An Adventure in Solar

http://mfinmoderation.wordpress.com/201 ... ovo-diary/

Just something that showed on a blog usually devoted to evolution.

Surveyor calls early in the morning – cannot find house (remember Delyse has already been here twice). We put him right and he is a pleasant man who seems very competent. We learn that the sales estimate was overstated as the house is not truly South facing. After my wife expresses disappointment he calls someone and suddenly the house is South facing after all (amazing what a telephone call can do to the geography).

Later that day get a call from Laura saying the scaffolders will come tomorrow (Thursday 9th). This is the first we have heard about this.

We get a call from another lad (name forgotten) giving a different company name to ask if the scaffolders are with us. We put him right.

Wow! After 4 months, the system still isn't installed and working right. Solar really is a dumb idea.

Dumbass.

When I stand at one of the south corners of my house at night, I can sight along the edge of the roof line and see ... the North Star. Thereby easily confirming that the sides of my house squarely face the four points of the compass. (At least to within a degree or two.)

Regardless of how brilliant this guy might be in his specific field (I have no idea), he seems a little foggy when it comes to basic practical matters.

When I stand at one of the south corners of my house at night, I can sight along the edge of the roof line and see ... the North Star. Thereby easily confirming that the sides of my house squarely face the four points of the compass. (At least to within a degree or two.)

Regardless of how brilliant this guy might be in his specific field (I have no idea), he seems a little foggy when it comes to basic practical matters.

The thing I found quite surprising, and which would complicate his life enormously if true, is his statement that his provided electrical service is three-phase.

From my experience, that is quite unusual for a homeowner. At any rate, it would mean that the smartest thing to do in that instance was one of two things: Either drop down in his ambitions to a minimal level which could sustain his diminished needs in an emergency, or divide his ambitions among the three phases.

Some quick research disclosed that three-phase inverters are available, at what I would assume would be a hefty price, but it isn't my project.

His project seems to be grid-tied, with sell-back. Considering the circumstances, I'm estimating a pay-back in about two thousand years.

And guess what? If the power goes off in his community, he'll be in the dark too.

Hence the conciseness of my previous post. He's a dumbass.

When I stand at one of the south corners of my house at night, I can sight along the edge of the roof line and see ... the North Star. Thereby easily confirming that the sides of my house squarely face the four points of the compass. (At least to within a degree or two.)

Regardless of how brilliant this guy might be in his specific field (I have no idea), he seems a little foggy when it comes to basic practical matters.

The thing I found quite surprising, and which would complicate his life enormously if true, is his statement that his provided electrical service is three-phase.

From my experience, that is quite unusual for a homeowner. At any rate, it would mean that the smartest thing to do in that instance was one of two things: Either drop down in his ambitions to a minimal level which could sustain his diminished needs in an emergency, or divide his ambitions among the three phases.

Some quick research disclosed that three-phase inverters are available, at what I would assume would be a hefty price, but it isn't my project.

His project seems to be grid-tied, with sell-back. Considering the circumstances, I'm estimating a pay-back in about two thousand years.

And guess what? If the power goes off in his community, he'll be in the dark too.

Hence the conciseness of my previous post. He's a dumbass.

Yeah, probably. From reading it, it sounds like he's in England, maybe 3-phase to the house is more common there. My guess is he doesn't actually have any 3-phase appliances (although he might, and not know it, such as main furnace fan or electric dryer); he probably just has his house divided up into three segments each powered by a different leg of the service.

As to blackouts, maybe there's a switch in the system so if the mains go down, he can use his PV array himself and not try to power the whole neighborhood. Hope he picked the 1/3 of his house with the critical stuff to power in that case.

But your pay-back time estimate sounds about right.

...Yeah, probably. From reading it, it sounds like he's in England...

Solar in England == DumbAss

...Yeah, probably. From reading it, it sounds like he's in England...

Solar in England == DumbAss

Heh. Worse than Seattle?

...Yeah, probably. From reading it, it sounds like he's in England...

Solar in England == DumbAss

Heh. Worse than Seattle?

You got less than 5 hours of direct sun, on average, for the year, then you probably have no business considering solar. I wouldn't try it in Ireland, either.

...Yeah, probably. From reading it, it sounds like he's in England...

Solar in England == DumbAss

Heh. Worse than Seattle?

You got less than 5 hours of direct sun, on average, for the year, then you probably have no business considering solar. I wouldn't try it in Ireland, either.

When I worked at a photofinishing lab, we used to wonder why the sky portion of negatives shot in London were always so dense, then someone mentioned that it was because overcast was the norm. How dreary.