Anyone Home Solar Charging?

[NoUserName7]

I think it's unlikely in any sense (cash or carbon) to pay off. Do you know your actual daily generation? Here is my generation from a 3.4 kW system from two days ago (yesterday was almost nothing, today it is not yet powered up):
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300W barely covers the base load (fridge, internet, pond, etc.), and you can see there is a significant and fairly rapid variation which makes it difficult to adapt anything to absorb the excess. Best case, you only have about 1 kW headroom for a few hours over 6 months of the year.

If you haven't got real-time metering, look at pvoutput.org and find a local system to get an idea of month to month performance.

Exporting your excess generation is efficient, getting any pay-off from your generation will need a very low incremental cost (considering you can manually schedule on the sunny days for free).

I've checked my solar meter, and it shows 2107 kWh for the past 45 months. I am not sure if this number is actually generated energy from the panel or the energy I used though (as I am not at home during the weekday). With a simple calculation, it seems the panel generated (or I used) 1.56 kWh per day from my 1.5 kW solar panel. Does this make sense?

 

[MrBadger]

I think it's unlikely in any sense (cash or carbon) to pay off. Do you know your actual daily generation? Here is my generation from a 3.4 kW system from two days ago (yesterday was almost nothing, today it is not yet powered up):

Yep. Its sadly the start of that time of year when Solar PV takes a nose dive and there will be many days when little or no excess is available.

 

[MrBadger]

I've checked my solar meter, and it shows 2107 kWh for the past 45 months. I am not sure if this number is actually generated energy from the panel or the energy I used though (as I am not at home during the weekday). With a simple calculation, it seems the panel generated (or I used) 1.56 kWh per day from my 1.5 kW solar panel. Does this make sense?

That sounds like your generation meter. So yes, your annual generation average is around 1.5kWh/day, some days will be better, but large chunks of the year will be worse. Take off normal usage, and you won't have much spare.

tbh. That 2107kWh sounds very low for a 1.5kWp system. I have 4kWp and my daily average is 9-10kWh/day. Based upon that your daily average should be more than double what you are getting, say 3.6kWh. So maybe its not your true generation meter. What meter do you give your FiT readings from?

 

[NoUserName7]

Currently, I don't have FIT. I tried to register my solar panel when I moved into my house (new development) but was rejected because of the registration deadline. So, until now, I keep wasting energy.

 

[MrBadger]

You have 45 months of generation? Were you first owner, if not, you should have just taken over their FiT. The FiT is on the system and normally you would just take it over like you would an electricity supply.

 

[NoUserName7]

You have 45 months of generation? Were you first owner, if not, you should have just taken over their FiT. The FiT is on the system and normally you would just take it over like you would an electricity supply.

Yeah, I am the first owner. I guess my solar panel is not that efficient then.
It's still better than nothing. In summer, I can run a washing machine and dishwasher together without taking any energy from the grid (I used to have a crappy smart meter from eon).

 

[MrBadger]

I personally would say its way past not being efficient. Something not right/broken imho. Do you have shading? May be worth posting a photo of the panel and the inverter/electrics.

 

[tsh2]

How many panels in the system? There are 12 in mine, and I have logged 3900 kWh in the past 12 months (in sunny Cambridgeshire). Do you by any chance end up with shade on part of the system for most of the day? This has a disproportionate effect on the result.

It seems like your developer included PV, maybe as part of the planning conditions, but didn't care if it actually worked?

Depending on the invertor, you might be able to connect to it with bluetooth and get some info out of it.

 

[NoUserName7]

How many panels in the system? There are 12 in mine, and I have logged 3900 kWh in the past 12 months (in sunny Cambridgeshire). Do you by any chance end up with shade on part of the system for most of the day? This has a disproportionate effect on the result.

It seems like your developer included PV, maybe as part of the planning conditions, but didn't care if it actually worked?

Depending on the invertor, you might be able to connect to it with bluetooth and get some info out of it.

Phew... I found the MCS installation certificate of the panel, and it says the total installed capacity is 1.5 kW (3 panels) and estimated annual generation is 702 kWh. So, for 45 months, I should have around 2632.5 kWh. I guess this is a cheap panel?

The inverter is in the loft, but I can't get in there because there is no ladder. But I found the manual beside the loft door.
It is a Solis Mini Single Phase Inverter (Year 2014), and optional wifi/GPRS monitoring function. I am sure that the developer didn't care at all.

Thanks, guy. I should look for a simple EV charger.

 

[WannabeOwner]

the total installed capacity is 1.5 kW (3 panels)

have you got enough roof for a total of 16 panels? That is normally the max that you can install without having to get DNO to authorise "overs"

You may not want to do that of course, just curious whether your 3 panels is "only available roof space" ?

 

[NoUserName7]

have you got enough roof for a total of 16 panels? That is normally the max that you can install without having to get DNO to authorise "overs"

You may not want to do that of course, just curious whether your 3 panels is "only available roof space" ?

Yeah, 3 panels are maximum we can have on our roof. Because the developer made a loft room to have one more bedroom, we have a large loft window in the middle of the roof. They could have installed up to 15 panels if there is no window.

 

[MrBadger]

we have a large loft window in the middle of the roof.

And let me guess, casts a big old shadow across one of the panels at various times of the day?

 

[WannabeOwner]

Our Eco Consultant had the Architect bin the complex dormer window because the impact on U-Values [of just that one complex roof system] was huge,. Architect in tears "My best work/feature/ego ...", I was Larry-happy as all the Hips would have cost a fortune.

Similarly Eco Guy forbade all roof glass to prevent massive overheat in summer and falling cold air draughts in Winter.

So I have acres of clear roof for PV. Well ... not literally of course ...

 

[NoUserName7]

And let me guess, casts a big old shadow across one of the panels at various times of the day?

No, no. There is no shadow over the roof.

So I have acres of clear roof for PV. Well ... not literally of course ...

Good for you... Man.

 

[MrBadger]

No, no. There is no shadow over the roof.

Seriously, you are 20% down from an already low prediction and no shadows to be causing it? Something seriously amiss.

Even sticking in 3 north facing (azimuth=180) panels into JRC Photovoltaic Geographical Information System (PVGIS) - European Commission you do not get results as bad as you have predicted let alone what you appear to be actually generating.

 

[NoUserName7]

Seriously, you are 20% down from an already low prediction and no shadows to be causing it? Something seriously amiss.

Even sticking in 3 north facing (azimuth=180) panels into JRC Photovoltaic Geographical Information System (PVGIS) - European Commission you do not get results as bad as you have predicted let alone what you appear to be actually generating.

Oh yeah? what's wrong...
Maybe I should clean the panel...

 

[MrBadger]

Yep. Its sadly the start of that time of year when Solar PV takes a nose dive and there will be many days when little or no excess is available.

Just going to turn off DHW immersion controller for the winter and let the country benefit from my huge solar excess during this period, not!

Thought I would share our October cliffedge wrt generation. We are fortunate to have a nice large wooded area as part of our garden, but the down side is that sun gets low, they cast various shadows across the panels as the sun travels east to west - the reason why we went with a Solar Edge optimised solution although tbh, this time of year, even a large efficiency improvement is worth relatively little when system is producing f-all.

A few days short of full Oct readings, but below still shows our Oct cliff edge - no its not weather related as you can see from the sun icons that signify fairly decent days. Apologies for the opaque block - left over from a label that didn't disappear quick enough. Otherwise not a particular great year compared with last, month on month with only 4 months so far this year bettering last - see last graph

 

[jimbo_hippo]

Just going to turn off DHW immersion controller for the winter and let the country benefit from my huge solar excess during this period, not!

Thought I would share our October cliffedge wrt generation. We are fortunate to have a nice large wooded area as part of our garden, but the down side is that sun gets low, they cast various shadows across the panels as the sun travels east to west - the reason why we went with a Solar Edge optimised solution although tbh, this time of year, even a large efficiency improvement is worth relatively little when system is producing f-all.

A few days short of full Oct readings, but below still shows our Oct cliff edge - no its not weather related as you can see from the sun icons that signify fairly decent days. Apologies for the opaque block - left over from a label that didn't disappear quick enough. Otherwise not a particular great year compared with last, month on month with only 4 months so far this year bettering last - see last graph

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I had my solar PV system and Powerwall 2 system commissioned on Thursday. I’m convinced this weather in Lancs is my fault as it’s been like the Black Hole of Calcutta ever since they flicked the switch!

I’ll be staring at my app all day tomorrow when the sun finally shines.

I still feel like a bit of a charlatan around these parts as I don’t even have my model 3 VIN yet.

Powerwall is currently getting a tickle but hasn’t got above the 5% minimum yet today. Since I need to switch Octopus across to (probably) the Agile Tarif, I cant even benefit from nighttime charging. It’s like having a Tesla and no charging cable!