Balcony solar PV

[AE-NMidlands]

Well that's us in and wall panel up. The homemade wall hanging hooks were invaluable in the job. Made up a 2 rail wooden frame with top beam to rest on the porch panel then slid the 2nd panel up the rails using G clamps as stops until panel near vertical then up and onto the hooks. 8 No5 2"" screws on 4 aluminium L brackets plus the two hanging hooks. It's going nowhere.


Sprayed and baked the screws to preserve over and above their anti corrosion coating. Cable tidy after T and forget about it, just let it do its thing.

looks very good... I wonder whether the reflection off the surface of the wall one will enhance the output from the lower one when the sun is high, and vv?

[Fintray]

I suppose the bottom panel will get a bit of a boost when the sun is at an angle to the top panel that then reflects on to the bottom panel.
Just beaten to that very idea, must type quicker!

[Fueltheburn]

This thread has probably been one of the most enlightening I have been reading recently.

For me - the downstairs plug ring is the most consumption. Fridge, kettle, laptops, router, TV etc Some of this energy to be trimmed would not go amiss.

[Joeboy]

I will update as we go. App is offline so hoping its a problem at Hoymiles servers. No matter as I've tested with my DC clamp and Amps are there.

I'd like the app to be reliable and trouble free as was yesterday but can live without if need be.

[Joeboy]

The 1.63A is the angled panel and 1.01A is vertical. Easily accessible without steps.
All very grey now but it will catch what it can.

[Joeboy]

I'm just sitting here staring.


There was a nice moment just now when showing SWMBO the DC clamp working (romantic eh). The sun broke through and we could see the fluctuating Amps and panel variance.

Not got my head around raw Amps readings off of panels at say 31Vdc and how to fast convert that to AC 230v. Brain says no.

[Joeboy]

I'm just sitting here staring.


There was a nice moment just now when showing SWMBO the DC clamp working (romantic eh). The sun broke through and we could see the fluctuating Amps and panel variance.

Not got my head around raw Amps readings off of panels at say 31Vdc and how to fast convert that to AC 230v. Brain says no.

See what I mean? A nice late afternoon clear patch and BOOM!

Vert

Angled

[chris_n]

This thread has probably been one of the most enlightening I have been reading recently.

For me - the downstairs plug ring is the most consumption. Fridge, kettle, laptops, router, TV etc Some of this energy to be trimmed would not go amiss.

For what it's worth it is probably safer to put it on a lightly loaded ring rather than the heaviest. You are introducing additional current after the safety device (MCB, RCBO or whatever) so could cause an overload without the device tripping. That is why @Joeboy said keep it low. This method of instalation is not compliant with UK regs so bear that in mind if you do something similar, having said that I'm sure there are many of this type of instalation all over UK without any problems.

[Joeboy]

Well that's us in and wall panel up. The homemade wall hanging hooks were invaluable in the job. Made up a 2 rail wooden frame with top beam to rest on the porch panel then slid the 2nd panel up the rails using G clamps as stops until panel near vertical then up and onto the hooks. 8 No5 2"" screws on 4 aluminium L brackets plus the two hanging hooks. It's going nowhere.


Sprayed and baked the screws to preserve over and above their anti corrosion coating. Cable tidy after T and forget about it, just let it do its thing.

looks very good... I wonder whether the reflection off the surface of the wall one will enhance the output from the lower one when the sun is high, and vv?

Could be, hope so! I hadn't given any thought beyond top one doing better in Winter. Fingers crossed.

[Joeboy]

This thread has probably been one of the most enlightening I have been reading recently.

For me - the downstairs plug ring is the most consumption. Fridge, kettle, laptops, router, TV etc Some of this energy to be trimmed would not go amiss.

For what it's worth it is probably safer to put it on a lightly loaded ring rather than the heaviest. You are introducing additional current after the safety device (MCB, RCBO or whatever) so could cause an overload without the device tripping. That is why @Joeboy said keep it low. This method of instalation is not compliant with UK regs so bear that in mind if you do something similar, having said that I'm sure there are many of this type of instalation all over UK without any problems.

Absolutely, I've never been very good at being told what to do or waiting for the moving average to catch up. Hence the headlong rush to UK noncompliance and implementing an excellent idea. For this its very much an each to their own and think first. I'd not be surprised if the German 800W limit on balcony solar is to go some way to protecting eejits (I don't exclude myself from that group) from damaging themselves and their homes.

The real joy for me in this is the thought of each 1,000 of these diy installs spread across the European landmass and its associated islands has the scope to provide 0.8GW of power. Just from people literally diy'ing. Add in a bit of Octopus power management and that's an excellent decentralised adhoc power plant that in no way relies on politicos.

That's a warm feeling right there and it's not the house burning down.

ChrisN, any news from Germany or Austria on how many
balcony units are being shifted?