Balcony solar PV

[richbee]

Haha, so I'm not the only one who checks the PV output an unhealthy number of times per day

Completely out of control! By setting the Enphase as dumb I have a little walk to Christmas surprise every day. Hoping 2kWh generation has doubled for our return.

Luckily I can still see my Hoymiles output at the socket since the cloud didnt back date. !!!

Ah, 2.4KW I can rest easy after the atrocious figures we'll see today.

It's a slightly unfortunate time of year to start, I was the same last year, watching the figures drop and drop as we get into winter - then see them magically rise again from February

[Tay]

Completely out of control! By setting the Enphase as dumb I have a little walk to Christmas surprise every day. Hoping 2kWh generation has doubled for our return.

Luckily I can still see my Hoymiles output at the socket since the cloud didnt back date. !!!

Ah, 2.4KW I can rest easy after the atrocious figures we'll see today.

It's a slightly unfortunate time of year to start, I was the same last year, watching the figures drop and drop as we get into winter - then see them magically rise again from February

I'm good with that, I knew the issues, had some test panels going for a coupla of months now, looking at Batteries, microinverters etc

I'm now looking for quotes for a more static install (and if thats not possible/feasible, I'll look for alternatives such as a battery only solution or fence mounted panels) but nobody wants to return calls. I have found this to be a big issues with work I've had done recently, Offered out to 4 tradesfolk and typically only 1 or sometimes 2 even bother to respond.

[Moxi]

Getting folk to do a job these days seems to be a real problem, not just solar panels either, general works like plumbing, electrical, carpentry etc all seems like an uphill battle unless its a standard style fit a tap add a socket type of thing All starting to feel like dumbed down Britain.

keep trying, I know a few people on the forum had better luck with the more national based companies than with the local installers which feels counter intuitive to me but as I say these seem to be crazy times!

Good luck with your search

Moxi

[Tay]

Ta, I'll give the first guy until the end of the week and he cba to respond (which is annoying as he is literally 2-3 walk min from my house and he said he would 'pop' over to look for himself.

I've sent him aerial shots, some ideas I had, even a rough plan of potential panel locations subject to more accurate measurements on the roof and expert knowledge, they could just be really busy but given their office is on a small parade so close, a curtesy call could be easy money for them.

I'll give the guys at Bimble a call next week and see if they have some recommendations of local folks (they are only 30mins away too) they must have fitters/designers going there on a regular basis. Its annoying as I now have cash available for some or all of it and its burning a hole in my pocket.

Although I might be £70k shy of affording this right now..




If I trusted myself more on the electrical side I'd just wire in batteries now and do the fence things over the winter as a "take my time" project.

I guess I'll have to look at pretty pictures on the Hoymiles cloud site instead.



Given how much of a dreadful day it is I'm pleased with this on a single 295w panel. Just ambient light right now too, sun wont hit that directly until around 12:45-13:00.

[Tay]

And as if by magic the sun comes out and I can forget about all this nonsense around the world and oggle at my Balcony PV reducing my grid util bill...for now at least.





opps, a dip in to non profitable territory.


I blame Joeboy for my addiction !!

[Joeboy]

And as if by magic the sun comes out and I can forget about all this nonsense around the world and oggle at my Balcony PV reducing my grid util bill...for now at least.





opps, a dip in to non profitable territory.


I blame Joeboy for my addiction !!

I fully accept this blame and wish you good fortune.

As an aside, if I have to deal with trades and they don't respond within an agreed window I see this as doing a service to me by immediately excluding themselves for the list going forward of valued contacts. If they phone to reschedule with a couple of days notice that's a plus and they go onto last life list. It has worked well for me.

[Tay]

I fully accept this blame and wish you good fortune.

As an aside, if I have to deal with trades and they don't respond within an agreed window I see this as doing a service to me by immediately excluding themselves for the list going forward of valued contacts. If they phone to reschedule with a couple of days notice that's a plus and they go onto last life list. It has worked well for me.

haha

The AA has been on my 'list' for over 25 years, they left myself my wife and my 2 week old son on the hard shoulder of the M25 for an hour one cold winters day before telling us there was a cock up, then another hour due to another mixup, at which point I organised for a friend to come and pick up my wife and son as the temps were dropping fast, I then stayed with the car and chatted to the rozzers that stopped by every half hour that couldnt believe we hadn't been picked up, after 6hrs they finally turned up wondering where the other 2 passengers were for the onward journey ^^


I know I perpetuated part of the problem by not having time to check for better prices, and just buying getting it at the renewal price, as bad as those saying if you get a cheaper price come back to them to price match. if I get a cheaper quote, I'll be buying that policy.

[richbee]

Solar panels are very cheap at the moment - but reading they 'might' go up as China might restrict supply - getting tempted to buy a couple now for my shed roof

[Joeboy]

Solar panels are very cheap at the moment - but reading they 'might' go up as China might restrict supply - getting tempted to buy a couple now for my shed roof

Don't put off to tomorrow what you could spend on today! Always worth a look on the 2nd hand market too? The Enphase micros & Sharp.panels are 2nd & 3rd hand respectively so any carbon cost is long gone and far away. I carried that through to the rails too by using secondhand scavenged timbers cut to size. Fixings were the very last of a bag of roofing screws from a previous years old project (the solar pergola in fact).

Not trying to sound virtuous (said the man who flew yesterday) but being an outbuilding solar build freed me up nicely in my mind to go the 'junkshop' repurposing route. I still feel good about that! Just for thought...

I'll be honest, I am missing the walk down garden to check Enphase powerhouse.

So I draw solace from the BigBlue powerhouse & battery combo here!

[Fintray]

I'll be honest, I am missing the walk down garden to check Enphase powerhouse.

You didn't miss anything yesterday, my PV systems (14.11kWp) produced 0.6kWh for the whole day!