Terence EdenMar 15

Brilliant news! The UK's Labour Government are going to make "plug in solar" legal.

Grab some panels from Lidl, hang them off your balcony or out your window, plug them in to your mains. Done!

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/government-to-go-further-and-faster-in-becoming-energy-secure

#Solar

Government to go "further and faster" in becoming energy secure

The Energy Secretary outlines measures to protect consumers and make Britain energy secure.

GOV.UK
Show thread⁂ Fish Id WardrobeMar 15

@Edent excellent news if it turns out they don't screw it up.

but.

"plug it into your mains"? really? how does that work?

edit: even if it does work — how would i know it was doing anything?

edit^2: the relevant search term here is "G98". i'm still very confused what the hell this is, but it is a thing, in some areas.

Show threadJanek BevendorffMar 15
@fishidwardrobe @Edent You plug it into your wall and it makes your meter run more slowly or in reverse. Plug-in solar inverters also often come with apps to track your production.
Show threadPhil Dennis-Jordan
@phoerious @fishidwardrobe @Edent These things have been permitted and widely available in Austria for 5 years or so, but only if you have a smart meter (even running in "dumb" mode) which counts outflow separately from inflow. The energy suppliers don't like meters running in reverse. If you have a feed-in contract, you'll be paid for what you feed back into the grid (typically much less than energy you buy from them); if you don't, you won't.
Mar 15 at 3:17pmWeb
Show threadJanek BevendorffMar 15
@pmdj @fishidwardrobe @Edent Most modern digital meters should be able to do that even if they don’t come with a smart gateway.
Show threadPhil Dennis-JordanMar 15
@phoerious @fishidwardrobe @Edent Yes, I think the rollout here was straight from analog to smart, and you can opt into or out of the smart functions.