Helping your neighbours, fighting energy prices and taking the power back.
Graham Hendra
Heat Pump Subject Matter Expert, Refrigeration and Air conditioning lecturer
This weekend the weather has been glorious, its been fun fun fun in the sun sun sun. For those people lucky enough to have solar PV the electricity has literally been pouring off the roof. If you have a battery you are double quids in, you can charge the batteries up and when its dark later you still have free electricity, you lucky lot.
I’m a heat pumps guys, most of you know that, but one must cast the net a bit wider in these interesting and totally disorganised times, so I’ve been having a dabble in solar PV one day a week. Solar PV is a nice simple technology, everyone gets the concept, the sun shines on the roof panels, they make electricity, it connects to the house through some magic boxes and your electricity bill falls. Its quite literally a power station on the roof.
Years ago when I started flogging heat pumps a legend of the PV world came to see me and asked why I wasn’t getting on "the solar coaster," I thought no I’m not getting involved in that , I’ve never been good with money so I stuck with heat pumps. Looking back, I was an idiot, he was driving a Ferrari F40, I had a Citroen DS3.
Solar PV is a super established market, the players in the market know what they are doing, they have made some simply mind-blowingly simple design tools quite literally making quoting a solar PV system from?the comfort of your own desk a reality. The installations are really slick, all the kits are simple and efficient to install. I really like solar.
When it come to the kit I’m a fan of Solar Edge, their design tools are lovely. I can look at a satellite image of your house, drop some panels on the roof, (virtually), draw in all the nearby trees and obstacles and produce a beautiful report for you all without getting in the car.
Of course the DNO do everything in their power to make life hard should the customer choose to go ahead, you have to fill in mindless forms, draw pictures of where the meters are, screen grab google maps so they know where the house is and other hurdles just to keep people in jobs. I’m hoping solar edge will automate this soon rendering the process redundant.
But its once I start looking at these reports and getting into the solar maths that I started to smell trouble.
Shell are currently taking me for 35p/kWhr (or unit) for my electricity. If I use my solar panel and I made one kWhr of electricity I could either use it myself in the house, store it in my battery very generously put it into the grid. If I keep it on site I keep all the value and have basically free electricity, if I put it in the grid Shell will give me 5p for it. They would then send it to my neighbour’s house down a cable they don’t own and sell it back to them for 35p. Now I’m not a money man but 700% profit looks good from where I sit. Not a bad business model huh?
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This weekend my neighbour was mowing the lawn, he has a 3kW electric mover, it takes him an hour to mow the lawn so it costs him just over a quid. I though Lets help him out, be a good neighbour and cash in all at the same time. So I threw an extension lead over the fence, he plugged in and gave me a quid for the electricity. Everyone wins, except Shell.
I'm thinking about expanding the plan, I could put an extension lead into each of my neighbours houses and charge them 25p/kWhr when the sun shines. I am literally cutting out the middleman. I know what you are thinking, Graham this is dangerous, the neighbours will be on a different phase to you so there are risks they could get a horrible electric shock. I know, its rubbish but what can I do, the money is too good and i get the helping the neighbours warm and fuzzy feeling?
I don’t know who decided my electricity is worth only 5p when I put it in the grid but surely this should be linked to the actual electricity price? I would call someone, but I don’t know who.
I'm setting up an eBay shop next week selling long extension leads with electricity meters and Safety switches built in, I'm starting a local power re distribution network.
In the words of Zack de la Rocha, "Weve got to take the power back"
CombiTank Company Owner and R&D Science & Technology Consultant
2 年The electricity networks hide some of their network costs in the unit rate (instead of putting in it the the standing day rate) as a kind of subsidy for those who don't use much elec. However, this does mean that if you reduce your neighbours electricity consumption you are stopping the electricity networks from revovering their actual costs. This was always the problem with PV it was pushing costs onto those who didn't have PV, it was unfair. However the whole grid is a mess of tangled incentives so you might as well go ahead and do it. I plan to get solar PV soon because at this electricity price I would be silly not to.
MD at Bruce Boucher Consulting & Design
2 年Graham, I had solar PV's on my Hymer Motorhome in the very early 2000's. The sun is not a pre-requisite for Solar PV performance. In fact direct sun rays can actually diminish output. However I do agree if some viable methodology of installations ever comes to the mass market including Battery storage, (affordable) that would be a game changer for millions of homes. As an older home owner, payback wouldn't work for me but would work for the next generation. Does that mean don't do it, ie install an array? perhaps not. The The Nation is facing a set of continuous uplift of energy costs, the lucky ones who can afford the price increase great. Those who are in fuel poverty or will be in fuel poverty by the end of April, then have to face another increase in the Autumn, then going into the next winter. IMO, we will see a massive social problem that no Government of any persuasion can resolve. No political rhetoric of any kind will diminish the impact. The answers are not around, so the Nation can only accept for maybe the next decade or so, a big proportion of the population is going to suffer ongoing pressure to accept the fact fuel poverty will impact upon all aspects of Society, crime will increase as a result of.
Renewable heating supplier ~ Local environmental action
2 年Hence I've trained as an Energy Local advisor Graham - it helps you set up local energy co-op clubs. Unfortunately roof mounted solar doesn't qualify yet, but hopefully might soon... In those times when people in the club are using power generated in the club they pay a separate agreed rate to the local generators. For example 8p/kWh. It's a win for all parties. And here is a wider initiative trying to make local generation possible by default : https://powerforpeople.org.uk/the-local-electricity-bill Ofgem just finished consulting on who pays for the last leg of reinforcement - hopefully they will conclude that it's fairer to spread that cost, rather than early adopters paying to upgrade a whole area. Of course that would also benefit local energy generation as single phase is limited in terms of generation export to a 4kW array (ish), and of course it limits heat pump capacity.... Your efforts also remind me of those microgrids in Bangladesh... Good work! ??
Flexel Heating Solutions Manufacturer (est. 1978).
2 年Nice and neighbourly of you Graham - well done that man! ??