Balcony solar PV

[Joeboy]

Then there are these units, Hoymiles similar yet vastly reduced price and comms onboard. Damn tempting.

https://a.aliexpress.com/_mrzjkIK

Until then though...

[Joeboy]

Well that was strange, fired up the bbq, swmbo came out and gave me a kiss. Within that kiss, decision made. Hi ho China!!

The game was meant to be how inexpensive can I make a small system, I got caught up in the moment!

To date
2 of 405W panels £320
1 of 1600W grid tie micro inverter with comms £157

£477 with potential to expand, that'll do.

[nowty]

Well that was strange, fired up the bbq, swmbo came out and gave me a kiss. Within that kiss, decision made. Hi ho China!!

The game was meant to be how inexpensive can I make a small system, I got caught up in the moment!

To date
2 of 405W panels £320
1 of 1600W grid tie micro inverter with comms £157

£477 with potential to expand, that'll do.

That cheaper one would not ship to my address, you get that a lot with Allie, its the wild west or should I say the wild east.

Your BBQ is making me hungry.

[Joeboy]

Well that was strange, fired up the bbq, swmbo came out and gave me a kiss. Within that kiss, decision made. Hi ho China!!

The game was meant to be how inexpensive can I make a small system, I got caught up in the moment!

To date
2 of 405W panels £320
1 of 1600W grid tie micro inverter with comms £157

£477 with potential to expand, that'll do.

That cheaper one would not ship to my address, you get that a lot with Allie, its the wild west or should I say the wild east.

Your BBQ is making me hungry.

Apparently shipping from an EU location/warehouse. This is purely a test to see what is out there and how long it will run for.

I'm already thinking about an.IP65 rated box and timed fan. I'll wait to see how hot it runs on a couple of days deck hook up. That thought leads me onto visualising a quick hook up at No1's for a test, see the performance over the WiFi then hook it up at our place to see if our inverter will hold it down or not. Knowledge gained n all that.

Thanks for the input Nowty, as ever. Much appreciated.

[Mr Gus]

@Mart

Why was it scrapped Mart, after spending boats of cash we normally have to live with it, what was so bad?

Full story

https://www.getsurrey.co.uk/news/surrey ... d-14118235

Thanks, that is a miserable tale, wonder how much demolition was, ..allsorts of incompetence in planning, how were the services "unknown" !? ..the council had the plans & presumably were part of the build for the shopping area.

And the plebs moaning at 15% off generation target... grow a bloody pair.
Debacle.

[Mart]

Just playing with some numbers after Nowty made my day with the wall mounted planning permission.

Just to say, not an option I can make use of, just that it seems like a great solution for many .... possibly. So I thought I'd try to ponder it further.

So, it occurred to me, that the 200mm allowance for protrudence, might allow for angled panels, to improve generation. I'm guessing, but maybe the top of the panel would only stick out 100mm, if some sort of snug mounting system is possible, allowing 50mm for panel thickness, and 50mm for mounting. So if the bottom of a panel in landscape stuck out 200mm, then according to an online right angle triangle calculator, for a 1m hypotenuse, with a 0.1m bottom edge, I get a pitch of ~85d (instead of 90d).

Checking just for my location, as a point of reference, I get optimal pitch of 39d, with 1,026kWh/kWp, and a December generation of 35kWh.
For 90d pitch, I get 733kWh/kWp, Dec gen of 39kWh.
For 85d pitch, I get 787kWh/kWp, Dec gen of 40kWh.

[I suspect the best compromise for my hoped for garden ground mounts, would be 60d pitch, 975kWh/kWp and Dec gen of 40kWh, or 70d, 916kWh/kWp and 41kWh in Dec. To explain the significance of the Dec number, my 5.58kWp E/W panels have a Dec PVGIS target of 79kWh, so a 2kWp ground mount, could match that, and double generation.]


I don't think those numbers look bad at all. Any thoughts, does this make PV more viable for many?


Speaking of wall mounted, my gut feeling would be that it's easier, assuming decent ladder access. Install mounts into the masonary. More(?) solid fixing, no chance of leaks etc etc. Maybe no need for scaffolding (not sure), or portable tower suitable?

Loads of speculation, feel free to shoot the thoughts down with problems/issues, just wondering how good (or not) this news is.

[Joeboy]

Just playing with some numbers after Nowty made my day with the wall mounted planning permission.

Just to say, not an option I can make use of, just that it seems like a great solution for many .... possibly. So I thought I'd try to ponder it further.

So, it occurred to me, that the 200mm allowance for protrudence, might allow for angled panels, to improve generation. I'm guessing, but maybe the top of the panel would only stick out 100mm, if some sort of snug mounting system is possible, allowing 50mm for panel thickness, and 50mm for mounting. So if the bottom of a panel in landscape stuck out 200mm, then according to an online right angle triangle calculator, for a 1m hypotenuse, with a 0.1m bottom edge, I get a pitch of ~85d (instead of 90d).

Checking just for my location, as a point of reference, I get optimal pitch of 39d, with 1,026kWh/kWp, and a December generation of 35kWh.
For 90d pitch, I get 733kWh/kWp, Dec gen of 39kWh.
For 85d pitch, I get 787kWh/kWp, Dec gen of 40kWh.

[I suspect the best compromise for my hoped for garden ground mounts, would be 60d pitch, 975kWh/kWp and Dec gen of 40kWh, or 70d, 916kWh/kWp and 41kWh in Dec. To explain the significance of the Dec number, my 5.58kWp E/W panels have a Dec PVGIS target of 79kWh, so a 2kWp ground mount, could match that, and double generation.]


I don't think those numbers look bad at all. Any thoughts, does this make PV more viable for many?


Speaking of wall mounted, my gut feeling would be that it's easier, assuming decent ladder access. Install mounts into the masonary. More(?) solid fixing, no chance of leaks etc etc. Maybe no need for scaffolding (not sure), or portable tower suitable?

Loads of speculation, feel free to shoot the thoughts down with problems/issues, just wondering how good (or not) this news is.

I like an accessible panel. No1's is two storey so I don't want to go up there to install a full system. I hope to porch roof mount first panel on homemade brackets out at the facias. There will be slight panel overhang at the left and right sides so likely make up 8 L brackets and bolt them together.

The vertical panel will be a drill into masonry and mount on four brackets.

When I had a 3 panel groundmount in the garden I was pleasantly surprised how easily it all went together. It also allowed me to work through the scrap wood pile and utilise most of it. The only caveat I can think of on groundmounts is the ratio between available garden space and panel size. The panels these days are massive. Plenty secondhand smaller panels out there. Aesthetics at ground level, I'd likely go black on black.

Your numbers look convincing Mart, a nice upward bump.

[Joeboy]

Literally 2mm spare.

[nowty]

Literally 2mm spare.

It will be on a building so no problem.

[Joeboy]

Literally 2mm spare.

It will be on a building so no problem.

SWMBO came with me to collect and was shocked at the size, hadn't seen a panel at groundlevel for a while. With luck they'll fit. Although it will be Sept before I have the time.

As an aside, the microinverter is meant to be dispatched from a Poland warehouse. Aliexpress.provide tracking updates. Shatianzhen doesn't sound THAT Polish to me?