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Britons could soon install balcony solar panels in flats and rental homes (www.theguardian.com)

submitted 12 hours ago by blackn1ght@feddit.uk to c/unitedkingdom@feddit.uk

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[–] unexposedhazard@discuss.tchncs.de 4 points 11 hours ago (7 children)

It has been insanely successful in Germany. Around this time last year the total number of these private mini setups reached 500.000. They are typically 800W peak power (because thats the legal limit for an unregistered installation) so that gives you 400MW of total installed capacity. Pretty dope imo.

[–] Squizzy@lemmy.world 4 points 11 hours ago (6 children)

Unregistered how? Do you need permission for more?

[–] unexposedhazard@discuss.tchncs.de 5 points 10 hours ago* (last edited 10 hours ago) (1 children)

Yes, its kinda complicated and there are lots of reasons. The solar advocacy groups fought a lot to make it so that you dont even have to ask/notify your landlord or energy provider for these <800W installations

Feeding in a lot of power (and especially quickly switching it on and off) can create grid instability (because the electricity grid is stupid and designed for large centralized powerplants)
At some point (really big commercial installations) you are even required to install a remote disconnect system that the provider can use to turn off your installation if the grid is overloaded
You dont get the same amount of money for selling energy then buying it, which means with high power installations the provider loses money if they dont install a smart meter (meter that keeps track of how much flows out and into the grid)
With <800W installations the provider can still install a smart meter if they want, but you dont have to notify them of your installation

I hope i didnt mix something up here. Obviously read about your local laws if you install anything.

[–] MouldyCat@feddit.uk 1 points 5 hours ago

That's neat. Someone told me about inverters you could just plug into a wall socket and have it feed appliances in the house here in Spain, but I just thought they were crazy.

In Germany, can you use the solar panels to directly feed the grow-lamps for a couple of healthy cannabis plants? Is that also permitted?

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