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Everything posted by kommando
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You can't get away from needing a changeover switch. I woke one morning to what seemed like a powercut, what was odd was the LED bulbs would put out a dim glow but nothing else worked. DNO helpline reported no faults in our postcode area so rang to get a person online. The DNO guys came quickly and replaced the 100A fuse but that made no difference, they then when to the overhead line and traced the fault to a link that was coming loose and incapable of carrying current but was in contact. So we were getting 240v but not amps to power anything other than the LED's. So a G99 Inverter without being islanded in a powercut would be putting out 240V with the CT limiting the amps being output to near but not quite zero. A voltmeter used on the supplying line would show 240v with little if any amps which I am sure would be an issue to the repair crew.
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Getting started on the PV G99 (and G100) minefield
kommando replied to dnb's topic in Photovoltaics (PV)
The existing G98 covers the first 3.68Kw, this is the inverter capacity not the panel capacity as the inverter is an AC generator and the panels make DC. DNO does not want or need to know about DC generators only AC generators. So your new Sunsynk is an extra AC generator, even if set to nil export it will take you over the G98 into G99 as a potential nil export control failure could allow an export of over 3.68Kw. As the Sunsynk has the G99 cert then you have the option of a G99 Fast track application ie no need for attended testing of nil export controls. Regardless of a full G99 or Fast track G99 you have to have permission before any connection. -
Other option is, if the individual pieces can make it down the access, then have the full lorry load delivered to local storage and then transport to site as required.
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Wireless CT is not available but if the Inverter is setup to connect to a RS485 Meter then I use HyFlying EW11's to transmit the RS485 signals via wifi. You will need one on each end, I use them with my SMA Sunny Boys both for monitoring and for setting of parameter's, just the occasional reset required but latest firmware seems to have sorted that issue. I have a Sunny Island on route but before buying it I had this Hybrid Inverter on the radar. G99 cert in place. Next step was to see what the reviews were like but did not get that far. UK designed but made in China, also known as Deye in US. https://www.bimblesolar.com/ongrid/hybrid-inverters/Sunsynk3.6kW-ECCO?sort=p.price&order=ASC
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Use a std AC to DC battery charger to put the juice into the batteries, then an off grid DC to AC inverter to take the power out of batteries. The charger can be on the DNO side as its incapable of feeding AC into the grid but the off grid inverter can only be used when the mains is isolated. The quality of the AC from the off grid inverter needs to be good enough for the Solis/Growatt to think they are grid connected and so you can still utilise the PV output during a power cut. Choice of off grid inverter will depend on the type of battery chemistry and voltage plus confirmation grid tie inverters will be fooled.
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@crispy_wafer +1 but buy 2 chains and don't bother with file and gauge as life's too short. The Oregon lasts about 2 years with my low usage.
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If you can remember that far back or know the brand then if it smelt of Vinegar when curing then washing with white vinegar to loosen it before using a scouring pad may help.
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FFTP/Openreach/new building regs
kommando replied to Selfbuildnewbie's topic in Networks, AV, Security & Automation
The 600m of FTTP ducting put in for my property was 54mm grey duct which you can buy online. https://www.drainagepipe.co.uk/bt-duct-54mm-x-3mtr-grey-p-BT54/ They wanted to put a telegraph pole next to the boundary and then on the final install run a cable from the pole to the house but instead they agreed to leave me the 54mm duct and I dug for and buried it myself plus they saved a pole. You also have to install a pull cord (2 is better) for them to pull the fibre through the ducting. -
You lose pressure dependant on the length and size of pipes due to friction, plus going uphill to an upstairs bathroom will reduce it further. My problem is the opposite as I am fed from the main connection by a 600m downhill run of pipe so I gain pressure. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Friction_loss
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You best get an annual production forecast for your postcode and panel orientation for 2kw of panels and then set it against usage. One example, there are others https://photovoltaic-software.com/pv-softwares-calculators/online-free-photovoltaic-software/pvgis
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What wattage PV array are you planning to go for, G98 will limit the inverter to 3.68kw per phase but the array can be a lot larger as the inverter will cap the peak to 3.68kw.
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What would be the benefit from MCS certification, if you can cost out that benefit then see how much fee this would justify. The fee will be in the £1000's so if the benefit is in the 100's over so many years then pointless even asking for a quote. I divert to hot water, works well and very little gets exported.
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I wall mounted mine, no real limitation on space so bought the panels on lowest £ per Watt which puts you in the 250 to 300W per standard panel range ie 1.7M x 1M. If I had been tight on space I would have gone with the 2.0m x 1.2M panels with higher efficancy and ended up paying higher £ per Watt. Locally all new housing developments must have solar panels on the roofs pointing South or East/West, but with a family out at work or school during the day with no useage of peak production and low feed in rates they instead get the full roof tiles and get the panels stored in the garage. So I recently got some new Veridian 270W panels for 24p per watt off Gumtree, so worth looking out for new housing schemes.
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Direct channel's courier lost my order and DC refused to refund until the goods showed up at my address or theirs's, so had to go to credit card company for refund. I will never use them again, what if I had used another payment method. The amount was £450. So I now use https://www.superlecdirect.com/ and get their own driver to deliver if it includes 6M length for £5 carriage for orders over £50.
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Raspberry Pi's are notorious for wearing out SD cards either slowly over time or after about 5 mins which a 3B I had did until it was binned after a week. You can mitigate this in several ways, https://www.dzombak.com/blog/2021/11/Reducing-SD-Card-Wear-on-a-Raspberry-Pi-or-Armbian-Device.html
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I have mine wall mounted with a vertical channel every 2 panels with a hinge mount to the 6 panel frame. I have 2 sets of wooden beams for winter and summer settings, less than a hour to change each set of frames for 6 panels from one season angle to another. The hinges are at the mid point with equal weight above and below so as long as there is no wind a set of 6 panels will pivot using one hand.
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If after spreading and compacting the road planings you pour oil engine oil or just some paint thinners on it you can then roll it and get the surface close to tarmacadam plus it sets a lot harder especially if you do it on a warm sunny day. On sloping drives with lots of rain I use a mesh to stop the 20mm gravel being washed away. If you have used gravel that's too near to pebbles on a driveway and its rutting then after flattening sprinkle neat cement dust on the surface and then brush it in so the surface is clean prior to a rainy day. The cement dust will grab onto the surface of the pebbles and roughen them up reducing the ruts.
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ROW is right of way in this case.
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The inverter specs for the battery read like they are the solar panel specs not battery specs as do the MC4 connectors which are the typical panel connectors. Reread the manual, chinglese can be badly confusing.
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Does anyone understand how ADSL broadband actually works?
kommando replied to ProDave's topic in Boffin's Corner
I use a Cisco ATA plugged into the router and 2 old BT phones with adaptors plugged into the ATA, plus the Voiper app on any old Android phone lying around works too, no sim card required. All ring at the same time. -
The final step is an email to the Openreach or BT CEO depending on who you have the order with, philip.jansen@bt.com clive.selley@openreach.co.uk It won't be read by either but there are interventions teams it gets diverted to who should resolve the problem. The same team sorted out my first ever ADSL installation which got into a loop with the ISP and BT both saying the other was at fault with no data flow but all green lights. The fault was with BT but it took the interventions team to work that out and then get it fixed.
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Looking at the manual you could stop it ever using gas by entering a huge gas price so that electricity is always the cheapest way to run. https://www.boilerguide.co.uk/hybrid/daikin-hybrid-heating-system What is not detailed is the 4KW, is that 2+2 or 4+4 or another combination. The website has a 28KW heat pump for £1000 so it looks like the prices are wrong. https://www.plumbnation.co.uk/site/daikin-altherma-28kw-hybrid-hydrosplit-heat-pump/
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No need for recorded delivery, they can refuse to sign if they have an idea what's in the letter. https://www.lexisnexis.co.uk/legal/guidance/if-a-document-is-sent-by-first-class-recorded-post-but-the-respondent-was-not-in-to-sign-for-it-fails CPR 6.14 states that a claim form served within the UK is deemed to be served on the second business day after completion of the ‘relevant step’ under CPR 7.5. So instead first class stamp over the counter and ask for free proof of posting, it's then deemed delivered 2 working days later. Because of nuances like this get a solicitor to write the letter, they will include terms such as 'time is of the essence in this matter' which the Judge will take as a final deadline being set.
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Where is the kWh price heading in 2022?
kommando replied to epsilonGreedy's topic in General Self Build & DIY Discussion
Reading this from the Telegraph may ease your pain, for about 10 minutes Ambrose Evans-Pritchard, World Economy Editor Two powerful and opposite forces are colliding in global commodity markets. Vladimir Putin’s war is pushing gas prices to the moon, sending an inflationary shock through a supply chain already ruptured by the pandemic. At the same time we are going smack into a world recession, or something like it, and recessions kill demand. China’s anaemic recovery has stalled as the greatest property bubble in world history deflates, and it is China that sets commodity prices these days. Europe and the UK are sinking already. The US is still afloat, but shot below the waterline. A ferocious mortgage squeeze has brought US house sales to a standstill. When the tide turns, you find out who is swimming naked. The denouement is never pretty. Central banks are doing what they always do: after stoking an inflationary boom with excess stimulus, they are tightening frenetically, too late, too hard, into the teeth of a storm. Money growth is collapsing on both sides of the Atlantic. This will show up in tumbling prices next year whatever Putin does. Industrial metals and oil are down by a quarter. Wheat prices have almost halved since day one of Putin's invasion, and are back to pre-war levels. This may surprise shoppers. The prices on the shelves are the legacy effect of past actions. Past is not prologue. We will be in outright deflation across much of the global goods market by mid-2023. Putin has lost his gas war. Today’s crazy prices are caused by a global scramble to lock up supplies of LNG from Qatar, the US, and Australia before winter. East Asia and Europe are in a bidding war. Once the panic subsides, gas prices will fall, and perhaps faster than almost anybody imagines today. German storage is 80 per cent, ahead of seasonal norms, and ahead of target. Germany has cut gas demand by 14 per cent. Its industry is learning to live with a lot less of it. Europe is a mixed bag but unless there is a polar vortex, it will muddle through this winter.