TIL that #solarPanels also have bad consequences :D

[float13@masto.hackers.town]

@valhalla

What happens if you don't use it? It goes to waste? Or does the system get damaged somehow?

[valhalla@social.gl-como.it]

@GustavinoBevilacqua tecnicamente se ci abilitano per rimandare in rete è praticamente una prolunga per arrivare dai vicini, giusto? :D

[valhalla@social.gl-como.it]

@float13 it goes to waste

and as soon as the technician will change our meter (which should be soon) it will go back to the grid (and we will get paid a small amount)

[gustavinobevilacqua@mastodon.cisti.org]

@valhalla

Esatto!
Una reticella…
Oppure potresti offrire ricariche alle auto elettriche in cambio di prodotti dell'orto…

[valhalla@social.gl-como.it]

@GustavinoBevilacqua oggi sono andati sprecati circa 200 Wh, su 19kWh fatti, eh, non è che sia una cosa significativa :)

[mdione@en.osm.town]

@valhalla @float13 I wonder where that energy goes. Heat I guess? Or is it not generated in ths first place? Do pannels get hotter in that case?

#solar

[srtcd424@mas.to]

@mdione
I don't fully understand the physics, but I believe if there's no load on panels they don't generate - which is handy from a safety point of view. This is unlike wind turbines, which have been known to catch fire if there's a load v generation mismatch!
@valhalla @float13

[mr_gharice@mastodon.social]

@srtcd424
As long as the system isn't disconnected from the grid, electricity from the solar flows into it. In this case the meter simply cannot register it.
Edit: that's why the system needs to be cut off from the grid or shut down in case of power outage in the grid.
@mdione @valhalla @float13

[alorenzi@livellosegreto.it]

@valhalla domanda sciocca, cosa succede all'eletricitá in eccesso? si surriscalda qualcosa? O si manda in grid a gratis?

[valhalla@social.gl-como.it]

@Mr_GHARice @mdione @float13 @srtcd424 there is a bit in the inverter box that decides whether to recharge the batteries, deliver energy to the hourse or send it back to the grid, and it had been setup not to deliver energy to the grid, until the meter is ready for it

otherwise, the meter would have happily registered it as energy passing through it, and billed us for it

it's not the system that shuts everything down when there is a power outage, as there often is a trickle of energy going up into the grid according to the monitoring system, enough to be dangerous for people working on the outage, but not significant for billing reasons.

[mdione@en.osm.town]

@Mr_GHARice I think you're answering a different question, that of "what happens if the main grid generators go down (f.i., disconnected from the grid) and the solar panel is still connected". My question was "what happens if there is no load", and similarly, "who actually provides the energy if there is load, solar vs grid; and what happens to what is generated but not used". On the grid side it's regulated by generating more or less energy depending on load.

@srtcd424 @valhalla @float13

[valhalla@social.gl-como.it]

@alorenzi magic :D

i pannelli non producono oltre quanto viene richiesto dai carichi

(suppongo ci sia un po' di calore in più da qualche parte, visto che il sole ha colpito la superficie, ma non a sufficienza da causare problemi)

[valhalla@social.gl-como.it]

@mdione @srtcd424 @Mr_GHARice @float13 the smart bit inside the inverter box decides how much energy should be taken by the panels, batteries or grid, and how much energy should go to the house, batteries, or grid

the panels are ok with only providing less energy than they could produce, with no ill effects, because electovoltaics are *magic*; (I assume that there is a bit more heat going around, but still less than what would have been released by the sun hitting a dark-ish roof, so easily dissipated)

[valhalla@social.gl-como.it]

@srtcd424 @float13 @mdione indeed, in both safety and ability to scale down photovoltaics are much better than wind turbines

(which is why wind turbines are mostly a power plant level thing, while photovoltaic on the home is often a better choice even in places with more wind than sun)

(also, this is definitely a case of whyNotBoth, each in its own suitable environment)

[cate@mastodon.xyz]

@mdione @valhalla @float13 it is not generated, so it becomes like a dark wall (so still absorbing heat, but no photo-electric-effect in place).

@valhalla luckily we are in winter, else you should iron and solder and weld all days.

[valhalla@social.gl-como.it]

@cate @mdione @float13 our soldering iron is something like 20W, basically irrelevant

and I don't have a welder, nor can use it (yet)

I suspect that the clothes iron isn't that much of a load either, at least once it's up to temperature, because it's rated 2.2 kW or something, but it's also on for very short periods of time, I should take some actual measurement

the same applies to the kettle: rated 2.2 kW, but for a tea it only stays on for a couple of minutes, so it's less than 100 Wh

[tk@sunmine.de]

@valhalla i can recommend vacuuming the house or baking cake/casserole?
For the advanced users: Charging the EV or Water heating via heatpump

[valhalla@social.gl-como.it]

@tk honestly, ironing clothes is less of a chore than vacuuming :D (we usually do it a bit at a time with a rechargeable vacuum)

(and baking, considering a number of food restrictions, would have required too much prep time, ending up happening after the peak of electricity production)

(heat pumps for water heating have been postponed to “when we can save a bit more money for it, and hopefully the prices will have gone down a bit, because right now all of the quotes we're getting are (probably oversized but) extortionate”)