[Mandy1954]

I’m new to solar panels so a complete novice. Does anybody have any advice? How much electricity is produced in the winter on a daily basis etc? Mine have been installed a week today and the meter says I’ve collected “6” I assume kWh. It sounds low when I have 8 large panels on my roof, but then it’s very dull weather. Not had my package as yet off the installers but I do know I’m to complete online forms for EON NEXT. Any information/advice would be received gratefully. Many Thanks

[retrotecchie]

@Mandy1954

Asking how much energy a solar setup can produce is dependent on a lot of factors. Peak Power of the installed system, orientation of the panels and prevailing weather conditions for starters. Daily generation can vary wildly so there's no way of really telling you what you can or should expect. Daily production doesn't really tell you much, but you really need to take a long view and work out your generation over an annual period as there is so much variation from day to day as well as between seasons.

You should have had a site survey done as part of the installation and that should give you a rough annual estimate for the system. But each day is different. My microsolar generated more power in the last five days as it did for the whole of January. I got more power in September than I did in July despite July being mid-summer and theoretically the peak period.

Sure, track the performance on a daily or weekly basis if you wish to, but systems are normally specced on an annual generation basis. Commercially installed solar systems usually use poly or mono panels which perform well in good sunny weather conditions but aren't at their optimum when it gets really hot in summer and drop off massively in cloudy or dull weather. So you might get bright clear days in March or October when they perform nicely and yet they don't seem to be quite as good in a hot August.

Better to work on an annual average than worry too much about individual day's performance. 6kWh in a week at this time of year isn't great, but not bad for the weather conditions. But it's 6kWh you generated yourself and didn't need to pay for. For me, that's almost a whole day of free electricity. Come late spring, you'll likely be getting as much energy from the sun in a day than I use in a week 👍

[meldrewreborn]

I think the thing to focus on is that although the panels will produce some power when its cloudy , they produce much much more when its sunny. So the more sunshine the more power produced. and the sun is up for longer in the summer than winter so more power produced then than in the winter.

I've not got PV, my panels produce hot water. But we've got some expert users here who will sing the praises of solar PV and point you in the right direction of maximising savings, from export prices to time shifting consumption, to battery utilisation (if you've got one!).

[Mandy1954]

@retrotecchie Thankyou every little bit helps me try to understand them. I did have an installer come and assess/survey everything, and yes they are on the back roof of the house as that’s where most sunshine hits from around lunchtime. I’ve heard you sell excess to the grid, but how will I know if I have excess Kwh and how will I know if they have taken my excess kWh. Its all very fascinating how it all works but its all above me I’m afraid so I need it all explaining. Maybe once I get my package it might explain everything but its not here as yet.

[wizzo227]

6 kWh a day in bright overcast and partly cloudy weather in mid Februrary sounds somewhat plausible. 6kWh a week could happen further north at this time of year and under the darkest rainclouds this week, and it is that weather dependent . The number which tells you most about what you'll get over the year on average and on a best summer day is not "8 large" but the total kiloWatts (peak) rating of those 8 which will be on the datasheet of the solar panel type and often marked with shortened units such as "Wp" or "kWp" on the one page schematic near to the front of the documentation left by the MCS installer. For example my 2kWp has generated 19 kWh since the start of Sunday morning in central south England, and is on a best case south facing roof. What sort of inverter did they give you ?

[Mandy1954]

Originally Posted by Mandy1954

I’m new to solar panels so a complete novice. Does anybody have any advice? How much electricity is produced in the winter on a daily basis etc? Mine have been installed a week today and the meter says I’ve collected “6” I assume kWh. It sounds low when I have 8 large panels on my roof, but then it’s very dull weather. Not had my package as yet off the installers but I do know I’m to complete online forms for EON NEXT. Any information/advice would be received gratefully. Many Thanks

I have now had 8 mains box trips since having my solar panels fitted! It’s really bothering me. I report to the company by messaging and ringing them. Every time they say an electrician will contact me! Up to now nobody has. So it’s now also really bothering me that the company are not coming to get it sorted. The pattern seems to be my mains box trips when it rains! Which to me says it’s to do with water!!!
The solar panel inspector is coming next week, obviously I am not signing anything until the tripping has been sorted, so hence they will not get paid. I can’t understand how there’s no urgency in sorting it out. The inspector said he will put the tripping on his report and ring them, but he hopes they will have sorted it by the time he makes his visit.

[EmmaN]

Hey @Mandy1954 👋

Fingers crossed they'll have it all sorted for you by the appointment. Please do let us know how it goes! We'd like to know how it went and if you do have any further questions please ask away, this is a safe space for all to talk about anything 🤗

[Mandy1954]

They did finally get someone here due to the actual solar panel installers from Bristol getting involved. It was nothing to do with rain it was surge's to my mains box from the solar panels. The original electrician has used a plug in my mains box that wasn’t big enough for the surges, hence the tripping. The new guy who came swapped to a bigger plug, so not had another tripped switch. The only thing is now I believe the solar should have had its own box next to my mains box and not plugged straight into my actual mains 🤔 I don’t know how true this is, or wether it’s a must!

[Lee_EONNext]

@Mandy1954 Maybe @retrotecchie can answer that?

It doesnt sound right to me however i'm not an MCS Accredited installer.

[retrotecchie]

@Lee_EONNext

I don't think there is anything wrong with connecting solar in to an existing consumer unit, so long as there is a means of completely isolating the panels for maintenance. Best practice is to have a separate box, but it's not mandatory.

I don't know what the 'plug' bit is all about, but I suspect 'breaker' is the likely device, rather than a plug.