Solar photovoltaic and FIT thread

[Nottseagull]

I'm seriously considering having panels fitted to my roof, so I was wondering what quotes (post-December 12th) people have had and for what size of system.

 

[00snook]

I work for an offshoot of the government that specialises in advice for this sort of thing.

check out http://www.energysavingtrust.org.uk for free and impartial advice on this.

It is also worth noting that the government may well have their changes to the FITs overturned in the courts.

PM me if you want more information on any of this.

 

[Nottseagull]

I work for an offshoot of the government that specialises in advice for this sort of thing.

check out http://www.energysavingtrust.org.uk for free and impartial advice on this.

PM me if you want more information on any of this.

Thanks, I'll do that.

Does anybody know if you can have an arrangement whereby, at the flick of a switch, current could be diverted to a bypass cable which incorporates a diode, therefore preventing electricity from the National Grid entering my consumer unit? The reason I want this is that I would like to have a heater running when I'm out, but only using my free solar, i.e. not drawing expensive daytime power. Am I right in thinking that, say, an immersion heater element would still warm up if it was only receiving (on a day like today for example) 200 watts?

 

[bhawoddy]

check the feed in tarrifs before you go to far. as i understand they have been halved so doesnt make it that viable IMO.

 

[happypig]

Thanks, I'll do that.

Does anybody know if you can have an arrangement whereby, at the flick of a switch, current could be diverted to a bypass cable which incorporates a diode, therefore preventing electricity from the National Grid entering my consumer unit? The reason I want this is that I would like to have a heater running when I'm out, but only using my free solar, i.e. not drawing expensive daytime power. Am I right in thinking that, say, an immersion heater element would still warm up if it was only receiving (on a day like today for example) 200 watts?

That would cut off power to everything though, including the fridge/freezer.

Better to put a thermocouple on the tank and send all the free electricity to the immersion until a certain temp is reached.

 

[Nottseagull]

That would cut off power to everything though, including the fridge/freezer.

Better to put a thermocouple on the tank and send all the free electricity to the immersion until a certain temp is reached.

Sorry, how would that stop the immersion from drawing several kilowatts from the National Grid whilst it is attaining that certain temperature?

 

[happypig]

Feed from PV comes to control unit. control unit uses thermocouple to see if tank wants heat. if tank wants heat, electricity from PV goes to immersion. If not it goes to consumer unit.
Take the grid out of the equation by putting a manual switch between the comsumer unit and the immersion

 

[Nottseagull]

Do you mean I would have to have an extra cable running directly from the inverter's meter to the immersion, and that the regs allow this to bypass the consumer unit?

 

[happypig]

Yes, you would need a cable from the PV controller to the Immersion. I've no idea about regs as I'm not a domestic electrician, my interest is in the design of the circuit which would be straightforward enough to build.

 

[Nottseagull]

OK thanks, I'll put that to my proposed installer.
It's looks like you may be able to answer this question: in a situation where there are only a few hundred watts available, is there a relatively cheap system that could feed appliances in a set order of preference, such as the lowest-drawing appliances getting priority? Imagine this scenario: I come home (in daylight) to a house that is using all the solar PV for heat. I turn on the TV, and the power being used by the heater drops slightly to compensate. I use the microwave, and it drops a bit more. I then turn off the TV in favour of the radio, and a little more electricity is fed to the heater. All this is happening with no input from the National Grid BTW.

 

[pipkin112]

Am i the only person that thinks solar panels look s*** and can only devalue your property in the long run

 

[happypig]

OK thanks, I'll put that to my proposed installer.
It's looks like you may be able to answer this question: in a situation where there are only a few hundred watts available, is there a relatively cheap system that could feed appliances in a set order of preference, such as the lowest-drawing appliances getting priority? Imagine this scenario: I come home (in daylight) to a house that is using all the solar PV for heat. I turn on the TV, and the power being used by the heater drops slightly to compensate. I use the microwave, and it drops a bit more. I then turn off the TV in favour of the radio, and a little more electricity is fed to the heater. All this is happening with no input from the National Grid BTW.

You'd need some tricked up control circuitry and whilst it's possible it would probably be a bespoke design and quite expensive.
Better off to get a bigger roof