How low can you go...Daily, Weekly, Monthly, Whatever... electricity grid import

Coastalwatch

Spies said:

90kwh last week 


No worthwhile solar production all week! 

Well, I can top that no problem.........240.5 kWh's.

mickyduck55

December was a very poor month for solar here in the SE with this yeas being the lowest annual generation since install in 2011.  I don't think its panel degradation but time will tell.

Dec Data

294.8 kWh imported, 72.8 kWh generated, 5.7 kWh exported

meinnit

mickyduck55 said:

December was a very poor month for solar here in the SE with this yeas being the lowest annual generation since install in 2011.  I don't think its panel degradation but time will tell.

Dec Data

294.8 kWh imported, 72.8 kWh generated, 5.7 kWh exported

One of the dullest December ever apparently

https://www.standard.co.uk/news/uk/dull-december-lack-of-sunshine-weather-uk-new-years-eve-b974314.html

Martyn1981

How dull, this dull:



This map is from the Met Office anomaly maps section.

For 2021 as a whole, the picture is much more average as a whole, but varies quite a bit by location:




But compared to 30-60yrs ago, it was a pretty good year.

mickyduck55

Looking at the maps posted I guess I have done OK over the year.. I'm just SW outside London....
Last 20 days of the year very very dull...
PVIS = 3875
Actual= 3825

QrizB

QrizB said:

• May - 105kWh imported, 324kWh generated export N/A (meter not fitted).
• June - 92kWh imported, 272kWh generated, export N/A
• July - 99kWh imported, 319kWh generated, 43kWh exported (from 26/06 smart meter installation).
• August - 62kWh imported, 256kWh generated, 183kWh exported (battery commissioned 16/08).
• September  - 75kWh imported, 238kWh generated, 146kWh exported.
• October - 130kWh imported, 171kWh generated, 50kWh exported
• November - 200kWh imported, 94kWh generated, 24kWh exported.

December is over, and with it 2021. How did it go?

• December - 258kWh imported, 41kWh generated, 7kWh exported.
  

As you might have noticed even without Martyn's Met Office maps, December was dull dull dull. I'm in the 50%-70% zone on the post-1991 map and my generation was 51% of PVGIS which fits. The low sun dips beneath my local horizon very early and is preceded by shading from evergreens in the middle distance; next door's cherry tree also gets to interfere in the late morning although it's leafless which reduces the effect.

Hopefully by the end of January the sun will be high enough that both sets of vegetation stop being a problem. I'll have to keep an eye on them.

JKenH

December:

Generated 63kWh = 55% of PVGIS. Imported 1178kWh and exported 0.9 kWh. 

ggmf

I've had to redo my figures as I had them incorrect. Also updated my calculations based on the split orientation of my panels from the PVGIS site. December was 36.75% of PVGIS which aligns to the December 2021 map above for the SE corner. Its been dull.

Spies

Week from Monday 10th Jan, 75.361kWh

Lowest day was 9.395kWh on which I generated 4.8kWh, consumed 2.55kWh and exported 2.25kWh of it. 

QrizB

QrizB said:

• May - 105kWh imported, 324kWh generated export N/A (meter not fitted).
• June - 92kWh imported, 272kWh generated, export N/A
• July - 99kWh imported, 319kWh generated, 43kWh exported (from 26/06 smart meter installation).
• August - 62kWh imported, 256kWh generated, 183kWh exported (battery commissioned 16/08).
• September  - 75kWh imported, 238kWh generated, 146kWh exported.
• October - 130kWh imported, 171kWh generated, 50kWh exported
• November - 200kWh imported, 94kWh generated, 24kWh exported.
• December - 258kWh imported, 41kWh generated, 7kWh exported.
  

Another month, another set of numbers. (I'm sure I'll get fed up quoting myself eventually.)

• January 2022 - 219kWh imported, 84kWh generated, 17kWh exported.

I'm pretty pleased with that; it's an average for the month of just over 7kWh/day imported, vs. 13.5kWh/day for the same month last year. In large part that's because I've reined in Mrs QrizB's electric heater use in her crafting-shed. The biggest improvement was from fitting a countdown timeswitch so the hgeater turns itself off after two hours - no more leaving it on overnight by accident!

Also, of course, I think it's been milder (gas use is down 25% on last year too) which must help.

With it being milder it's also been cloudier which has put a bit of a crimp in solar generation. Parts of the month were dreadful and at times it looked as tough it would be as bad as December was but the last six days really turned it around for me, generating 27kWh between them - almost a third of my monthly output.

I've mentioned elsethread that I've fitted a Zigbee smart switch to my immersion heater. My thinking is, with gas predicted to be over 7p/kWh from April I'll be better off heating water overnight on Octopus Go at 5p/kWh. Between that and diverted surplus solar I should be able to cut gas demand right back until my 12-month Go fix expires at the end of September. That will inevitably increase my electricity consumption, although it will be a saving in gas and probably a small reduction in carbon footprint.