Brilliant news!

[edent@mastodon.social]

@bloor STRAIGHT TO JAIL FOR A THOUSAND YEARS!

[edent@mastodon.social]

@seanhood Write to your MP, tell them you think it is a brilliant idea, and ask when it will be in place.

That will show them (and the department) that their constituents are interested in green energy.

[bloor@bloor.tw]

@Edent second hand sunny boy sb1200, a “naughty” cable, and ten 100W panels. I did plug it into a radial with just that one socket on it, so it was “safe”.

[jpwsutton@mastodon.social]

@Edent I love the idea of this, but the suicide plug on the end scares me. Assuming they have some pretty quick cutoff times or something in case you pull the plug out?

[edent@mastodon.social]

@jpwsutton Yes. The inverter which turns DC from the panels into AC for your home needs a "carrier" frequency to work. It has to match the Hz in your wires.
If it loses that, it instantly shuts down.
That's how all inverters work.

[kim@fedi.social]

@Edent@mastodon.social This is the sort of chaos-with-Ed-Milliband that I can get behind.

[christo_459@mastodon.me.uk]

@Edent @annehargreaves
I will certainly mail my MP but we also have a very strong residents association
I'm.travelling home to London on Friday so next week will set to.

[ams@infosec.exchange]

@sheddi @revk @Walrus @Edent Sounds like there's a market for ~25mH three phase inductors to help shift some vars around.

[matthewcroughan@social.defenestrate.it]

When do we know if this is complete and fully legal?

[edent@mastodon.social]

@matthewcroughan when it is finally announced. They aren't going to keep it secret.

[matthewcroughan@social.defenestrate.it]

Another question, why was this ever illegal?

[jpwsutton@mastodon.social]

@Edent Makes complete sense. I guess I'd just never considered that would be fine on a type G plug too, but no reason why not I suppose!

[edent@mastodon.social]

@matthewcroughan
See my answer at
https://mastodon.social/@Edent/116233685137748142

[matthewcroughan@social.defenestrate.it]

And finally, the next question, where's the objectively best place to get the best solar panels that isn't lidl, in the UK, at the moment? :P

[photo55@mastodon.social]

@OneInterestingFact @Edent
The ideal is that you have an immersion heater at the bottom of a tank.
The 3kW rating is a limit, not a requirement. 200W makes warm water if that's what you have. We occasionally get up to 1.1kW into it.

Retrofitting instantaneous gas systems probably isn't worthwhile, but there's a gadget more used in Ireland with a small cylinder and heater, which you could use to preheat.

In truth though, small flats etc can just ignore the few watt hours that escape.

[edent@mastodon.social]

@matthewcroughan
Knock on your neighbours' doors. Ask them who installed their solar and whether they'd recommend them.

[matthewcroughan@social.defenestrate.it]

Oh, I'm in Birkenhead, there's no solar anywhere around here. I haven't seen a single installation. I find it funny that you think it's that common, you have no idea how thirsty I am for solar.

[matthewcroughan@social.defenestrate.it]

For balcony solar, you're probably going to want the absolute best panels in order to get the most out of the limited surface area, that's what I'm curious about.

[sheddi@mstdn.party]

@bloor @Edent I know someone (definitely not me, no siree Bob) with four used 250W panels and a secondhand inverter who's doing something similar.

[wellsitegeo@masto.ai]

@Edent
Don't forget the battery bank, inverter, control box.
Oh, and a balcony.
Or a roof.
Or even a garden.