PVVO Enhanced Unit

Fushia110

My parents have recently had a PVVO Enhanced unit installed.  Can anyone advise whether this is worth having or is it a gimmick?

matelodave

I was going to ask what a PVVO was and then I looked it up and TBH they've probably been conned, especially if they've paid lots of money for it to be installed. If they've got a decent MPPT solar controller/inverter then again adding another box to the set up wont make it anymore efficient.

Reducing the voltage does reduce the power consumed by something like a kettle, however it still takes the same amount of energy to boil it, so it has to stay on for longer so you dont actually save any power overall.

Fushia110

Thank you for your reply.  Just as I thought

Ectophile

The only way a PVVO unit will help on a solar installation is if the supply voltage ever goes so high that the inverter refuses to generate any more. That would be over 253V. This shouldn't ever happen, and if it did, it's the job of the regional DNO to sort it.

[Deleted User]

Ectophile said:

That would be over 253V. This shouldn't ever happen, and if it did, it's the job of the regional DNO to sort it.

Correct, and should it ever happen (or there is an issue with under voltage; voltage drag or voltage swell) then a SMETS2 meter would send the DNO an alert. In theory, the DNO should know about the problem before the end user.