Solar panels

[hayfield]

I noticed something strange this morning, which was usually I get some very minor production (20w) very early in the morning from just after 5am this time of the year, usually sometime between 6 and 7am the amount generated slowly starts to increase. Today with bright sunshine nothing happened till 7:30 when it started to wake up, until at 8:30 it was producing 50w 20 mins later 930 w, by 8:55 1.03 kwh

 

To recap our panels are on a single story extension and are in the shade until 8:30, we were warned about partial shading and have to accept it

 

Is it that when its cloudy light is dispersed reducing the effect of shading ?. 

 

Perhaps I should look at getting a quote for those gadgets that minimise the effects of shaded panels affecting those not in the shade.

[hayfield]

This month is turning out quite disappointing, last June we generated 387kwh, the previous year was also good 365kwh. After 16 days we have generated 157.3kwh

 

According to BBC weather, last June we had a heat wave, this year cold if not too wet (south east), the last 3 days we have produced 34.4 kwh, with today and the rest of the week looking promising, but I doubt it can make up for the slow start, but as far as costs go before standing charges, the first 15 days have produced a surplus of £9.06, the standing charges will be £7.18 for that period, financially though slightly better than last year

[sjp23480]

John, 

We are doing slightly better - wth 176kwh produced this month, but will struggle to match the 372kwh from June 2023.  

 

By the law of averages, we might just beark 300kwh - which will be 20% down YOY and broadly consistent with the rest of 2024.

 

With prices coming down 30% YOY (from £0.32/kwh to £0.22/kwh) the 2024 ROI to be significantly less than 2023.

[Brian]

Have to agree that May and so far June have been poor months but still in the plus side for me in Kent

Todays generation is so far 16.7Kw from a 4Kw set up

[Kris]

So far this June we have generated just under 400kWh. Last June we generated 617kWh. The maximum that we have seen in a day is 30kWh so I doubt that we will break the 600 mark this year.

[Phil Himsworth]

12 hours ago, hayfield said:

Is it that when its cloudy light is dispersed reducing the effect of shading ?.

I think that's probably it. I remember seeing some statistics from someone with a large north facing array and a small south facing array; the north array actually did better when it was a bit cloudy than when the skies were clear, presumably because they relied on diffuse light from the clouds rather than direct sunlight which it never received. 

 

Optimisers work well if the sun falls on your panels at different times. Normally the output of each panel is the same as that of the lowest output panel; if your panels face the same way and are unshaded this doesn't matter, but if just one panel is in shade it will drag down the output of the others too. Optimisers mean they can basically work independently. 

[hayfield]

10 hours ago, Phil Himsworth said:

I think that's probably it. I remember seeing some statistics from someone with a large north facing array and a small south facing array; the north array actually did better when it was a bit cloudy than when the skies were clear, presumably because they relied on diffuse light from the clouds rather than direct sunlight which it never received. 

 

Optimisers work well if the sun falls on your panels at different times. Normally the output of each panel is the same as that of the lowest output panel; if your panels face the same way and are unshaded this doesn't matter, but if just one panel is in shade it will drag down the output of the others too. Optimisers mean they can basically work independently. 

 

Cloudy this morning, higher production from 6:05 am

[hayfield]

On 17/06/2024 at 18:46, Kris said:

So far this June we have generated just under 400kWh. Last June we generated 617kWh. The maximum that we have seen in a day is 30kWh so I doubt that we will break the 600 mark this year.

 

Kris

 

Quite enlightening down by a third, but then last year we had a heat wave, my production last year was 387 kwh ( previous year 365 KWH) but so far (17th) 182KWH, using the 17 day production heading for about 323 kwh for the month, however the next week looks better than the last two. These past few days have made quite a difference as most of this month my average was under 10kwh per day 

 

It also highlights relying on too little previous data, especially when perhaps they were exceptionally good years of production, don't forget when its too hot production efficiency drops, so be careful what you wish for

 

Cloudy day yesterday but still generated 9.4kwh  

[hayfield]

Just had a quick recap of my energy use in the current billing period (26-5 to 25-6)

 

As of yesterday (19th) my electricity bill including standing charges is £9.09, my export income is £8.65 net cost 44p

 

It has been helped by us being away for a week, countered by the poor weather at the start of the billing period

 

With a good forecast for the weather over the coming days my exports may cover the full cost for electricity

[hayfield]

Yesterday I passed 1 megawatt production for the year to date, the second megawatt should happen much quicker, unless the weather does not improve, but the second part of this month is very encouraging 66.1kwh in 5 days)

[Metr0Land]

On 17/06/2024 at 09:04, hayfield said:

I noticed something strange this morning, which was usually I get some very minor production (20w) very early in the morning from just after 5am this time of the year, usually sometime between 6 and 7am the amount generated slowly starts to increase. Today with bright sunshine nothing happened till 7:30 when it started to wake up, until at 8:30 it was producing 50w 20 mins later 930 w, by 8:55 1.03 kwh

 

To recap our panels are on a single story extension and are in the shade until 8:30, we were warned about partial shading and have to accept it

 

Is it that when its cloudy light is dispersed reducing the effect of shading ?. 

 

Perhaps I should look at getting a quote for those gadgets that minimise the effects of shaded panels affecting those not in the shade.

 

Might be of interest, incl comments

 

[hayfield]

1 hour ago, Metr0Land said:

 

Might be of interest, incl comments

 

 

 

I cannot find the comments, and forgetting he has an east-west array. His observations do explain the effect very well. In my case it increases the hours at both end of the day I generate by a couple of hours, plus also explains why on some cloudy days I do produce more than I thought I would

 

With 4 days left I am still managing to cover both imported power costs and the daily standing charge, May-June billing period looks like a gas bill only month

[hayfield]

Two days of the month left and it will be yet another month down on the previous year, the good news is up in the 300's kwh and much better than feared in the first half of the month, still July and August were not very good last year, hopefully we will have a better summer this year

 

Despite lower production this year, falling energy prices have helped out on balancing the books, with 2 days still to go, good weather forecasts it looks like my exports will cover the costs of imported energy and standing charges, at the moment I am just over £3 up once standing charges for the month and energy used have been deducted. Please note I brought a budget system, so only have 7 panels, but the cost was a reasonable £2677, so don't expect fireworks, but it proves you do not have to spend a kings ransom

 

As a side thought how could we have a value for money index ?  £'s per KWH or is there a better way ?

 

My latest bill (May/June) for dual fuel came in at a net £29.36. With lower energy rates for the best part of the next bill, less gas used and hopefully a higher production lets hope the next bill will be even lower, but we need sunshine!!!

[hayfield]

Oh well June is gone, best production of the year so far and it was the disappointing start of the year that took the shine off the performance

 

Still 334 KWH produced, which is better July last year and August for both the previous years

 

With 2 months to go for a third year since installation the cash benefits of my system has topped £330, The first 12 months I benefitted to the value of £283, the second year was £470 (down to high energy rates) and with a full 12 months production hopefully still well over £400.

 

It looks to be aiming to recoup £1200 for the first 3 years, against the outlay of £2700.

 

More pleasing is that my export income has covered the cost of imports and standing charges for the month leaving a surplus of £5 to take off the gas bill

[Ian Morgan]

What do people do about cleaning solar panels? Is it necessary? After the winter they look to have accumulated some dust and dirt on their lower halves. There is no way I can reach to do it myself.

 

[hayfield]

Mine are on a single story extension, they are supposed to be self cleaning, if I got my act together I could clean them.

 

Our window cleaner offered to clean ours, but I doubt if they are cost affective

[sjp23480]

3 hours ago, hayfield said:

Still 334 KWH produced, which is better July last year and August for both the previous years

329kwh for us, around 11% down on 2023 (372kwh), but pretty good under the circumstances.

[Martin]

Quote

What do people do about cleaning solar panels? Is it necessary? After the winter they look to have accumulated some dust and dirt on their lower halves. There is no way I can reach to do it myself.

 

I have one of these - works OK.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B005GUEMQM/ref=pe_385721_37038051_TE_3p_dp_1

 

Martin

[Kris]

8 hours ago, hayfield said:

Still 334 KWH produced, which is better July last year and August for both the previous years

 

We produced 619.49 kWh in the end. This compares to 619.02 kWh in 2023. I am shocked that we beat last years figures even if it was only just. 

[young37215]

10 hours ago, Ian Morgan said:

What do people do about cleaning solar panels? Is it necessary? After the winter they look to have accumulated some dust and dirt on their lower halves. There is no way I can reach to do it myself.

 

 

8 hours ago, hayfield said:

Mine are on a single story extension, they are supposed to be self cleaning, if I got my act together I could clean them.

 

Our window cleaner offered to clean ours, but I doubt if they are cost affective

 

A heavy shower of rain usually clears most of the detritus off of the panels although moss can be more  of a challenge to remove. My window cleaner gives the panels a scrub every 12 months or so and I consider the outlay to be more than offset by the fact that clean panels generate the most electricity.    

[hayfield]

Octopus data has been playing up for the past couple of weeks and this morning I finally got data for the 30th

 

What I seemed to miss is that my energy consumption has dropped by 25% despite this June being colder than previous years, admittedly we were away for a week

 

My total consumption for the month was 153.5KWH (previously 198.8 & 202.3)

I used 72kwh of my own production  (81.6 & 100.3 kwh previously)

I imported 81.3 kwh (against 97.2 & 102kwh)

 

I guess being away perhaps does make more difference outside July and August, but the week we were away it was only 11 kwh less than the other weeks we were at home. So something has happened as June itself has been colder and less sully than previous years

[Metr0Land]

A good month for me (10Jun-09Jul) on Octopus Intelligent Go.

Bill for month £22.51

Standing charge £18.91

Car charging £0.83

House grid usage £2.77

 

Managed to get the combo of solar panels, Tesla Powerwall and PHEV about as right as I'll probably ever get.  For the calendar month of June I generated 471kWh of solar and lost 24kWh I couldn't use (5pct). 

 

I got 680 miles of electric driving for just 83p and approx 630 miles of driving totally free saving 11p per mile saving £69 on petrol elsewhere in my budget.  In fact since 10May I've done 1,500 miles electric driving for just £2.83

 

As mentioned in previous posts I won't have a full year until end of October. I'm curr £125 in credit and paying £40pcm to Octopus.  Rough estimate is I shouldn't need to increase DD through winter, or if I do, not by much.  With standing charge of £20pcm there's not much room to lower payments.

[hayfield]

3 hours ago, Metr0Land said:

A good month for me (10Jun-09Jul) on Octopus Intelligent Go.

Bill for month £22.51

Standing charge £18.91

Car charging £0.83

House grid usage £2.77

 

Managed to get the combo of solar panels, Tesla Powerwall and PHEV about as right as I'll probably ever get.  For the calendar month of June I generated 471kWh of solar and lost 24kWh I couldn't use (5pct). 

 

I got 680 miles of electric driving for just 83p and approx 630 miles of driving totally free saving 11p per mile saving £69 on petrol elsewhere in my budget.  In fact since 10May I've done 1,500 miles electric driving for just £2.83

 

As mentioned in previous posts I won't have a full year until end of October. I'm curr £125 in credit and paying £40pcm to Octopus.  Rough estimate is I shouldn't need to increase DD through winter, or if I do, not by much.  With standing charge of £20pcm there's not much room to lower payments.

 

Is the £40 DDI your total bill for energy ?

 

It seems very impressive especially as you have done 1,500 miles for £2.83

 

I thought I was doing well at £110 pcm + petrol. 

 

When renewing my car insurance I was astounded than in my car I had done 6,200 miles in the last 3 years, which halved my insurance quote, but that's another story

[sjp23480]

10 minutes ago, hayfield said:

When renewing my car insurance I was astounded than in my car I had done 6,200 miles in the last 3 years, which halved my insurance quote, but that's another story

 

That might make an interesting thread?

Edited July 10 by sjp23480

[Metr0Land]

1 hour ago, hayfield said:

 

Is the £40 DDI your total bill for energy ?

 

It seems very impressive especially as you have done 1,500 miles for £2.83

 

I thought I was doing well at £110 pcm + petrol. 

 

When renewing my car insurance I was astounded than in my car I had done 6,200 miles in the last 3 years, which halved my insurance quote, but that's another story

 

No, I heat with oil, that's the best part of £100pcm averaged through year :(