Solar Panels / Heat Pump Discussion

[Luckypants]

Well it hasn't been all plain sailing Gary. The battery suddenly decided it was full while the solar was generating (jumped from 70% to full - BMS known bug) so the solar power had no where to go. Cue all kinds of power drops in the house until I worked out what was going on and isolated the solar. I'll need to raise this with the manufacturer / installer to see if they can work out how to avoid this in future. This wouldn't be an issue with a no backup system as the solar inverter shuts down if no grid voltage is detected, to protect anyone working on the lines. In the meantime, I just need to make sure the battery has some capacity for any spare solar in future events.

[Luckypants]

Originally Posted by garynortheast

Ha! I am really pretty envious of your set up there Mike. I wish to goodness it was possible to have the council do this sooner rather than later for their stock of social housing. This ought to be funded by central government as a matter of urgency for all social housing.

But of course it won't; they're too busy signing off licences for new fossil fuel drillings and mining.

Er mwyn Duw, achub ni rhag San Steffan.

I completely agree. Denbighshire, Wrexham and Flint are doing this as part of their carbon reduction targets so I see no reason why Powys do not. As previously discussed you would be eligible for 100% grant if a home owner, surely the council can claim a similar grant for their housing stock?

[garynortheast]

It's the funding structure for the carbon reduction targets regarding social housing, which prevents stuff moving at the pace needed. Under the terms of the funding, Powys are not able to upgrade in any way, C rated houses such as mine until all the D, E, and F rated properties are up at that level.

[Luckypants]

Well that seems fair to those in less efficient housing but they need to get going fast so every house gets upgraded. AFAIK the home owner grants are the same, the home needs an EPC of C before funding is given. There are (were?) grants to help with extra insulation, double glazing etc. to get there.