Prices of the electricity we use to charge

[soundwave]

we have 10 panels and a 2kw inverter but if there is a power cut nothing works and was fitted buy the council on a feed in tariff.



the cable from the inverter is above that and goes to the consumer unit so i need to splice in to that cable and earth it and run a adaptor to it seems simple enough with a bypass switch/circuit.

 

[saneagle]

we have 10 panels and a 2kw inverter but if there is a power cut nothing works and was fitted buy the council on a feed in tariff.

View attachment 52378

the cable from the inverter is above that and goes to the consumer unit so i need to splice in to that cable and earth it and run a adaptor to it seems simple enough with a bypass switch/circuit.

My installer explained why you can't do that. I wasn't really listening to what he said about why it can't be done. I only listened to what he needed to do to get electricity when the mains is off and how much it costs. Maybe if you isolate yourself from the grid, you lose your ground, which could be dangerous.

 

[soundwave]

if i wanted to bypass the meter its not that hard

 

[soundwave]

well edf said the kwh rate was 31p and standing charge of 60p tho the kwh with a dd was 29p also cant pay every 3 months and wanted to fit a smart meter nope.

said i can give them a meter reading every month get a bill generated and paid at post office so see how that goes.

 

[PC2017]

if i wanted to bypass the meter its not that hard

That's like my PC cable management...

 

[soundwave]

i have a owl energy meter with a clamp that goes on the main power cable but i tried it on the cable from the solar feed in cable and nothing?

 

[AndyBike]

TBH im not really environmentally friendly when it comes to deciding where my power comes from or how much of it I use.

In fact, if it was produced by burning kittens, I'd likely still put that extra boost to the central heating.

 

[MikelBikel]

i have a owl energy meter with a clamp that goes on the main power cable but i tried it on the cable from the solar feed in cable and nothing?

I think the solar is automatically isolated from the grid in case it feeds 220VAC back into the network and electrocutes the workers.
Heard some (private, presumably expensive?) systems have a double changeover which isolates house from grid so solar can be used independently.

Solar System Types Compared: Grid-Tied, Off-Grid, and Hybrid

Are grid-tied better than off-grid or hybrid solar systems? What are the differences? Read this article to find out what solar system system type is best for you.

www.solarreviews.com

 

[saneagle]

I think the solar is automatically isolated from the grid in case it feeds 220VAC back into the network and electrocutes the workers.
Heard some (private, presumably expensive?) systems have a double changeover which isolates house from grid so solar can be used independently.

Solar System Types Compared: Grid-Tied, Off-Grid, and Hybrid

Are grid-tied better than off-grid or hybrid solar systems? What are the differences? Read this article to find out what solar system system type is best for you.

www.solarreviews.com

Thanks for that. The problem is that the installers don't actually know much about it. They just want to install a ready-made system in a standard way. It's a bit like buying an electric bike from a, electric bike shop. they know how to prepare it and they know what it does, but don't have a clue about how it works. Ask any Bosch dealer how to solar charge your Bosch bike and see what answer you get.

 

[Nealh]

I switched last night and within 48hrs the switch will be complete.
I have ditched Shell and gone a bit greener with Octopus and have applied for their tracker tarrif.
On another note I have decide solar on the house is not viable for 4 - 6 months of the year to yield enough on E/W position as before doing so the roof would need relining with a new breathable membrane .
I am looking into Ripple energy and the part ownership like 1000's & 1000's of others to reduce some energy costs in one of their energy farm programmes whether it be solar or wind.
Unlike solar which you can't take or transfer the deal with you if you move , with the Ripple deal the energy follows you if you move also the life span is 40 years so one can simply leave any remaining years after your death to a beneficiary in your will. Ripple also allow you to nominate up to four benificiaries to pass the remaining years and energy savings on to.

 

[saneagle]

I switched last night and within 48hrs the switch will be complete.
I have ditched Shell and gone a bit greener with Octopus and have applied for their tracker tarrif.
On another note I have decide solar on the house is not viable for 4 - 6 months of the year to yield enough on E/W position as before doing so the roof would need relining with a new breathable membrane .
I am looking into Ripple energy and the part ownership like 1000's & 1000's of others to reduce some energy costs in one of their energy farm programmes whether it be solar or wind.
Unlike solar which you can't take or transfer the deal with you if you move , with the Ripple deal the energy follows you if you move also the life span is 40 years so one can simply leave any remaining years after your death to a beneficiary in your will. Ripple also allow you to nominate up to four benificiaries to pass the remaining years and energy savings on to.

My eight 420w panels produce about 3000 units per annum, which is now worth about £900. Ballance that against the cost of installation, which was £12,250, so the payback is about 15 years. You can bend it much more in your favour by not having batteries, which were 1/3 of the total cost. My main goal was to have power during power cuts, so I wasn't too bothered about the savings.

I also have emergency diesel heating, so when the Russians take out our power grid this winter, I should be alright for a bit. I have one spare double room if anybody else needs to survive.

 

[Benjahmin]

Might be teaching my grandmother to suck eggs here, but this is what I've gleaned.
The solar panel inverter has to see a 50hz signal and voltage before allowing the P.V.'s to pass power to the grid. So if mains goes down, no solar generation to prevent back emf being fed onto the grid when blokes may be working on it.
There are battery systems that, during a mains outage, will generate a 50hz signal and feed it to the inverter so it allows the panels to generate and charge the battery or allow power usage. Part of the system is an isolator which disconnects the house from the grid during outages so that your micro-generator does not back feed into the grid. When mains is restored the system reverts to normal operation. This could all be achieved with manual changeover switches but, as we are no longer trusted to even fit a 13A plug to a new appliance anymore, it has to be automatic. Idiot proof so long as the idiots installing it know what they're doing.
My own south facing P.V.'s (installed in late 2011) are only 1.75Kwp, so not really worth the expense of a battery. However I do get the original feed in tarrif. For the last quarter this amounted to 540 quid or so. Thankyou very much.

 

[soundwave]

had ours installed 12 years ago and was told it was 10 panels and 3kw what we was told but after i got the council to send someone round to check it that took 12 years said it was 2kw so 200w each and just reset the inverter.

Solar PV Monitoring | Intuition PV | The OWL

Modular Solar Generation and Electricity Consumption Monitoring from OWL - track import, export, generation and consumption; all via an online portal.

www.theowl.com

would that do what i want as rang lcx and not got a fkn clue

 

[saneagle]

Might be teaching my grandmother to suck eggs here, but this is what I've gleaned.
The solar panel inverter has to see a 50hz signal and voltage before allowing the P.V.'s to pass power to the grid. So if mains goes down, no solar generation to prevent back emf being fed onto the grid when blokes may be working on it.
There are battery systems that, during a mains outage, will generate a 50hz signal and feed it to the inverter so it allows the panels to generate and charge the battery or allow power usage. Part of the system is an isolator which disconnects the house from the grid during outages so that your micro-generator does not back feed into the grid. When mains is restored the system reverts to normal operation. This could all be achieved with manual changeover switches but, as we are no longer trusted to even fit a 13A plug to a new appliance anymore, it has to be automatic. Idiot proof so long as the idiots installing it know what they're doing.
My own south facing P.V.'s (installed in late 2011) are only 1.75Kwp, so not really worth the expense of a battery. However I do get the original feed in tarrif. For the last quarter this amounted to 540 quid or so. Thankyou very much.

That all makes sense, but my installer said that couldn't be done. I had three choices:
1. All power goes off when the grid goes off-line.
2. A complete off-grid system with earth rod in the garden.
3. A separate circuit that could run from the inverter and earth rod as long as I have charge in the batteries. AFAIK, that socket is live whether the grid is on or off. There is no switch for it other than an isolator for safety and maintenance.

It's always possible that there are other solutions that my installer didn't know about or want to do, but the guy did sound pretty sure.

The best thing about solar panels is that it's a nice gadget to play with - probably cheaper than some ebikes like one with the new Pinion system too.

 

[lenny]

I have one spare double room

airbnb

 

[saneagle]

I just seen a mistake in what I said before. The annual yoeld is 5000 units, so savings are £1500 and payback is 8 years.

 

[saneagle]

had ours installed 12 years ago and was told it was 10 panels and 3kw what we was told but after i got the council to send someone round to check it that took 12 years said it was 2kw so 200w each and just reset the inverter.

Solar PV Monitoring | Intuition PV | The OWL

Modular Solar Generation and Electricity Consumption Monitoring from OWL - track import, export, generation and consumption; all via an online portal.

www.theowl.com

would that do what i want as rang lcx and not got a fkn clue

When you connect a solar system to the grid, there's all sorts of paperwork you need, in particular, the MCS certificate that has all details of your system on it.

 

[soundwave]

When you connect a solar system to the grid, there's all sorts of paperwork you need, in particular, the MCS certificate that has all details of your system on it.

its a council house they paid to fit them 12 years ago so have no spec or paper work

a house up the road had there ones taken off years ago with scaffolding put up and dumped on it as the roof would collapse if left on and now tiles are falling in the the attic so when it pisses it down it will destroy the hole house its that bad

house 2 doors down also has a roof you can see the blue sky stinks of mould and rot tho not as bad but the council wont even give them a bucket

 

[guerney]

 

[Benjahmin]

but my installer said that couldn't be done.

Tesla Power walls do exactly that. Monitor mains and do an auto switch over.
I guess the need for an earth rod is belt and braces in case the grid earth connection to the house is disconnected during line work. Not likely but possible. Installing a rod is no problem and used to be the norm here in Wales.
Back in the 70's part of my job for B.T. was diesel generator set maintenance. These sets monitored the mains and auto started within 20seconds, the huge open cell exchange battery taking the load in the interim. The shut down and switch back to mains was also auto. All monitoring and switch over was achieved mostly by limit switches with coils and relays. No solid state stuff then. If it was possible then surely it's possible now?