Green, ethical, energy issues in the news

NedS

Screwdriva said:

Highest observed PV generation in the UK to date!

Excellent. I've often wondered how they record solar generation (does it include domestic rooftop?), and how they account for self consumption that never sees the grid.

For context, at the bottom of that page Kate cites 22.5GW as the highest average wind production in a 30min period (recorded Dec 2024), so peak solar is around half of peak wind in the UK, and clearly they compliment each other nicely.

QrizB

Screwdriva said:

Highest observed PV generation in the UK to date!

12.76 GW - enough to send ten DeLoreans through time simultaneously, with a little bit spare 😀

thevilla

I thought Sheffield uni were the arbiters of solar generation records? 

QrizB

thevilla said:

I thought Sheffield uni were the arbiters of solar generation records? 

To be fair to Screwdriva he did say "highest observed" so he might not have been looking at the live stats on the 8th.

Link for those that are interested:

https://www.solar.sheffield.ac.uk/pvlive/

Coastalwatch

QrizB said:

thevilla said:

I thought Sheffield uni were the arbiters of solar generation records? 

To be fair to Screwdriva he did say "highest observed" so he might not have been looking at the live stats on the 8th.

Link for those that are interested:

https://www.solar.sheffield.ac.uk/pvlive/

Thanks All, thought I'd spotted a 13GW a few days ago but didn't log or register it assuming to qualify it would require verification by some recognised body and published eventually. 

With new farms coming online almost weekly now we should see it broken with some frequency over the coming years..

Let's hope Storage rolls out at the necessary rate to help mop up any excess generation!

silverwhistle

NedS said:

Screwdriva said:

Highest observed PV generation in the UK to date!

Excellent. I've often wondered how they record solar generation (does it include domestic rooftop?), and how they account for self consumption that never sees the grid.

I had it in mind that Sheffield do estimates based on installed PV and PVGIS, but somebody else may have more accurate information.

As it is I've done the dishwasher load, a load of washing, the hot water tank is full and am currently charging the car on the granny along with the electric bike and cycle light!

I might get a good book and go and sit in the car: the air conditioning is very good!

paul991

At  first they had a lot of domestic output uploaded to their site and had forums like on here .They were one of the best places to get info on domestic Pv.

Martyn1981

silverwhistle said:

NedS said:

Screwdriva said:

Highest observed PV generation in the UK to date!

Excellent. I've often wondered how they record solar generation (does it include domestic rooftop?), and how they account for self consumption that never sees the grid.

I had it in mind that Sheffield do estimates based on installed PV and PVGIS, but somebody else may have more accurate information.

As it is I've done the dishwasher load, a load of washing, the hot water tank is full and am currently charging the car on the granny along with the electric bike and cycle light!

I might get a good book and go and sit in the car: the air conditioning is very good!

I think you are right. Sheffield Uni were certainly the original source for Gridwatch's estimates of UK PV gen.

iamkate has this explanation - 

Solar panels are connected to the local distribution network rather than the national transmission network, so their reported power generation is an estimate from National Grid ESO, based on weather conditions and observed transmission network demand.

I assume then that the estimated PV gen, is then added onto the demand figure too, to account for the 'negative' demand that demand side PV will actually shows as?

Hope that makes sense? So if there is an estimate of 5GW of demand side PV generation (not seen travelling down the transmission and distribution networks, but instead reducing demand by 5GW at the customer end (and other nearby customers consuming any local export)), then the total grid demand will be estimated 5GW higher to reflect this?

Or I'm making it all up, as my head is starting to hurt.

QrizB

Yes, I think NESO estimate the generation from solar farms, then Sheffield Uni add on a bit for all the small-scale generators.

thevilla

Looking at https://www.neso.energy/ data portal it's all a bit complicated init?  Certainly seems to have superceded the Sheffield site