john davidson 1 Posted September 6, 2023 Share Posted September 6, 2023 Last week plans were announced for a huge solar farm in England two thirds of which were prime agricultural land and the rest woodland and rough grazing. I have a smaller but still quite big installation four miles away, I suppose it could be used for sheep but when we import half of our food it seems such a waste 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rich Griff Posted September 6, 2023 Share Posted September 6, 2023 Lots of "green issues" news in digital copy of E&T magazine today. Engineering and Technology I have mentioned this periodical before, well worth a look. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frank Skilbeck Posted September 8, 2023 Share Posted September 8, 2023 On 06/09/2023 at 18:38, john davidson 1 said: Last week plans were announced for a huge solar farm in England two thirds of which were prime agricultural land and the rest woodland and rough grazing. I have a smaller but still quite big installation four miles away, I suppose it could be used for sheep but when we import half of our food it seems such a waste But ironically if a farmer wanted to cover all his buildings with panels he can't because his grid connection won't take it. The solar farms round here do use 4 legged woolly mowers to keep the grass trimmed though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MattyB Posted September 8, 2023 Author Share Posted September 8, 2023 (edited) Back on topic, this week I have listed our home EV charger for community use on the Co Charger website: https://co-charger.com This app based service allows those in your local area to utilise your charger when it's not in use, giving them an affordable charging option nearby without the cost of a charger install. Locals in our village can book one-off or recurring slots to charge, and I get notified and can choose whether to accept or reject. If I accept they just turn up and plug in; everything else is done by the app. Hopefully this facility will makes the transition to an EV or PHEV more viable, especially if a neighbour doesn't have a parking space where they could charge. It also allows the owner of the chargers to recoup some of the install costs over time, though income over £1k a year is taxable (that is the limit of the allowance given by the government aimed at encouraging schemes like this based from homes). Whether anyone takes it up we shall see, but there's nothing lost if not - Co Charger's model is that they take 12% of the fees from each charge, but there is no ongoing charge to hosts or chargees. Edited September 8, 2023 by MattyB 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MattyB Posted September 8, 2023 Author Share Posted September 8, 2023 A more in-depth view of Co Charger courtesy of the Fully Charged Show.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ron Gray Posted September 8, 2023 Share Posted September 8, 2023 Good on yer Matty, let us know if any of your neighbours take up your facility. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon H Posted September 8, 2023 Share Posted September 8, 2023 On 06/09/2023 at 18:38, john davidson 1 said: Last week plans were announced for a huge solar farm in England two thirds of which were prime agricultural land and the rest woodland and rough grazing. I have a smaller but still quite big installation four miles away, I suppose it could be used for sheep but when we import half of our food it seems such a waste I totally agree. Maybe we should source our own food, lamb in the this case, locally. It would be better for local farmers and save the co2 impact of carting it half way round the world from NZ. And cutting down a wooded area to build a solar farm is just crazy. 7 minutes ago, Frank Skilbeck said: But ironically if a farmer wanted to cover all his buildings with panels he can't because his grid connection won't take it That at least could be upgraded without too much hassle i would hope. 1 hour ago, MattyB said: This app based service allows those in your local area to utilise your charger when it's not in use, giving them an affordable charging option nearby without the cost of a charger install. Locals in our village can book one-off or recurring slots to charge, and I get notified and can choose whether to accept or reject. If I accept they just turn up and plug in; everything else is done by the app. That's pretty neat actually. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frank Skilbeck Posted September 8, 2023 Share Posted September 8, 2023 Interesting article here, https://www.carbonbrief.org/factcheck-is-solar-power-a-threat-to-uk-farmland/ basically solar farms take up less land than either golf courses or airports and less than a 1/70th of the land devoted to biofuels, using the same land for solar to charge electric cars would deliver > 48x the mileage. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rich Griff Posted September 8, 2023 Share Posted September 8, 2023 Growing biofuels whilst there are starving people on this world is a no brainer. God gave us legs to reach the pedals of our cars ? Solar farms need the grass cutting as well, what better way than sheep, turning that grass into meat, furtiliser ( paper even ) and wool. But that reguires joined up thinking which is in short supply in this country, but we are learning, very slowly. Manon rules... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Don Fry Posted September 8, 2023 Share Posted September 8, 2023 Personally I would prefer goat shaped lawnmowers. If I’ve got to eat less meat, I’ll have something really nice. BTW, my lamb (jacobs) is sourced from lawnmowers a kilometre from the house. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon H Posted September 8, 2023 Share Posted September 8, 2023 22 minutes ago, Frank Skilbeck said: Interesting article here, https://www.carbonbrief.org/factcheck-is-solar-power-a-threat-to-uk-farmland/ basically solar farms take up less land than either golf courses or airports and less than a 1/70th of the land devoted to biofuels, using the same land for solar to charge electric cars would deliver > 48x the mileage. If baffles me that we are using land area for solar at all. Are there insufficient flat roofed warehouses etc. If we cover all of those with panels the land would be dual use, and the green fields would not need covering at all. Is that not better? 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nigel R Posted September 8, 2023 Share Posted September 8, 2023 54 minutes ago, Don Fry said: Personally I would prefer goat shaped lawnmowers. They'd probably eat the solar panels though. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rich Griff Posted September 8, 2023 Share Posted September 8, 2023 Nationalise every suitable roof... Supermarket supersheds, mmmmmm 8 dispisable capes s second thrown away, remember Corona glass pop bottles ? Disposable capes Disposable vapes, stupid phone. Brazil harvested some form of water Lilly to produce biofuels probably along with fish for food... No offshore wind farm allotments purchased in latest batch... 100 degrees f in our conservatory.... Looking forward to my solar heated shower this evening, a very long hose pipe laid on kitchen roof and routed into the bathroom... Have a great day folks... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MattyB Posted September 8, 2023 Author Share Posted September 8, 2023 (edited) 1 hour ago, Jon - Laser Engines said: If baffles me that we are using land area for solar at all. Are there insufficient flat roofed warehouses etc. If we cover all of those with panels the land would be dual use, and the green fields would not need covering at all. Is that not better? I'm guessing slightly, but based on our install the exact direction the panels face and any shading they experience can make a massive difference to efficiency. We are lucky as our roof apex is aligned E-W meaning our panels can face almost due south, but if the building has a pitched roof and that isn't the case it's going to cost a lot more per kW to get a system that performs well. Planning regs may also prevent them installing the necessary stand-offs etc that guarantee optimal angles to the sun (most areas prevent the panels from projecting above the apex of the building). Edited September 8, 2023 by MattyB 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MattyB Posted September 8, 2023 Author Share Posted September 8, 2023 3 minutes ago, Rich Griff said: Nationalise every suitable roof... Supermarket supersheds, mmmmmm 8 dispisable capes s second thrown away, remember Corona glass pop bottles ? Disposable capes Disposable vapes, stupid phone. Brazil harvested some form of water Lilly to produce biofuels probably along with fish for food... No offshore wind farm allotments purchased in latest batch... 100 degrees f in our conservatory.... Looking forward to my solar heated shower this evening, a very long hose pipe laid on kitchen roof and routed into the bathroom... Have a great day folks... Sorry, but I give up... Have you considered editing your posts into something more coherent before pressing submit? 🥴 That way we might actually stand a chance of understanding what you are trying to say... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rich Griff Posted September 8, 2023 Share Posted September 8, 2023 Sometimes predictive text us so humourous. It takes over needing constant corrections, then when I get it right and press send, it alters the spelling/ words.... Is that plain enough.....and understandable.....cheapo internet mobile phone. Do you remember Corona pop bottles ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rich Griff Posted September 8, 2023 Share Posted September 8, 2023 Us should read is..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IDD15 Posted September 8, 2023 Share Posted September 8, 2023 10 minutes ago, MattyB said: I'm guessing slightly, but based on our install the exact direction the panels face and any shading they experience can make a massive difference to efficiency. We are lucky as our roof apex is aligned E-W meaning our panels can face almost due south, but if the building has a pitched roof and that isn't the case it's going to cost a lot more per kW to get a system that performs well. Planning regs may also prevent them installing the necessary stand-offs etc that guarantee optimal angles to the sun (most areas prevent the panels from projecting above the apex of the building). Hi Matty Can I ask whose home storage battery you went for? Having now got a Zappi charger my intention had been to go for a Libbi on the basis of one app to rule them all.. Thx idd Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MattyB Posted September 8, 2023 Author Share Posted September 8, 2023 (edited) 41 minutes ago, IDD15 said: Hi Matty Can I ask whose home storage battery you went for? Having now got a Zappi charger my intention had been to go for a Libbi on the basis of one app to rule them all.. Thx idd That is probably a sensible strategy, and the route we would probably go today if starting again (unfortunately myenergi were a one product company at the time we gave the go ahead on our install). We have a GivEnergy hybrid inverter and battery, and it all works fine, but you have to do some careful configuration of the different devices in the system to ensure they sequence correctly. Example - we want the PV to powers the house loads first, then charge the home battery, then the car (if attached), then the solar diverter to the immersion heater, and only then then export to the grid. In addition there is some extra complexity when setting up overnight charging, as with any hybrid inverter it's easy to inadvertently dumping the charge from the home battery into the car when you don't want to. Whilst that's not a direct result of incompatibility between the Give and myenergi kit, it does require some tweaking of settings in both apps for us. By contrast if everything is from myenergi controlling the overall system and sequencing those priorities is a lot easier, and that will only get better over time. PS - Unless you are a low usage one or two person family, get two libbis to start with (e.g. 10kwH). Rationale - I calculated we would be ok with a 5.2KWh battery, but in the end they weren';t available so I ended up with an 8. This gives lots of additional options, and also remember you get the VAT off if you are installing the battery with PV at the same time, whereas if you add an extra unit later then VAT at 20% is still due. Edited September 8, 2023 by MattyB Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IDD15 Posted September 8, 2023 Share Posted September 8, 2023 3 hours ago, MattyB said: That is probably a sensible strategy, and the route we would probably go today if starting again (unfortunately myenergi were a one product company at the time we gave the go ahead on our install). We have a GivEnergy hybrid inverter and battery, and it all works fine, but you have to do some careful configuration of the different devices in the system to ensure they sequence correctly. Example - we want the PV to powers the house loads first, then charge the home battery, then the car (if attached), then the solar diverter to the immersion heater, and only then then export to the grid. In addition there is some extra complexity when setting up overnight charging, as with any hybrid inverter it's easy to inadvertently dumping the charge from the home battery into the car when you don't want to. Whilst that's not a direct result of incompatibility between the Give and myenergi kit, it does require some tweaking of settings in both apps for us. By contrast if everything is from myenergi controlling the overall system and sequencing those priorities is a lot easier, and that will only get better over time. PS - Unless you are a low usage one or two person family, get two libbis to start with (e.g. 10kwH). Rationale - I calculated we would be ok with a 5.2KWh battery, but in the end they weren';t available so I ended up with an 8. This gives lots of additional options, and also remember you get the VAT off if you are installing the battery with PV at the same time, whereas if you add an extra unit later then VAT at 20% is still due. Thanks for taking the time for such a comprehensive reply. Much appreciated. I need to be a bit careful about adding more Solar as I strongly suspect Eon who are my FIT “supplier” may use it to say I have to give up my existing contract which I do not want to do. It’s one of the reasons I decided to buy into the Ripple scheme. So I may end up taking the VAT hit. Anyway we’ll see… Thx again idd Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Don Fry Posted September 8, 2023 Share Posted September 8, 2023 6 hours ago, Jon - Laser Engines said: If baffles me that we are using land area for solar at all. Are there insufficient flat roofed warehouses etc. If we cover all of those with panels the land would be dual use, and the green fields would not need covering at all. Is that not better? What I see here, all the supermarkets are installing covered parking. Panel roof, cars parked in the cool. Win, win. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MattyB Posted September 8, 2023 Author Share Posted September 8, 2023 2 hours ago, IDD15 said: Thanks for taking the time for such a comprehensive reply. Much appreciated. I need to be a bit careful about adding more Solar as I strongly suspect Eon who are my FIT “supplier” may use it to say I have to give up my existing contract which I do not want to do. It’s one of the reasons I decided to buy into the Ripple scheme. So I may end up taking the VAT hit. Anyway we’ll see… Thx again idd Ah, ok. Yes, if you are on a FIT tariff I can see you will need to do some careful calculations to decide if it is worth adding more solar or not vs. the VAT you would save on your battery. A while ago I’m sure keeping your FIT tariff would have been an absolute no brainier, but there is a lot of innovation going on in smart tariffs. Octopus are certainly getting way better for export - Flux is probably the leader here for people with solar and batteries, and may be the first to start to get meaningfully closer together old FIT rates: They also have a new “Intelligent” Flux tariff where the import and export rates are the same, and Octopus integrate with your battery to charge and discharge it at the most economic and green set times for you. That won’t work for us though, as with the EV we need a low rate n the night to charge more than that higher export rate at night. https://octopus.energy/intelligent-octopus-flux/ 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rich Griff Posted September 12, 2023 Share Posted September 12, 2023 Interesting/worrying day in the commons today, energy bill. Interesting read. Another interesting read, rowen Atkinson about electric cars... Who would have thunk he was an electronics engineer ? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IDD15 Posted September 12, 2023 Share Posted September 12, 2023 The Rowan Atkinson opinion piece has been widely debunked and has had at least three “official” amends since published. This is particularly in response to using a single report on EV emissions that had not proven accurate and wildly inaccurate claims about the life of lithium cells. No mention of their use in secondary systems for grid storage etc. This is a shame as he does make a very good point about “fast fashion”, 3 year leases and consumerism in relation to car sales. But this part of the argument has been overlooked in all the controversy. Whereabouts did you read about the energy bill? idd 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rich Griff Posted September 12, 2023 Share Posted September 12, 2023 (edited) A good friend came over Saturday with his superdelegates international ( dam predictive text again, should read super duper ) phone and showed me "energy bill" article. I googled it and got the same article. He also told me of the rowen Atkinson article. I have to read both fully. Tried to download energy bill article today, no chance with this cheapo internet phone. Bill to be debated in commons this afternoon unless it's cancelled. Vote taking place this evening I believe then it's back to the lord's for them to scrutinise for the nth time ? Powers to force entry to fit smart meters... 12 months imprisonment/£15k fines for failing to follow home heat insulation standards... Various other things in bill.... The bill has not been finalised yet I believe..... There is bound to be info on newsnight tonight. Edited September 12, 2023 by Rich Griff Dam predictive text Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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