GreenEnergy Nationwide

chunkyborofan

This company fitted 4kw system to my home in December 2015. The first reading indicates it is not working as it should. Unfortunately, nobody answers our emails of complaint and I can only get the voice-mail machine when I ring them.... this worries me. The fitting was done in a hurry (just before Christmas holidays), the scaffold fitters were a bit foul mouthed, working on an unsafe set of planks and poles and we were promised a monitoring reader that failed to arrive. They did not take payment for it but apparently it is "in the post". I am not at all happy and not sure what to do. Has anyone else had similar problems?

crucian

Welcome to the forum,if you give some more details i.e your general location,the direction the panels are facing and the guys on here will be able to give you a good idea if your system is working properly.What makes you think it is not working as it should? What figures are you working on,remember that during the winter production will be much lower.

Martyn1981

Hello chunky.

If you go to the PV FAQs and have a look at section 5, it'll walk you through using PVGIS. With this tool you can get an extremely accurate estimate of your generation, broken down by months, so you'll be able to compare your Jan and Feb (and Mch) gen to the targets.

Actual results will vary depending on weather, but this year has been roughly average so far (for me, and many discussing performance).

So, see how it's performed, then report back if there's a problem.

If you struggle with PVGIS, then as crucian says, give us some details, and we'll have a go for you.

Mart.

chunkyborofan

Hi and many thanks to Crucian and Martyn1981. The system was installed in mid December (live from 3rd week) on two elevations (16 panels) the main roof faces South and the extension is 90 degrees to that. The whole lot has raised only 133 kWh, dated 21/03/2015. I am located in Middlesbrough on high ground with no trees or anything overhanging. It was my energy supplier, First Utility that told me it was lower than it should be. Any thoughts on their opinion?

theboylard

Do you know the brand/model of inverter and the panels?

Photos of the inverter as it's installed may help too.

That will give some insight into whether the installer used better or worse equipment, which may help with the diagnosis?

Martyn1981

chunkyborofan wrote: »

The whole lot has raised only 133 kWh, dated 21/03/2015.

Holy Cow! I'm off to play with PVGIS, that doesn't sound right.

Back soon.

Mart.

Martyn1981

Right.

Assuming the system is split 50:50, then generation guestimates (based on no significant shading) of:

2kWp south facing (annual 1,850)
Dec 56
Jan 63
Feb 93
Mch 177

2kWp east or west (annual 1,440)
Dec 21
Jan 28
Feb 53
Mch 124

So, even if we ignore December, we have "133kWh so far" v's 538kWh.

I repeat ..... Holy Cow!

I'll second theboylard, what inverter is it? Big question, is it suitable for a split system?

Mart.

theboylard

Martyn1981 wrote: »

So, even if we ignore December, we have "133kWh so far" v's 538kWh.

I repeat ..... Holy Cow!

I'll second theboylard, what inverter is it? Big question, is it suitable for a split system?

Mart.

That's the question, is the inverter dual mppt capable? Has it all been configured as a single string, instead of 2 strings? Might go someway to explain the poor output?

Can we see pics of the inverter, including cabling from the panels?