Plug in solar

[onebigbri]

So im toying with the idea of getting a plug in solar kit from http://www.pluginsolar.co.uk/

The instructions seem simple enough, its basically wired into a fused socket (which they provide) on an existing circuit.

Couple of questions:

1. If I can put this onto an existing circuit, can that existing circuit say be in the garage (the garage has its own mcb garage consumer unit via an armoured cable to an mcb fuse on the main consumer unit)

2. What happens if the electricity generated going into the garage exceeds its current usage (currently there are a couple of electric devices), will that extra electricity simply flow back into the main consumer unit and be used by the rest of the household?

3. And if the flow electricity can indeed go from a garage consumer unit back into the main consumer unit, rather than say plug in solar, could I simply go for a solar inverter, housed in the garage, with DC /AC isolators, which then feed into a spare fuse on the garage unit, which in turn feeds back into the house?

I had a stupidly high quotations, and because I work from home each day, I thought having a "cheap" plug n play solution could reduce my daytime electrical usage.

Many thanks
Brian

 

[Strima]

Don't waste your money.

 

[Percyprod]

Sounds pretty dangerous to me. Surely it's the same as connecting a generator via a 13amp plug into a socket? And if you can't se the danger in that then you shouldn't be messing with electricity! When I worked for a dno it was surprising how many people did this in a power cut.

 

[whinmoor]

If you're in Glasgow, try Peter at Solar Kingdom in Edinburgh. He's a regular on these boards and knows his stuff. He will design a good system for you:
Contact Us - Solar Kingdom - http://www.solarkingdom.co.uk/index.php/contact-us

 

[onebigbri]

Thanks, I'll contact him.

And as far as plug in solar is concerned, if having micro inverters going too fused switch on an existing circuit within the house is really dangerous, then surely the many plug in solar and plug in wind power sites shouldnt be selling their goods.

Even though all the documentation states that you notify the DNO about your microgeneration, stating how much kw etc, your still saying that process is really dangerous - in which case the government needs to clamp down on consumer websites that sell these kits, because there are lots of them

All of the information appeared to be legit, with accompanying dno notification forms.

 

[Gavin A]

if you know what you're doing then it's not dangerous, if you don't then it could be.

It could result in a circuit being overloaded without tripping the MCB / Fuse that's supposed to protect the circuit if wired in the way they suggest.

 

[Strima]

And will the inverter shutdown if there's a mains fail?

 

[onebigbri]

Well if the system was done with Enphase Micro inverters then their documentation state that they have rapid shutdown built in when there is a grid fault.

The diy plug in solar solution seems to use APSystems Y500i micro inverter which all I can see is that it is compliant with G83 issue 2 - it doesnt explicity indicate that it will perform a rapid shutdown in the event of a grid failure.

Think I would have to send a question off to APSystems to clarify