MasterOfReality
After forever
Is this power that gets sent to the grid for the feed in tariff or power that the house would use?
Not 100% across it at the moment.
Solar... who's clued in?
- Thread starter dunndog
- Start date
Not 100% across it at the moment.
indica
Serial flasher
NOTHING AT ALL> the inverter shuts down, you don't get any and the grid doesn't get any.
MasterOfReality
After forever
Ok. Pretty much every house in the street has a solar system on it.
indica
Serial flasher
So you need to find someone good who knows their shit
Fred Nurk
No custom title here
Check out https://www.solarquotes.com.au/ for some info on relative solar install prices and so on.
Any of the shithouse mobs that offer 'new rebates in your area, your postcode is eligible' or are endorsed by people who have nothing to do with solar are generally shithouse and not worth pursuing.
Any of the shithouse mobs that offer 'new rebates in your area, your postcode is eligible' or are endorsed by people who have nothing to do with solar are generally shithouse and not worth pursuing.
boyracer
Likes Dirt
This.
My grid Voltage was set way too low at new house when i moved in. Max has been 259.8 V peak. I set grid V to 260...@ 265 V can start to fry some of your more delicate electrical things! Turns off Inverter at 260 which means no power generation
Seems to go back on when V drops automatically. When load is high, no problems ( as everyone is using their Electrickery ) , seems to be mostly on fine, temperate days with little need for AC which is bad if you schedule stuff (DW /washing machine /baking/ dryer) to use your solar electrical during the day. Local sparky says ETSA (whatever they are called now here in SA) well aware of issues but unlikely to spend for upgrades as shitfight over who pays and maximising profits....CAHNNTS.
rowdyflat
chez le médecin
Nah completely wrong unless you have a factory in the basement.
A huge milling machine may use 8-16 kW per hour.
Get someone who knows what they are doing, heaps of poor quality panels will last 5-10 years and be a PITA. as the insulation comes off the back.
MasterOfReality
After forever
Just going by the usage on our bills? They aren’t estimated readings either.
Don’t have a mill but the main power consumers I can think of are two ducted aircon systems totalling 30 kW (aren’t afraid to use these), septic system pumps, pool pump, two fridges, washing machine that does a load or two day, and a dryer that runs non stop when it’s rainy.
Nambra
Definitely should have gone to specsavers
I'll try to be brief...
Ergon would have changed the tapping ratio on the transformer. Your typical pad mount substation takes a nominal 11kV supply and drops it to the 400V 3-phase supply that feeds the street. There’s usually a manual adjustment of +/-5% on the 11/0.4kV conversion ratio to allow for fluctuations on the 11kV line voltage, to ensure the low voltage side remains within mandated limits, that being -6% to +10%. So that's 390V to 457V for 3-phase and 216V to 253V for single phase.
Traditionally, the transformer tapping ratios were set to suit supply of power from the grid to the street, but the problem that starts to occur with saturation of larger domestic solar systems in the neighbourhood is that there is a net power export back to the grid - the transformer is no longer transferring power from the 11kV to the 400V side, but from the 400V side to the 11kV side. To 'push' this solar power into the grid, the inverters need to operate at a higher voltage than the grid; the more local export, the higher this voltage becomes and it will often exceed the above 457V/253V limit and cause problems for your fridge, washing machine etc.
The wider problem for the energy suppliers is that during the day they need to deal with solar power entering their network, and at night it returns to a supply network. They need to actively manage the transmission and sub-distribution networks (ie. 22kV and above) to keep everything within acceptable limits. This is why there are now restrictions on installations in certain areas, limits on maximum size of PV systems and in some jurisdictions, the requirement to set the inverter to a non-unity power factor for PV systems over a certain size. Reducing power factor affects voltage, so it can be used to control under and over voltage situations.
In the case of QLD (Ergon/Energex), this used to be a flat 0.9 power factor requirement in the connection agreement, regardless of voltage, meaning you were only getting 90% of the power from your PV system. If you had a 6kW system, it would only produce 5.4kW of power. Now they allow an inverter's power factor to be voltage dependent, so it can be unity between 220V and 240V and change either side of that. There is also a requirement for the output power of the inverter to taper off above 253V as well - essentially a gross limit on the system output when the grid voltage is too high. An inverter must be capable of being set up with these limits before it is allowed to be connected to the grid.
These graphs are from the current QLD standard for small scale grid connected solar - other jurisdictions are likely to be similar. The first graph is the voltage/power factor ratio limit, the second the voltage / power output limit. Yes, your inverter could throttle back to 20% of rated capacity if the voltage in the area gets to 260V. It's not all doom and gloom though, the suppliers have become a lot better at managing it all, so your system is less likely to be operating in a hobbled state for very long on any given day. For those that might have an inverter that is set to the old fixed 0.9 power factor, you should look at changing it to the voltage dependent mode of operation, so you get back to 100% output when conditions permit. Check with whoever installed it to find out how they set it up.
The reduction in feed in tariffs is actually a good thing, as it disincentivises people from 'selling power' during the day by limiting their domestic consumption and pushing maximum kWh to the grid to rake in all that high feed in tariff income, at the cost of high local voltage. Your bank balance might appear to win, but you might be replacing your household electrical items more often! It's better that households consume their solar power during the day, reducing your demand at night when you are likely to be reliant on fossil fuel derived power. The ideal size PV system should be that which meets your daily kWh need, and exports enough surplus to pay for the power you use at night (or charge your battery if you have one). A net positive export system that actually exceeds your total needs is ok too, not all folks can afford solar or they live in a unit and can't install solar. Allowing them to essentially buy the 'clean' energy you are adding to the grid is a good thing.
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silentbutdeadly
has some good things to say
@MasterOfReality what @Nambra said.
Our system was designed with exactly the parameters described above.
You really need to look at an energy audit first. Figure out how much energy is being used when and by what. Then figure out how much of that can be reduced by more efficient equipment, improved operating environment or user education. Then how much of that can be load shifted into either solar generation time or controlled load. Finally, get your new typical daily electricity use. And size your system to that.
Like most households haven't done, you need to fix everything else before you go solar. Otherwise, it's as wasteful as installing reverse cycle air conditioning in an uninsulated tin shed...
In our own situation, we installed modern appliances, new roof and insulation, insulated wall, house lot of double glazed windows and doors, heat pump HWS and changed from pressure pump water to gravity water supply. We don't yet have air conditioning and wastewater is gravity septic and reed beds. So we spent a small fortune before we went solar... otherwise we'd have saved sod all.
Our system was designed with exactly the parameters described above.
You really need to look at an energy audit first. Figure out how much energy is being used when and by what. Then figure out how much of that can be reduced by more efficient equipment, improved operating environment or user education. Then how much of that can be load shifted into either solar generation time or controlled load. Finally, get your new typical daily electricity use. And size your system to that.
Like most households haven't done, you need to fix everything else before you go solar. Otherwise, it's as wasteful as installing reverse cycle air conditioning in an uninsulated tin shed...
In our own situation, we installed modern appliances, new roof and insulation, insulated wall, house lot of double glazed windows and doors, heat pump HWS and changed from pressure pump water to gravity water supply. We don't yet have air conditioning and wastewater is gravity septic and reed beds. So we spent a small fortune before we went solar... otherwise we'd have saved sod all.
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indica
Serial flasher
Mine has gone up since the install.
6.5c > 9c > 13.4c
Fred Nurk
No custom title here
50kWh in a day is not unheard of these days. Peak of summer with lots of AC usage outside of sunlight hours we'll do somewhere around that figure.
It's less than half that at the moment with no AC usage.
ozzybmx
taking a shit with my boobs out
I reckon he means he uses 40-50kw per day, which is pretty standard for a house with no solar and a family with heating/cooling and washing shit.
My usual is about $30 a day or 40-70kw in Winter or Summer, peaking in Feb this year with a massive 135kw on one day.
Its a fucking expensive luxury these days.
mark22
Likes Dirt
Woohoo thats some serious usage, ever thought of trying to curb some of that. AC temp setting, extra fridge worst of all the dryer. Just a thought
mark22
Likes Dirt
Jezus $2700 a quarter, I'm outa touch it seems
downunderdallas
Likes Bikes and Dirt
Ours with two EV's (and solar) is around $150-200/month in winter $100-$150 in summer and under $100 in shoulder seasons.Jezus $2700 a quarter, I'm outa touch it seems
MasterOfReality
After forever
Thats the term I was looking for, energy audit. Need someone who knows what they are doing. We have stuff on controlled load tariffs etc.
Our house is all windows, so not going down the double glazed path as it will cost an absolute fortune. We recently had all the windows tinted, every single light changed to led. Our hws is due to be replaced soon. All the pumps we have are non-variable, so will be replaced as they die.
Yeah, this is a snapshot from the Origin dashboard:
We have the AC set to come on early morning to get rid of the condensation in winter. Last winter it was really rainy and humid, we ended up with mould and replaced an entire house worth of window furnishings. Not keen on repeating that!Woohoo thats some serious usage, ever thought of trying to curb some of that. AC temp setting, extra fridge worst of all the dryer. Just a thought
During summer we actually hardly use the aircons, just fans - we are up on a ridge, its breezy and the house wraps around the pool in a u-shape. The guy we bought it off is an architect and told me he designed it that way to capture the breeze across the pool to cool it down before it enters the house. Actually works.
Extra fridge non-negotiable - it's my beer fridge!
The dryer - gets used on rainy days or when we need something in a hurry.
It's a fair whack of consumption, however we are both at home all the time if that makes any difference.
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rowdyflat
chez le médecin
Wow we use less than 10 kW per day for 2 people.
Start with an energy audit and check where the power is going,
We were looking at houses on land for the gentle step between off grid 300 acre farm hippy existence and straight house for old age.
One was all single glazed windows heated by bottle gas bloke worked for Elgas NO thanks.
If you are cold wear a down jacket thats worthy of Everest or snow camping.
Start with an energy audit and check where the power is going,
We were looking at houses on land for the gentle step between off grid 300 acre farm hippy existence and straight house for old age.
One was all single glazed windows heated by bottle gas bloke worked for Elgas NO thanks.
If you are cold wear a down jacket thats worthy of Everest or snow camping.