@unclefester I wish! Panels cover the whole of the south facing roof already. I have considered another array along the northern boundary facing south but again given the only 6 months of sunlight decided the 'smart' economy 7 battery system was a better investment. It is/was a gamble on the wholesale market tracker tariff remaining roughly the same allowing me to charge the batts cheaply overnight, which seems to be looking iffy at the moment as the prices have risen.

Because we got in at the very start our existing quite small (3kWh max) PV system receives 45p/unit generated in FITs and has pretty much paid off. It's difficult to say for sure but my data is we consume about 12-15 units summer and double that in winter. On a sunny summer day the roof PV gives 12 units. So house batts initially 3 x 2.4kWh then I added another so 9.6kWh which always sees us through the peak period (4pm-7pm) although lately that peak period has been growing. It was a brute force solution but the heat pump is powered down during the peak period. It has a mind of its own. A gentler solution would be to fake the outside temperature sensor with a shunt resistor but I didn't think of that in time.

Looking back - hindsight is always brilliant - I should not have installed 3kWh of solar hot water tubes but used the space for 4 more Kyocera PV panels at 210w each i.e. 40% more PV electricity. The solar hot water is more than we use and I incurred add cost to control it. Opening the hot water taps is fine when you're at home but ... Google 'stagnation' So rather than put rads in the loft or in the woodshed I have an awning that comes down and shades the solar hot water tubes when the hot water tank is full. Elegant solution more cost though and the £4k should have been avoided. All in all though not too bad the final build came in at £275k only 3% over budget and lots of function was added along the way. In my defence for the over configured solar hot water the supplier went tits and at least my inside man got it delivered in the dead of the night.

edit: I had a right royal head bang with the VAT man that the awning VAT was (self build) reclaimable. He said awnings are furnishings, not reclaimable. I won on appeal.

@gaddafi shamelessly off topic though I suppose loosely 'e' connected

 

Should have had an indoor pool installed - could have burned off the excess heat nicely.

So if you'd had a PV capable of chucking out 24 units, you could charge batteries and power stuff.

This stuff interests me more than the E cars tbh.

 

Woulda needed another 1000sqft @£140/sqft for a pool so no.

Today got 11.6kWh off the PV. Slightly more than usual 2.4kWh given to the grid

Battery still at 2/3rds so looks like we will easily get beyond that longer than usual (clipped at 35p/unit) peak period.

 

That stuff is volatile and can be extinguished or left to flame off.

The problem is extinguishing dense Li - unless you drop the bugger in a tank of water for a few days, it keeps re-igniting.

Like the Kiaundais with Unlucky Goldstar cells, a tiny amount of metal contamination makes the cells unstable by creating hotspots. One of the reasons cells are so expensive is they need to be manufactured in a very pure environment.

BEVs and integral garages are a bad idea, basically.

It's fairly low-risk ATM (few vehicles), but a Chinese electric bus going up could be interesting.

 

Haha just as well I've been parking the 'e' outside the garage.

Garage is home to kiln dried logs (fire hazard?!)

While the woodshed roof dries out ...

(shoulda put a rad in there)

 

Another fanboi
https://www.topgear.com/long-term-ca...nda/e/report-6

we've done about 1500 miles now.. I've still not finished the paint correction - got pc doors and rear 1/4 to do but it has slotted in to family life very well indeed as above
The kumkwat is firmly demoted as it's beat on every front apart from as a tip run car and we don't do that often
we no longer argue on family trips..

 

If you don't already you will have appointment only trips to the tip (one per seven or fourteen days) before long.

 

Rix has clearly been infected, too.

He sums up its 'special' feel rather well.

 

Yes but you make no mention of the 24/7 function that of large handbag for 'er indoors. Or is that covered under 'tip run car'?

 

I dunno whether 'err indoors is special in other ways than i think but you are right, she would carry half her worldly possessions in it.

I have a zero tolerance policy to this. Found the dogs' lead, ball, some gloves, glasses and a travel mug. All removed
#notAMobileSkip