Marvin

Hi @JamesPa in the above report, page 62 to 68 (as shown on the bottom of the pages) cover buffer tank sizing and cycling.

Ooh. That's interesting to know. How is that effected if the wind is blowing from the eaves to the ridge compared to from the ridge to the eaves?

HI @SteamyTea Where's that report you had about buffer tanks?

Hi @saveasteading How do PV panels (I assume on rails) increase uplift on a pitched roof?

🙄I will have to check my own system now.....

Have you checked your PV expected outputs using the PGIS web site: re.jrc.ec.europa.eu/pvg_tools/en/tools.html It will give you an understanding on the amount of excess power that you could run to your hot water storage. It changed my plans....

Well, I think this makes a whole difference to your hot water design.

Hi @Ambaz79 If your going to install PV, I would suggest a Solic immersion heater type device.

Hi @Mr Blobby In my humble opinion, and, if I had the money to pay the bills to go to watertight level, I would build my home out of the ground to watertight level. During the time doing this I would Investigate and tie down all the M&E installations ASAP, noting that the further into the build, the more chance of having to do corrective works later to accommodate them. Good luck M

And don't forget to engage the EPC inspector BEFORE you cover up the building insulation to avoid drilling holes in walls later.....🙄

Yes guessed as much. Thanks.

Thanks. This has pointed me in the right direction for my set up: If I am right, 6kW Hybrid Inverter (same kW as existing inverter )with DC battery connection so no need to be reassessed.

Sorry miss understood. I don't know the answer.... and would like to know myself. I thought when there was no mains power the inverter shut down so no potential power to the grid in that circumstance.

Hi @gc100 When connected to the grid there is the potential for your PV system to supply power to the grid. A survey is carried out to check that the cabling to the substation and onward is capable of taking the potential PV supply. The DNOs have agreed that it's safe for every household to supply 3.68kW back to the grid but beyond that will need checking and sometimes additional work to a grid connection may be necessary, like upgrading your connection to a 3 phase supply. We applied for 6kW (which is defined not by the panels but your inverter maximum output) and it took a few months to get approval and the survey cost £300 plus VAT. I think the assumption is that 6kW is the max my inverter could supply and if I want to overload it with 10kWs of panels and burn my house down when the inverter goes up that's my affair.

I think the boat on reasonable fixed price electricity deals has left already, the same as mortgages.

That reminds me, I must get mine out and check it works....

I notice that the PV calculator I use indicates a typical 14% loss... https://re.jrc.ec.europa.eu/pvg_tools/en/tools.html

Make me want to PV the lawn...

What's the roof finish felt?

Make sure you design drainage to protect the garage from flooding. On a heavy rainfall it would sit under the car in the picture...

What percentage of the designed Wattage output have you seen, produced by your inverter, at peak production from your panels? I do not have a continual monitor on mine but the highest I noticed was about 80%. The difference would be because of the angle and direction of my panels is not at the ultimate position, and I expect the panels are not completely clean. Has any one else any record of the peak production percentage? The reason for the question is because the 6kW inverter permits more than 6kW of panel to be installed, but the output is limited to 6kW and I could squeeze a few more panels in if this would work.

One of the wonderful things about buildhub is the ability to discuss different viewpoints and ideas without constently bitching at each other. (Politicians please note!) IMHO the grid has 2 main problems: what it uses to produce electricity and what it needs to supply our peak power demand. More renewables will help, however peak demand is the killer. All the renewable power sources in the country will not produce enough power in the winter to forfill our demand. So in winter we use other types of energy producers to meet this demand which sit idling during non peak demand. This is a costly problem! Just Drax's carbon capture plant for example, is going to cost about £30billion - that's £500 per household, and at some point it will already have to sit idle sometime during the year due to excess production from renewables. If I have it right, we already reached the point that we produced as much as we used from renewables at one stage so we're already getting towards over production. As for the power generation and use, my utopian way would be self sufficiency which presently I/we cannot achieve due to financial restraints. However my aim is to work towards this. The main stumbling blocks for us are: Cost and size of electricity storage on site and lack of power production during winter. Peak demands from home equipment. The lack of power production during winter is the biggest problem because by default the cost of storing the power and size of storage would be extreme for an individual home. We have worked on our home appliances but reliance on ovens, toasters, kettles and the like really require a change of habits. So as I see it, the cost of peak production is what we will have to pay for, less any renewable energy available at that time, which judging by my winter exporting would be sweet F.A. (By the way the only predictable source of winter renewable energy I know of not being used and presently available is tidal!) So I expect that the power companies know all this and aim to protect their profits by introducing a way to charge more for power used during winter and or peak demand. (Ho ho! Any guesses how this will happen???) So I for one will be looking at ways to reduce my winter demand and increase my winter supply and storage capability. Good luck to you all. M

Yes. Silly me!

13amp need at least 20amp

Everybody spending time outside??? Less chance of spreading.