Maximising our summer solar consumption...
Hi – Following our house renovation in 2020, our grid supply here in Italy was upgraded from a 6kW single phase line to 18kW comprised of three separate 6kW lines to the house – our bills say its a three phase supply, but really its three separate single phase lines. There is no way to have more than 6kw delivered via a single line here in Italy (I believe). Our ASHP, air to air splits, and pool pump are on one line; the kitchen is on one line (electric oven, dishwasher, etc); and everything else is on the remaining line. There is a single consumer unit, a single smart meter, and we receive one bill.
We have a 6.6kWp PV setup which produces plenty of solar in summer (1MWh in July and August) and a decent amount in winter (0.5MWh in Feb). Our solar/ inverter I’ve been informed can only be connected to one of the three lines, so we have it ‘feeding’ the line with the ASHP/ splits/ pool pump - ASHP in winter, splits (for AC) and pool pump in summer. This means in winter we consume most of what we produce – 80 to 90% – but in summer that figure drops to around 30%.
In summer when the heat pump is not providing space heating, it would be really nice to be able to utilise more of our solar production during the day but due to the way we are configured, we are limited to the devices just on that one line. Our electrician is able to add devices to the line fed by the solar at the consumer unit, but ideally I don’t want to have to call him out at the start and end of every summer. So as a non-electrician, I’m wondering if there’s any piece of kit or procedure which would allow us to use more of our summer months’ solar?
I know batteries might be an obvious suggestion from a consumption perspective but my specific issue right now is our three line set up. A solar diverter on the line with the heat pump for DHW might also be an obvious place to start, but what I’m thinking is there may be some easy way to move or switch some of our electrical devices onto the line fed by the solar, or shift some of the solar (some kind of load balancing?) onto the other lines to power those devices. I’m not an electrician and fairly ignorant of what happens downstream from the solar panels so apologies for my ignorance here. I feel I’m missing something simple so would very much appreciate any suggestions people might have. Thanks all!
- 26 Forums
- 2,158 Topics
- 47.4 K Posts
- 36 Online
- 5,736 Members
Podcast Picks
Latest Posts
-
RE: Who’s Caved and Switched the Heating On Already?
We've been running our Ecodan system, installed in June...
By Sheriff Fatman , 17 minutes ago
-
RE: Testing new controls/monitoring for Midea Clone ASHP
I doubt it, many 'improvements' are quite the opposite....
By cathodeRay , 2 hours ago
-
RE: Electricity price predictions
@julianc Expressed as a flow diagram, I suspect one wou...
By Toodles , 3 hours ago
-
RE: Big Changes Coming to Our Heat Pump System
@jamespa The dormitories at my boarding school (in Exet...
By Toodles , 3 hours ago
-
Ok. Two schools of thought. The first is to run the ...
By JamesPa , 19 hours ago
-
@drei Willing as I am to help, I don't think I'm yet ...
By JamesPa , 19 hours ago
-
RE: Is Your Broadband Router the Weak Link in Your High-Tech Home?
I hear you on the locality issue @transparent, and I ag...
By Scalextrix , 22 hours ago
-
Selling 5 year old ASHP & Gas Combi Boiler - £590
Selling a 5-year-old Daikin Altherma Hybrid Air Source ...
By Paul G , 23 hours ago
-
RE: Midea ASHP – how to set weather compensation
@pash44pump Referring to the problem of rooms with diff...
By Tasos , 23 hours ago
-
RE: Help me keep the faith with my air source heat pump installation
Er true, it should have read l/hr!
By JamesPa , 1 day ago
-
@damon thanks. I will do as you suggest. Hopefully I wi...
By bontwoody , 2 days ago
-
RE: Is a Valliant Inline 6kW heater a BUS buster?
Much of that is true in principle, but its not likely t...
By JamesPa , 3 days ago
-
RE: Heat Pump Servicing & Maintenance – Good Value or Rip-Off?
@dgclimatecontrol I attach the responses from 2 potenti...
By pash44pump , 3 days ago
-
RE: Buffers, hot water and cooling
@dgclimatecontrol thanks, that's helpful.
By JamesPa , 4 days ago
-
RE: Failing heat pump system - seeking thoughts on a rebuild
I realise im overdue an update on my situation. first...
By Cleardene-ashp , 4 days ago
-
RE: Replacing Worcester oil boiler with an ASHP
@toodles thanks. I was told by the engineer that this h...
By JulianC , 4 days ago
-
RE: What crazy nonsense are inverter limits and why are they imposed?
A week later, I'm finally picking up this comment... ...
By Transparent , 4 days ago
-
RE: COP is not the only measure of efficiency
We keep all our TRVs fully open using the whole house a...
By Old_Scientist , 4 days ago
-
RE: Havenwise App Help & Forum Support – Get the Most from Your Heat Pump
I am pleased to say at 4pm today we have added another ...
By ASHP-BOBBA , 5 days ago