3w ago

Britons could soon install balcony solar panels in flats and rental homes

www.theguardian.com

11 comments

It has been insanely successful in Germany. Around this time last year the total number of these private mini setups reached 500.000. They are typically 800W peak power (because thats the legal limit for an unregistered installation) so that gives you 400MW of total installed capacity. Pretty dope imo.
- Unregistered how? Do you need permission for more?
  
  Yes, its kinda complicated and there are lots of reasons. The solar advocacy groups fought a lot to make it so that you dont even have to ask/notify your landlord or energy provider for these <800W installations
  Feeding in a lot of power (and especially quickly switching it on and off) can create grid instability (because the electricity grid is stupid and designed for large centralized powerplants)
  At some point (really big commercial installations) you are even required to install a remote disconnect system that the provider can use to turn off your installation if the grid is overloaded
  You dont get the same amount of money for selling energy then buying it, which means with high power installations the provider loses money if they dont install a smart meter (meter that keeps track of how much flows out and into the grid)
  With <800W installations the provider can still install a smart meter if they want, but you dont have to notify them of your installation
  I hope i didnt mix something up here. Obviously read about your local laws if you install anything.
  
  Unregistered as in you but the solar panel and inverter and just plug it into a regular wall outlet with a normal plug to back feed the house.
  Before anyone suggests it's a suicide cable, the inverter have grid sending and won't back feed power without the grid electricity being sensed.
Options for renters are sorely needed.

11 comments