DamonHD

I think that that pack would fill/break my shed! Rgds Damon

Hi The current battery bank is 4x99Ah in parallel. The system voltage is 12V so that I can use standard automotive equipment on it, eg the USB supply for my RPis, typical draw ~1W, so thinner wiring is not really an issue for much of the system! And nothing downstream of the controller that I currently have would like 24V, and the overhead of a converter would likely exceed the normal load. A single battery rather than a bank would simplify the wiring, eg avoid needing the cross straps and running the main feed to opposing corners, but is not the most important consideration. I am indeed using cheap second-hand panels as fence/screening: https://www.earth.org.uk/expanding-off-grid-PV-system.html#20160722 Rgds Damon

Excellent advice from someone over at fieldlines.com is, if it doesn't have to be mobile, LA is still often the best choice. Relatively cheap and recyclable and little cell-balancing trouble or fire risk. I have LiFePO4 and LA and I think that LA is likely best for this application. And I really like and trust my Morningstar SunSaver MPPT controller, and have integrated heavily with it from my RPi and home-brew power management. Rgds Damon PS: thanks all for the thoughts so far. Though I'm not a newb, well maybe not, it's very good to be able to talk it over!

My current sorta gel 12V 400Ah off-grid set is 10 years old and down to a sliver of its original capacity. The main controller is a Morningstar SunSaver SS-MPPT-15L with 550Wp of panels. I think 200Ah ish makes sense for a replacement since I'm just not getting the input in winter for much more to make sense, other than possibly to avoid being charged too fast when the sun actually appears. The only mandatory load is a couple of watts of Raspberry Pi server. If it's feeling flush it can take 12W of Internet router off-grid. Sometimes I run my laptop and other loads up to a 100W water heater, but only when there's lots of sun etc. What suppliers and brands would anyone recommend? Rgds Damon

What is is that concerns you about dependence on electricity? I imagine that neither bottled gas nor oil systems would have operated in a power cut either? Does storage ease your concerns? Or was it a cost worry or something else? Rgds Damon

We have a couple of single-room MHRVs, which are probably going to enable us to keep the heating off over the next few cold days! In the kitchen we have a (pull-to-boost) Tempra and are happy with it: https://www.earth.org.uk/MHRV-Vent-Axia-Lo-Carbon-Tempra-P-REVIEW.html Rgds Damon

Late to the party. Is this helpful for discussions? https://www.energy-stats.uk/ Rgds Damon

Our induction pulses below a certain threshold setting, but doesn't seem to cause any problems for us. Some people are irritated by the 'clicking' and complain about it online, which was basically the only reason I even noticed. https://www.earth.org.uk/note-on-IKEA-SMAKLIG-built-in-induction-hob.html#Clicking Rgds Damon

1) At least some of the Ecocents extract heat from the house air to make DHW, which is fine if your house is too warm... 2) It is likely to be noisy. Don't know about this particular one, but I have considered an Ecocent in the past. Rgds Damon

You can take daily gas readings and convert to kWh, and gather daily heating degree days (eg see degreedays.net), for at least three weeks, load into your favourite spreadsheet and the SLOPE() is your heating efficiency in kWh/HDD, and the INTERCEPT() (at 0HDD) is your non-space-heat baseload. From the heating efficienct and the greatest daily HDD you see at your location you can estimate peak heat demand. Simples. Rgds Damon

I think that it may simply not even be legal to quote you a VAT exclusive price if you are a consumer, or even if as a business not make it clear. Yes, I'd say he is in breach as a civil matter, but also quite possibly guily of fraud and various consumer protection laws also. But IANAL. Offer to let him cancel if he refunds any costs that you have incurred. Do not let him start otherwise, as in breach and not from your pov being trustable. Rgds Damon

We are having a discussion over here... https://www.fieldlines.com/index.php/topic,150161.msg1054611/topicseen.html#msg1054611 about how lead-acid can be just as efficient as lithium if you don't spend too much time at the final charging stages. Also the technlogy is safer (especially if you are a coward and go for gel like me, or AGM) and much better tuned from a large number of excellent manufacturers. Scruff's suggestion is that it doesn't have to move, stick with lead-acid in some form. (I was using Lithium (LFP - Lithium Iron Phosphate) in my off-grid system, but have stopped for now.) Rgds Damon PS. You can download my actual generation figures in London for a ~5kWp E- and W- facing split array, down to 1-minute resolution, here: https://www.earth.org.uk/data/SunnyBeam/

Sunamp was happy to supply with smaller-than-3kW elements when I asked some time ago. But maybe that option has evaporated in favour of keeping production simple. Rgds Damon

76m^2 Last year consumption and generation figures: http://www.earth.org.uk/saving-electricity-2019.html 1992kWh e (consumption), 3855kWh e (generation), 3157kWh gas (DHW + spac heat). So final energy per m^2 * ignoring generation, exergy, carbon intensity, etc: 68kWh/m^2 * allowing for generation: 17kWh/m^2 * space heat alone (allowing 4kWh/d for DHW): 40kWh/m^2 for space heat Rgds Damon

And I suspect (though don't know) that almost all the freeholders and leaseholders, who lose out badly, were in the "no" camp like us. Majorities can be tyrannies too. But we are where we are. If it's going to happen I'd like the outcome to as good as possible for everyone. I received confirmation that my comment has been received and will be applied appropriately. Thanks again all! Damon

I can simply get an assement of the present value of the remaining cash flows, plus savings from self-consumption for the remainer of the expected life of the panels etc. Rgds Damon

Getting some people to vote for confiscating the assets of a minority doesn't make it batter for the minority... Rgds Damon

My MP knows all about it, and his wife (a) is one of my ward councillors (b) has the property portfolio (c) was fighting my corner up until the point she was elected and took on the property portfolio... Rgds Damon

Thank you all: I've submitted a PDF to the planning dept by email. Now I just need to make sure that it is accepted else I shall have to drag my sorry frame through the covid plague fields on foot to drop it through the physical letterbox (though most of the building is shut, AFAIK). Rgds Damon

Common pipistrelle, old fruit. But most definitely not a fruit bat! You can see the solar panels on my roof if you work up from the word "Bonner" bottom middle by 4 pairs of houses, just above the yellow trace, at the end of the S-N terrace row. Rgds Damon

Thanks for all the comments so far: they have been very helpful and I may even be able to to get this dispatched tonight! Rgds Damon

RBK is basically being forced to do everything it can on all the land it can, and that will still not be enough in terms of its housing targets. Its position isn't easy. It is, for example, attempting to build on some local semi-waste ground that happens to be full of slow worms. Don't ask me how I know... Rgds Damon

Except that it is clear amongst other things that RBK would never have allowed *us* to build three houses on our land to sell, but will give itself permission to do so. Thus my complaint about its vast conflct of interest. Rgds Damon

Entirely my concern @oldkettle I am absolutely not after any windfall, nor stopping redevelopment out of NIMBY bloody-mindedness, since there does seem to be a continuing demand for housing. Rgds Damon

I am trying to be reasonable, and I don't really care who ends up grabbing our asset, just that we are deprived of our current fairly pleasant situation and all the work we have put in to be climate friendly. And that doing any more is now inhibited... Far from digging my heels in, I outlined a scheme that I think would save RBK much of the difference between their offer and my estimate of what they should provide if I force the issue, if started sooner rather than later, but RBK has said that it will not even talk to me for several years about purchase. And the notion of 'market price' then will be even less real... Rgds Damon