Mine is 50 something. 2011 if I recall.
- Thread starter brewdexta
- Start date
Gareth J
Member
- Messages
- 3,539
- Location
- North Cornwall
Very nice, I'd be surprised if ours were half that!
DAPPH
as dyslexik as I'm daft
- Messages
- 7,265
- Location
- Near to Cross Hands Llanelli SouthWales GB
I was caught in the dilemma of do I pay someone £50 mid October to use a strong sodium hypochlorite solution ( A 1 litre bottle of thick bleach per 5 litres of spray liquid ) & his long reach window cleaning gear using denatured water as a rinse agent , thus wiping £5) a pop off my winnings this year alone
Remembering back of my days as a young soldier in 1966 on leave, desperate for some extra dosh ( we were paid £ 3.15 per week as army apprentices learning a trade for three years ) I used a strong solution of Fairy washing up liquid for soaping my fluffy T bar and squeegeed them clear , giving the bottoms a wipe with a semi dry well boiled soft linen cloth .
The people I stayed with that leave used to tell me in their letters that my customers in the street were looking forward to my next leave as their windows have never been or stayed so clean . Fast forward 15 years and I worked in a specialist drycleaners that had 22 files choc a block manuals of how to clean things . Fairy cropped up in many areas due to it's deep penetration along fibres by capillary and hydraulic action it can also be used to stop stains spreading whilst you hot water /steam and soap stains inside a ring of neat fairy that's been allowed to soak in for 10 min or so.
So after putting my sleep thinking hat on for the night,I had the answer in my head when I woke in the morning. Decided to use Fairy as the detergent for the panels as it also has a clean water miscible oil in it , I used a cheapie garden sprayer half filled with water and half a small bottle of Fairy Green washing up liquid .
Put the sprayer on slight jet and use half of the liquid spraying from the bottom up ( so you don't miss any ) leave for 24 hrs , then wash off with a hose pipe once every 2 hrs for 6 hrs to remove the loosened crud
If you have a long handle soft brush arrange met to reach on a bungalows panels work it in lightly before the first wash off to mobilize the algae & general crud , if you're able to do it do the metal work do the same to it
Leave the first wash solution for 2 hrs to penetrate via capillary & hydraulic action under all the crud, moss and algae . Then rinse off from the top of the panels down let them drain for two hours or so then rinse them off again in the same manner do a repeat in another 2 hr.
After a final hours drain off time give all the panels a coarse misting again spray from the tops down with the remaining wash solution and leave it to dry , it will form a thin skin of washing up liquid with the water miscible oil once the water has evaporated and for several months after wards each rain period will dilute the washing liquid /oil film a bit till the next rain .
There was a noticeable improvement in generation the next day even though there was not as much bright direct sunshine on the panels .
Alison & I are thinking of doing this again in March in readiness for a bit of lovely money generating sunshine as well as the October event of getting ready for less sunshine over winter .
Last edited:
Gareth J
Member
- Messages
- 3,539
- Location
- North Cornwall
Ours are on a shed, due to falling ground, the gutter is 7m off the ground and the ground keeps falling beyond that. Seemed like a good idea at the time.
The low angled ones I've got on a 10° lean to get cleaned with the windows. They get noticeably grotty.
It must be 4 years since I cleaned mine. Once a year is enough if you live in the country IMHO
DAPPH
as dyslexik as I'm daft
- Messages
- 7,265
- Location
- Near to Cross Hands Llanelli SouthWales GB
The salt in your basically coastal air helps prevent a lot of algae build up , our prevalent winds are westerlies or easterlies so travel over a lot of land losing / seriously diluting any salt in the air .
Here at the top western edge of the Amman Valley 117 mtrs above sea level & around 11 miles inland at the shortest line of travel to any salt water at LLANELLI all we get is loads of clean salt free slightly acidic rain , which algae & mosses seem to thrive on . Plus we live almost at the top of a 1500 mtr hill, most loaded trucks & buses chuck out the crap on their way up the hill ....... getting on for 30 or more HGV's, a few PSV's / & half dozen or more school buses a day. That brings a fair amount of oily acidic soot too .
We are frequently above the clouds over Ammanford most mornings , I think that may also have some bearing on the situation . Next time I see our friend the window cleaner, I'll ask him if he notices any difference in algae on panels in the area and if any , roughly at what elevations .
DAPPH
as dyslexik as I'm daft
- Messages
- 7,265
- Location
- Near to Cross Hands Llanelli SouthWales GB
Sodium hypochlorite bleach spray , using fully dissolved Milton sterilizer tablets to make a very strong solution . Let the rain dilute & wash it off it for a few weeks then Fairy spray as previously said to deep detergent clean airborne oils from & carbon particles blown in from diesel engines & poorly maintained oil heating systems from miles away etc. and get a long lasting dissolving water miscible coating, perhaps ?
If it works well for you ,come back and yodel about it loud and long.
Gareth J
Member
- Messages
- 3,539
- Location
- North Cornwall
Maybe if annual production takes a hit. If it stays as level as it has over the past 8yrs, can't see much point!Sodium hypochlorite bleach spray , using fully dissolved Milton sterilizer tablets to make a very strong solution . Let the rain dilute & wash it off it for a few weeks then Fairy spray as previously said to deep detergent clean airborne oils from & carbon particles blown in from diesel engines & poorly maintained oil heating systems from miles away etc. and get a long lasting dissolving water miscible coating, perhaps ?
If it works well for you ,come back and yodel about it loud and long.
Today’s reading, 4007kWhrs, made it past the 4000 mark for only the second time in 11 years.
Not been cleaned in 4 years, we’ve had no breakdowns, so even a single string setup with 10 yr old panels can be useful.
brewdexta
The biggest tool in the box
- Messages
- 5,647
- Location
- UK
The spark and I fitted the Eddi Solar diverter today.
It was nice and sunny but the HW tank was already hot and the batteries were fully charged so we ended up exporting 14kWh of the 30kWh we generated today.
The boiler is now off and the youngest daughter has friends around for a sleep over so I'm expecting lots of HW usage in the morning so should be able to see how it performs tomorrow.
It did briefly kick in towards the end of the day but we we only exporting about 800W at the time.
The next stage is to fit a Zappi EV charger to replace our current podpoint charger. This will allow us to charge a lower rate when generating solar rather than flat out and import electricity.
It was nice and sunny but the HW tank was already hot and the batteries were fully charged so we ended up exporting 14kWh of the 30kWh we generated today.
The boiler is now off and the youngest daughter has friends around for a sleep over so I'm expecting lots of HW usage in the morning so should be able to see how it performs tomorrow.
It did briefly kick in towards the end of the day but we we only exporting about 800W at the time.
The next stage is to fit a Zappi EV charger to replace our current podpoint charger. This will allow us to charge a lower rate when generating solar rather than flat out and import electricity.
MoreWellie
Member
- Messages
- 1,820
- Location
- Bedfordshire, UK
Silly question. Why does it think it's November 2022?
brewdexta
The biggest tool in the box
- Messages
- 5,647
- Location
- UK
Because I hadn't set the date/time when that photo was taken, it had been turned on moments before. I was the sparks lacky so first job was to load his van up, pay him, then I set the date/time and boost time.
The boost time is when you want the box to heat the water irrespective of whether you are exporting or not. You can turn it off but I have now turned off the main boiler and we have 2 teenage girls and the missus is partial to a hot soak so hot water is in demand. So I have set the boost time to be 9pm, after any useful sun radiation has disappeared and before the missus has a soak. on a good solar day, the boost should be negligible, on a bad day it ensures I don't get moaned at
You can set up to 4 boost times across the two outputs.
Gareth J
Member
- Messages
- 3,539
- Location
- North Cornwall
You'll have to train the team to shower according to sun conditions!
Here, we (I) strongly encourage evening showers to drain the HW tank of energy, ready for the morning. But during current conditions, frankly, any time of day would be fine!
If it's any benefit, until you have your zappi, you could hook up an old night storage heater to the eddi, that Hoover's up excess once the HW tank is full. But it's getting to the point now that there's no benefit to space heating. "Free" or otherwise. Something to consider for autumn maybe.
addjunkie
Member
- Messages
- 12,834
- Location
- Northumberland. Reet oot in the sticks
We've two emersion heaters hooked up to ours, one in the hotwater tank first, second in the heatstore tank! I also vastly reduce boiler times in summer to once per day for an hour, just to keep everything working!
Once you have batteries how-is what gets supply first managed?
brewdexta
The biggest tool in the box
- Messages
- 5,647
- Location
- UK
by default, the Eddi checks if the hot water needs topping up every 15 minutes. If your exporting, then it diverts it into the tank.
The hybrid inverter is checking whether you are exporting much more frequently, probably every few seconds, and if your exporting then it diverts it into the batteries, if they have spare capacity.
So, the batteries get priority, after they are full the Eddi deals with it. Simple so should be effective.
I haven't hooked up the Eddi to the network yet, should be done in the next couple of days, that way I can see what is occurring more easily.
brewdexta
The biggest tool in the box
- Messages
- 5,647
- Location
- UK
An update on this now I have had the Eddi in for a while. It doesn't quite work as above, sometimes the Eddi steels in when exporting but the inverter sees it as a load when the export surplus goes and continues to feed it with the batteries. Either way your not exporting to the grid, but I don't really want to do that.
However, there are settings in the Eddi that you can change. If you have an AC connected battery you can use a CT sensor and the Eddi will back off if batteries are discharging. Or, if you have a hybrid inverter like I do, you can set the Supply Grid Export Threshold to above 0W, typically 50 or 100W, and Supply Grid Response Delay to above zero, typically 5 seconds, this stops the Eddi sucking out the contents of the battery. I shall let you know how it goes.
I haven't turned the boiler on to heat DHW for over a week, the current heatwave helps but still, very nice given I have two teenage daughters who consider 15 minute showers are a quick dip
I'm averaging almost 28kWh per day and peaking at just under 32kWh. Today is 30.7kWh so far, and 16kWh of that went into the HW tank, usually its about 9kWh.
