Having a 4kWp system installed this Thursday!

GaryMo

Scaffold went up this morning in readiness for a solar PV 4kWp system.
Panels are JA Solar 250w Mono's and the inverter I requested was a Fronius IG TL 3.6.
Location is Manchester M46, south facing and a pitch of around 30 degrees or so.
Will update in due course.

johntheexpat

Weather forecast for Friday in Manchester:  Cloud.

jouster

I have the same inverter as you, also south facing, 55 degree pitch, but considerably more SOUTH than you....system got installed on 27th November....and in just over 3 months Ive generated about 320 KW so I think thats pretty good for this time of year.

Also got myself a Current Cost Envir which with extra clamps can read consumption AND generation and also upload to the web on a nice chart so you can see when and where you are using (need extra Bridge for this) but has really made us as a household (well more me to be honest...think wife think I am becoming an energy dictator) watch what we use and where...

Lots of bulbs being changed soon and then lots of stuff being turned off of standby and has made a big difference.

I think we are using on average 30% less electricty per day

IronGiant

Can you post a link to the current cost envir?

jouster

this should start you off in the right direction

Current Cost - Reducing your energy bills so you can live a greener life!

IronGiant

Thanks Jouster.

GaryMo

That'll be 320kW in two months, not three?
If so then they're fantastic figures as my projected figures will be around 65kW for December and 85kW for January so 150kW for the same two months.

My total projected output per annum is 3467kW, which is made up of (roughly calculated from a graph):

Jan - 85kW
Feb - 175kW
Mar - 280kW
Apr - 390kW
May - 480kW
Jun - 455kW
Jul - 460kW
Aug - 400kW
Sep - 310kW
Oct - 210kW
Nov - 125kW
Dec - 65kW

Looks interesting, especially when used with an Optistat and not a current sensing clamp.
I had looked at the Geo Solo PV though so still not made my mind up which to go for.

I've replaced all halogen downlights with LED equivalent and will certainly be looking to save money by using the inbuilt timers on our washing machine and dishwasher to come on during good daylight hours.

jouster

Yes you are right, it is in fact only 2 months and in fact Tuesday night it was showing 326.6 total generation since 28th November.

We have been very lucky with a few very bright and sunny days...and with a few days well over 10 KW and the best day ever was 14.6 or something along those lines.

Basis the numbers you are working from...how did you calculate them, I should be on target for my number and possibly higher....fingers crossed anyway.

The Envir is good as it shows you daily useage (as a NET number with what you are genertaed inclusive, but it also shows generation as a seperate number (although this isnt as acurate as id like due to some technical issues with all clamping and reading software/hardware)

It then tells you how you are doing against the same day the previous week which is knd of great but obviously this ALL depends on the weather, especially if you start to make sure everything that should be off is off....

The wife thinks I am becoming like a Third world dictator when it comes to electricty usage, but I reckon we are saving max of 30% electricity a day now...so its definitely working

IronGiant

Cold Sunny weather does seem to be good, I''m currently generating 1.6KW an hour. (measly 3.1kW panels here )

johntheexpat

I can't claim to be impressed with pv kits, and especially not with being one of those who pays extra so that the feed in tariff can exist.  But I am really quite impressed with the 'knock-on effect' that seems to happen quite a lot and which is illustrated twice already in this thread.  That being that people suddenly become much more aware of their consumption and can cut it quite so dramatically without really any detrimental effect.  Now that's what I call 'green'.