@@andycotton162 given we want to move away from people needing to own any vehicle its not really. because making 1.5 billion evs is just insane. and we should not be considering it.
@@H4N5O1O Typical metropolitan response, try living in an area with low population and zero or almost zero public transport. personal vehicles are an essential not a luxury and being told by people living in cities with heavily subsidised public transport that we just have to "do without" is plainly ignorant.
Shame the housing estates being built where I live seem to have no regard for the sun. Perhaps it should be mandatory, where possible, to have south facing roofs.
Perhaps design the roof at the optimum angle to accommodate the Sun's "apparent" movements over a year. And perhaps a pre programmed "az -el" mount so that if the Sun appears from behind the clouds during the day the panel array is exactly where it should be for maximum charging. Might be a wheeze to follow the Moon too. I sometimes get 0.1V ... I jest, of course.
Don’t forget walls! I’ve installed 4kW of panels on my south facing house wall in addition to 4kW of panels on my roof, and on average they give me about 2/3 of the energy that the roof panels generate! That’s from a wall which, until the panels were installed, was doing nothing but getting hot in the sun! They did require a planning application, but this was granted without issue. The wall panels will massively favour the low angle of the winter sun, when the angle of the roof mounted panels becomes less optimum.
Don't forget west facing roofs. About 15% less generation, but much more likely to make it into the evening peak when you are using power and fossils may be ramping up in the grid. East facing to a lesser extent for morning use.
I've often wondered would east facing solar panels top hinged on the ridge line on the roof with a lifting device work - so theyre horizontal by mid day - and possibly tilted towards the west a little by evening - Think the auto opening rear hatchback on a car ,
I have an 8 pannel self installed grid-tie system on my workshop (i'm a sparkie) it's definatley worth a lot of home owners looking into as the building reg's are often A LOT more lax for systems mounted on buildings that are not slept in (unless you count me falling asleep with my soldering iron in hand) and are not comercial premises. my whole system with 8x 300W silfab panels and growatt 3kw inverter and ancillaries was £1278 as obviusly I did all the work my self...thanks to octopus my payback looks to be well under a year. Also solar gazebo's and car ports are a fantastic idea. I'm currently designing a hot water system to make use of the exported power as it's a better use of the power rather than selling it back for half the normal unit purchase price. There are comercial systems out there for this but I suspect I can do it for a fraction of the cost.
Any thoughts about how to work around an electricity network operator who wants 30K to run three phase to your house so you can increase your PV production?
A good way to get double duty is to make the solar array part of a porch or carport roof/covering. Avoid the cost of roofing materials while some weather protection.
1:50 "Ground mounted is cheaper to install" NOT in the USA! At least not in SoCal. We wanted to go ground mount as we have a large section of unused lawn. But cost of permits, safety fence, inspection and required trenching with longer wiring in piping all added up to a much larger cost than solar on roof.
One option for those who can’t install solar is to install a battery that stores the excess energy from other people’s solar energy. This battery can then be charged at low cost when solar energy is abundant and cheap. Here in Australia there is so much solar being produced that most restrict the amount that can be fed into the grid, that not used or sent to the grid is therefore wasted.
True, but which of our energy retailers actually offer true value time of use tariffs? To my research, none! Most have peaks of ~ 42c/Kwh and lows of high 20's. And they don't consider the middle of the day off-peak but shoulder which means the rates being charged are higher again, mid 30s, and don't reflect the true cost of electricity at that point.
Thank you for providing information about co-ops! Solar and wind are great if we leverage them well. Co-ops seems like a great approach. Solar farming seems interesting as well, as the ground underneath is being used to grow food. I agree that carports are also under utilized. Thank you for sharing as always!
We made a duel axis tracker been running 7 plus years now, has 6 X lg 335 watt panels, I logged onto the VRM the other day it was producing 2573 watts, not bad for a rated 2010 watts system.
I'm more than a bit disappointed that you didn't mention the benefits of PVT (photovoltaic thermal) solar. PVT provides electricity, and heating, and hot water, and can provide process heat for commercial, and low-temperature heat for industrial consumers. I am happy you mentioned solar co-ops. Solar, and wind, co-ops never get the attention they deserve.
You have to be careful in the UK you don't breach permitted development regulations when installing a ground mount system in your garden i.e., proximity to neighbours boundary, height of array, size of array etc. There may also be problems if you live near an airport or railway (glint and glare). In most modern UK housing developments gardens just aren't big enough (nesting design tools) and suffer from shading issues.
Planning regs for solar pv are under review at the moment. They don’t cover solar tracking which has a small footprint and panels that move over the course of the day. The 5 metre from the boundary rule was arbitrary (why not 3?) and the 4 metre height in a large garden is not relevant either. Size of array was fixed when panels were a lot smaller than now. You’re absolutely correct re modern houses/small gardens. Developers should be building houses for solar gain and covering their roofs with solar rather than adding fake plastic chimneys. Glint and glare is not a huge problem with our turn and tilt systems.
I installed 4.9kW of solar array on the top of a pergola in the garden. Didn't lose any garden space as it sits high over the garden. Self installed, I can adjust the angles for winter/summer and spring-autumn. Just one thing - I did need to get planning permission as the array wasn't on the main roof of the house, and exceeded 2m2.
I live in New Westminster BC Canada. Several years ago the city created a "solar garden", a community solar project that residents could buy into. The panels are installed on city infrastructure. This allows condo owners to reap the benefit of solar power. Installation, maintenance, repair and retirement are covered by the city. This system required money up frront but some projects allow distributed payments. Here I receive twice annual credits based on the cost of electricity. When electricity rates are increased I get more credit. Unfortunately other taxes other added to the bill.
Great video, its worth mentioning if solar is going on your shed your likely be better with micro inverters as most sheds can't fit enough panels on to get the voltage needed for a string inverter. I've just covered micro inverters on my channel as I was able to install them on my roof I also used a neat solar tech which is bifacial panels which capture the energy from the sun twice!
lol, I laugh, then realise most British sheds are about 12ft by 8ft or less- yes not very big, my shed easily carries 7+kw PV on tilts (2 strings, morning partial shade - with optimisers) .. (different climate zone, larger sheds- altogether different setting) .
I love the co-op model. Please do an episode on this to spread awareness to people in apartments and grow support. Are there issues around utilities in cities allowing this, or any legislation that needs changing?
As mentioned in the comments, if you live In the Northern hemisphere for maximum benefit you should install solar on a South facing roof. In the Southern hemisphere it's the other way around, so for maximum benefit you should install solar on a North facing roof.
To make better use of the available space you should raise the ground mounted array up so you can do agrivoltaics. By using the shade cast by the array for growing a vegetable garden or such.
The same applies for these huge fields of community owned solar farms, these should make way better use of the land by combining these with agricultural activities.
I have a 4kw ground array and it doesn’t need to take up too much room if you think carefully about the spacing between the rows. (Mine are on the very cheap ballasted buckets, 4 rows of 4). Looking at the very low daily generation possible for December and January/February means that it doesn’t matter too much if tighter spacing means more shading at this time of year. As long as those lucrative months are maximised when the sun is higher then this it can be a sensible optimisation of space and solar gain.
I could only fit 4 panels on house roof so built a purpose built shed with 8 panels. She'd cost about the same amount as scaffold would have done. Steve
You guys are absolutely amazing! Your solar proposition is a great Breaking News! That's a wonderful development I'm hearing for the first time. As soon as I can, you guys will definitely install this amazing solar energy of yours for me here in Nigeria. I give God all the GLORY for helping me find you guys here. Thanks a million!
the balcony solar has options to plug into your house via a normal socket. reducing the amount of grid electricity you need to buy...a battery can store the solar power.
The company selling the mains plug in system did not get a license for it to be installed in UK homes so have had to stop selling it. I wanted one but will now just have to hope they get it tested and licensed.
If you're about to go with a solar farm share as an interim solution until you eventually get solar panels installed, please read the fie print carefully--as some farm contracts stipulate a significant delay after termination request until actual termination of the contract--meaning you may be on the hook paying for your share that you no longer need once your own panels are installed and are producing power.
Good video. I live in the Queensland Tropics so have my panels tiltable as the sun moves to the south of me in summer. I'm remote, and batteries last about six years, replacement cost currently A$1650. Panels do get old and don't output as efficiently so I'm thinking about a couple more. Controllers are expensive but the latest ones are good. So even though the panels are now much cheaper than my old ones, other factors may be limiting. I do all the installing myself, and supports cost something too.
The twin immersion is genius. Currently, my solar pv diverter only goes to a single immersion and often thermostats off. My next cylinder will have 2 immersion.
Hi - our Heliomotion system in the video uses GPS and a position sensor to track the sun. This enables it to return to the correct position overnight, in the dark, ready for the next day as it always knows where the sun is. Photocells only work when it is light.
@@beesolartech Thanks for the clarification! On my solar bikes I am currently using a manual way to perform solar tracking, hope to move in the future to an automatic solution: ruclips.net/video/AsPFdtLRll4/видео.htmlsi=vqoqERan_qzYHU3I
Cheaper on the ground is not usually true in my state in the US. Even with the added need for micro electronics a good ground mount frame and trenching ect. add up.
Super video, as usual. Just want to seed a small conspiracy here. In Germany, where I live, I can have up to 600w of solar plugged via an inverter directly into my wall socket. No electrician required. Buy it, plug it in, done. Hundreds of thousands of these are being installed, helping to drive down the price of solar panels here. In Devon, UK, where my mum lives - not allowed! Have to get an electrician (if you can trap one) to come and do it. Can someone (ahem, Robert!) please make some loud noises?
The ones in the bottom of your garden when you’ve got to churn up your whole garden. When I was googling them, they were very expensive. We’ve had to get them on the east and west because we could only have One on the south facing.
Great video. My roof of my current house is unsuitable with dormer windows and I was thinking about a tracker array in the garden, but the planning rules here in the UK specify anything not roof mounted has to be 3 meters away from the property boundary which, with a smallish garden, means this is a no go.
It might be helpful to add that your roof does NOT need to be south facing! In fact, if your country has already moved beyond net metering, the slim and pointy production curve of a south facing roof might even be less economical than an east-west roof solar array with its much more flat and wide curve, giving you usable amounts of energy for a greater amount of hours throughout the day. Especially, if you’re investing in a home battery, the flatter and wider production curve of the east-west orientation means having to spend less on battery capacity to keep your house powered and off-grid throughout the night with production starting earlier and ending later. Addendum: Our 16kwp array is mostly east/west facing with a few extra panels on the south-facing garage and it’s keeping two EVs that see lots of use powered for 2/3 of the year and our domestic electricity use is pretty much covered for the entire year, save for small deficits in december, thanks to our moderately-sized 9.5kWh battery system.
Some years ago (probably over 15) I asked a solar panel installation firm to visit my house to discuss options for solar panels. He quickly dismissed our double pitched roof as it faced the wrong direction. I then asked about mounting them on the ground, as there was one section of garden that received sunlight a good part of the day, but he stated at the time it was 'not possible'. Of course fast forward a few year later and they are mounting thousands of the things on ground frames! Just shows never accept a so called experts views on things, also question those views.
You seem to have forgotten wall mounted systems. These can actually deliver substantial amounts of electricity in Winter due to the fact that they are mounted at 90° angles. They also have the additional benefit of adding a little insulation to your house, so you save a little on heating in winter and cooling in summer.
If this any government or future government were serious about moving in an energy green direction, why have they not put forward legislative proposals to force all building developers to include solar and/or any other energy savings into their infrastructure/building developments and which must be able to show results that can also be measurable so as not to con consumers.
In Tenerife I have two panels 370 + 200. W. The main panel is on the solar deck on a roof so I can adjust the angel every month. The 200W panel is fix and is timer controlled. The system cost 470 Euro and we save 20% on the electrical bill. CO2 is not a problem, in fact it give life to the plants. We need more CO2. The IPCC is totally wrong and soon we will experience colder weather, colder climate.
Hello from OZ i live in a rig i made full time and the following is for the dreamers thinking off grid Living ,,,, So WAKEUP UR DREAMING,, now thats out of my system now what is needed 1st live in a place like OZ for real sun power 2nd this is the cheapest way you can do it AND still have both longevity & not bust your bank account. SO BELOW HERE IS THE SHORT LIST I am running 4 solar panels @ 360watts each wired as one panel this runs to a regulator MPPT 100/50 (CHEAPER ONES MELT) then down to 8 batteries each is 135amp and are wired as one massive 24v battery at over 500amph YOU GOT ALL THAT NOW IT IS IN A CARAVAN AND IS DOING THE JOB now it is not cheap and over 10yr cycle mains power is cheaper and a honda geset is still needed
Great explanation... just a little niggle from us antipodeans, better to descirbe idea orientation as "equator facing"... as down here in Australia, panels facing north will have the highest yield.
Something Ripple are a bit vague about is the Tax implications of their approach (Solar or Wind). You receive your return on investment as you would from stocks and shares, therefore you are subject to Tax if your total income is greater than your tax free allowance. This obviously extends your payback time. At the moment, you can't get your return simply debited against your energy bill.
For those who plan to install their own systems, ground mounts solve a lot of problems and offer the most flexibility on siting and orientation. And then you need to dig the trench for the cables. That sucks! In the USA, you will use PVC conduit with THWN wires, in a trench that is not less than 20 inches deep, measured to the top of the PVC conduit. That I know of, paid installers only install AC systems. With a DIY system, you are free to install a DC system and use your power for the usual purposes, plus PV-->DHW and space heat as well as PV--> charging of e-bikes and EVs. All of these are DC direct applications.
@@rp9674 Those living in the US need to consult our NEC or National Electrical Code, section 690. There is useful information about solar installations in some of the other sections but 690 contains most of what the installers need to know.
Just add, even if you do have solar installed, you can still invest in a Ripple Energy solar farm or wind turbine and receive credits back into your utility bill
The solar options continue to work around challenges; well done industry. Frustratingly I have been limited, by the DNO, to half the capacity of my south facing, modern 40 degree roof. Any suggestions gratefully received on challenging the DNO.
@@beesolartech yeah I looked into that. Unfortunately, the DNO led me down a merry dance telling me that I had three phase on the edge of my property. However, it was two single phases! To connect three phase would be cost prohibitive (£1000's).
Great Video - but would be the best option if you live in a coastal windy location in Skye. Rocky garden so earth screws not option. Would the single pole tracking option work in windy conditions? Wind turbine not an option due to location and impact on neighbours.
So in the UK you can build an outbuilding less than 15m2 without planning no boundary considerations. Solar ground array has to be 5m away from the boundary max of 9m2. To add solar to an existing outbuilding with no sleeping contained within you don't need planning? So you could build a long tool storage shed/box and put solar on it up against the boundary more than 9m2 without planning? ... strange and as to why a ground array has to be 5m in from a boundary i don't understand we have a big garden but that is in the middle of the lawn, in a London house it means you cant have a ground array as the boundary either side will not normally allow this type of install ....
I have cedar shingles on my outbuilding, which is otherwise perfect for panels but was told by installer that there is a fire risk and it was not possible to install over them!
I wish there was a similar set up to Ripple in Northern Ireland, all of ours talk about "Sustainable Energy" while using Natural Gas... this is burning stuff... not exactly what we want. We live in a large Apartment building, and so we cannot have solar or Wind. I have thought about putting 100watt solar panels up in our windows (we have a few that we always have the curtains closed due to nosy neighbours), but the angle would be less than ideal and we would likely get less than 10w per panel consequently (average), that with the cost of the battery storage makes it unviable for us at the moment. The only hope we have is that our Landlord (a housing association) decides to put solar on the roofs of all of its buildings. We also drive an electric car, and cannot even charge up in our car park, and have to use the less than ideal public charging network here (and not exactly cheap). But, things are moving in the right direction... slowly... at least 65% of our energy comes from wind here (well, technically 100% where we are). To the future
Problem with solar trackers is they have to maintained for decades. Will the company that makes it still be in business? Will spare parts be available. Who will service it and how much will it cost, since they are prone to failure. Found if you have the room its better to spend the money on more panels. In Southern Ontario see lots of trackers that have failed and have not been fixed. While my fixed system has been working for 18 years with zero problems.
Thanks for your comment. Ours are made in the UK. They have not yet been installed in Southern Ontario. Please don't assume that every single manufacturer has the same problems and condemn us with no experience of our product which was designed in Finland, on an island in the Baltic which has severe weather conditions including wind, snow and ice.
@@beesolartech These are my observation’s from the ones I have seem. Trackers do have there use where space is limited but. From the failed ones I have seen, there was lots of room for a fixed installation, trackers were a poor choice. Fixed would have been better to skip the additional upfront cost and not have any future maintenance issues. Hope your business does well and is still there in 20 to 30 years.
Could you do a show about the new, light, and flexible solar sheets that are coming? I bump into these occasionally on the web, but not seen anyone using them to cover a roof that was previously unable to take rigid solar panels. Our house has a steel roof, very much like most business warehouses and out of town shops, and so the thought that all these metal roofs might be able to take solar after all is quite exciting, even if it appears that they are currently less efficient that rigid solar panels, but perhaps compensated by the fact that the entire roof could be covered rather than just part?
Few comments Low voltage beware of watts drop over cable Since it is DC. Beware isolators must be capable to switch Best remove all load before switch Solar tracking best
Your going to need an expensive stand alone system to run a heat pump. Renters are the hardest hit. It’s seems to more land / roof space you own the more you can save. I would say for renters. Do it because you enjoy it or want to help the planet rather than expect to be saving much
04:28 The balcony system shown is plugged into a wall socket. Is that pumping energy from the panels into the home's AC wiring? If so, is that legal in the UK and does it let the solar power appliances plugged-in elsewhere in the home?
From what I can tell in the setup they showed it looked to be a separate circuit not connected to your home AC that you could just plug normal appliances into. Basically a kit that you could install yourself. But that setup isn't the only option, you can plug Balcony solar panels into your own home AC with a grid tie inverter but you'd need an electrician to do that.
@@nickflynn666Did you click on the timestamp I gave? There is a cable from the inverter(?) to a wall socket. I think that is dumping power into the domestic AC. No install, just plug in. Do you know for a fact I've got the wrong end of the stick?
I found some videos on the Ecoflow Powerstream balcony solar system that does plug into your AC through a standard socket. You can prop the panels up against a wobbly garden chair, run the cables through a crack in the window, plug the inverter onto a socket, and voila: a self-installed grid-tied battery solar system for your home that can move with you to the next place. Still trying to work out if doing that is legal in the UK.
@@AndrewHelgeCox No, your are correct. I looked it up its called the ecoflow delta balcony system and it (the battery system black box) has its own grid tie inverter that you can plug into your houses AC power supply. Normally you can't just plug a grid tie inverter into your houses AC with a plug as it would risk electrocuting you if you touched the live pin of the plug, it's also naturally not legal but presumably their device prevents this and is legal. You can just buy panels and a grid tie inverter and connect it to your own AC in your house but you must comply with wiring regulations. The last time I looked it up you need to hard wire to a fuse spur, only use a CE rated inverter and inform your energy supplier. But don't take my word for it search for something like "uk diy solar install wiiring regs' interestingly you can also get paid for energy export from Octopus as they no longer require an MCS certification, which they used to insist on.
do tracking solar panels really need a *GPS*? Given that the location of the unit doesn't change, I always thought you can work out where the sun is with a bit of math. So you'd need only a small computer with a clock and some motors.
Totally, however... Just a bit of a miss speak I think, but a combination of GPS to get location and correct time is quite common to help calculate the best angle. GPS is in a lot of stuff you might not think these days.
True. But a GPS gives you both the time and the position. It is a lot of moving parts, though. As panels go down in price, I would guess the magic of buying more of them would help just as well.
Yes. GPS gives you time and position, so you know where you are, the time of day and therefore where the sun is. The calculations are complex, but work. I made one using a GPS module, Arduino, two servos and some 3D printed hardware - works like a dream.
You could construct a tracking device using four photo resistors and a cross shaped divider. The shadow created by the divider can the be made drive motors until each photo resistors receives the same amount of energy. You get pan and tilt and at first light it will rotate back to face the sun. True, it doesnt work so well in dull conditions but as soon as you get some brighter periods it adjusts to face the sun.
So glad someone, esp Bobby, is addressing this, I've been thinking about it for a long time. Solar installation is expensive, borderline scam, this would be a great application for a kit, my choice would be off grid with batteries.
My sun facing roof has a dormer covering 80% of area. Has a solar panel system been developed yet for a flat roof installation? Typically, the membranes need renewing every 10yrs, so such system would need to be easily removable. The mountings would also need to be designed to not breach the the flat roof membrane. Did look into this some years ago without success, but am hoping something will be developed soon....
Yes there are plastic tub things that can sit on a flat roof with panels attached. Only issue would be if your roof is strong enough as the tubs need weighing down
Not sure about commercial systems, they probably exist but if you fancy a diy solution to that problem look up the last video on the small youtube channel KevTech22 . If you're concerned about the strength of your your flatroof you can just adding the weighting above the walls so you don't stress the roof joists..
Look up flat roof equipment support tables. These are a flat frame on legs. They have retractable legs that can be raised individually to repair or repair roof coverings. The solar panels sit on top of the frame.
- lol, why does a tracker need an onboard GPS - the solar mount hardly relocates very often - all it may need to know is a one-off fix of Lat. and Long. (for the rough solar tracking needed by flat plate panels) Or, just track the bright shiny thing in the sky directly (only need to shift every half, or hour or so)....
Our tracker moves every 6 - 7 mins, and swings back to south when the sun is 6° below the horizon, and to the morning position just before dawn. If it only moved every 30 mins, it would not be so accurate. Please let us know where we can see your design in action?
if you are sitting in a million pound house with an acre or two spare land to sit your forty grands worth of solar panels with twenty grand worth of tesla batterys to store your green energy then you will be able to charge your sixty thousand pounds worth of tesla but if you are like me on a ordinary wage then you can just freeze in the dark
When they came to install my panels the installers went up a ladder and said "...nah mate. These are probably the only sort of tiles we wouldn't install on. They break too easily during the install and are liable to break again with the stresses of the panels". Their solution, as we have a fairly decent front garden, was to bring some plastic buckets that are angled at about 30 ish degrees and clip them to those. I have 8kW nominal. I would say batteries are the way to go, I have 4x5kWh batteries and they seem pretty capable of running the house overnight when charged. Dont think Ive used any electricity from the grid since May. The one thing I havent dont yet is to get an automatic switch over so if I lose the grid it will run off batteries/panels as a back up. (I have the kit, just isnt installed).
@@PrinceVeganin From what the installers were saying (pinch of salt advised) they were some sort of plasticised stone/slate. They look like slate from the ground. On the plus side, having the panels on the ground means I was able to clear the snow off them when the weather got iffy earlier this year.
...bit more on flats please 👌👏🙏 Sometimes outside "real estate it limited" so it is hard to angle a solar panel much to get most benefit ! What do you think about vertical axis wind turbines if you live near the coast for example ? Crucially, their footprint is small and are some units affordablish !??
I just want to know what company I can trust to quote and supply and fit solar/batteries onto my property. Too many adverts for "free" solar" that I just don't trust.
WHEN YOU HAVE very little yard space. It's not an option. I live in Los Angeles and every square foot is very expensive. But I was able to put Solar on my backyard roof. It faces perfectly to the South.
They are pretty useless on a cloudy day. In South Africa I generate 10kwh per day with 6× 455w panels. 5 kwh on a winters day clear sky and 2kwh on a cloudy day, so good luck charging your Tesla's. They also take up 14m square of roof space. I hope you guys have football field sized backyards?
SYKE! Aint no mention about the price... Good for people owning over an acre of land in AONB with a detached 5 bedroom bungalow along with a few farm fields...
I really like the idea of buying shares in a solar farm. If anyone out there knows of a company doing this in the Netherlands then I'd love to hear from you. I have solar panels already but they are a little dated so I'm looking at all options.
I have a standard garden shed with 4x100W panels on its roof - they produce about 1KWH a day between March and October - so, ~230kWH / year. Saving £0.39 x 230 a year - about £90. So I'll have broken even in about 7 years. (Got to face it this is a hobby not a financial undertaking). Still, last year I took great pleasure in doing my bit to thwart Putin and his energy war. I also trickle charge 300 Amp hours of Lead acid cells and have a 2KW inverter - just in case we ever get a meaningful power cut - been waiting 5 years for one so far :)
I don't know. If we go for a conservative 25 year lifespan, then not only will the panels pay for themselves in 7 years, they'll continue to generate more than 3.5 times their cost over that period. I find it interesting, in these discussions, that no-one ever makes the obvious comparison. When you buy a big LED TV, do you ask yourself after how many years does it become free, and then for how many years afterwards does it actually net you a profit? When you buy wallpaper, how long does it take to pay for itself? How much profit does it generate you over its lifetime? The food you buy. When does it become "free food"? When does it become "profit-generating food"? We're all always buying things all the time that have no sense whatsoever of "paying for themselves" or eventually becoming profit-making. Most things we spend money on don't do that. Yet we never question any of those. But here comes a product, which you can buy, that eventually - in the long-term - effectively costs absolutely nothing (because you will eventually get your money back), that'll then give you at least 25 - 7 = 18 years of pure profit thereafter. Yet this is the thing we question. Whenever someone asks "how long does it take for your solar to pay for itself?", counter that with the return question "...and after how many electricity bills do they stop charging you?". Or when does your new sofa start netting you a yearly profit? Put it in context. It really is a daft thing to question the value of a product that pays for itself - a product that, over its lifespan, effectively costs nothing and actually puts money in your pocket - whilst, everywhere else, we're throwing our money away on things that have no capacity whatsoever to generate any profit at all and, for those, we say nothing whatsoever.
Great info, thanks. What about something similar for home wind generators? Not seen much about this topic. Perhaps also the pros and cons of vertical v horizontal axis generators? Just a thought.
An excellent notion. The main criticism with bladed types on a horizontal axis is noise. The upright types, vertical axis, are alleged to be quieter. The vertical axis types catch the wind from any angle and don't require a weather cock type action as it were. Cost per output are about the same. Some folks I know use both solar and wind turbines to optimise the power generation during the day and the wind turbines work around the clock.
Can someone help me understand the desire for solar from a financial perspective rather than environmental. When the cost of a solar installation seems to be about $50,000 but it saves me around $200 a month if the solar replaces my entire electrical bill that would take me 250 months or 20 years to recoup my investment.. I don’t expect to be in this same house in 20 years and and that’s assuming I don’t invest that $50,000 and get 5% cod or invest it in stock market.. that $200 would probably never catch an invested $50,000. So I’m not trying to troll here. I genuinely want to know what the financial incentive is for this push to solar
In the UK five years or so ago it did seem to be 20 years to recoup investment. But this is lowering by the year and in current higher energy prices have heard of it being about 5 years. Where you live, how much power you need, whether you have an electric car and many other factors can affect whether, for your individual situation, solar&battery are beneficial for you. Sometimes, with reducing prices, it may be a case of when it is financially beneficial. For example, if you have the space then lean-to panels can really reduce the installation costs.
My sister had just broke even with her system when the inverter died, just out of warranty. Had to shell out for that and now waiting to break even again and that's with 36 panels. As an electrician I'd say do it if you want to feel good but don't do it for the money.
Install a $5k system, not $50K. Unless you live somewhere that jacks up the price for no reason. If you paying over $1 a watt fully installed you're overpaying. Sorry if you have no affordable choices.
A solar carport is also worth considering - protecting your car from the weather as well as generating electricity.
That's a great idea and could work for us, so thanks for posting.
@@andycotton162 given we want to move away from people needing to own any vehicle its not really. because making 1.5 billion evs is just insane. and we should not be considering it.
@@H4N5O1O Typical metropolitan response, try living in an area with low population and zero or almost zero public transport. personal vehicles are an essential not a luxury and being told by people living in cities with heavily subsidised public transport that we just have to "do without" is plainly ignorant.
or a solar gazebo in the garden - again, dual use for the structure.
Yes I built a carport with solar panels that leave some light through between the cells. Really nice effect. 3kW output. Quite flat though
Shame the housing estates being built where I live seem to have no regard for the sun. Perhaps it should be mandatory, where possible, to have south facing roofs.
Or an east-west orientation so that one side gets sun in the morning, the other side in the evening and booth sides mid day.
At LEAST 1 S facing roof
Perhaps design the roof at the optimum angle to accommodate the Sun's "apparent" movements over a year.
And perhaps a pre programmed "az -el" mount so that if the Sun appears from behind the clouds during the day the panel array is exactly where it should be for maximum charging.
Might be a wheeze to follow the Moon too.
I sometimes get 0.1V ... I jest, of course.
and a single pitch of the right angle.
@@H4N5O1O
Quite.
A mansard roof might "split" the charging effect.
Don’t forget walls! I’ve installed 4kW of panels on my south facing house wall in addition to 4kW of panels on my roof, and on average they give me about 2/3 of the energy that the roof panels generate! That’s from a wall which, until the panels were installed, was doing nothing but getting hot in the sun! They did require a planning application, but this was granted without issue. The wall panels will massively favour the low angle of the winter sun, when the angle of the roof mounted panels becomes less optimum.
Don't forget west facing roofs. About 15% less generation, but much more likely to make it into the evening peak when you are using power and fossils may be ramping up in the grid. East facing to a lesser extent for morning use.
I've often wondered would east facing solar panels top hinged on the ridge line on the roof with a lifting device work - so theyre horizontal by mid day - and possibly tilted towards the west a little by evening -
Think the auto opening rear hatchback on a car ,
I have an 8 pannel self installed grid-tie system on my workshop (i'm a sparkie) it's definatley worth a lot of home owners looking into as the building reg's are often A LOT more lax for systems mounted on buildings that are not slept in (unless you count me falling asleep with my soldering iron in hand) and are not comercial premises.
my whole system with 8x 300W silfab panels and growatt 3kw inverter and ancillaries was £1278 as obviusly I did all the work my self...thanks to octopus my payback looks to be well under a year.
Also solar gazebo's and car ports are a fantastic idea.
I'm currently designing a hot water system to make use of the exported power as it's a better use of the power rather than selling it back for half the normal unit purchase price.
There are comercial systems out there for this but I suspect I can do it for a fraction of the cost.
Any thoughts about how to work around an electricity network operator who wants 30K to run three phase to your house so you can increase your PV production?
Thanks for the mention. So exciting to see loads of Everything Electric subscribers becoming Ripple members this year 🙂
One option not mentioned for those with steep roofs and not wanting to have in lawn would be walk way cover.
The Rishi reaction video is going to be a nuclear level rant
Solar level rant
@@hairzilla if you have several acres of solar, sure.
Literally only clicked on this to see the rishi comments! What a c💣
Definitely looking forward to it!
Bobby may go supernova...
Love this style of video, informative yet short, perfect for sharing with those pesky friends and relatives asking for advice.
A good way to get double duty is to make the solar array part of a porch or carport roof/covering. Avoid the cost of roofing materials while some weather protection.
Just read this.
You are hehind the times ... why not Google up your excellent suggestion.
@@t1n4444
???
1:50 "Ground mounted is cheaper to install" NOT in the USA! At least not in SoCal. We wanted to go ground mount as we have a large section of unused lawn. But cost of permits, safety fence, inspection and required trenching with longer wiring in piping all added up to a much larger cost than solar on roof.
One option for those who can’t install solar is to install a battery that stores the excess energy from other people’s solar energy. This battery can then be charged at low cost when solar energy is abundant and cheap. Here in Australia there is so much solar being produced that most restrict the amount that can be fed into the grid, that not used or sent to the grid is therefore wasted.
True, but which of our energy retailers actually offer true value time of use tariffs? To my research, none! Most have peaks of ~ 42c/Kwh and lows of high 20's. And they don't consider the middle of the day off-peak but shoulder which means the rates being charged are higher again, mid 30s, and don't reflect the true cost of electricity at that point.
Not an issue in the U.K. or most northern nations.
It’s amazing how much power they can generate
Thank you for providing information about co-ops! Solar and wind are great if we leverage them well. Co-ops seems like a great approach. Solar farming seems interesting as well, as the ground underneath is being used to grow food. I agree that carports are also under utilized. Thank you for sharing as always!
We made a duel axis tracker been running 7 plus years now, has 6 X lg 335 watt panels, I logged onto the VRM the other day it was producing 2573 watts, not bad for a rated 2010 watts system.
Excellent episode for those setting out on their renewable energy journey. Love the positivity!
I'm more than a bit disappointed that you didn't mention the benefits of PVT (photovoltaic thermal) solar. PVT provides electricity, and heating, and hot water, and can provide process heat for commercial, and low-temperature heat for industrial consumers.
I am happy you mentioned solar co-ops. Solar, and wind, co-ops never get the attention they deserve.
I love home made DIY Off-GRID Solar Panel systems with LifePo Batteries made with parts bought cheap off ebay but able to charge up my NISSAN LEAF EV
Here in Sydney, the best static panels are facing North at 30 degrees.
You have to be careful in the UK you don't breach permitted development regulations when installing a ground mount system in your garden i.e., proximity to neighbours boundary, height of array, size of array etc. There may also be problems if you live near an airport or railway (glint and glare). In most modern UK housing developments gardens just aren't big enough (nesting design tools) and suffer from shading issues.
Planning regs for solar pv are under review at the moment. They don’t cover solar tracking which has a small footprint and panels that move over the course of the day. The 5 metre from the boundary rule was arbitrary (why not 3?) and the 4 metre height in a large garden is not relevant either. Size of array was fixed when panels were a lot smaller than now. You’re absolutely correct re modern houses/small gardens. Developers should be building houses for solar gain and covering their roofs with solar rather than adding fake plastic chimneys. Glint and glare is not a huge problem with our turn and tilt systems.
I installed 4.9kW of solar array on the top of a pergola in the garden. Didn't lose any garden space as it sits high over the garden. Self installed, I can adjust the angles for winter/summer and spring-autumn. Just one thing - I did need to get planning permission as the array wasn't on the main roof of the house, and exceeded 2m2.
I live in New Westminster BC Canada. Several years ago the city created a "solar garden", a community solar project that residents could buy into. The panels are installed on city infrastructure. This allows condo owners to reap the benefit of solar power. Installation, maintenance, repair and retirement are covered by the city. This system required money up frront but some projects allow distributed payments. Here I receive twice annual credits based on the cost of electricity. When electricity rates are increased I get more credit. Unfortunately other taxes other added to the bill.
A very helpful and informative episode. Thank you
Great video, its worth mentioning if solar is going on your shed your likely be better with micro inverters as most sheds can't fit enough panels on to get the voltage needed for a string inverter. I've just covered micro inverters on my channel as I was able to install them on my roof I also used a neat solar tech which is bifacial panels which capture the energy from the sun twice!
Hi Nick! Do you think your panels have generated more power than regular panels?
lol, I laugh, then realise most British sheds are about 12ft by 8ft or less- yes not very big, my shed easily carries 7+kw PV on tilts (2 strings, morning partial shade - with optimisers) .. (different climate zone, larger sheds- altogether different setting) .
I love the co-op model. Please do an episode on this to spread awareness to people in apartments and grow support. Are there issues around utilities in cities allowing this, or any legislation that needs changing?
As mentioned in the comments, if you live In the Northern hemisphere for maximum benefit you should install solar on a South facing roof. In the Southern hemisphere it's the other way around, so for maximum benefit you should install solar on a North facing roof.
To make better use of the available space you should raise the ground mounted array up so you can do agrivoltaics.
By using the shade cast by the array for growing a vegetable garden or such.
The same applies for these huge fields of community owned solar farms, these should make way better use of the land by combining these with agricultural activities.
5:36 minutes of excellent information! Well worth watching 👀
I have a 4kw ground array and it doesn’t need to take up too much room if you think carefully about the spacing between the rows. (Mine are on the very cheap ballasted buckets, 4 rows of 4). Looking at the very low daily generation possible for December and January/February means that it doesn’t matter too much if tighter spacing means more shading at this time of year. As long as those lucrative months are maximised when the sun is higher then this it can be a sensible optimisation of space and solar gain.
I could only fit 4 panels on house roof so built a purpose built shed with 8 panels. She'd cost about the same amount as scaffold would have done. Steve
It’s the power output of the panels that matters, not their number 😉
You guys are absolutely amazing!
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the balcony solar has options to plug into your house via a normal socket. reducing the amount of grid electricity you need to buy...a battery can store the solar power.
The company selling the mains plug in system did not get a license for it to be installed in UK homes so have had to stop selling it. I wanted one but will now just have to hope they get it tested and licensed.
If you're about to go with a solar farm share as an interim solution until you eventually get solar panels installed, please read the fie print carefully--as some farm contracts stipulate a significant delay after termination request until actual termination of the contract--meaning you may be on the hook paying for your share that you no longer need once your own panels are installed and are producing power.
Good video. I live in the Queensland Tropics so have my panels tiltable as the sun moves to the south of me in summer. I'm remote, and batteries last about six years, replacement cost currently A$1650. Panels do get old and don't output as efficiently so I'm thinking about a couple more. Controllers are expensive but the latest ones are good. So even though the panels are now much cheaper than my old ones, other factors may be limiting. I do all the installing myself, and supports cost something too.
Good shoutout for Ripple. A great option where other solutions aren’t feasible, and with the option to start small.
A series of Solar focused ideas/installs on each and every possible scenario for domestic users would be good for eg Garages, Car ports, etc 😁
The twin immersion is genius. Currently, my solar pv diverter only goes to a single immersion and often thermostats off. My next cylinder will have 2 immersion.
Great video, thanks! But I am not sure that a solar tracking system needs a GPS to locate the sun, 3:27 it rather uses a photocell
Hi - our Heliomotion system in the video uses GPS and a position sensor to track the sun. This enables it to return to the correct position overnight, in the dark, ready for the next day as it always knows where the sun is. Photocells only work when it is light.
@@beesolartech Thanks for the clarification! On my solar bikes I am currently using a manual way to perform solar tracking, hope to move in the future to an automatic solution: ruclips.net/video/AsPFdtLRll4/видео.htmlsi=vqoqERan_qzYHU3I
Just a correction. In the Northern hemisphere your roof should be South facing. In the southern hemisphere it's the other way around
Cheaper on the ground is not usually true in my state in the US. Even with the added need for micro electronics a good ground mount frame and trenching ect. add up.
As noted, no trenching and minimal frame
Love your work 👍
I can fit 10 x Solar Panels on a Ground Mounted South facing array in our back garden...
... but we need to apply for Planning Permission.
Very helpful ideas. Thank you as always for everything you do.
Super video, as usual. Just want to seed a small conspiracy here. In Germany, where I live, I can have up to 600w of solar plugged via an inverter directly into my wall socket. No electrician required. Buy it, plug it in, done. Hundreds of thousands of these are being installed, helping to drive down the price of solar panels here. In Devon, UK, where my mum lives - not allowed! Have to get an electrician (if you can trap one) to come and do it. Can someone (ahem, Robert!) please make some loud noises?
The ones in the bottom of your garden when you’ve got to churn up your whole garden. When I was googling them, they were very expensive. We’ve had to get them on the east and west because we could only have One on the south facing.
Great video. My roof of my current house is unsuitable with dormer windows and I was thinking about a tracker array in the garden, but the planning rules here in the UK specify anything not roof mounted has to be 3 meters away from the property boundary which, with a smallish garden, means this is a no go.
got a link to the planning ? i wanted to fence mount some with a tilt bracket.
The planning regs are being altered to sort this out - it was an arbitrary measurement invented in 2011 for no apparent reason.
@@beesolartech that would be brilliant, they need to get a move on!
Which is about the same for 90% of homes I would say. None of this will work and just create more issues regarding shading of others properties.
It might be helpful to add that your roof does NOT need to be south facing!
In fact, if your country has already moved beyond net metering, the slim and pointy production curve of a south facing roof might even be less economical than an east-west roof solar array with its much more flat and wide curve, giving you usable amounts of energy for a greater amount of hours throughout the day.
Especially, if you’re investing in a home battery, the flatter and wider production curve of the east-west orientation means having to spend less on battery capacity to keep your house powered and off-grid throughout the night with production starting earlier and ending later.
Addendum: Our 16kwp array is mostly east/west facing with a few extra panels on the south-facing garage and it’s keeping two EVs that see lots of use powered for 2/3 of the year and our domestic electricity use is pretty much covered for the entire year, save for small deficits in december, thanks to our moderately-sized 9.5kWh battery system.
Some years ago (probably over 15) I asked a solar panel installation firm to visit my house to discuss options for solar panels. He quickly dismissed our double pitched roof as it faced the wrong direction. I then asked about mounting them on the ground, as there was one section of garden that received sunlight a good part of the day, but he stated at the time it was 'not possible'. Of course fast forward a few year later and they are mounting thousands of the things on ground frames! Just shows never accept a so called experts views on things, also question those views.
Very interesting advice. Love to see positive and informative solar information being spread! Very much agree with what was said.
You seem to have forgotten wall mounted systems. These can actually deliver substantial amounts of electricity in Winter due to the fact that they are mounted at 90° angles. They also have the additional benefit of adding a little insulation to your house, so you save a little on heating in winter and cooling in summer.
If this any government or future government were serious about moving in an energy green direction, why have they not put forward legislative proposals to force all building developers to include solar and/or any other energy savings into their infrastructure/building developments and which must be able to show results that can also be measurable so as not to con consumers.
Because the developers said they would remove tory party funding if this legislation was passed back In 2016. David Cameron caved within half an hour.
East & west exposure configuration are just as good as south facing roof!
Love this channel. Very good content and well produced.
Another benefit to buying shares in a solar farm is that you keep the benefit when you move home
In Tenerife I have two panels 370 + 200. W. The main panel is on the solar deck on a roof so I can adjust the angel every month. The 200W panel is fix and is timer controlled. The system cost 470 Euro and we save 20% on the electrical bill. CO2 is not a problem, in fact it give life to the plants. We need more CO2. The IPCC is totally wrong and soon we will experience colder weather, colder climate.
Hello from OZ i live in a rig i made full time and the following is for the dreamers thinking off grid Living ,,,, So WAKEUP UR DREAMING,, now thats out of my system now what is needed
1st live in a place like OZ for real sun power
2nd this is the cheapest way you can do it AND still have both longevity & not bust your bank account. SO BELOW HERE IS THE SHORT LIST
I am running 4 solar panels @ 360watts each wired as one panel this runs to a regulator MPPT 100/50 (CHEAPER ONES MELT) then down to 8 batteries each is 135amp and are wired as one massive 24v battery at over 500amph YOU GOT ALL THAT NOW IT IS IN A CARAVAN AND IS DOING THE JOB now it is not cheap and over 10yr cycle mains power is cheaper and a honda geset is still needed
I have been enjoyed, so thank you for delivering.
Great explanation... just a little niggle from us antipodeans, better to descirbe idea orientation as "equator facing"... as down here in Australia, panels facing north will have the highest yield.
Something Ripple are a bit vague about is the Tax implications of their approach (Solar or Wind). You receive your return on investment as you would from stocks and shares, therefore you are subject to Tax if your total income is greater than your tax free allowance. This obviously extends your payback time. At the moment, you can't get your return simply debited against your energy bill.
A nice shot of Guildford Cathedral during the bit about the solar park in North Devon. 😄
For those who plan to install their own systems, ground mounts solve a lot of problems and offer the most flexibility on siting and orientation. And then you need to dig the trench for the cables. That sucks! In the USA, you will use PVC conduit with THWN wires, in a trench that is not less than 20 inches deep, measured to the top of the PVC conduit. That I know of, paid installers only install AC systems. With a DIY system, you are free to install a DC system and use your power for the usual purposes, plus PV-->DHW and space heat as well as PV--> charging of e-bikes and EVs. All of these are DC direct applications.
I think I'd want to look into a shovel resistant conduit, or outer conduit
@@rp9674 Those living in the US need to consult our NEC or National Electrical Code, section 690. There is useful information about solar installations in some of the other sections but 690 contains most of what the installers need to know.
THANKS ROBERT AND EMILIE 🤗💚💚💚
Just add, even if you do have solar installed, you can still invest in a Ripple Energy solar farm or wind turbine and receive credits back into your utility bill
The solar options continue to work around challenges; well done industry. Frustratingly I have been limited, by the DNO, to half the capacity of my south facing, modern 40 degree roof. Any suggestions gratefully received on challenging the DNO.
You could consider upgrading your supply from single phase to three phase which would allow you 3 x more solar capacity.
@@beesolartech yeah I looked into that. Unfortunately, the DNO led me down a merry dance telling me that I had three phase on the edge of my property. However, it was two single phases! To connect three phase would be cost prohibitive (£1000's).
I live in USA,Texas. My roof is shaded so I buy 100% renewable energy from the energy market.
Great Video - but would be the best option if you live in a coastal windy location in Skye. Rocky garden so earth screws not option. Would the single pole tracking option work in windy conditions? Wind turbine not an option due to location and impact on neighbours.
You want a north facing roof in several parts of Australia
So in the UK you can build an outbuilding less than 15m2 without planning no boundary considerations. Solar ground array has to be 5m away from the boundary max of 9m2. To add solar to an existing outbuilding with no sleeping contained within you don't need planning? So you could build a long tool storage shed/box and put solar on it up against the boundary more than 9m2 without planning? ... strange and as to why a ground array has to be 5m in from a boundary i don't understand we have a big garden but that is in the middle of the lawn, in a London house it means you cant have a ground array as the boundary either side will not normally allow this type of install ....
I have cedar shingles on my outbuilding, which is otherwise perfect for panels but was told by installer that there is a fire risk and it was not possible to install over them!
pish make them stand further off with a bigger airgap then.
I wish there was a similar set up to Ripple in Northern Ireland, all of ours talk about "Sustainable Energy" while using Natural Gas... this is burning stuff... not exactly what we want. We live in a large Apartment building, and so we cannot have solar or Wind.
I have thought about putting 100watt solar panels up in our windows (we have a few that we always have the curtains closed due to nosy neighbours), but the angle would be less than ideal and we would likely get less than 10w per panel consequently (average), that with the cost of the battery storage makes it unviable for us at the moment.
The only hope we have is that our Landlord (a housing association) decides to put solar on the roofs of all of its buildings. We also drive an electric car, and cannot even charge up in our car park, and have to use the less than ideal public charging network here (and not exactly cheap). But, things are moving in the right direction... slowly... at least 65% of our energy comes from wind here (well, technically 100% where we are). To the future
Problem with solar trackers is they have to maintained for decades.
Will the company that makes it still be in business?
Will spare parts be available.
Who will service it and how much will it cost, since they are prone to failure.
Found if you have the room its better to spend the money on more panels.
In Southern Ontario see lots of trackers that have failed and have not been fixed.
While my fixed system has been working for 18 years with zero problems.
Thanks for your comment. Ours are made in the UK. They have not yet been installed in Southern Ontario. Please don't assume that every single manufacturer has the same problems and condemn us with no experience of our product which was designed in Finland, on an island in the Baltic which has severe weather conditions including wind, snow and ice.
@@beesolartech
These are my observation’s from the ones I have seem.
Trackers do have there use where space is limited but.
From the failed ones I have seen, there was lots of room for a fixed installation, trackers were a poor choice. Fixed would have been better to skip the additional upfront cost and not have any future maintenance issues.
Hope your business does well and is still there in 20 to 30 years.
Could you do a show about the new, light, and flexible solar sheets that are coming? I bump into these occasionally on the web, but not seen anyone using them to cover a roof that was previously unable to take rigid solar panels. Our house has a steel roof, very much like most business warehouses and out of town shops, and so the thought that all these metal roofs might be able to take solar after all is quite exciting, even if it appears that they are currently less efficient that rigid solar panels, but perhaps compensated by the fact that the entire roof could be covered rather than just part?
EVNick just had some clever panels put on his roof called Bifacial can you have Emilie do a video about the different type of solar cell panels please
FEEDBACK
Good video, but would have been a lot more informative if there was at least a relative comparison of costs.
Few comments
Low voltage beware of watts drop over cable
Since it is DC. Beware isolators must be capable to switch
Best remove all load before switch
Solar tracking best
Solar Tubes by Naked Energy perhaps - to get Solar Water Heating + Solar Electricity, which can also be installed vertically on Walls.
Another thing you can do to save energy is to replace that patio door with something better insulated. Maybe a future project?
A video on stand-alone systems for renters would be incredible - could i at least run my fridges and heatpump off it?
$ & sun space probably
Yeah, I'd love to know more about options for renters.
Your going to need an expensive stand alone system to run a heat pump. Renters are the hardest hit. It’s seems to more land / roof space you own the more you can save. I would say for renters. Do it because you enjoy it or want to help the planet rather than expect to be saving much
That's what's great about ripple energy, if I move house I take my investment with me.
Fridge yes, definitely, heat pump no. You need a 2-4kW solar PV system to run the heat pump. That’s 5-8 panels (400W-500W each)
04:28 The balcony system shown is plugged into a wall socket. Is that pumping energy from the panels into the home's AC wiring? If so, is that legal in the UK and does it let the solar power appliances plugged-in elsewhere in the home?
From what I can tell in the setup they showed it looked to be a separate circuit not connected to your home AC that you could just plug normal appliances into. Basically a kit that you could install yourself. But that setup isn't the only option, you can plug Balcony solar panels into your own home AC with a grid tie inverter but you'd need an electrician to do that.
@@nickflynn666Did you click on the timestamp I gave? There is a cable from the inverter(?) to a wall socket. I think that is dumping power into the domestic AC. No install, just plug in. Do you know for a fact I've got the wrong end of the stick?
I found some videos on the Ecoflow Powerstream balcony solar system that does plug into your AC through a standard socket. You can prop the panels up against a wobbly garden chair, run the cables through a crack in the window, plug the inverter onto a socket, and voila: a self-installed grid-tied battery solar system for your home that can move with you to the next place. Still trying to work out if doing that is legal in the UK.
@@AndrewHelgeCox No, your are correct. I looked it up its called the ecoflow delta balcony system and it (the battery system black box) has its own grid tie inverter that you can plug into your houses AC power supply. Normally you can't just plug a grid tie inverter into your houses AC with a plug as it would risk electrocuting you if you touched the live pin of the plug, it's also naturally not legal but presumably their device prevents this and is legal. You can just buy panels and a grid tie inverter and connect it to your own AC in your house but you must comply with wiring regulations. The last time I looked it up you need to hard wire to a fuse spur, only use a CE rated inverter and inform your energy supplier. But don't take my word for it search for something like "uk diy solar install wiiring regs' interestingly you can also get paid for energy export from Octopus as they no longer require an MCS certification, which they used to insist on.
@@AndrewHelgeCox It's always been legal as long as you comply with the wiring regs.
do tracking solar panels really need a *GPS*? Given that the location of the unit doesn't change, I always thought you can work out where the sun is with a bit of math. So you'd need only a small computer with a clock and some motors.
Totally, however...
Just a bit of a miss speak I think, but a combination of GPS to get location and correct time is quite common to help calculate the best angle. GPS is in a lot of stuff you might not think these days.
True. But a GPS gives you both the time and the position. It is a lot of moving parts, though. As panels go down in price, I would guess the magic of buying more of them would help just as well.
Its an idiot-proof, minimal resistance way to get exact long/lat and time, and to keep the time consistent
Yes. GPS gives you time and position, so you know where you are, the time of day and therefore where the sun is.
The calculations are complex, but work.
I made one using a GPS module, Arduino, two servos and some 3D printed hardware - works like a dream.
You could construct a tracking device using four photo resistors and a cross shaped divider. The shadow created by the divider can the be made drive motors until each photo resistors receives the same amount of energy. You get pan and tilt and at first light it will rotate back to face the sun. True, it doesnt work so well in dull conditions but as soon as you get some brighter periods it adjusts to face the sun.
So glad someone, esp Bobby, is addressing this, I've been thinking about it for a long time. Solar installation is expensive, borderline scam, this would be a great application for a kit, my choice would be off grid with batteries.
Solar prices don't seem to have gone down at all in the last 5 years. Where is the best place to buy solar panels from?
My sun facing roof has a dormer covering 80% of area. Has a solar panel system been developed yet for a flat roof installation? Typically, the membranes need renewing every 10yrs, so such system would need to be easily removable. The mountings would also need to be designed to not breach the the flat roof membrane. Did look into this some years ago without success, but am hoping something will be developed soon....
Yes there are plastic tub things that can sit on a flat roof with panels attached. Only issue would be if your roof is strong enough as the tubs need weighing down
Not sure about commercial systems, they probably exist but if you fancy a diy solution to that problem look up the last video on the small youtube channel KevTech22 . If you're concerned about the strength of your your flatroof you can just adding the weighting above the walls so you don't stress the roof joists..
get installer next time to make the roof a slope (even 10deg) to avoid the insanity and waste of a flat roof renewal (should never ever be built flat)
Look up flat roof equipment support tables. These are a flat frame on legs. They have retractable legs that can be raised individually to repair or repair roof coverings. The solar panels sit on top of the frame.
I have solar but I have been trying to get a wind turbine to complement it, but nobody seems to do it, have you looked into this?
Super lesson!
- lol, why does a tracker need an onboard GPS - the solar mount hardly relocates very often - all it may need to know is a one-off fix of Lat. and Long. (for the rough solar tracking needed by flat plate panels) Or, just track the bright shiny thing in the sky directly (only need to shift every half, or hour or so)....
Our tracker moves every 6 - 7 mins, and swings back to south when the sun is 6° below the horizon, and to the morning position just before dawn. If it only moved every 30 mins, it would not be so accurate. Please let us know where we can see your design in action?
if you are sitting in a million pound house with an acre or two spare land to sit your forty grands worth of solar panels with twenty grand worth of tesla batterys to store your green energy then you will be able to charge your sixty thousand pounds worth of tesla but if you are like me on a ordinary wage then you can just freeze in the dark
When they came to install my panels the installers went up a ladder and said "...nah mate. These are probably the only sort of tiles we wouldn't install on. They break too easily during the install and are liable to break again with the stresses of the panels". Their solution, as we have a fairly decent front garden, was to bring some plastic buckets that are angled at about 30 ish degrees and clip them to those. I have 8kW nominal.
I would say batteries are the way to go, I have 4x5kWh batteries and they seem pretty capable of running the house overnight when charged. Dont think Ive used any electricity from the grid since May. The one thing I havent dont yet is to get an automatic switch over so if I lose the grid it will run off batteries/panels as a back up. (I have the kit, just isnt installed).
What kind of tiles do you have? Ours went in on slate which was more difficult? But doable.
@@PrinceVeganin From what the installers were saying (pinch of salt advised) they were some sort of plasticised stone/slate. They look like slate from the ground. On the plus side, having the panels on the ground means I was able to clear the snow off them when the weather got iffy earlier this year.
How do the solar panels perform if its cold outside, and there's no kind of atmosphere?
...bit more on flats please 👌👏🙏 Sometimes outside "real estate it limited" so it is hard to angle a solar panel much to get most benefit ! What do you think about vertical axis wind turbines if you live near the coast for example ? Crucially, their footprint is small and are some units affordablish !??
Thank you
I just want to know what company I can trust to quote and supply and fit solar/batteries onto my property. Too many adverts for "free" solar" that I just don't trust.
WHEN YOU HAVE very little yard space. It's not an option. I live in Los Angeles and every square foot is very expensive. But I was able to put Solar on my backyard roof. It faces perfectly to the South.
They are pretty useless on a cloudy day. In South Africa I generate 10kwh per day with 6× 455w panels. 5 kwh on a winters day clear sky and 2kwh on a cloudy day, so good luck charging your Tesla's. They also take up 14m square of roof space. I hope you guys have football field sized backyards?
Don't worry the people making these videos are all stinking rich and make their money back by making YT videos about how virtuous they are.
SYKE!
Aint no mention about the price... Good for people owning over an acre of land in AONB with a detached 5 bedroom bungalow along with a few farm fields...
I really like the idea of buying shares in a solar farm. If anyone out there knows of a company doing this in the Netherlands then I'd love to hear from you. I have solar panels already but they are a little dated so I'm looking at all options.
Have you guys done anything on Octopus removing MCS requirements? Therefore allowing diyers to install their own solar
I have a standard garden shed with 4x100W panels on its roof - they produce about 1KWH a day between March and October - so, ~230kWH / year. Saving £0.39 x 230 a year - about £90. So I'll have broken even in about 7 years. (Got to face it this is a hobby not a financial undertaking). Still, last year I took great pleasure in doing my bit to thwart Putin and his energy war.
I also trickle charge 300 Amp hours of Lead acid cells and have a 2KW inverter - just in case we ever get a meaningful power cut - been waiting 5 years for one so far :)
I don't know.
If we go for a conservative 25 year lifespan, then not only will the panels pay for themselves in 7 years, they'll continue to generate more than 3.5 times their cost over that period.
I find it interesting, in these discussions, that no-one ever makes the obvious comparison.
When you buy a big LED TV, do you ask yourself after how many years does it become free, and then for how many years afterwards does it actually net you a profit?
When you buy wallpaper, how long does it take to pay for itself? How much profit does it generate you over its lifetime?
The food you buy. When does it become "free food"? When does it become "profit-generating food"?
We're all always buying things all the time that have no sense whatsoever of "paying for themselves" or eventually becoming profit-making. Most things we spend money on don't do that. Yet we never question any of those.
But here comes a product, which you can buy, that eventually - in the long-term - effectively costs absolutely nothing (because you will eventually get your money back), that'll then give you at least 25 - 7 = 18 years of pure profit thereafter.
Yet this is the thing we question.
Whenever someone asks "how long does it take for your solar to pay for itself?", counter that with the return question "...and after how many electricity bills do they stop charging you?". Or when does your new sofa start netting you a yearly profit?
Put it in context. It really is a daft thing to question the value of a product that pays for itself - a product that, over its lifespan, effectively costs nothing and actually puts money in your pocket - whilst, everywhere else, we're throwing our money away on things that have no capacity whatsoever to generate any profit at all and, for those, we say nothing whatsoever.
Great info, thanks.
What about something similar for home wind generators? Not seen much about this topic. Perhaps also the pros and cons of vertical v horizontal axis generators? Just a thought.
An excellent notion.
The main criticism with bladed types on a horizontal axis is noise.
The upright types, vertical axis, are alleged to be quieter.
The vertical axis types catch the wind from any angle and don't require a weather cock type action as it were.
Cost per output are about the same.
Some folks I know use both solar and wind turbines to optimise the power generation during the day and the wind turbines work around the clock.
Can someone help me understand the desire for solar from a financial perspective rather than environmental. When the cost of a solar installation seems to be about $50,000 but it saves me around $200 a month if the solar replaces my entire electrical bill that would take me 250 months or 20 years to recoup my investment.. I don’t expect to be in this same house in 20 years and and that’s assuming I don’t invest that $50,000 and get 5% cod or invest it in stock market.. that $200 would probably never catch an invested $50,000. So I’m not trying to troll here. I genuinely want to know what the financial incentive is for this push to solar
In the UK five years or so ago it did seem to be 20 years to recoup investment. But this is lowering by the year and in current higher energy prices have heard of it being about 5 years.
Where you live, how much power you need, whether you have an electric car and many other factors can affect whether, for your individual situation, solar&battery are beneficial for you. Sometimes, with reducing prices, it may be a case of when it is financially beneficial.
For example, if you have the space then lean-to panels can really reduce the installation costs.
You are right. Always do your math whether an installation works for you.
My sister had just broke even with her system when the inverter died, just out of warranty. Had to shell out for that and now waiting to break even again and that's with 36 panels. As an electrician I'd say do it if you want to feel good but don't do it for the money.
Install a $5k system, not $50K. Unless you live somewhere that jacks up the price for no reason. If you paying over $1 a watt fully installed you're overpaying. Sorry if you have no affordable choices.