Additional PV

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Petertc
Posts: 40
Joined: Sun Dec 26, 2021 12:45 pm

Additional PV

#1

Post by Petertc »

Good evening,

Silly question time. Obviously PV is not great during the winter.
I installed a 1.2kWp system a number of years ago, non FIT. We had a very old meter non back stop :D unfortunately this has packed up so had to have a new meter fitted, not keen on smart so didn't have it commissioned. We're with octopus by default as we were with bulb.
So my question is has anyone added more panels to their system for just the winter months? To just try to get more during the worst period of the year.
Thoughts appreciated.

Thanks
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Stinsy
Posts: 2847
Joined: Wed Jun 02, 2021 1:09 pm

Re: Additional PV

#2

Post by Stinsy »

A few in here cover their decking/patio in panels over winter. On the darkest days you’d need a 100kWp array to generate anything useful. However a bigger array collects decent power in winter when the sun does shine…
12x 340W JA Solar panels (4.08kWp)
3x 380W JA Solar panels (1.14kWp)
5x 2.4kWh Pylontech batteries (12kWh)
LuxPower inverter/charger

(Artist formally known as ******, well it should be obvious enough to those for whom such things are important.)
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Joeboy
Posts: 8096
Joined: Mon May 31, 2021 4:22 pm
Location: Inverurie

Re: Additional PV

#3

Post by Joeboy »

I found that going around the home tracking down the power vampires, changing out the bulbs and over time changing my appliances to lower power units made a huge difference to our bills.

We can't control the sun but we can control how we use and how much of the power.

December & January are write offs for solar where I am. I'd see better gains for the money spent on Winter solar by adding even more insulation than power harvested Nov to Feb.

Not to say you shouldn't add more PV but I'd do the above first.
19.7kW PV SE, VI, HM, EN & DW
Ripple 7kW WT & Gen to date 19MWh
42kWh LFPO4 storage
95kWh Heater storage
12kWh 210ltr HWT.
73kWh HI5
Deep insulation, air leak ct'd home
Zoned GCH & Hive 2
WBSx2
Low energy bulbs
Veg patches & fruit trees
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