Ferdinand

Here's another one. They seem to be around.

I've been on deemed 50% export since 2016. But I am just swapping to Octopus Agile Outgoing (Export Meter MPAN just approved), which will presumably mean separate metering when I take the next steps in the future and fit a second array.. F

I think you have most of the info you need in the comments above. Mine would be: 1 - The threat of legal action is not something necessarily to be scared of. Going "hammer-and-tongs or ignore" in return can be a mistake. Firstly, they want her attention. Perhaps looking for a middle way is a way ahead? 2 - Perhaps she should find out what fee will be charged for using the TF company's work. It may be acceptable to her. Or a counter-offer could be made. Their risk is that they may be known as a soft touch for further copyright violations; her risk is a sum of money. Who has a bigger motivation or ability to defend their interest? Due to bespoke requirements, they have probably spent professionals' time on her project, so they are understandably narked if the intention is to use their work, unpaid. I would guess at several days time, at perhaps £250-500 per day. 3 - My opinion is that she needs to have a candid conversation with the TF supplier. 4 - For risk management, she *could* check out how litigious they actually are. What is the riak of legal action? 5 - For *you*, remember that there are cases when an opinion such as yours offered to a friend has been deemed to be "legal advice", so make sure that you have no potential liability. My thoughts, which are explicitly *not* legal advice. Ferdinand

So a conversation required with the appropriate department. Useful - so I should be able to go grid-tied on a new say 6kWp install, if DNO decide there is capacity in the network to take it, without affecting the existing FIT. And I can stuff neighbour's mouth with a small amount of gold to get him to act on the tree rather than having to bugger about moving panels. Cheers. F

Interesting - speaking to the company for the carport piccie above, the product is not launched yet and they are focused on their commercial install business 🙂 . Interestingly they say the minim roof angle is 5 degrees, which is roughly what I would want - my way to do the aesthetics would be to have the roof shallow such that the panels cannot be seen from the front - even at verands roof height. F

Hmmm. My existing system us fully Solaredge'd thanks to the tree mentioned above. I think that is different (?) F

That would be the intention, yes. Here's the front view from due South. If you look carefully you can see the brick grain change where it used to be a small double fronted 1940s bungalow. One issue is that those 2 front rooms overheat in hot summer. Lots of designs are possible, eg something in brick with round arches following the front door pattern, or lightweight steel / stainless, or wooden, or even a variety of post and beam. It will need PP, however, as it is forward of the building line. You can see the edge of the 3 panels on the LHS of the big gable. There are another 28 on the RHS of that gable, with the 100-125 year old horse chestnut I would like gone, as it is starting to crack. That protruding branch is directly above the main bedroom. Personally I'm a fan of lightweight structures, so I can even imagine simply using a suitable solar ground based mount put in front - if the aesthetic, engineering, column spacing, panel angle almost flat etc works, or something from a local steel fabricator. I am not even sure that it would need any backing at all. https://www.sunfixings.co.uk/roof-type/carport/ My dad once made a car port made with one side supported by scaffold poles, which is still there 50 years later. I wouldn't go quite that far. Estate agent distorted piccie below. The lady who had it built for her in 1971 has just passed at age 100, having lived there since. I guess they just wanted something simple which did not intrude - running out of budget? Useful thoughts. I think I need a conversation with the DNO as one of my preliminaries. I wonder if I can have 2 systems exporting at once if I go for connected? Cheers F

I'm currently working up a project for a new veranda on the S-facing side of my house, to 1) provide shade for rooms that overheat, 2) create a car port in front of the garage, and 3) possibly to incorporate an office / study on the front of the lounge. Currently I have a (2015) 9.93 kWp grid-connected solar FIT install, which is approx 8kWp East facing and 1.9 kWP West facing. It si a simple array with no batteries or divert devices. The veranda could add approx 45 sqm of S facing nearly-flat roof. In the past I have wondered about moving some of my East-facing solar to the roof of the new veranda - it was laid out with that as a consideration. But given that that would cost (guestimate) £2000 to move, and the neighbour on the East side is considering removing his questionable huge 100 year old horse chestnut tree that overhangs my house / part of the solar array, I am toying with the idea of leaving it as it is and installing a new array on the veranda roof. I already have a report suggesting that the tree is risky, and it is probably worth me contributing to the cost of removal. For background, can anyone advise me if I am going to hit any elephant traps thinking about this: 1 - Is there a hard limit for domestic solar connection to the grid at 10 kWp? Would I run into regulatory trouble trying to boost that to say 16 or 17 kWp total? 2 - Are there technical issues around integrating an old and a new install? Or can I easily run 2 in parallel? 3 - What approach should I consider? An alternative would perhaps be to consider the existing array as an "export" array, and install the new one off grid with a water heating setup and house battery. All thoughts are welcome, as I'm doing my background thinking. I know the solar basics, but I'm wrestling with how to navigate our now more complex environment. Cheers Ferdinand

Hmmm. Drought resilience calculation. Is it not the case that we get rainfall even in a drought, so you can extend the resilience period by considering it necessary to supply say 50%? Plus of course usage can always be optimised. What does that do to your calculations? F

No. It was Chancellor Alistair Darling's 2009 Budget for introduction from April 2010. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2009_United_Kingdom_budge It means we have a 60% tax rate between £100k and £100k + 2x the personal allowance, as the allowance is tapered out at £1 for every £2 of income over £100k. (Though I had to go and check!). I remember the political cynicism of New Labour as it passed into history. Were i in that tax bracket, that's a good reason for doing charity donations for income over £100k, since the Govt will give £1.50 for every £1 donated. (I think) There was a similar thing with the 50% top rate of tax being announced in 2009 and introduced in 2010, despite the lower top rate having existed throughout their 13 years in power. One way to look at that is a political time bomb to allow Conservatives to be branded as pandering to the rich at some point in the future - you saw the coverage over Kwasi Kwarteng doing just that. (Unfortunately I'm no fan of Krazy Kwarteng either. They should not have walked away from stabilising the housing market and levelling up imo.) F

I think TBH this depends on your definition of "worth it". Are you motivated by ROI payback, or by using less energy / reducing emissions, or by have a local power resource that limits your dependency on the grid whilst still hvaing it available as a top up? Depending on your answer to that question, lots of answers are possible.

As a tradesman, you would know more about that 🙂 ! The Gordon Brown stealth-shaft special tax rate of 60%+ still exists between approx 100k and 120k of income, iirc.

The first time I met foil baking was in Delia's One is Fun for white fish. The pizza oven has a circular grill element in the top, and a pizza stone beneath, so for me the technique is to preheat the stone, then let ir run on the thermostat whilst the stone cooks something through (eg frozen cornish pasty) with occasional interventions from teh element to keep it up to temp, then to have 60-90s at the end from the element to crisp it. It does oven chips beautifully. F

Not having an Air Fryer yet, I might foil bake it in the pizza oven (*) and open up for the last 10 minutes or crisp the top under the grill. Or even microwave then grill-crisp. F * One of these: https://pizzaunited.co.uk/products/optima-pizza-express-napoli-pizza-oven

A really useful thread. Thanks all.

I have drunk the first bottle with a friend, and a smoked fish platter with an avocado and black pudding salad. It is excellent, and I will be buying a few more whilst the offer is on. Not in *huge* numbers, however.

Quashing it is not enough. Truss needs to deliver a rational analysis, and a rational, reasonable solution. If that is not her habit her party will be wiped off the map at the next election. We are beyond slopey-shoulders stage. She, and Krazy Kwarteng in particular, do not have that luxury. (Writing as somewhere between a conservatiev Lib Dem - Orange Booker, and a liberal Conservative.)

That's a stilt village, not a balcony.

Consider making it a first floor veranda with a roof of whatever sort, which will give you a double bubble in keeping sunshine out if is a modern houses. It will also give you an excuse. See how they do it in the American South.

Catching up. Episode One the Kent prefab - quite inspirational but looked rather expensive. Not really convinced that the techniques are new, and disappointed that the prefab company is not making hundreds a year. Presumably neighbour is slightly less of a friend. McCloud's over egging the pension drawdown was a bit of a jar. Looks like a very nice place, and I am glad that they are happy in their community. Episode Two the 'hidden house' seemed strange in some respects, such as the cladding in the below ground courtyards to make it look "embedded" when no one can see it, and the dam-worthy amounts of concrete involved. Are they all in Kent?

You need to read @AliG's swimming pool thread. He talks abotu his house attached pool, but discusses lots of numbers and how to save energy etc.

You might enjoy the online vids I'm subscribed to by a channel called "Black Forest Family" - who are an American couple living in Germany, who have self-built there - and do a lot of observations about culture etc from a fairly neutral viewpoint. Here:https://www.youtube.com/c/BlackForestFamily/featured Would I be correct to think that in NY dealing with variable climate is one of your key challenges ? (I recall listening to an historic Letter from America by Alistair Cooke, where he discussed what changed in NY with the widespread introduction of air conditioning.) F

Your autocorrect is on the blink again 🙃. F

Welcome. This sounds .. er .. interesting 🙂.

*innocent face*