Should I bother with a battery?

QrizB

Cottage_Economy said:

No reason I can see for the drop.

It definitely needs looking into. Your installation is is quite new, is it still under warranty? Can you call the installer out to take a look?

Cottage_Economy

Looking back on the paperwork, the panels are fitted as two strings, top and bottom, and if the bottom string failed that would account for 7/20 panels so about 35% drop. I’ve just contacted the fitter to have a chat and left a message. 

I had a quick look at the inverter and no visible error codes are showing. I wouldn’t even know how to check whether a string has failed. 

Cottage_Economy

QrizB said:

Cottage_Economy said:

No reason I can see for the drop.

It definitely needs looking into. Your installation is is quite new, is it still under warranty? Can you call the installer out to take a look?

Yes, fitted in March 2019 by Redmile Energy in Rutland, so have just left a message on their answerphone. 

Cottage_Economy

Just checked the inverter, two or three screens in to the menu it shows the generation status of the two strings.

V DC2 0230.4V
I DC2    0.0.9A

So yes, something wrong with the second string of 7 panels. 

Verdigris

That looks like the voltage and current on the same string, to me. Might be worth another button press or two. I'd guess the other string is called DC1 but might be something else.

I hope you get it fixed quickly. Some sunshine might come along!

Cottage_Economy

Sorry, posted the wrong ones. Rushing around trying to do too many things at once.

V DC1 0.001.4v
I DC1 00.1A

Verdigris

That string is definitely deceased. Probably pining for the fjords.

Cottage_Economy

Verdigris said:

That string is definitely deceased. Probably pining for the fjords.

  It's not the only thing pining for the fjords round here. Just when I think I'm gaining a bit I go backwards. 

My own fault. On some level I registered the drop in FITS but was so pulled in all directions at the time it went out of my head. Kind of hoping this might be a simple thing, like a mouse chewed wire or something.

JKenH

Cottage_Economy said:

Verdigris said:

That string is definitely deceased. Probably pining for the fjords.

  It's not the only thing pining for the fjords round here. Just when I think I'm gaining a bit I go backwards. 

My own fault. On some level I registered the drop in FITS but was so pulled in all directions at the time it went out of my head. Kind of hoping this might be a simple thing, like a mouse chewed wire or something.

Edit: post moved to a separate thread. 

I am having a problem with reduced output from my panels installed in 2018. I have panels on 2 roofs each with its own inverter. The panels on each roof are arranged in 2 identical strings. I can see from the app that monitors my inverters that one string on each inverter produces less than the other but the difference can vary from zero to around 25%. Strangely this is happening on both strings. We have tried swapping the strings round to see if the problem is in the inverter but it isn’t. I would like to think it is something simple but it seems it isn’t. 

1961Nick

For anyone on Octopus Go or Go Faster the case for battery storage has never been stronger.

The latest price is 7.5p/30p for Go & it should reflect the prevailing market as it isn't capped.

Charging for 4 hours per night on Go will yield a discharge of 11.35kWh. The cost of that will be about 9p/kWh after factoring in round trip losses. The savings are therefore 11.35 x 21p (30p - 9p) = £2.38/day... or £870 pa.

The capital cost of the equipment required is;

6 x US2000C @ £720ea = £4320 (or 4 x US3000C @ £1020 = £4080)
Sofar ME3000 = £700 (?)
Installation = £350

ROI = is just under 6 years for the US3000C (£5130/£870)... & that's without factoring in any of the solar output you harvest!

Of course all this is dependant on energy prices remaining at 30p/kWh after April 1st & Octopus keeping the huge differential between the on & off peak Go tariff.