Not sure if this has already been covered in the Solar thread but thought it was possibly of enough interest for its own.
I have roof solar at home a battery and an ASHP and have been interested in more solar on my summer house roof but it does mean some jiggery pokery with my current setup and possibly some changes to certification etc. We are lucky with a south facing garden so our panels generate quite a bit during the spring and summer months. I may cobble together a small frame (we dont have a balcony) and move it around my garden plugged into a weatherproof socket. Alternatively a larger kit that allows me to fix semi permanently to my south facing summer house roof (20sqm)
Anyone have experience of these and their real world power generation?
I don’t but am very interested.
Do you really just point it at the sun ,plug it in and the electricity goes back onto the grid?
My understanding is yes. They have their own built in inverter so stand alone. Not going to move the dial much but its free electricity and in practical terms could be a top up for a car etc. Interested in real world gains and payback.
I think the term for those is "plug in solar" an is quite popular in Germany from what I've read.
Are you talking about this? https://www.dw.com/en/boom-small-solar-devices-plugged-into-household-sockets-german-energy-transition/a-75022163
Last I heard it was being hung up on some regulations for the UK, but that was a while ago.
Last I heard it was being hung up on some regulations for the UK, but that was a while ago
It's been approved for UK use this week
Anyone have experience of these and their real world power generation?
Me....although mine is a 6 panel 2.5kwh system and because of that, I have it running into the consumer unit via a breaker. (I live in France) Mine is effectively 3 x twin panel systems that feed into one cable running to house. They are attached to a wooden frame at ground level at the top of our South facing garden and work very well. We are low energy users anyway but they've knocked about 1/3rd off our annual consumption. We have a hot water tank and immersion heater so now have that on a timer 10am to 3pm. Our set up was c €1300 in 2024, they are now down to €769 for a 2080w system.
In France, you have to notify the 'Grid' that you have such a system and send them the certification certificate...I got a positive "Yeah, it's fine" reply the day after I submitted it. (It presumably allows any engineers to suss out which properties may still have some electric coursing thru their veins when there is a power cut)
Ive been watching this progress for a while. A 'pukka' solar install isnt cost effective for me given our roof, and putting a pukka fixed system on the detached garage wasnt cost effective given the need for long new drenched cable runs, etc etc.
But these would work better for us (with a few-kwh battery). As I should be able to plug it into the garage power and back-feed to the house. 800w isnt massive, but it will put a dent into the bills. We used an average of 7.8mwh electric per day over the past 12 months. So if we can get a couple of kwh back a day on average, the payback will be a few years but not decades
which properties may still have some electric coursing thru their veins when there is a power cut)
There wont be any power - an as sold balcony solar system requires to see a mains supply before feeding to the grid.
Not sure if this has already been covered in the Solar thread but thought it was possibly of enough interest for its own.
Fair bit of info on the solar thread if you'd looked 😉
Balcony solar is limited to 800w by the built-in micro inverter - it will definitely help as long as it faces south. Just don't expect anything in the winter.
We used an average of 7.8mwh electric per day
I bet you didn't!
In France, you have to notify the 'Grid' that you have such a system and send them the certification certificate...I got a positive "Yeah, it's fine" reply the day after I submitted it.
It's the same in UK. You are allowed to export 3.68kW without asking permission, you just submit a g98 form after installation.
Micro generation systems like this will surely be a good thing overall.
We do get a good deal of solar but not much until mid morning. Having an array pointing in the opposite direction (at the bottom of the garden) would capture from early morning, then spin it around in the afternoon :-). Obvs intended for balconies but the built in invertor is a game changer.
I’ll be getting one when they become available.
If you’re considering a setup then get an electrician round to check the RCD feeding the circuit you intend to plug into, it needs to be bi-directional, if it’s not there’s a good chance it won’t work if there’s a fault. They have been standard one the continent for years but only relatively recent in the uk
which properties may still have some electric coursing thru their veins when there is a power cut)
There wont be any power - an as sold balcony solar system requires to see a mains supply before feeding to the grid.
Yes - because the solar / battery output needs a reference to synchronise to (otherwise it could be out of phase- at best causing some noise / interference, or worst knackering other devices or if 180 degrees out, cancelling out the incoming power !
Not sure if this has already been covered in the Solar thread but thought it was possibly of enough interest for its own.
Fair bit of info on the solar thread if you'd looked 😉Balcony solar is limited to 800w by the built-in micro inverter - it will definitely help as long as it faces south. Just don't expect anything in the winter.
We used an average of 7.8mwh electric per day
I bet you didn't!In France, you have to notify the 'Grid' that you have such a system and send them the certification certificate...I got a positive "Yeah, it's fine" reply the day after I submitted it.
It's the same in UK. You are allowed to export 3.68kW without asking permission, you just submit a g98 form after installation.Micro generation systems like this will surely be a good thing overall.
Ahh yes. I'd included the new 25kv electric locomotive in that ! . .mixing work and home time. 7.8 K (not M !)wh
I assume in Britain, unless you have a specific export tariff and device that clocks what you export, then if youre exporting you're just giving the network your electricity for free if you feed into the supply.
Are there really people still resisting smart meters in this day and age.
I'm not clear on the mechanism by which plugging in some garden solar results in lower bills.
Does the grid tell your supplier how much you've generated and they lower your bill accordingly?
I assume in Britain, unless you have a specific export tariff and device that clocks what you export, then if youre exporting you're just giving the network your electricity for free if you feed into the supply.
Yes I think that is the case though I think the export reading for billing comes from the main smart electric meter (we do have a secondary export meter).
After actually looking it up t seems you can just use that power directly in your house.
If you already have a solar installation can you add "balcony" solar in addition and does this require additional grid notification?
If so can you then can add additional until you reach the 3.68kW limit?
Good shout ref the uni directional RCD.
Are there really people still resisting smart meters in this day and age.
Yes. If you have a dumb meter you get paid for 50% of what you generate, regardless of what you use. If you have a smart meter you only get paid for what you send to the grid (i.e. amount generated minus what you use). If you've got an electric immersion heater, charging an EV and battery storage you are probably using more than half of what you generate.
Yes. If you have a dumb meter you get paid for 50% of what you generate, regardless of what you use. If you have a smart meter you only get paid for what you send to the grid
which suppliers offer that on new installs on todays market . that's(as far as i know) only for legacy installs on FIT payments.
that's(as far as i know) only for legacy installs on FIT payments.
This.
The 50% deemed export stopped a very, very long time ago.
If you already have a solar installation can you add "balcony" solar in addition and does this require additional grid notification?
If so can you then can add additional until you reach the 3.68kW limit?
Good question.
At the moment, you can have up to 3.68 kW potential export hooked up to the grid under a simple G98 notification.
Anything over that needs G99 permission.
So if you've got 3.68 kW installed now then I guess theoretically you should apply for G99 if you want to put balcony solar in as well.
If for example, you have 2 kW installed now. You could theoretically add 800w (or even two) balcony solar without any notification.
It will be interesting to see which way this goes.
If you’re considering a setup then get an electrician round to check the RCD feeding the circuit you intend to plug into, it needs to be bi-directional, if it’s not there’s a good chance it won’t work if there’s a fault. They have been standard one the continent for years but only relatively recent in the uk
Just looked. We have a type AC RCD (judging by the little symbol on it), so that means we'll need an electrician to update it to at least type A, yes? So not quite "plugin" for us... but we'll be getting onboard anyway.
I watched an efixx youtube video review of the dji power 2000 that can be charged by solar and then export the power back into the domestic circuit via a 3 pin plug. It mentioned stuff about the rcd and some other info that i cant recall. I think they were using a shelly rcd, possibly with wifi control.
The video was a few months ago so prior to this weeks updated legislation.