Paphos Life

I was very surprised when I checked on my inverter how many kWh I have produced yesterday and today in these extreme hot temperatures at my place above Paphos. (>6.7 kW/per installed kWp.modules, outdoor temperature since late morning 38c)

Obviously the latest generation of photo-voltaic modules which are installed since 2 years on my roof can cope much better with the heat than rumors are telling us.
On the other hand it is interesting to see that the voltage of the EAC network is much lower as many customers are running their air-cons in daytime which reduced the voltage in my place p.e. from 253v to 245v. Critical point for my inverter is above 254v when it switches off the system for at least four minutes until several restarts.

Another reason for high voltage of the grid is when we have unusual high winds before midday and the wind turbines nearby producing a good amount of electricity, while EAC cannot cope to adjust voltage and frequency (which should be near 50)

Other reason for good electricity production these days is the optimum tilt of the modules on the roof or ground which is right now between 12 and 15 degrees. Most of our roofs here in Cyprus are having that tilt. (me too)

So, in order to avoid that the voltage of the EAC network gets above 253v, I switch on larger loads at my house like pool pump and air-cons, early enough, with the result that my PV inverter does not switch off several times. Side effect is a much lower indoor temperature in the house, which means less running time for the air-cons at nighttime and less electricity consumption then, when it costs money...(OK, little money 3c/kWh)

Max

We, and our neighbours, have not had any problems recently with EAC voltage. However, around a year ago we did, with one and two hour periods when we were producing electric as it was sunny, but not exporting to the grid. We, and all of our neighbours got messages from Solar Edge about this fault and I got in touch with EAC. Since then, we have had an uninterrupted supply. Previously we had breaks on the graph where it went down to zero and the invertor would go into a standby mode, trying to connect after 60 seconds, then 120 and this would increase by one minute each time the invertor failed to connect.

Today, another perfect day. When it was cooler we were exporting just above the 5Kwh at peak production. Now, in the heat, and probably dusty panels, as our pool has been covered with pollen each morning, just a little bit less, but we have over 7000Kwh in the bank.
By the way, pv panels are the best investment we have ever made. We freely use our air con without any worry about the cost heat the house and pool throughout the winter. Our largest bill, €80 in December, January, included heating our pool to 28c and maintaining a temperature of 18c in all 3 bedrooms and 22c in living areas.

Just to add, when we had the emails from solar edge, saying there was a fault, I notified EAC by phone, on their report a fault or lack of supply number. That particular night, we had a power cut, but I was outside when the power went off. It coincided with a huge flash in the sky, not lightening. I rang EAC and told them about both our power cut and the fact we had been experiencing periods in the day when we had been producing electric but not exporting to the grid, and that our neighbours were also experiencing this fault.

Around 3 weeks later, EAC came and attached monitoring equipment in our box for 5 days. Since then we have not had a problem. Also, recently, they have been doing upgrading work in Anarita.

Over the last 7 days my 3kwh system has produced over 20kwhs a day.
Paul

Interestingly a guy turned up from Green Air about 10 minutes ago, said he had to check the inverter. Apparently did so by just looking at the display. Said there are no problems. Can't think of any reason he would do so except that his boss is standing in the elections and maybe wants everything hunky dory.

I don't think his election would hinge on whether your panels were working or not. You can't even vote!

Dominic, we do know that. It was mentioned tongue in cheek. Perhaps I should have added a smiley face?!

Wonder if anyone else has had a visit.

Kansas, when our invertor was disconnecting from the grid, it was nothing to do with Greenair. They came and inspected it, and nothing was wrong. It was only when we got emails from Solar Edge that there was a fault in our voltage that was causing the problem that we contacted EAC and they monitored our voltage for a week and rectified the problem.

Anarita John wrote: ↑Sun Jun 09, 2024 12:55 am Kansas, when our invertor was disconnecting from the grid, it was nothing to do with Greenair. They came and inspected it, and nothing was wrong. It was only when we got emails from Solar Edge that there was a fault in our voltage that was causing the problem that we contacted EAC and they monitored our voltage for a week and rectified the problem.

What was the nature of the problem? Voltage fluctuations in the public grid?

Thank you, Anarita John. Good to know. We pass by Green Air on a regular basis so we might pop in.

I had a problem with AC voltage and tripping out.
I spoke to the electrician who put the system in at Solar tech and we pushed the AC out up to 257v.
Since then the system has not tripped again
It was the AC in the grid was to high for the inverter and making it trip out.
Paul

When there is a power cut then the power comes back on, we often find that our PV panels stay off. We must manually switch them back on again. Fine when we are here, but not if we are away. Does anyone know what causes this? The installer Greenair does not know.

sunspot wrote: ↑Mon Jun 10, 2024 6:17 am When there is a power cut then the power comes back on, we often find that our PV panels stay off. We must manually switch them back on again. Fine when we are here, but not if we are away. Does anyone know what causes this? The installer Greenair does not know.

I´ve had this problem as well. My solution is monitoring production and asking my neighbours to switch it back on when I´m abroad.

naive question .. but how do you monitor voltage .. and are you on 3 phase supply or single phase ?

mark4007 wrote: ↑Wed Jun 12, 2024 12:11 pm naive question .. but how do you monitor voltage .. and are you on 3 phase supply or single phase ?

Well, I have a voltmeter plugged-in near my kitchen hob and when it shows low voltage figures I double check the display on my inverter....

Max

I'm not an electrician, but out of interest I monitor our usage.

Our PV installation never trips out when there is a powercut. I am sure if it did, Greenair would find out why, speak to Christos, the owner. I wonder if it could be a sudden surge when your electric supply is restored that trips your system. This used to happen in Anarita, and, if there was a powercut, people used to unplug everything and switch back on when power was restored.

We are on 3 phase, and the EAC came and attached cables and a box to our meter cupboard. They kept it on for a week and, since then we have had no problem.

When our invertor disconnected from the grid, the same problem happened with our other 2 neighbours who had solar edge invertors. All 3 of us had identical emails from solar edge. The production data graphs from solar edge were identical, which proved it was a problem with EAC and not our PV installation. It was then that I contacted EAC and around 3 weeks later, they monitored our 3 phase supply. Prior to this, Ken, from Greenair, had increased the voltage perameters on our solar edge invertor to the maximum.

Anarita John wrote: ↑Wed Jun 12, 2024 5:15 pm I'm not an electrician, but out of interest I monitor our usage.

Our PV installation never trips out when there is a powercut. I am sure if it did, Greenair would find out why, speak to Christos, the owner. I wonder if it could be a sudden surge when your electric supply is restored that trips your system. This used to happen in Anarita, and, if there was a powercut, people used to unplug everything and switch back on when power was restored.

We are on 3 phase, and the EAC came and attached cables and a box to our meter cupboard. They kept it on for a week and, since then we have had no problem.

When our invertor disconnected from the grid, the same problem happened with our other 2 neighbours who had solar edge invertors. All 3 of us had identical emails from solar edge. The production data graphs from solar edge were identical, which proved it was a problem with EAC and not our PV installation. It was then that I contacted EAC and around 3 weeks later, they monitored our 3 phase supply. Prior to this, Ken, from Greenair, had increased the voltage perameters on our solar edge invertor to the maximum.

Thank you. We have told Greenair about this problem, but they have no ideas. Will try again and ask about EAC monitoring.