Plug in Solar Panels.....how do they work?
- Thread starter Dave7
- Start date
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MadMalx
Senior Member
- Location
- Settle, Yorkshire Dales
Electricity flows like water - down the pressure gradient. The inverter (connected between solar panel and the grid) converts the DC solar generation to AC and raises the ‘pressure’ (voltage) slighty above the mains voltage to push the electric back down the wire.
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Right, I can sort of understand that, thanks BUT how does it then get stored ie if you are away for a few days what happens to that electricity your panel has generated?
It was a google article explaining that Aldi and other high street shops are getting permission to sell them.
Will see if there is a link but im sure you can google it.
Right, found this link. Its Ludl not Aldi.
https://www.mylondon.news/news/cost-of-living/plug-solar-panels-how-work-33648134
ebikeerwidnes
Guru
- Location
- Widnes
As far as I understand then the panels generate electricity (which is obvious)
Then if you are using any yourself then you use the electricity on you wires already first anyway
sort of like having a header tank of water
so clearly that save you money
but if you are not using that much at the moment then it will flow out of your house and onto the main grid in your area
so if your neighbour has something switched on then they will use yours
so that save the electric company money because it still goes through your neighbours meter
You don;t get any advantage from that unless your meter is set up to log outgoing - which mine is due to our solar panels but the amount you get a WAY lower than the stuff you bring in
If you have an appropriate box and batteries then it can see the generated electricity and store it if you are not using that much at the moment
and then feed it back out when you need it
BUT that box uses electricity and obviously costs money to get and all that
SO the simple "middle aisle of ALDI" type will only help if you are using electricity yourself at the time
and most people don;t use much around noon on a nice sunny day!!
SO - I am not sure how much use it is to most people - but I am sure it can be
I do know that our "proper" solar panels would be much much less use to us if we did not have them attached to batteries to store the electric we generate when we don;t need any
NOTE - I use used the word "electricity" here in a very wooley way and meaning a very generic and wide manner -
in other words my technical expertise of it is as good as my singing ability - which is rather low
Then if you are using any yourself then you use the electricity on you wires already first anyway
sort of like having a header tank of water
so clearly that save you money
but if you are not using that much at the moment then it will flow out of your house and onto the main grid in your area
so if your neighbour has something switched on then they will use yours
so that save the electric company money because it still goes through your neighbours meter
You don;t get any advantage from that unless your meter is set up to log outgoing - which mine is due to our solar panels but the amount you get a WAY lower than the stuff you bring in
If you have an appropriate box and batteries then it can see the generated electricity and store it if you are not using that much at the moment
and then feed it back out when you need it
BUT that box uses electricity and obviously costs money to get and all that
SO the simple "middle aisle of ALDI" type will only help if you are using electricity yourself at the time
and most people don;t use much around noon on a nice sunny day!!
SO - I am not sure how much use it is to most people - but I am sure it can be
I do know that our "proper" solar panels would be much much less use to us if we did not have them attached to batteries to store the electric we generate when we don;t need any
NOTE - I use used the word "electricity" here in a very wooley way and meaning a very generic and wide manner -
in other words my technical expertise of it is as good as my singing ability - which is rather low
As a slight aside I watched a bit of a prepper-esque channel on Youtube recently where the guy was pushing household battery banks as a defense against energy shortages given the current state of affairs.
Since battery tech is continually getting cheaper / better it seems like a sound idea to effectively have a household UPS (uninterrupted power supply) should things go south; allowing the continued use of low-drain infrastructure such as routers and laptops. Something that's potentially especially precient since traditional landlines (that still worked during power cuts) have been binned in favour of VOIP stuff which definitely won't unless provisions are made.
It would be interesting to know what sort of charge these can hold relative to the typical demand from a property.
If I ever pull my finger out and get a shed sorted at the flat I also like the idea of solar panels on the top and a battery bank inside to allow lighting, use of power tools etc... but again I don't know how feasible this would be in practice and I have to manage my expectations as I've been here a year and still don't have a sofa..
Looks like that's this morning's distractionary rabbithole identified!
Since battery tech is continually getting cheaper / better it seems like a sound idea to effectively have a household UPS (uninterrupted power supply) should things go south; allowing the continued use of low-drain infrastructure such as routers and laptops. Something that's potentially especially precient since traditional landlines (that still worked during power cuts) have been binned in favour of VOIP stuff which definitely won't unless provisions are made.
It would be interesting to know what sort of charge these can hold relative to the typical demand from a property.
If I ever pull my finger out and get a shed sorted at the flat I also like the idea of solar panels on the top and a battery bank inside to allow lighting, use of power tools etc... but again I don't know how feasible this would be in practice and I have to manage my expectations as I've been here a year and still don't have a sofa..
Looks like that's this morning's distractionary rabbithole identified!
Alex321
Guru
- Location
- South Wales
We have a 16kWh battery, which is way more than we normally use in a day. You also need an inverter to change from whatever voltage DC it provides to 240V AC.
But if you want it to be able to give you power when there is a power cut on the mains, you need a special type of relay in the inverter, which prevents any export unless there is input voltage from the mains.
This is required to prevent engineers working on what they think are dead lines getting shocks from your system making them live.
Of course if it is for something like a shed which is not connected to the grid, then you have no such issue.
ebikeerwidnes
Guru
- Location
- Widnes
Yes - our system works great and in summer we hardly use any electric
That recent sunny spell resulted in full charged batteries by lunch time and even the evening mean was cooked using battery power
BUT if we have a power cut then they can be sitting there fully charged and we still have no power
As said above this is so power company people are not working on seemingly dead lines and your house is pumping power out into it still
or so I was told
Batteries are also great for redirecting power usage
EDF currently have an offer where you get free power all Sunday if you redirect your usage away from the peak times from 4-7 p.m.
so the last few week I have had my system set to make sure the batteries are charged fully by 15:55 - so then between 4 and 7 we just use the batteries mostly
then wash and clean everything on Sundays free of charge
which means that the power requirements for the power stations is far more evenly spread out
which is great for things like wind and tidal power
but also for nuclear power stations as they are best run at constant generation, rather than being reduced to minimum much
That recent sunny spell resulted in full charged batteries by lunch time and even the evening mean was cooked using battery power
BUT if we have a power cut then they can be sitting there fully charged and we still have no power
As said above this is so power company people are not working on seemingly dead lines and your house is pumping power out into it still
or so I was told
Batteries are also great for redirecting power usage
EDF currently have an offer where you get free power all Sunday if you redirect your usage away from the peak times from 4-7 p.m.
so the last few week I have had my system set to make sure the batteries are charged fully by 15:55 - so then between 4 and 7 we just use the batteries mostly
then wash and clean everything on Sundays free of charge
which means that the power requirements for the power stations is far more evenly spread out
which is great for things like wind and tidal power
but also for nuclear power stations as they are best run at constant generation, rather than being reduced to minimum much
Alex321
Guru
- Location
- South Wales
Probably, unless you turn it off at the socket it is plugged into (or even pull the plug out to be sure).
MadMalx
Senior Member
- Location
- Settle, Yorkshire Dales
Assuming no battery, only when there is light.
I assume that that these plug-in jobs won’t be bigger than single fixed roof panels, so if won’t be a huge shock.
Electric_Andy
Heavy Metal Fan
- Location
- Plymouth
This is a highly interesting idea. I wonder how much they will cost? I'm sure if even one person did a "ready-reckoner" on how much it could save people, they would sell like hot cakes. Even if it takes 5 years to pay for itself. We both work at home and have a house-bound adult kid, so something is always being used during the day i.e. 3 monitors, PC, laptop, gaming PC, TVs, kettle, washing machine, air fryer, hob....Not to mention the things that are always on like Wifi router, TVs on standby. It's also a good way to help out with the environment? With my tin hat on, I wonder if the energy cartels companies will try to say they don't work, or they "aren't compatible with your meter, and using equipment like this will incur a 15% increase on your bill for the additional strain on the system"?
Alex321
Guru
- Location
- South Wales
I doubt it. They are generlly happy for us to install teh "proper" solar systems. If you actually want to export anything (and get paid for it), then you will need to have a smart meter, and tell the energy company. But the plug in panels aren't likely to often generate enough to be worth exporting.
