Paphos Life

As members on the forum perhaps know: photovoltaic is my hobbyhorse and I check nearly everyday the amount of electricity i produce with my PV system.

So today the weather conditions were perfect to get the maximum out of a installation at my place as no clouds interfered the whole day the production of electricity. On top of it was the fact that quite cold temperatures, slight wind and no humidity appeared. Further the modules were ever so clean after the last heavy rain/hail showers last week.

The average figure for a day in February would be around 4,4 kW/hours, however I produced 5,1 kW/h from 1 kWp installed modules which was the highest since more than 3 month.

In order to consume all that energy, I started 2 air-cons on heating mode already 8 AM and switched them only down after sunset as I don't want any more credit from EAC. (still have 500 units)

I wonder if anybody else with a PV system realised that today....

Max

4.93 per installed kw.

5.09.. highest since 6 Oct

intrigued as to why you dont want your credits to rise further..

Yep mine very good as well at 5.1 per installed kw.

A big round duck-egg zero from a 4 kW system. Why? I don't really know, but I suspect that there is a row going on between my contractor and the EAC. The panels were installed in May of last year but the rest of the installation wasn't finished until 2 February of this year but still no sign of connection to the grid. This prevarication has been going on since December 2020, partially held up by coronavirus restrictions and partly due to my own health problems but I tried to get it moving again in January 2022 and am furiously peeved at all the delays.

mark4007 wrote: ↑Sat Feb 18, 2023 7:09 am 5.09.. highest since 6 Oct

intrigued as to why you dont want your credits to rise further..

Normally the kWh credits are the lowest in Jan/Feb.

As I had still 500+ on my last bill and April/Mai coming, when I don't really use the air-cons yet, (living in the higher countryside) and don't have other large consumers in this two month I will enlarge my credit figure a lot to have enough even in an extreme hot summer.

Would be interesting for me to know how much Anarita-John had that day, knowing his village name...

Max

Yesterday, 17th February, our production was 30.45 kwh. Production started at 6:45am, peaked at 12:15pm at 4.93kw and ended at approximately 5:15pm. We have 20 pv panels.
Today, Saturday 18th, we produced 29.8kwh. Each panel produced between 1.48kwh and 1.61kwh.

Just thankful we live in Cyprus, with abundant solar power and not the UK. Our daughters smart meter has shown just how much electricity and gas are costing, in the current energy crisis. £15 sterling per day for gas and electric in the cold weather and around £10 per day in the milder weather with outside temperatures ranging between 3c and 11c. This is just for heating downstairs rooms that are in use and being very careful. Gas and electric bills of over £400 sterling per month are common amongst all her friends and everyone is being very careful about what they use.

Anarita John I really don't know how your daughter and her friends are using that much energy. We live in the North East in a 2 bed well insulated bungalow. We are pensioners, don't go out much and use our cooker every day. We have gas central heating and an electric cooker. We keep our thermostat at 19 degrees which is ample even when it has been -3 outside. The heating comes on at 6.00am until 10.00 then 12.00 to 2.00pm and then 4.30 - 10.00pm. We occasionally give it a boost when it is very cold. Our bill for the month 18 December - 17 January was £168 and just received the bill for 18 Jan - 17 Feb and that is £162 - both bills minus the £67 Government discount thus giving a net figure of £101 and £95
That is approx £5.40 per day. I don't know anyone in my circle who is receiving bills of £400. We have 4 bed houses opposite us and they are not having such large bills. Some of them however have had panels installed and batteries so any excess electricity goes into their own batteries and one charges his electric car this way. Believe it or not it may be cold here but we tend to see planty of sun!!
I can categorically say that £400 per month is unheard of here!!

20 degrees is the ideal sleeping temperature in bedrooms. I would not like 19 degrees in daytime working on the computer or watching films.
Living in Cyprus I got used to higher temperatures in daytime and nighttime, so I can't imagine that 19 c is any comfortable. As one gets older you want higher temperatures not only here but also in central Europe.

Max

I have to disagree Cyprus Max. We did have our thermostat set to 20 degrees but this winter whilst trying to economise we initially set to 19.5 and then to 19. I most definitely could not sleep in 20 degrees at night - would be far too hot!! I can assure you that is comfortable albeit we wear a long sleeved jumper! We are both in our 70's and believe you me are not prepared to go cold!! As I said our bungalow is well insulated being only 4 years old. When it is really cold here and goes down to -3 over night our thermostat shows we have lost about 4 degrees through the night and our heating system soon boosts that up again to 19 within an hour or so.
When we lived in Cyprus we had an electric blanket for the winter and often felt cold in an uninsulated Villa. People told us when we returned to the UK how we would feel the cold but can honestly say not indoors ever!! Outside rather different and you will find me in thermal tights, gloves and hats on our dog walks!!!

Deleted as duplicate post!!

I agree wholeheartedly with Max. As I have got older, I must have higher temperatures to remain comfortable. In the living room, I set the thermostat at 23° C but this translates in reality to 22° C and even push it up another half degree in the evening for watching TV. My big problem is in the bedroom; I like lots of heat in the morning and evening for dressing and, above all, showering but don't need anything during the day or night. I therefore use the aircon rather than the central heating upstairs.

Again I think the difference in the Uk is that we generally have carpeted floors and are well insulated and often much smaller rooms than in Cyprus so very easy to feel cosy at 19 degrees. Our little 2 bed bungalow is a third of the size of the Villa we had in Cyprus- lots of insulation and double glazed!! If we set the temp to 23 here we would have steam coming out of our ears!!!

Also, it is relative. If you are in the UK your opinion of what being cold is is different to if you live in Cyprus. The first year I lived in Cyprus, I was wearing shorts and a T Shirt all winter. These days if I go out I normally wear long trousers and a jumper.

I remember years ago when I was working in West Byfleet. We employed a contractor from India to write a system. He had to have the heating on in his office in summer, but it was like an oven to the rest of us.

Anarita John wrote: ↑Sat Feb 18, 2023 6:57 pm Yesterday, 17th February, our production was 30.45 kwh. Production started at 6:45am, peaked at 12:15pm at 4.93kw and ended at approximately 5:15pm. We have 20 pv panels.
Today, Saturday 18th, we produced 29.8kwh. Each panel produced between 1.48kwh and 1.61kwh.

Just thankful we live in Cyprus, with abundant solar power and not the UK. Our daughters smart meter has shown just how much electricity and gas are costing, in the current energy crisis. £15 sterling per day for gas and electric in the cold weather and around £10 per day in the milder weather with outside temperatures ranging between 3c and 11c. This is just for heating downstairs rooms that are in use and being very careful. Gas and electric bills of over £400 sterling per month are common amongst all her friends and everyone is being very careful about what they use.

Thank you John for your figures, very interesting for me. I assume that your PV system size is ca 6 kWp, because when you say "20 PV panels" tells me nothing about the full size. However your peak figure 4.93 kW did, as this day we had no cloud at all. (I can see Amargeti from my place)
Clouds can rise the PV output when the sun is on the edge of them. (only short time).

Interesting also your figures about the costs for energy in the UK. It is ever worse in Germany were people struggle to pay their electricity bills when they have no own PV system. Luckily many have. The kWh electricity there is between 40 c and 60 c, depending their energy supply company.

Max

cyprusmax47 wrote: ↑Mon Feb 20, 2023 10:27 am The kWh electricity there is between 40 c and 60 c, depending their energy supply company.
Max

that sounds terrible until you realise that the average German receives three times as many euros as his Cypriot compatriot. With all the add-on's, my Cypriot electricity bill averages about 26 eurocents per kilowatt hour, so Costas pays proportionally much more than Fritz.

The price of electricity per kwh that I pay here in the UK is 32.24 pence plus an additional 26.45 pence per day standing charge - these prices are inclusive of VAT which is set at 5% on fuel.
My gas is charged at 9.59 pence and standing charge of 26.10pence per day again inclusive of VAT.
As you can see from these figures you would have to use a shed load of kwh's to receive bills of £400 monthly as Anarita John suggested.
I don't know what help the Governments have given if any in Cyprus and Germany but here in the UK everyone has received £550 - £150 of this as long as they are in D council rating or lower. In addition people with disabilities have received £150 and pensioners a further £500 per household. People on low incomes and in receipt of benefits have received even more! The UK is now officially a nanny state in my opinion!!

We have a 4 kw pv system, 16 panels two aspect ( 8 facing SW, 8 facing West roughly) only producing around 10kw a day.....any idea how to improve?
Was told that optimisers were not financially worth fitting......

I agree that optimisers are not a financial benefit but only on condition that all your panels receive whatever sunlight there is. If, during the day, some of your panels become shaded while others are in full sunlight, optimisers can allow the full output of the sunlit panels to provide energy.

Thanks Devil....to clarify both banks of 8 panels receive all available sunshine at some time during the day but not all at the same time....
There is no other shading to obstruct them....