Plug in solar

Qyburn

I just saw this related article, pressure on landlords to permit/encourage tenants to install plug-in solar.

https://www.landlordzone.co.uk/news/government-encourages-tenants-to-install-plug-in-solar-panels

TroubledTarts

We will manage requests for balcony solar on a case by case basis.

Taking the flats first only one has a balcony. Three have gardens and 3 flats (1st floor and ground floor) don't have gardens but do have two large parking spaces for a ground system.

It would ruin the look of the old 1880's hospital that it once was but this might be what we all have to get used to.

Remember satellite dishes and the uproar of them ruining the look of streets.

The properties have multiple options so that should not be an issues.

As soon as these legal kits hit Aldi and Lidl it's gonna be fun times

Newbie_John

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81979458#Comment_81979458

Not sure if it's just me but I cannot see a huge uptake of plug in solars among renters.

1. Wer're talking of 4 year average payback meaning that for 4 years you don't really save anything - and that's a long time for many renters.
2. Its not cheap, I get grabbing a random item for £20 at Aldi, but £400 item that has a weight of possibly 20kg+?
3. DIY, it may not be that easy - panels could be heavy - and not many balconies have sockets outdoor - so you will need to either drill through a wall or try to squeeze cable under the door causing various hazards.

Maybe a landlord could install themselves and use it to advertise the flat promising cheap bills 😅

Scot_39

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81979458#Comment_81979458

i see many refusing on the basis of physical safety and risk.

Many blocks already ban garden furniture on balconies and flower boxes / planters etc as they or there contents have been blown off in windy conditions.

And as essentialy external fitments it is interesting who would be held liable for the safety of these panels - landlord or tennant/leaseholder - especially if as many envisage - fitted by a non professional installer.

Scot_39

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81979898#Comment_81979898

just imagine that 20kG falking from height during install or being blown off after years in service as constant buffeting loosened bracket bolts or bent / broke mounting brackets etc. - for tge lattef - lets go to the German consumers ratings agency

Stiftung Warentest - a govt created testing and consumer ddvice rstings / advice group

This report suggests it found

5 out of 8 solar panel mounting brackets tested failed during Germanys testing - some seriously.

A truly sobering fault for something holding a 10-15kG panel at height.

Bending or breaking brackets found in wind testing by German test orgs - one admittedly vested bodies post in English - so not original

https://www.linkedin.com/posts/solaracks_solaracks-besupported-theboringracks-activity-7447963982763565056-EIZh/

The list of that and 5 other weaknesses if true needs addressing in UK before these things launch.

As if anythiny I suspect the German market regulated first and sold later - unlike tge UK on so many goods - like say Escooters as per next point. How many times for instance has Trading Standards on retail or Which highlighted unsafe goods on UK sites like ebay and Amazon.

Fire Risk

And then theres the fire risk - Solar pV panels have been known to catch fire - might be rare - 171 in UK in 2024 - but then so were E-bike and E-Scooter fires several years ago - but some blocks now ban ftom communal areas and stairwells.

And given memories of equally rare tragedies like Grenfell and that I suspect some medium rises and high rises blocks still havent sorted out their structural panel safety - would a block freeholder (or individual leaseholding landlord) want to aggrevate by adding a known potential fire risk to their structures.

Strikes me theres a lot more to balance for some flat dwellers and their landlords / freeholders / insurers than saving a little on electricity.

And that DESNZ et al - like the minister quoted in the landlord link - taking a rather one sided view.

MouldyOldDough

Article in the this subject in the Independent

https://www.independent.co.uk/home-improvement/solar-panels/plug-in-solar-panels-lidl-iceland-b2966418.html?fbclid=IwY2xjawRe_45leHRuA2FlbQIxMABzcnRjBmFwcF9pZBAyMjIwMzkxNzg4MjAwODkyAAEeRPVh6rFufYWnuws5D_c1A9Et-olp1wg3fd1RIkZMhgixhsCb4nJ9pd1PefQ_aem_xk-qwIACschi3kfIwPL2jA

tfhnota

My fuse box has a mix of one-direction RCB's and a MCB (for the main socket circuit), and a main switch which is just a switch so I assume the "safest" thing to do is feed it through the main socket circuit on the MCB which does not mind which way the electricity is flowing and therefore does not have a potential RCB burn out issue? Not keen on doubling the kit price to get an electrician to change the RCB or even the consumer unit.

Qyburn

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81981847#Comment_81981847

A photo would help as your description isn't quite clear. RCD protection has been required on circuits serving sockets, for at least a couple of decades. Are you quite sure your sockets don't have an RCD somewhere upstream?

Looking at the broader picture, if the government is going to permit "plug in" generation then it really needs to be safe plugged into any system.

lohr500

Well today is the second day I have had my DIY PIS system up and running.

So far today it has generated a claimed 3.73kW from the two 400W panels.
Most of that energy has been keeping pace with the base load in the house and a small surplus has been flowing back into the Powerwall 3 battery during periods of low home demand.

I have checked that there is no voltage present on the mains plug when it is removed from the socket and that the inverter shuts down if it detects a loss of power whilst plugged in.
(The G99 approved Tesla Gateway isolates the house anyway if a loss of incoming mains is detected so the PIS would be isolated from the grid even if its own built in safety system failed).

There appears to be no issues with the consumer unit breakers or other elements of the house wiring system.

In the end I went with an APsystems EZ1—M-800 twin MPPT input microinverter as it can safely handle the voltages/currents from panels even bigger than the 400W ones I have used.

The only thing that confused me last night was when the system showed as being offline in the App.
I hadn't realised that the wi-fi/bluetooth functionality in the inverter was powered from the DC panel feed and not the AC mains.So basically once it gets dark, the inverter stops communicating with the APsystems cloud.

It has been an interesting project with a steep learning curve and I would like to say thanks again to those of you who pointed out the input voltage and current limitations of the original single MPPT input Hoymiles microinverter I was planning on using.

With the three large ballasted mounting tubs for the flat garage roof and he associated mounting clamps, it has ended up costing £350 which is more than the £200-£250 budget I was planning on.
That being said, I know the panels are now safely mounted on the roof without having to drill through the roofing membrane. Even if the Aldi/Lidl/Iceland/Amazon kits do come in at £250 (which I doubt, at least for the first year or so) I would still have needed to spend more on a suitable mounting system.

QrizB

That's pretty good!

I succumbed to temptation and bought an Ecoflow kit. For various reasons I've not been able to mount the panels properly yet but I've had one 450 watt panel propped-up not-quite-flat on my patio for a couple of weeks. The MC4 solar cables run through an open window into my house and from there to my Stream Ultra.

The sun doesn't reach the panel properly (it's shaded by my shed) until almost noon and then goes behind next door's evergreens before 4pm. Despite that, it's been making about 1.5kWh a day whenever we've had a sunny day since I laid it out there.

Today's generation curve:

The month (I put the panel out late on the 16th, when I realised I wasn't going to be ready to mount things properly for a while):

I'm satisfied with this, all things considered.

Next week I hope to get all four panels mounted and then we'll see how it really performs. Or we'll have a cloudy May ...