Talk Morgan Forums Community The Malvern Arms Get rid of windmills.

I think (but I'm not certain) that National Gridwatch only measures what's on the high-voltage transmission network component of the National Grid. All the domestic and small commercial production is exported to and used on the low-voltage (240V) part of the grid, ie the Distribution Networks. Clever though the people who designed the NG were back in the day, they didn't envisage local generation being moved around nationally, so there's no 'step-up' transformation available to get power from the 240V networks to the higher-voltage grid.

So local solar production would be reflected on the Gridwatch site by lower overall demand on the grid.

All our solar production yesterday was swallowed up by the battery, we exported less than 1KWh. But the best bit is that now that SolarEdge have removed the restriction on being able to charge batteries from the grid , we top ours up overnight on the cheap rate and our direct debit payments to our supplier have dropped by £50/month, which is nice.

We do the same. The load shifting from 2am to 5am fills the batteries at low cost 15p per unit.
I have octopus flux so they have a low tarriff 2 till 5 then normal (26p)but from 16 to 1900hrs they charge 35p per kWh so I ensure I top them up by 15 59
Export prices also follow a similar pattern.

On the nat grid website if the click on the ? By the power type I see it gives details. Here is the solar one
Solar

Solar panels generate power from the photovoltaic effect, where light falling on a material produces an electric current.

Despite Great Britain’s northerly latitude and frequently cloudy conditions, solar panels are still able to generate a useful amount of power. Rooftop solar panels on residential buildings have become increasingly popular as the price of solar panels has fallen.

Solar panels are connected to the local distribution network rather than the national transmission network, so their reported power generation is an estimate from National Grid ESO, based on weather conditions and observed transmission network demand.

And on battery storage
Battery storage

Battery storage systems use electricity when it is comparatively cheap to charge a group of batteries. When electricity is comparatively expensive the batteries are discharged.

Several battery storage systems are in operation in Great Britain, but full reporting is not yet available: reports include discharging but not charging. As this would lead to double counting, with power being reported both when originally generated and when discharged from battery storage systems, battery storage data is not yet shown on this site.

Solar generation appeals greatly as I do very much like the idea of self reliance and avoiding single point failure in terms of life`s basic necessities.

I live in hope that Tesla get round to also using their EV`s battery a source of alternative power for the home... I have little doubt that the tec has long been available to perform that function.... just that we have not reached the stage where it seems to be a feasible option for now, however, IF as some already seem to hint at, power cuts may be something we need to get more used to in the UK....?

There some recent YT vids available on the new Tesla Powerwall 3 integrated control and battery storage system, which seem interesting in terms of the advancement of the practical aspects of this technology..?

I would post a link... but...? (-:

What is surprising in all of this, why aren't solar panels, heat exchangers and battery packs not mandated in all new house builds? Surely with 1.5m new homes planned over the next 5 years, (having just build a million in the last 5 years) in more rural /green rather than brown locations with less infrastructure surely this would make sense! The cost of instillation would be cheaper than converting existing properties and we would be reducing the COL in running such homes, reducing demand from our power generation networks.

We seem to place too much almost disproportional emphasis on transportation emissions and even less it seems on domestic home consumption, when we are undertaking a massive house building programme, which seems to be an optimum time to lower future emissions and demand even further creating greater self sufficiency in energy consumption Bearing in mind the life cycle of a car is a matter of years and by comparison houses exist for decades to come.

Looking around, it seems that the smaller builders are fitting houses with solar panels indicating that the demand is there. The bigger builders are still cost-cutting for economic advantage and won't generally fit solar until they are forced to by legislation.

Many of the builders are holding future development plots in Charitable organisations to avoid all sorts of taxation, maybe the threat of stripping that advantage from them if they don't produce green self sufficient energy houses will focus their minds more. Having said that the UK traditional form of housebuilding brick by brick is so outdated and inefficient now, we should look to adopting mass production with on site assembly. That would reduce the unit costs and help reduce the demand for skills in short supply.

As a general observation, anyone referring to Wind Turbines as Wind Mills probably is not qualified to comment on the subject.

Being properly off-grid and just having weathered a period of dull, windless winter weather courtesy of a battery bank specced for the job (something currently sci-fi at National consumption levels) ... my words on the subject are 'Base Load' 🙂

K