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  1. #21
    Moderator Rank = Supreme Champion Feline's Avatar
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    I would assume that Riaan asagi already has a solar plant on the house if they are planning to run 70% off grid.

    The problem in the UK is that output is so seasonal. In the summer months if we deduct the energy we bought from the feed in tariff payment we actually made a profit. And that includes charging up a Tesla and Prius, and running the pond with ASHP.
    The winter is a different story though with some days so overcast that you couldn’t even boil the kettle with what is being produced even at the peak of the day.

    If you could combine it with a wind turbine would be awesome though. We have an 8kW PV plant, but unfortunately could never get planning permission for a turbine here. I would be very interested to hear what kind of a system you have Riaan.

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  3. #22
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    The system I was talking about was a stand alone one which charges up batteries with the excess it produces that your pond system doesn't use. If set up properly you should be able to power the pond system for free once you've got over the initial cost of buying and installing the system. If designed correctly the battery back up should be capable of covering the overnight period plus the cloudy periods too. The only issue could be if you are trying to run heating for the pond as that would require a bigger system.

    From what I can remember from the PV course we did a few years ago was the panels work best facing South and depending where you are in the UK there are specific ideal angles for the panels to be mounted at. Where we are which is just south of the M3 and the ideal angle here is 30 degrees. The panels we used to use worked no mater which direction or angle they were fitted as long as they weren't casting a shadow on themselves. Bit 30 degrees and facing south was the best option.

    Different materials the panels are made of the better they work and the technology of the panels, invertors and controllers etc has probably come on a long way since we did the course so you'd like to think the systems are even better now.

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  5. #23
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    It was about 7 years ago when I did the course so if anyone knows of any changes it would be good to hear.

    The feed in tariff back then was 49 p per unit the system was capable of producing which was a deemed? figure so basically you would get that no matter what your system produced. You then got paid for every unit your system put back into the national grid which I think was either 22 p or 12 p per unit which was measured via a feed in meter. Then you got the free electric that you used yourself. So back then it was more payback and a shorter period before you'd paid for your system and installation to get the full advantage of the PV system. I think the feed in tariff is now down to something like 10 p per unit? Could be even lower. I think the feed in tariff at the time of installation or registration is the figure you get paid for 25 years.

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  7. #24
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    From a bit of reading I did recently, I understand the gov. scrapped the "Feed in Tariff" and now call it a SEC.

    I understand this is now no longer a fixed amount per kw that is fed back into the grid and is now a variable amount depending on which energy provider you use to supply electricity to your house.

    So i think you basically have to shop around the utilities that participate to see which one offers the best rate. But it could be the case that the one that offers the best sec rate also happens to provide the highest tariff for your energy supply, so I think it requires a bit of effort to find the best deal.

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  9. #25
    Costs a lot of cash to be green it appears.
    I like the idea of a low energy pond and will consider swapping mine around at some point to run off airlifts, having played with one over the summer I was really impressed with how much water they can shift.
    Reading Milaz’s posts regarding rainwater harvesting is also interesting but then that’s counterbalanced by everything else I’ve read about junk from the collecting roof, low KH etc.
    I’m not about to shell out thousands for solar panels that won’t be paid for my the time I snuff it but I’d certainly like to reel in my energy costs.
    Been looking at electric cars recently but the price differential between those and the petrol equivalent doesn’t make them that appealing plus I do rather like the sound of my V8 (that I hardly drive now lol).


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  11. #26
    Senior Member Rank = Kyusai Koiz's Avatar
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    2nd vote for that V8 rumble Timer on the Pond

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    11,440L Raised Pond, BD, Oase ProfiClear, Bitron 55W, 2x10k Aquaforte Varios, Skimmer to Waterblade

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  13. #27
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    Our PV system is outperforming the predicted figures and will have paid for itself in 6-7 years.
    This is because we are high users, and the pond is part of that.

    I had it installed just before the FIT deal ended in March 2019. We are paid for half of the units our system generates for 20 years, regardless of how much of that we actually use (because they don’t measure how much of it we use).

    In our case we are quids in because we are using a large proportion of what we generate. So we use it and get paid for it It helps that I am a night worker, so I can run the dishwasher and washing machine during the day, plus charge the cars during the day- and I can pick the sunnier days to do that on. We also have an iBoost which basically monitors if there is any excess generation and if there is it heats the hot water with it. We used almost zero gas over the summer for that reason.

    We also have an electric vehicle tariff so our unit cost for 9pm to 7am is only 8p. Since we don’t buy much electricity in the day this works out very cheap indeed. I can’t remember the last time I bought any petrol (the Prius is a plug in hybrid so does actually have a little petrol tank).

    There is a lot of mis-information and myths out there about green energy and electric vehicles. For example, I would have got solar panels many years ago except for I had heard you needed a south facing roof for it, but that is not the case. I don’t consider it my personal responsibility to try to persuade petrol heads to change their views though

  14. #28
    I am from South Africa 🇿🇦. I don't have a Solar system yet. Infact we just starting with construction of a new house soon.
    I will be going with a 5kw inverter and probably 14kwh of batteries. Getting some quotes on the Tesla powerwall 2.
    If I do go for a system like this id be seriously looking into the airlift for the pond.

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  16. #29

    Timer on the Pond

    I “get” electric cars, I wouldn’t buy one outright or on PCP but business lease the figures are more comparable.
    Would get a Polestar 2 tomorrow if I was doing the miles I used to and have looked at a Corsa E/Golf/Peugeot etc for a runaround but not convinced they’re worth 30k.
    Sounds like you got into the solar stuff at the right time Feline. I guess the panels etc will come down in price again as these these generally do.
    I’m only doing around 4000 miles a year now so I can justify my gas guzzler


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  18. #30
    Moderator Rank = Supreme Champion Feline's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by bigcarpchaser View Post
    I “get” electric cars, I wouldn’t buy one outright or on PCP but business lease the figures are more comparable.
    Would get a Polestar 2 tomorrow if I was doing the miles I used to and have looked at a Corsa E/Golf/Peugeot etc for a runaround but not convinced they’re worth 30k.
    Sounds like you got into the solar stuff at the right time Feline. I guess the panels etc will come down in price again as these these generally do.
    I’m only doing around 4000 miles a year now so I can justify my gas guzzler


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  20. #31
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    Quote Originally Posted by riaan Asagi View Post
    I am from South Africa . I don't have a Solar system yet. Infact we just starting with construction of a new house soon.
    I will be going with a 5kw inverter and probably 14kwh of batteries. Getting some quotes on the Tesla powerwall 2.
    If I do go for a system like this id be seriously looking into the airlift for the pond.
    Sounds good!
    I’m sure in a sunnier climate the figures must stack up even better for solar.
    We are getting a Tesla power wall soon to add to our system, the prime reason being that currently in a power cut situation we cannot run independently of the grid- the inverters need a mains input to stay live. The software with them seems extremely clever and will enable us to make the most of what we currently have even more.

    Let us know how you get on designing your system!
    Last edited by Feline; 10-10-2020 at 11:38 PM.

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  22. #32
    Extreme Koi Member Rank = Supreme Champion Frimley Koi keeper's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Twhitenosugar View Post
    From a bit of reading I did recently, I understand the gov. scrapped the "Feed in Tariff" and now call it a SEC.

    I understand this is now no longer a fixed amount per kw that is fed back into the grid and is now a variable amount depending on which energy provider you use to supply electricity to your house.

    So i think you basically have to shop around the utilities that participate to see which one offers the best rate. But it could be the case that the one that offers the best sec rate also happens to provide the highest tariff for your energy supply, so I think it requires a bit of effort to find the best deal.

    Sent from my SM-A520F using Tapatalk
    The reason the FIT started to drop a few years back was because people got wise to it and bought up fields and basically turned them into PV farms which meant the FIT prices were unsustainable.

    That what I meant by deemed Lara same as your guaranteed figure for what your system is capable of producing and not what it actually does.

    It doesn't surprise me that the FIT has now been replaced with the SEC

  23. #33
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    Quote Originally Posted by Koiz View Post
    2nd vote for that V8 rumble Timer on the Pond

    Sent from my SM-N910F using Tapatalk
    Just get your drill out and pop a few holes in your exhaust's back box. Probably have to decat the exhaust too and then you'll get a similar noise and probably drink as much fuel as a V8 Wendy lol

    BTW my driving is that good the police keep taking photos of it

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  25. #34
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    Quote Originally Posted by bigcarpchaser View Post
    Costs a lot of cash to be green it appears.
    I like the idea of a low energy pond and will consider swapping mine around at some point to run off airlifts, having played with one over the summer I was really impressed with how much water they can shift.
    Reading Milaz’s posts regarding rainwater harvesting is also interesting but then that’s counterbalanced by everything else I’ve read about junk from the collecting roof, low KH etc.
    I’m not about to shell out thousands for solar panels that won’t be paid for my the time I snuff it but I’d certainly like to reel in my energy costs.
    Been looking at electric cars recently but the price differential between those and the petrol equivalent doesn’t make them that appealing plus I do rather like the sound of my V8 (that I hardly drive now lol).


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  26. #35
    Moderator Rank = Supreme Champion Feline's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Frimley Koi keeper View Post
    The reason the FIT started to drop a few years back was because people got wise to it and bought up fields and basically turned them into PV farms which meant the FIT prices were unsustainable.

    That what I meant by deemed Lara same as your guaranteed figure for what your system is capable of producing and not what it actually does.

    It doesn't surprise me that the FIT has now been replaced with the SEC
    Our predicted figures are not any kind of guarantee, they are based on latitude, angle and climate calculations etc. We can compare our output graphs with previous years, other users, and the software predicted figures. The specialist installer we used had calculated based on an average house of this size’s use a roughly 14 year break even point, but we have halved that.

    At some point our output will start to decline a bit when the panels need cleaning, which my pole window and gutter cleaner can do for me for a few quid.
    This May was a particularly epic month

  27. #36
    Senior Member Rank = Kyusai Koiz's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Frimley Koi keeper View Post
    Just get your drill out and pop a few holes in your exhaust's back box. Probably have to decat the exhaust too and then you'll get a similar noise ...
    LOL - luckily I don't have to go to those extremes to enjoy a good V8 rumble... I've got a lovely old RRS Supercharged. Her nickname is Beastie. Hubs has a Suzuki TL1000S that I call Bambino cos she's so dinky next to his Triumph Rocket III (which I call Badass - which just sums it up in every way possible). And finally, we have a Smart Brabus Roadster I call Baby, as it's just the cutest, curviest little thing on four wheels. In order of noise, I rank them:

    4th: Bambino which thumps from her V-Twin, 3rd: Beastie with her V8 rumble, 2nd: Badass who throbs unashamedly from 2,294cc, but in 1st place - which may surprise some, unless you've ever heard one, in actually Baby Brabus which, despite her tiny 700cc engine, actually roars. You can literally hear her coming a mile off, and you don't even have to have your foot down, she just sounds meaty!

    Quote Originally Posted by Frimley Koi keeper View Post
    ...and probably drink as much fuel as a V8 Wendy lol
    Well, there's no denying that the V8 is a bit thirsty, but we do balance out her petrol-headedness with the Brabus which will do 300 miles on £30 Yup, the Smart Roadster is one of the most fun driving experience you can have - it's like a road-legal go-cart that's cheap as chips to run
    11,440L Raised Pond, BD, Oase ProfiClear, Bitron 55W, 2x10k Aquaforte Varios, Skimmer to Waterblade

 

 
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