Solar Stories

The end of May has seen continued dry and sunny weather, with lunches by the castle, a fishing trip for Martin, and the usual gardening and household tasks inbetween.

All in all, it has been a good start to the summer - hoping for more lovely weather to come . . . although even with long May days of sunshine we haven't yet topped our best solar production day ever:

2023 is only 3rd in the top 5 list to date . . .

Which brings me to a long overdue 'Solar Power' update (the last posting takes us back to 2020 stats!)

The graph below provides an overview of performance through to the end of 2022, focusing on solar generation.  (With the arrival of the battery in 2021 other figures are a bit skewed by how that works / is controlled, as until the end of this year we are still on something called the 'Tesla Plan' *).

At the time we invested in the solar panels and battery it did feel like something we'd never really see pay-back from, but recent events have seen energy prices soar, and the solar has really come into its own.  Over the summer it more than covers our bills, and that cushions us for the winter months when the solar generation is not so great.

Anyway, here's a nice sunny view of the end of the pier to finish - fingers crossed for more sunshine to come:

* This allows our electricity provider to control the battery, charging it up and drawing down from it as required.  In other words our usage includes power taken from the grid to charge the battery (mostly in the winter months), which they then take back when they need it (and for which we are credited). We still get an export payout or 'Feed In Tariff (FIT)' too, which is a payment direct to us, but now it is for actual figures (taken from a smart meter) rather than 'deemed' export. This has all worked really well, and has meant we haven't had to think about 'when' we use 'what' as it doesn't really matter - we pay the same for what we use, as they pay us for what they take from the battery.  It will be all change at the end of this year however as the 'Tesla Plan' is being withdrawn - so 2024 will be different again.