Plug-in solar panels are now legal in Great Britain!

[john@social.gozzys.com]

@neil Oh! THAT'S why there are dark skies and thunderstorms. It's always the government's fault.

More seriously, this is brilliant news. For a smaller upfront fee folks can get a technology that will save them money on their energy bills and renters can take it with them when they move.

[rubyjones@wandering.shop]

@neil Oooh, that IS good.

[theolodian@mastodon.social]

@neil not batteries, not zero VAT, and not covered by your home insurance. Definitely do 2 panels and a micro inverter if you can though!

We are VERY happy with our ‘plug-in’ solar system with 4 panels and a battery that we had professionally installed earlier this year. The VAT savings covered half of the labour costs, it is covered by their liability insurance, and I wasn’t the one lugging massive panels around!

[ianob@mastodon.ie]

@neil #Ireland next?

[christineburns@mastodon.green]

@neil I can’t help feeling that it’s extremely poor planning to launch plug in solar just as solar output is about to plunge towards the winter minimum.

[incredibish@mastodon.green]

@neil

"This can run a typical fridge, television, Wi-Fi router, laptop, phone charger and an Xbox S operating at once when the sun is shining." Fairly specific for a government piece... why not a PS5 or an Atari 2600+?

[chrisgerhard@mastodon.green]

@neil just as its started raining....

[christineburns@mastodon.green]

@neil@scare.me.uk @neil@mastodon.neilzone.co.uk There is that, yes. South facing balconies sporting vertical panels above the surrounding roof tops can positively benefit from the sun being lower in the sky.

[edavies@functional.cafe]

@neil

The UK safety specification is more stringent than that of Germany, where the technology is already widely used…

Major retailers, such as Currys, B&Q, Screwfix and Amazon have worked with government on the rollout of plug-in solar and will soon have them available to purchase in stores and online.

Why does the expression “regulatory capture” float into my mind?

[simonzerafa@infosec.exchange]

@neil

It may be helpful but only if you can include batteries in the system.

Looking into the options now

[theolodian@mastodon.social]

@edavies @neil you don’t have the right to do something good for the planet by default in the UK. You have to ask permission from the ruling elite.

[geoffl@mastodon.me.uk]

@neil No certified kit is on sale yet.

[theolodian@mastodon.social]

@edavies @neil my community wind farm, my non-MCS solar and my non-MCS a2a heat pump are the embodiment of the unwashed masses.

(I pay income tax on the wind farm, I don’t get paid for export for my solar, and I can’t remove my leaky 30yo gas boiler because then our house isn’t legally heated and liveable space.)

[neil@mastodon.neilzone.co.uk]

@geoffl

It seems likely, given the companies involved, that now it is legal to sell them, they will start to be sold?

[john_loader@ohai.social]

@john @neil looks like a 7-8 year payback. Can’t get credit for exported power though.

[falken@social.falkensweb.com]

@neil and.... Cue scare stories about "lidl burned down my home" funded by oil and Russia...

[john_loader@ohai.social]

@christineburns @neil there’s still a few good days in Autumn. Last September I generated 294.7kwh from my 10 panel array and even December and January gave a little.

[geoffl@mastodon.me.uk]

@neil Once they start producing kits that manage to get certification, yes. No idea how long that will take. Every one that was tested recently failed on electromagnetic emissions, probably because manufacturers cheaped out on component selection and sheilding.

I've just picked up 8 failed inverters to repair (for a different project) and add extra protection to. All blown mosfets that failed short and pulled maximum current from batteries. Not ideal.

[geoffl@mastodon.me.uk]

@neil The big problem is that non certified kit won't be covered by home insurance. The risk of fires is reduced without battery storage but if a fire is traced back to non certified kit then people could lose everything.

[neil@mastodon.neilzone.co.uk]

@geoffl That doesn't sound great