As I now had a second array of solar panels, I needed to upgrade my monitoring system. I purchased an EmonTx V4 which gave me the ability to monitor more electricity flows and also outside temperature. this would be important when I came to see how well my heat pump was performing.
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We knew that the older part of the building had some issues with damp, so it was time to see what was happening. On hacking off the cement and plaster in the second bedroom, a very damp wall in places was exposed. The mortar was very soft in these areas and could even be scooped out with a finger! There are a couple of schools of thought on how to deal with this problem. One is to effectively tank the wall to keep the moisture out of the room, the other is to use a breathable material on the wall to allow it to breathe. However the wall would have to dry out before doing anything and the source of the damp remedied.
It wasnt obvious where the damp was coming from, but the guttering was checked and a dehumidifier was put in the room. The house already had 2.66 kWp of solar panels facing in a SSW direction. These were registered on the highest FIT payment rate so will produce a useful income over the year. However I knew that these would not be enough to satisfy my electricity needs and wanted to add more.
The only available space was the roof of the living room extension facing EES and WWN which although would not produce as much as a South facing roof, would produce useful amounts of electricity, earlier in the morning and later at night. Finding an installer was a real problem as they all seem to have too many customers and most never even replied to emails. In the end though I was lucky and found a very good company called Electrify Wales. As it turned out I couldn't have chosen better, both Cameron and Dan knew their stuff and turned up when they said they would. Because I wanted as high an output as I could, the Distribution Network Officer had to be consulted. In the end, the outcome was that I could have 4.62 kWp of additional panels, split between the two roofs with a 3.68 kW Huawei Sun inverter. It made sense to fit a battery at the same time as they would be zero rated for VAT, I settled on a 5kWh Huawei Luna battery pack, which are modular and could be added to at a later date. |
AuthorEx Radiographer, Information Analyst, Teacher and Self-builder. Now retired Archives
December 2023
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