What has YOUR solar PV system generated THIS month?

SteveCritten

Yes if power grid goes off then those with solar have power in the day. 24.9 is good for a sunny day. That equates to £2-60ish a day.

neilball

If you are tied to the national electricity supply then your system will shut down in the event of a power cut, otherwise your system could electrocute anyone working on the distribution cables!

24.9kwh is a decent figure for a sunny summer day too. In terms of revenue, simply multiply your generation rate by the kwh generated

Pipsaholic

So, is this right for 188.8 kwh i would be £26.99 at the moment after 8 days and £3.56 for 24.9 kwh for today?

Also, how does lightning/thunder effect solar panels generation?

simmayor

Well, another month gone and a sunny one too. Production 7/14:661,77kWh; 7/13: 735,31kWh; total 2014: 3051,65kWh

SteveCritten

My figures for May was 470 units, then for June and July as I missed a reading due to being away was 1013. And year to date from 1st Jan is 2631. This equates to £1264.-72 at the current 48.07p per unit (didn't realise the new rate .) I checked back and for the full year and it was 4025 units from 31st July 2013 to 31st July 2014. That equates to £1932 for the full year.

SteveCritten

Yes your figures are right my maths went bad haha.
Lightning and thunder has never effected my panels in anyway. What sort of effect was you thinking?

Pipsaholic

I get the 14.3p rate is that the rate which is index linked to inflation or is it only the export rate? I thought thunder and lightning would increase your generation maybe not.

SteveCritten

The 14.3p is the feed in tariff and it is this that is index linked. I got it when it was 43.7p I think and it is now 48.07. Was this not explained to you before you purchased?
Was it not also explained how the photovoltaic panels work?
"When sunlight hits the top silicon layer, it ‘excites’ the electrons and gives them enough energy to move. The electrons begin to flow from the top layer to the bottom. And as we know, when a bunch of electrons start to move along in the same direction, we have electricity. Put two metal contacts on either side of the silicon sandwich and we have electricity moving through a circuit."
So no a bolt of lightning won't unfortunately create any extra electricity and if it did it may be a few hundred thousand volts too many .

Pipsaholic

It was not explained to me how solar works the guy only told me about the savings and the direct debits i will have to pay didn't even tell me about the feed in tariff I read about it months later on the energy trust website.

So Steven how long you had your system for is it a 4kw?  So, your tariff has increase   4.37p in how many years?

SteveCritten

I had my system fitted in March 2012 and it is a 3.6kw system and I have just looked back and it was 43.3p per unit FIT but I got an extra 2p per unit from my utility company as a bonus for the first 2 years. It went up in April 2012 to 45.4p then to 46.81p in April 2013 and then to 48.07p this April.
That is terrible that they only focused on the savings and didn't explain about how it worked or where the savings came from. How much did you pay for your system may I ask?