markharro

We are hoping to put about a 18kWp array on our PH+ ultimately. We are in Edinburgh. I am assuming that even with a battery and EV and working from home to soak up generation in summer that will still leave an excess at peak times which ideally we would want to export to grid. The consultant I have asked basically says that we either restrict output to the 3.68kW max without permission or pay £600-800 to the DNO for them to consider and they MIGHT allow more export either with or without cost to upgrade their equipment. Who in their right mind would gamble this amount of cash for a possibility when the whole enterprise is so marginal with the economics in the first place. Surely the DNO should be forced to assess for free so householders don't run the risk of throwing a significant amount of case down the drain. On a connected point I have never really understood the consequences of fitting such a large array and then throttling its export. Does this throttling just reduce the export or does it also reduce the total that you could otherwise self-consume? thanks

Has anyone heard of this website that seems to offer some very low priced (used) panels? - https://www.secondsol.com/en

Can I ask where you got the quote from? I will eventually be in the market for maybe 54-60 panels of around the same wattage for our proposed passive house + build and its only going to happen if I can source the kit for really keen prices. I had previously been looking at panels by the pallet load from Bimble solar but those were quite a bit more I think than your quote of £74 per panel. Are these new standard size panels for that price? Thanks.

We are with Bulb. I have thought about switching to Octopus but we dont have a smart meter and I am hoping that this may be the last winter we will have to endure in the current house.

I am not sure you do have the record AliG....17,000Kwh must equate to a bill of between £2000-3000 pa? We share some similarities - we live in Edinburgh, own a Tesla and my daughter has a (paddling) pool. Now where we differ - our house is ramshackle, freezing and damp and much smaller I'd guess at around 95m2. At the moment we have no solar and the car is charged via public chargers. Our electric storage heating runs pretty much constantly as does a woodstove from about now until March. I would wager we are paying about the same for our electricity as you. Having said that if all goes to plan we are hoping to transit to the other extreme (passivhaus) which should help a little!

What is so special about solar edge inverters?

Can anyone offer a simple explanation of G100 and G99 for a complete numpty? We are planning a 10+kW installation and I am really struggling to understand the export rules and processes and potential costs etc. Thanks

I see micro-inverters cost about £100 a piece. That's a lot for a 40+ panel array ie it basically doubles the cost of the panel! Or does it come to about the same as the big inverter you would otherwise need? Oh and another thing what is the difference between a microinverter and these SolarEdge Inverter Review - Power Optimisers ? thanks

I'd never heard of the Scottish Government self build loan scheme. I have googled it but cant see any reference to the interest rate. Does anyone know what it is? Also is it only for bare plots as our plan is to knock down our existing house and build a new one?

Wow first of all thanks for all the contributions to my post. I had no idea this forum would be so active or knowledgeable. My problem is that I can see that my own knowledge is totally rudimentary reading through some of the replies. I need much simpler explanations. If it helps our internal floor area is planned to be around 180 m2. PH+ was my idea rather than our architect's and I have modelled my thinking on this built project in England - https://www.bere.co.uk/architecture/lark-rise/?acceptCookies=5f40eb7ebbf92 There is lots of data on this on the architect's website. Its further south than us but from memory about the same sort of size we hope to build; it has a 12.4 kWp PV array and a Tesla Powerwall battery. Given our more northern latitude I assumed that we may need a bigger array eg 14kw or so? I have to say that I am now a bit puzzled by Dan F's comments that he is planning on 27 x 360W panels ie around 10kW for a substantially bigger house! Can anyone comment in simple terms on how my logic might be out? On a separate point, my thinking was that to make things affordable sourcing used or budget panels might be the only way we could afford the 50/60 that would be needed for an array totalling around 14kW. Has anyone experience of using this (German) site to source used panels - https://www.secondsol.com/en/index.htm - as it seems possible to buy very cheap panels by the palletload from them! thanks

Thanks. Yes we have the plot (and existing house) in Edinburgh. How much research have you done so far? I am still trying to get my head around the issues surrounding the massive PV installation needed and how you confer with your local grid company to a) check they can deal with the export and b) find out how costly any upgrade to the infrastructure might be - which presumably the house-owner would have to deal with?

We are in the early stages of planning to build a new house to the PH + standard. At the moment I am researching various incidental technical matters.