Solar panel production figures

Some nice figures in here! We don't have solar yet (and probably won't on this house) but very encouraging that people are managing to generate more than our daily usage, so as long as we combined with a house battery it would be very beneficial for us.

Does anyone run air conditioning from their solar? Seems the perfect match - you need a/c when there's a lot of sun baking everything, and when there's a lot of sun you're making power. I would guess when combined with a battery you'd easily be able to feed a split system that's cooling? It probably only pulls 1-2kW even with a few indoor units?
 
I don't have ac as it's never hot enough in this country to warrant it but a few people here have it and yes it becomes very cost effective to run your AC when there is sun. Split systems are pretty efficient. If you're generating 4+ kw then it'll easily cope.
 
Freefaller said:
I don't have ac as it's never hot enough in this country to warrant it but a few people here have it and yes it becomes very cost effective to run your AC when there is sun. Split systems are pretty efficient. If you're generating 4+ kw then it'll easily cope.
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Bolded, underlined bit is a total and utter lie ;)
 
Freefaller said:
I don't have ac as it's never hot enough in this country to warrant it but a few people here have it and yes it becomes very cost effective to run your AC when there is sun. Split systems are pretty efficient. If you're generating 4+ kw then it'll easily cope.
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It definitely is. We have a well insulated house, but even with blinds and curtains shut on the south-facing side of the house, the internal temperature often exceeds 22C, reaching near 30C during the heatwave. That's definitely too hot, especially for a bedroom.

I hope to negate some of that this year with external shading/blinds/a towel hung up outside, but a newish-build house with solar glass amplifies any sun getting in. Good in winter, bad in summer.
 
It isn't warranted for me. But for the British I can understand why they think it's warm. :)

22c I'm still in jeans, t-shirt and thin top! :D

Then again I'm also a nutter that does winter open water swimming and ice baths so I'm strange;)

Anyway the point is yes Solar and AC works really well together, and because your batteries are likely to be fully charged by the evening having your AC on low power in the evening wouldn't be too bad and even if you drain your battery you'll have saved a tonne of electricity use.

I concede that AC units can be used to warm and dry the air in the winter so they are dual purpose so if that's something you're considering then solar and AC units make a perfect match.
 
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FYI. My brothers GivEnergy setup is behaving as i'd expect now. I've not turned Eco on. It charges to the set % each day durning the Go Window. I had it set to 75% and on a few of thge sunnier days he has got to 100%. I've lowered him down to 60% over night now.
 
squerble said:
Does anyone run air conditioning from their solar? Seems the perfect match - you need a/c when there's a lot of sun baking everything, and when there's a lot of sun you're making power. I
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One if the major reasons I'm getting solar installed (two weeks to go). Split AC will probably go in next year, but for now I'll be able to run the portable AC during the summer when it's needed. My house was regularly getting over 30c last summer. And it never seems to release the heat at night. Even slept in a tent in my garden to keep cool.
 
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john_smith said:
I've got AC in my shed where it can get very hot due to a large south facing window and exceptional insulation. I've never felt the need to have it in my house though.
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Have you looked at some kind of external blind/shutter for the south facing window? If the insulation is good, then in theory as long as you stop the sunlight before it gets to the window, the insulation keeps heat out too :)
 
Today definitely looking a bit tastier than yesterday, I hope it stays like this because a once in a while all sunny all day thing lets you see where system potential lies at this time of year.
 
Certainly puts in a dent in the "only works in summer" naysayers!

EDIT: those with solar and batteries, are you manually managing your battery charging overnight to account for potential sun the next day?
 
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