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Plug and play solar. Thoughts?

 
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Solar Photovoltaic (PV)
Last Post by Lucia 3 weeks ago
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 Lucia
(@lucia)
Prominent Member Member
Joined: 1 year ago
Posts: 302
Topic starter 06/07/2025 11:29 am  

And we have it:

DESNZ are now investigating the feasibility of balcony solar.  Good start but please ignore some of the utterly stupid comments ("we don't have plugs on UK balconies" 🤦🏻‍♀️) 

Offstage: [we don't even know how to build balconies in this profiteering, cheapskate country but hey...]

Maybe for 'proper plug-and-play' (as opposed to how we currently wire mini systems into CUs) the answer is not to copy but adapt - find a way to have an interface between mini inverter and distribution grid (I'm being deliberately broad here before y'all jump 😁).

Anyway, it is a necessary step forward - we must find ways to bring tenants and flat dwellers into decarbonisation. And... maybe it will inspire smart designers and entrepreneurs to design a simple system or interface.

As for the £2000 suggestion..... if you are a home owner you can do it much cheaper already including paying a qualified spark for wiring to satisfy building regs . But never mind, it's a step in the right direction. 


   
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Majordennisbloodnok
 Majordennisbloodnok
(@majordennisbloodnok)
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Joined: 4 years ago
Posts: 883
06/07/2025 5:55 pm  

Posted by: @lucia
↑

...

Maybe for 'proper plug-and-play' (as opposed to how we currently wire mini systems into CUs) the answer is not to copy but adapt - find a way to have an interface between mini inverter and distribution grid (I'm being deliberately broad here before y'all jump 😁).

...

Actually I'm going to jump but in the same direction as you, @lucia.

It is an inescapable fact that, on the Continent, it is possible to buy a small, cheap solar PV system, plug it in and supplement one's home electricity supply with the power it generates. It is not, however, possible to do the same thing in the UK. That fundamental inequality is all that really matters; anything else is just fluff. Removing that gap is not going to be achieved by focusing on why it's impossible in this country and I believe we need instead to do what an old boss of mine used to call "taking away someone's reasons to fail" - steadily providing answers to what "can't" be done until all that is left is a pathway to success. Precisely what you're suggesting, of course, by highlighting a bit of judicious adaptation instead of copying.

Ultimately, I find it hard to believe that the collective technological knowhow in the UK cannot come up with a simple way to achieve what's already being done in other countries. Yes, there are differences and therefore different obstacles to tackle but it's not rocket science. And I wholeheartedly agree that all those who don't own a physical roof and/or the wherewithall to equip a roof with solar panels should be offered realistic and affordable ways to live more sustainably.

105 m2 bungalow in South East England
Mitsubishi Ecodan 8.5 kW air source heat pump
18 x 360W solar panels
1 x 6 kW GroWatt battery and SPH5000 inverter
1 x Myenergi Zappi
1 x VW ID3
Raised beds for home-grown veg and chickens for eggs

"Semper in excretia; sumus solum profundum variat"


   
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 AgentGeorge
(@agentgeorge)
Trusted Member Member
Joined: 6 months ago
Posts: 22
06/07/2025 6:55 pm  

@majordennisbloodnok 

balcony solar panels are available in UK, search Amazon for them, here’s a site specialising in them

https://solarplanet.uk/the-complete-guide-to-balcony-solar-panels/#IV.%20Installation%20and%20Setup


   
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 Lucia
(@lucia)
Prominent Member Member
Joined: 1 year ago
Posts: 302
Topic starter 06/07/2025 7:53 pm  

Posted by: @agentgeorge
↑

@majordennisbloodnok 

balcony solar panels are available in UK, search Amazon for them, here’s a site specialising in them

https://solarplanet.uk/the-complete-guide-to-balcony-solar-panels/#IV.%20Installation%20and%20Setup

Have a read of my previous posts on so-called Balcony Solar (there’s a sum up of the state of play in my older post just above my post today). 

There’s a huge difference between the small UK micro systems that by law still have to be wired in to a Consumer Unit (no big deal not like rooftop solar) and the plug-and-play systems sold in Germany and elsewhere in Europe. 

It’s the latter that DESNZ is now investigating. 

 


   
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