September's report

This month's graph shows that a combination of shortening days and autumnal weather has heavily cut into the amount of power my solar panels can generate.

There is a very noticeable dip on the right side that began on the 13th September when a weather system cut my power to less than one unit (0.9) of electricity. This was repeated two weeks later and the 30-day average (orange line) has made a strong dip to 7.22 units. The overall average (yellow) is sliding more gently, as would be expected, and is now at 11.19 units a day since the panels were installed.

I'm still waiting for EDF to send my first payment after I sent my meter reading. It is now three weeks. I'll need to chase them up.

Where'd the light go?

Two interesting things happened coincidentally today. There was an email waiting for me when I got the computer on. It was from EDF and it was asking me for my FiTs meter reading. FiTs meter readings are supposed to be taken every three months but the timing of my start in the system means there is an extra sunny few weeks tagged onto the front of this set. Therefore, from 26 May to 12 September, I generated 1,306 units and this should realise £539.38. Additionally, half of these units should attract the £0.03 export tariff which adds another £19.59.

Amazingly, on the same day, a huge weather front passed over the UK today depositing a lot of rain. It also blocked the Sun rather well. Before today, my worst daily generation had been 3.4 units about 3 weeks ago. Today's return was a measly 0.9 units; astonishingly low and an indication of how poor a wet December or January day will be.

Improving weather and free power

It is a measure of our poor summer that even as the days shorten dramatically, my averages are improving. Of course, this is helped by the end of August being blessed by a true indian summer that looks to continue into the first few days of September. As the graph shows, even my annual average, which had been declining steadily (yellow trace), is showing a distinct upturn.

At the end of August, my total average as measured from installation was 12.3 units daily, well clear of the 6.85 figure that the predictions gave for my installation over the course of one full year. In fact, Given that the prediction was for 2,480 units annually, I reached the halfway mark of 1,240 units on 26 August. That's just over 3 months since installation.

The total earned from the Feed-in Tariff was £493 from 1,200 units since the scheme began. That excludes any addition made for the 3 pence export tariff. Since half of those units will be deemed to have been exported, that should add 600 x 0.03 which is an added £18. What happens next is that during September, I expect a letter from my energy company requesting a reading from my generation meter. My actual payment for the summer will be based on that.

I'm very happy with the performance of the installation thus far. In fact, I view it as a small part of my pension. Like a pension, I make an investment while I'm earning which realises a return when I'm not. There was an item on the BBC which shows that I'm not the only person who views it as a long-term investment. A company in England has seen a very clever opportunity to make a profit.

What they do is lease space on a homeowner's roof to install an set of panels. The owner gets access to the electricity and will therefore save money on their bill if they use the power when it is available. The company gets the Feed-in Tariff, which is the really profitable part. I guess it's a good system for those who are not able to access the cash to install panels themselves. It gives them the benefit of free electricity when the Sun shines. Yet I feel that what's good for that company will be good for me and my family. I am much happier having made that investment now.

Gloomy summer

In late June, the Sun shone well and my array of panels were reaping over 20 units of power daily. Since then, the Scottish summer has broken and wave after wave of Atlantic maritime fronts have washed over us. We get a front every two to three days and the associated cloud has kept a lid on power generation.

On 20 June, my 30-day average peaked at 15.7 units. Now at the start of August, the 30-day average is down to 10.4, helped in large part by poor Glasgow weather for the two weeks we were away in the Western Isles, when daily power averaged only 9.4 units.

Another interesting figure is that my daily average since the panels were installed is at 12.57 unit and gently falling as the days begin to shorten and the Sun gets lower. A good heatwave would help but there's no sign of it. Still, I'm well clear of the 6.85 average that the government estimated. Here's a chart of daily usage since I started. The two smoother displays represent the 30-day average (orange) and the overall average (yellow). The straight line towards the right is the generation over the 14 days we were on holiday. Since I wasn't there to take a daily reading, I've had to take the total generation over the two weeks and divide it by the number of days. Its low value indicates how poor the weather was at home while we enjoyed the sunshine in Lewis.

There's not really any other news at the moment. The next reading to go the FiTs people will be in September and I expect it will yield £450.

No more bureaucracy

In the last few days, I've finally dotted the final 'i' and crossed the last 't' when it comes to the bureaucracy that can surround the acquisition of solar panels in the current regulatory framework. 

The first item was my application for payment of the feed-in tariff (FiT) from my current energy supplier, EDF. I got a mailing from them that included two copies of their 'Statement of Terms', one of which I had to sign and send back. I note they didn't call this a contract and, worryingly, there was a clause on the accompanying letter that stated that the Statement of Terms was subject to change.

Given the fiscal tendencies of the current government, it is easy to imagine that the terms might be changed without warning. It seems that FiTs can no longer be thought of as being guaranteed for 25 years despite the claims of the website of the Energy Saving Trust. Now that I'm on the scheme, all I can do is watch it over its lifetime. 

Along with the Statement of Terms was a form for me to fill in my meter reading. This bothered me at first because I initially feared that they wanted my FiT payments to start from this new reading. That would render the electricity I had generated so far worthless and cost me £200. I had already lost £40 because I had applied for FiT payment a week after the panels were installed.

A phonecall to the Green Team at EDF calmed my fears. The reading stated on the Statement of Terms at the end of May was the starting point for my payments. The form was merely being sent because June is one of the four months annually that I have to send them a reading, along with September, December and March. Had I received that form earlier in the month, I would have probably received my first FiT payment now. As it is, the payment up to June will be lumped in with the payment between June and September.

The second bureaucratic box I had to tick was to send Installation Company's receipted invoice to the people at the Energy Saving Trust. This was along with photocopies of bank statements that show both the money coming in from EST and the payments out to Installation Company.

Meanwhile, the panels have settled into their routine. Since the last of my weekly updates, I had a week across the summer solstice where generation was into the 20s four days in a row, 133 units in total or £55. The weather then broke with fronts coming through interspersed with sunshine and showers. for two weeks, generation has been around 83 units or £34. Quite a variation. Here's a graph of daily generation:

My average is sitting at 14 units per day and I still reckon I'll beat the official figures, despite the poor weather recently.

Week four update

It's kinda good that the panels were installed just before midsummer. It means I have the joy of quickly seeing how much they can make when the Sun is at its highest in the year. Come the week after next, the days start to get shorter as we head towards winter. Cheery, aren't I?

So to this final weekly report on the system's output. I'll change to monthly updates after this. Here's the results:

Day 22: 5.2

Day 23: 15.0

Day 24: 21.3

Day 25: 16.5

Day 26: 17.2

Day 27: 11.2

Day 28: 14.7

The highlight is day 24. Being so near to the summer solstice, 21.3 units might represent the very highest the panels can reach - unless we get a belter of a day in the next week or two. Also, there was one fully overcast day. It's interesting to note that the week includes what appear to be a minimum and a maximum day, and that one appears to be a quarter of the other. Overall, the week's performance was pretty good with 101.1 units generated, yielding £41.75.

Once again, the average daily generation has risen; it's now 13.76 units a day since I started. My hope is that by 18 May 2011, and having gone through winter, it will be above 6.85. 11 months to go. In six months, I'll be finding out what the generation is like over the winter solstice.

Let's look at the total generation each week. This will smooth out some of the daily variations:

Week 1: 92 kWh

Week 2: 93.6 kWh

Week 3: 98.5 kWh

Week 4: 101.1 kWh

So that's a gentle rise as we head towards the solstice, and indeed, one wonders whether 100 units are about as much as the system will be able to produce in a week.

I phoned EDF to check on the progress of my contract for the payment of the Feed-in Tariff. They say it's all progressing well and I ought to hear from them in about 2 weeks. Also, now that I have a receipted invoice from Installation Company, that has to be sent to Energy Saving Scotland as proof of purchase. Meantime, I'm well chuffed with my system and it's ticking along well. Unless there is anything else to report, I'll be back in a month.

Week three update

The third week of solar production had a much more even look to it which reflected the more changeable weather we've seen. However, there was a consistent run of four days with above average sun. Here are the units of electricity produced each day:

Day 15: 7.7

Day 16: 17.4

Day 17: 17.1

Day 18: 17.8

Day 19: 18.5

Day 20: 8.5

Day 21: 11.5

This was a total of 98.5 units and a FiT income (eventually) of £40.68. That's a pretty good week. The relatively sunny days meant that my average rose slightly to 13.53 units a day, well clear of my 6.85 target for the year.

So to the highlights this week. The main event was a letter from Energy Saving Scotland (ESS). My loan funds were released. I visited Installation Company to pay the balance of the funds owed to them. They will post me out a receipted invoice which I have to send to ESS as proof of purchase. Repayments will be spread over 8 years. It was a chance to chat to them and one of the bosses asked me to explain the operation of the spreadsheet I had given him to monitor generation. I also mentioned to them that the panels had outperformed their rated capacity. Robert, their installer, suggested maybe that was a good batch of panels - a little more efficient than normal. Maybe.

I did manage to catch the system reading 3,609 watts output at one point myself, so good to confirm my son's similar reading last week.

There has been no word back from EDF Energy about my FiT arrangement. I'm assuming that reading I took two weeks ago when I filled out their form is the relevant one to base their payments on. When I get a day off, I might phone them to chase this up.

Meanwhile, I'll make one more weekly update of the generation figures before going to monthly updates.