gustyturbine Posted July 4, 2023 Share Posted July 4, 2023 Morning all. I am planning my new build and this time I want to build with ground mounted PV as I have enough land. Unfortunately, the grid has no capacity so instead of fitting circa 10kw system I can only go for the standard 3.9kw. I've asked the network operator to check what options I have but it's not looking great. So, am I now really restricted or can I buy second hand panels etc and not bother with MCS as I won't really be exporting. I could install much more cheaply with no MCS accreditation for sure. I have an EV, probably GSHP or ASHP and I was going to use the surplus power for DHW heating or possibly battery. I'm tempted to install above 3.9kw anyway but does that make sense? Am I doing the right thing. Any solar PV experts have any great ideas to optimise efficiency? Many thanks all. How is our grid so poor as it really restricts renewable generation in the UK (separate issue). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TonyT Posted July 4, 2023 Share Posted July 4, 2023 Go the DC Route with batteries Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnMo Posted July 4, 2023 Share Posted July 4, 2023 MCS or not MCS makes no odds if the electric operator has restricted you. You can save lots of install by not going MCS, but never get paid for export. I chose the not MCS route. Your other option could be G99 approval. Here you pre apply for lots of generation, but use a G99 approved inverter which limits export to about 3.6kW or less. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TonyT Posted July 4, 2023 Share Posted July 4, 2023 You can fit 10kw of solar your inverter just limits it to the DNO max allowed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gustyturbine Posted July 4, 2023 Author Share Posted July 4, 2023 1 hour ago, JohnMo said: MCS or not MCS makes no odds if the electric operator has restricted you. You can save lots of install by not going MCS, but never get paid for export. I chose the not MCS route. Your other option could be G99 approval. Here you pre apply for lots of generation, but use a G99 approved inverter which limits export to about 3.6kW or less. Thanks for the information. I suppose that financially I could install non MCS for 6kw separately and 3.6kw MCS accredited. That would allow export of 3.6kw if I'm not using it. Cheapest option possibly? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gustyturbine Posted July 4, 2023 Author Share Posted July 4, 2023 1 hour ago, TonyT said: You can fit 10kw of solar your inverter just limits it to the DNO max allowed. Thanks TonyT. I guess my question would be that if my export is restricted to 3.6kw would that add cost wise to install 10kw through MCS approved installer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gustyturbine Posted July 4, 2023 Author Share Posted July 4, 2023 Has anyone had experience of installing second hand panels from decommissioned grid scale solar sites? The cost saving seems tempting. I'd consider buying a few spare panels for stock but from what I can gather inverters seem to cause issues from a reliability point of view. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnMo Posted July 4, 2023 Share Posted July 4, 2023 You to understand their age, then find a datasheet online and estimate how much they have degraded and much remaining life is left. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gustyturbine Posted September 14, 2023 Author Share Posted September 14, 2023 Thanks for the comments all and guidance. I visited the network operator on a separate issue today and we briefly discussed the export limit. They agree that I can export 3.68kw (not 3.9 as I thought) but insisted I could NOT fit 10kw and restrict export to 3.68. They seemed to think that it can cause issues with voltage etc but I'm not convinced. On 04/07/2023 at 14:01, gustyturbine said: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gustyturbine Posted September 14, 2023 Author Share Posted September 14, 2023 TBH I'm not too worried about not being MCS certified. My main aim is to generate the majority of what we use as a family. The DNO also told me that some car chargers don't like too much PV. I have no idea if there is any truth in that either!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big Jimbo Posted September 14, 2023 Share Posted September 14, 2023 Somebody recently wrote on one of the hillbilly off grid sites that he was planning on using the electric battery system from a fork lift truck to store his energy created from his vast array of solar panels. said the capacity of the fork lift truck battery was 50kva (prob got my k's and v's mixed up.) (i will wait for @SteamyTea to tell me off) Said that during the winter he would charge the battery from night time cheap rate electricty. He said the battery would be less than £4k. Food for thought ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteamyTea Posted September 14, 2023 Share Posted September 14, 2023 (edited) 12 minutes ago, Big Jimbo said: prob got my k's and v's mixed up I think you have, 50 kWh would be more like it, though that would be a very large, and heavy, set of lead acid batteries for a fork truck. Maybe they said 50 Ah. Lead acids used to be the cheapest mass energy storage, though I suspect second use lithium's are cheaper now. Lead acids take looking after, but nothing wrong with them. Edited September 14, 2023 by SteamyTea 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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