ray.

Ageing_Stick_Insect

tunnel wrote: »

If you'd only spent a week instead of 2 tweeking your system requirements you'd have had a full week of high daily totals(last week)......only kidding......can't wait to see your pics.....nice one Ray.

Hi tunnel,

Yes indeed! It's been an exasperating week weather wise but finally the sun came out today.

As promised here are a few photos of the install. The inverter ended up in the garage as it is slim enough not be in the way.



And the three roofs...







I've been comparing energy production with a site 20 miles SSW of me with a 4kWh array on a SSW roof. Today he has generated 15.35kWh compared to my 12.93. I suppose that's to be expected when he has more panels closer to south than me.

The company boss was very efficient in getting the paperwork off to EDF and I've had an email from them requesting starting meter readings. Provided those on Thursday so very hopeful everything is now in place for the 14.9p rate.

Just two small issues...

1) We (boss, electrician and me) discussed at some length the location of the inverter in the garage. I'm happy with that. But when he'd completed all the work the electrician gave me a brief run-through of the inside components including the FIT meter. It was only the next day when I attempted to read the meter I realised how difficult it was to read it. It's in a small under-stairs cupboard low down on the right wall with a larger box in front of it. I have to get on my knees and shine a torch on the display to see it and even then it's not easy to make out the numbers.

I'm annoyed because the electrician decided on his own to put it there without checking with me first. I've asked the company boss to get him to contact me about moving the meter. Does anyone know if that's easy or not? I don't mind seeing any wires as it's only a cupboard. The electrician was sub-contracted and travels the country but is based in Bolton - 20 miles north of me. Hopefully a better location can be found but as a last resort I can use my camera to take a photo of the meter. But I'd rather not have to do that.

The second point is radio reception on Medium Wave. There's a lot of buzzing when the sun is up. I'm guessing something associated with the panels is causing that. Should that be happening? I thought there were laws about radio interference? Perhaps it's a conspiracy by the govt. to get us to switch to DAB.

Monitoring energy production is great with the Solaredge software. Once the installer has created the physical layout of what panels are on what roof it will be very easy to monitor each panel's output. The inverter is connected to my network via a homeplug rather than wi-fi.

So I'm 90% happy and if the meter position can be sorted I'll give them a good review on Which? Local. As they don't have any at present it's really in their interest to keep the customer 100% happy.

jimmyboy420

I'm still waiting for my installed to put my panel layout on, 10 days later (also SolarEdge). I think they're quite busy coming up to the end of the period so I'll wait until April starts before I hassle them!

Very pleased with my system overall - I think SolarEdge is great!

tunnel

Its nice to see the fruit of our efforts, thanks Ray. Does look quite impressive.

As you've stated, a similar size nearby may have generated more being closer to south BUT if that system "only" faces south then you'll have a better prolonged generation throughout the day(more time for take off and landing lol) rather than just one peak around lunch. You're probably in a better position to utilise more of the energy generated.

As for the solar edge.....hmmm, my installer didn't program anything, they just connected up and away i went, 8 panels in a row. I'm guessing you'll have 16 panels lined up in your monitoring, its not rocket science and you'll soon realise which is which when you keep an eye on them. It didn't take long for me to work them out.

Looks like you've also got a nice weekend to get you on your way, time now to hop on the renewables thread and post some figures. There's actually quite a few with away from south panels starting to post on there so you'll get an idea of how your performing.

tunnel

Martyn1981

Congrats Ray. I know you were concerned about looks, but I think that looks pretty neat. The panels certainly look carefully placed.

As T points out, lots of 'non south' systems going up, people throwing the rulebook out the window and making the most of what they have.

Keep on flying, dawn to dusk!

Mart.

Ageing_Stick_Insect

Jimmy, I'm pleased too especially with the panel monitoring software. We chose well.

Tunnel, take your point about energy being created over a larger part of the day than a single roof solution. I'm hopeful that as the days lengthen the WNW roof will contribute more especially when I have a cooker and TV on. But there's no doubting a south-facing roof racks up the spondoolicks faster! Anyway, it's early days and I've already made nearly £7 so only £7793 to go! :rotfl:

I have worked out which panels are on what roof but not the location of each within that arrangement. That's needed of course should one under-perform. Hopefully not though.

Martyn, flying as I type this for no charge! I'll certainly have a read of the renewables thread and make a contribution.

No-one has come back about medium wave interference. Am I alone in suffering from that? If so I'll need to speak to the company.

Martyn1981

Ageing_Stick_Insect wrote: »

I'm hopeful that as the days lengthen the WNW roof will contribute more especially when I have a cooker and TV on. But there's no doubting a south-facing roof racks up the spondoolicks faster!

Well you couldn't pick a better day to ponder further.

Yesterday my WNW was generating to just past 6pm, with decent generation till 5pm. But today that jumps an hour!

So for the whole of BST my system will generate to 7pm or later, and generate a sizeable amount 500W and growing (weather dependent) around 6pm when cooking dinner finishes. Very soon all systems combined will be well past 1kW at 6pm and I suspect yours will be the same.

Mart.

Dave_Fowler

Ageing_Stick_Insect wrote: »

.... No-one has come back about medium wave interference. Am I alone in suffering from that? If so I'll need to speak to the company.

I've just taken my old AM radio out of retirement and checked for interference on the MW band. Close up to the SE inverter there is some interference, and also around any mains wiring in the house. Of course this could be nothing to do with the SE inverter - I'll have to wait until night-fall and check again. I will report back this evening.

Dave F