Brilliant news!

[edent@mastodon.social]

@OneInterestingFact @phoerious
Yes, every smart meter in the UK can measure export. I've done it on several smart meters. You'll need to tell your energy company so they can pay you correctly.

[oneinterestingfact@mastodon.ie]

@Photo55 @Edent

Bear in mind that a large proportion of homes don't have stored hot water and that a standard immersion heater is 3kW.

[photo55@mastodon.social]

@Edent it doesn't say when, which is important.
I do wonder though how likely anyone will now be to take action against someone who hangs panels on a balcony or wall.
Not very, I'd think.
#balconysolar

[raymaccarthy@mastodon.ie]

@Edent
A subsidy, plus mandatory Solar + batteries on all new buildings.
Add to bus shelters, bicycle shelters, car parks etc.

This encourages poor quality solutions and changes nothing.

[edent@mastodon.social]

@Photo55 it literally says they're consulting now.

The action wouldn't be against hanging a panel (although their could be some health and safety things if not tied down). It's about making sure that the things are electrically safe.

[edent@mastodon.social]

@raymaccarthy you do know the UK hugely subsidises solar, right?

And that new-builds will have solar by default. That's already law.

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/rooftop-solar-for-new-builds-to-save-people-money

I've got to ask, why are you such a doomer about this good news?

[wolf_baginski@meow.social]

@balkonsolar @sheddi @Edent

I am wary of ANY supermarket for stuff which needs support available in the long term. Not wearing out as aging, over 4 or 5 years, but failing next year.

[raymaccarthy@mastodon.ie]

@Edent
Because it's mostly PR.
The Solar UPS was already possible without this is change and far better as It can make bigger savings & security.
The so-called "balcony" solar makes little difference. This is ONLY useful for people wanting to sell to grid that have maybe only one or two panels. You need a lot more, especially the darker half of the year to make a difference and then the extra cost of a certified electrician isn't significant.
Solar without the LiFePO4 batteries is stupid.

[edent@mastodon.social]

@raymaccarthy
No, that's not really correct.

A battery is only good if you can plug stuff in to it. Which means you need to route your cables around - and it'd be impossible to plug an oven in to it.

Balcony solar goes:
* Panel out of window
* String to inverter
* Inverter to mains via plug

Then *all* of your devices can use solar. Not just the ones within cable reach of your window.

Anyway, if you want more of my thoughts on solar - https://shkspr.mobi/blog/tag/solar/

[raymaccarthy@mastodon.ie]

@Edent
No, that's nonsense.

Talk to an electrician and look at power of panel.
A typical 400W panel only gives that for a few hours each day in clear sky in Jun/Jul. A cheap "balcony" system is 1/2 that.
Maybe 10W to 40W at noon in Dec/Jan on average.
Without a battery you can't use ANY of the 400W if the mains supply fails.
You don't plug anything into the battery!
You plug into the inverter or inverter/UPS. The Electricity companies don't pay well for the Solar to grid!
Oven is irrelevant

[kerplunk@mastodon.scot]

@Edent

Brilliant news! The UK's Labour Government are going to make "plug in solar" legal.

Another of their tricks to try and take votes from green by grabbing their policys.

Remember how many promises Labour made, and how many they have broken, like most of them....

[edent@mastodon.social]

@raymaccarthy
I have rather a lot of experience with domestic solar.

The point of balcony solar isn't to power your whole house. Nor is it to island your home in event of a power cut.

You're arguing against something that it explicitly isn't designed for.

It's to trickle feed energy into your home in order to reduce what you're drawing from the mains.

[edent@mastodon.social]

@Kerplunk you didn't read the Labour Party manifesto, did you?

They explicitly mention solar and other green policies.

Not sure how making it easier to get solar power is a trick. Do you want these policies now or only after another 3 years when Zack is PM?

[sean@mastodon.me.uk]

@OneInterestingFact @Photo55 @Edent a 3kw immersion element doesn't have to be run at a continuous 3kw

But more importantly most homes have a small continuous power draw for things like fridges and devices on standby

A small solar panel will avoid having to pay for much of this power.

The smaller the solar setup the less "problem" there is with "excess" free power.

So a small cheap setup is likely to be highly utilised without storage.

[matthewcroughan@social.defenestrate.it]

Meanwhile, due to leaseholds and the seeming lack of reform on their rules, despite initial optimism, I still can't get solar anywhere near the roof of the flat I own.

[edent@mastodon.social]

@matthewcroughan @raymaccarthy
Yes, that's the point of this proposal. You'll be able to hang them on your flat's balcony, or our a window. No need to drill into your roof.

[matthewcroughan@social.defenestrate.it]

Oh, perfect! I was wondering when this was coming to the UK. Please God let this pass.

[edent@mastodon.social]

@matthewcroughan I strongly recommend writing to your MP to let them know you're in favour of it.

[connynasch@mastodon.social]

@sheddi @Edent thank you for the link 🤗

[gundersen@mastodon.social]

@Edent haha, good to know you think of the people 🤣

I'm just sharing the objections of the Norwegian government. Is there a legal requirement for the balcony panels to have that kind of inverter? There doesn't seem to be an EU law, apparently. It would be good if we could just copy your laws, seeing as my government is mortally afraid of taking any decision on their own, but European champions in copying others laws