Here is my monthly report on how our solar panel system did in October. We have:
- 20x400W panels = 8kW
- 5kW inverter
- 9.5kWh battery
This is the year so far:
| Month | Generated | Used | Exported | Imported |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 78kWh | 468kWh | 38kWh | 434kWh |
| February | 192kWh | 554kWh | 146kWh | 514kWh |
| March | 619kWh | 503kWh | 535kWh | 430kWh |
| April | 927kWh | 288kWh | 790kWh | 330kWh |
| May | 967kWh | 292kWh | 845kWh | 173kWh |
| June | 1044kWh | 332kWh | 1037kWh | 337kWh |
| July | 878kWh | 309kWh | 858kWh | 294kWh |
| August | 769kWh | 424kWh | 810kWh | 465kWh |
| September | 560kWh | 421kWh | 576kWh | 445kWh |
| October | 209kWh | 405kWh | 251kWh | 452kWh |
Solar generation was down a lot last month, but that is to be expected as the days get shorter. The weather has been mixed with a few sunny days. We still managed to export some power, but some of that is what is left in the battery in the evening. We charge it fully in the morning on cheap rate and can earn by selling it back. The car did not get charged much last month as our son who uses it has not been here often.
Octopus pay us a fixed rate for exporting. They also installed our panels and battery system. I reduced our monthly payments for electricity and gas to £30 a while back and we still built up some credit that could get us through the winter when we would expect to spend the most.
It will still take us a good few years to get our investment back, but then the system should last much longer. We were just watching a TV show about someone renovating a house in southern Spain and they were looking at getting solar panels. They reckoned that payback time could be three or four years, but they will get a lot more sun than we do. I think we do pretty well for being in northern Europe. I think I have mentioned before that we are on a similar latitude to Calgary in Canada, so all of the US apart from Alaska should get more solar gain than us. We only stay warm due to the Gulf Stream and that may be at risk if the ice caps and Greenland all melt.
The COP30 conference is going on in Brazil right now and I hope some good comes out of it. Those politicians who sold their souls to the fossil fuel industry are taking the short term view that will make things much worse for the next generation. I see getting domestic solar as a small contribution to a better future, but many people do not think beyond the next few years. I get it that times are hard, but people will spend money on other things like a new car that will only lose value.
We need to look for signs of hope and do what we can.
Shine on.
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