Free Solar for worth getting for after the SHTF?

[Highlander]

(23 April 2013, 09:00)uks Wrote:

(23 April 2013, 08:04)Highlander Wrote: We have 16 panels on our roof,..[ although they are our own ], depending on how the panels are fitted, they can strengthen your roof considerably, we are prone to high winds so the rails have to be screwed into the roof rafters,.. then the panels protect the tiles to a greater extent..... We purchased the panels when the tariff was 43 pence a unit so we make a lot of money, I think the tariff is only about 16 pence now isn't it

With reference to repairing your roof if the panels are owned by someone else,.. by law you should still have access to whats yours, so either the owners of the panels have to remove them while you do your work, or you are allowed to remove them yourself

What I would like to know is how can a person disconnect the panels from the mains system if the grid fails, to allow me to connect either direct to the house or to batteries

Is there not an automatic cut off switch in case the national grid goes down?. This is to stop your current feeding back down the line to stop it frying the repair men.

Thats right it does,.... as soon as the main grid goes off so do my panels, so that I dont electrocute the guy fixing the mains problem,.. thats fine, I can live with that,... but I would really like to know what to do after the shtf in order to get my panels putting power in to batteries

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Yes there is,..if you look on Ebay you will see many differently powered panels, all different sizes,..I have a 40w solar panel in a Faraday cage,... it would be enough to run a computer, or charge small items like radio batteries,.. yet it is only about 2ft square

It would be easy enough to fit one or more to a BOV,..which could then be taken indoors,..or even kept on your BOV and charge things inside using longer wires

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That last paragraph was aimed at Spandex

[uks]

(23 April 2013, 21:30)Highlander Wrote:

(23 April 2013, 09:00)uks Wrote:

(23 April 2013, 08:04)Highlander Wrote: We have 16 panels on our roof,..[ although they are our own ], depending on how the panels are fitted, they can strengthen your roof considerably, we are prone to high winds so the rails have to be screwed into the roof rafters,.. then the panels protect the tiles to a greater extent..... We purchased the panels when the tariff was 43 pence a unit so we make a lot of money, I think the tariff is only about 16 pence now isn't it

With reference to repairing your roof if the panels are owned by someone else,.. by law you should still have access to whats yours, so either the owners of the panels have to remove them while you do your work, or you are allowed to remove them yourself

What I would like to know is how can a person disconnect the panels from the mains system if the grid fails, to allow me to connect either direct to the house or to batteries

Is there not an automatic cut off switch in case the national grid goes down?. This is to stop your current feeding back down the line to stop it frying the repair men.

Thats right it does,.... as soon as the main grid goes off so do my panels, so that I dont electrocute the guy fixing the mains problem,.. thats fine, I can live with that,... but I would really like to know what to do after the shtf in order to get my panels putting power in to batteries

---

Yes there is,..if you look on Ebay you will see many differently powered panels, all different sizes,..I have a 40w solar panel in a Faraday cage,... it would be enough to run a computer, or charge small items like radio batteries,.. yet it is only about 2ft square

It would be easy enough to fit one or more to a BOV,..which could then be taken indoors,..or even kept on your BOV and charge things inside using longer wires

---

That last paragraph was aimed at Spandex

Im pretty sure if a company put it in with the batteries, that if the grid went down it would still be charging the batteries.

[Tonka]

Well I'll be a donkeys dangle-berry, they are only putting up the scaffolding ready to install it next door. Looks like I've found and easy way to find out how they go about things in advance!

[Franc]

and all you have to do then, is to pop across the roof, with a set of cables, and take half the power, for your own batteries, do it fast enough, and they wont notice the drain.

[Highlander]

(23 April 2013, 21:55)uks Wrote:

(23 April 2013, 21:30)Highlander Wrote:

(23 April 2013, 09:00)uks Wrote:

(23 April 2013, 08:04)Highlander Wrote: We have 16 panels on our roof,..[ although they are our own ], depending on how the panels are fitted, they can strengthen your roof considerably, we are prone to high winds so the rails have to be screwed into the roof rafters,.. then the panels protect the tiles to a greater extent..... We purchased the panels when the tariff was 43 pence a unit so we make a lot of money, I think the tariff is only about 16 pence now isn't it

With reference to repairing your roof if the panels are owned by someone else,.. by law you should still have access to whats yours, so either the owners of the panels have to remove them while you do your work, or you are allowed to remove them yourself

What I would like to know is how can a person disconnect the panels from the mains system if the grid fails, to allow me to connect either direct to the house or to batteries

Is there not an automatic cut off switch in case the national grid goes down?. This is to stop your current feeding back down the line to stop it frying the repair men.

Thats right it does,.... as soon as the main grid goes off so do my panels, so that I dont electrocute the guy fixing the mains problem,.. thats fine, I can live with that,... but I would really like to know what to do after the shtf in order to get my panels putting power in to batteries

---

Yes there is,..if you look on Ebay you will see many differently powered panels, all different sizes,..I have a 40w solar panel in a Faraday cage,... it would be enough to run a computer, or charge small items like radio batteries,.. yet it is only about 2ft square

It would be easy enough to fit one or more to a BOV,..which could then be taken indoors,..or even kept on your BOV and charge things inside using longer wires

---

That last paragraph was aimed at Spandex

Im pretty sure if a company put it in with the batteries, that if the grid went down it would still be charging the batteries.

That would be good, except that most companies dont fit them with the batteries, only to the mains grid,... which still leaves me wanting to know that if the shtf how do I disconnect the system as it stands now and start putting power into batteries,... I just cant see it being as simple as it first appears,...i.e. find the two largest cables from the panels, that go into the converter and take them to batteries,.. that simply sounds to simple.

What I/we could all do with is an electrician prepper,.. so if there is any out there, even if you dont post but just read,... I would appreciate a PM if you could help please

[Tarrel]

I've heard of people having difficulties selling their house with "free" solar panels installed. As an earlier poster said, it is the equivalent of having a sitting tenant, which means that a mortgage can be hard to come by.

If you're house is well insulated, it still makes sense to go for buying your own grid-connected system and gaining the income from the feed-in tarriffs. (These are roughly double for a house that meets EPC band C or above.)

I've looked into this a lot and, to be honest, the best solution if you want an off-grid, post-SHTF solution is to set up a separate system for off-grid, using 12V panels, a battery-bank and an inverter. For short-to-medium term power outages you can use extension leads from the inverter to your critical appliances (freezer, lighting, etc). In a total SHTF situation with permanent loss of grid power you can then re-wire your domestic circuits to run off the inverter.

Most grid-connected systems run at too high a voltage to be easily connected to 12V battery systems. If your panels run at, say, 72V you could set up 6 x 12V batteries in series to accept charge at 72V, but you'd then need an inverter to step up from 72V to 240V, and these are not easy to find compared to 12V or 24V ones.

So, in summary, probably better to see an off-grid solar back-up system and an on-grid money-saving system as two different things, although the idea of combining them does seem attractive.

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Edit to add: As someone has mentioned, all grid-connected systems have an "Islanding" function that automatically shuts down the inverter in the event of grid failure. This is to prevent your power feeding into the grid and zapping the poor guy who's trying to fix the power outage. So, all the folks with grid-connected solar PV on their roofs will lose power in a power-cut, just like everyone else.

[Highlander]

Good post, thanks Tarrel

[Tonka]

That's interesting Tarrel. I don't doubt that buying a system best adapted to post SHTF needs is idea;, I have looked into this as well. At the moment I am interested in how usful a massive free set up could be. And what would need to be done to make use of it. So the info you gave about the voltage is most useful as a starting point for me to start asking the right questions to those more knowledgeable than myself in the ways of wires. It used to be a good deal to buy panels, but not since they reduced the pay out tarrif, now you'd be lucky to break even in 10 years, let alone match what interest you'd have got on the investment. I don't want to put my capital in that direction anyway. I looked into the house selling thing, not too much of an issue for me. However now that I have a next door neighbour with this system, it could be pretty useful as it is... perhaps all I need is the knowledge to make it work after the grid is down, and we can share... not that I think he's long for this world even in the best of circumstances.

[Skean Dhude]

I look at it like this;
1) I have a shed load of panels that I supply roof space for a third party
2) I get a discount on my electrickery because of that
3) If TSHTF then as long as I can disconnect them from the grid and connect to batteries I'm in a great position. Free solar. (I may have to buy batteries but cheaper than batteries and solar panels)

Now it depends on the small print and if you are considering moving house.

[uks]

Go for fork lift truck batteries you can get them from fork lift truck lease companies just a few years old for £400-500 will last years.