HaraldvonBlauzahn5d ago

UK Government will allow "Plug-In Solar" Panels

https://feddit.org/post/27264515

UK Government will allow "Plug-In Solar" Panels - feddit.org

The original (very generic) title): > Government to go “further and faster” in becoming energy secure > >The Energy Secretary outlines measures to protect consumers and make Britain energy secure. They are speaking of panels in the 800W range which you can just buy , mount in front of your balcony or on top of your carport, and plug into a wall socket. These things are wildly popular in Germany. The do not generate a lot of power, but armotize in about three years and save real money. (Depending on how old the metering technology is, they can also make the power meter spin backwards, which I think is only fair considering how much households pay for kWh, compared to energy-hungry companies, which get most of the the massive cost savings from renewables but don’t pay for the necessary upgrade of the grid).

Show threadllothar5d ago

They are cool, although there are risk connected to using them. In some cases an appliance can draw more power than the circuit is rated for without tripping a circuit breaker.

They are not legal in Norway, and with all houses being made out of wood it makes sense, but I guess the risk in UK or Germany is lower.

Show threadwizzor5d ago
They also can pose a risk for linemen and electricians. A circuit can remain powered even if the breaker or load break switch is disconnected. That is, unless they have a feature which disables power output automatically when grid power is lost?
Show threadHaraldvonBlauzahn5d ago

A circuit can remain powered even if the breaker or load break switch is disconnected.

They are specifically designed so that this does not happen.

BTW part of the UKs standards for household wiring comes from a time where the idea was to heat with electricity from nuclear power. Which is one reason why each appliance also has an extra fuse in their respective wall plug - not a bad design.

Show threadTim5d ago

That is not why UK plugs have a fuse in them. UK plugs have a fuse in them because the wiring standards date from a time when the UK was trying to save money and copper because of the war, so they allow for the fuse in the breaker panel to be higher rated than the actual wiring in the wall.

The fuse in the plug is to prevent a broken device, or overloaded power strip, drawing the full current the breaker will allow, causing the in-wall wiring and/or appliance cables to burn.

It’s a terrible design.

Show threadCheeseNoodle
Based on my electrical engineering course the UK has one of the weirdest wiring standards in the world, having some of the shittiest baseline wiring and subsiquently trying to make up for it with some of the most stringent regulations around protection devices such as RCDs and additional fuses.
Mar 18 at 8:05amWeb
Show threadTim5d ago

They are also weirdly patriotic about their plugs. Suggesting that BS1363 was driven by necessity of poor wiring standards rather than being a gift from God to her chosen people is tantamount to standing in the street and pissing on the Union Jack.

(Source: Am British. Well, was. BS1363 plugs are very nice. But honestly, Schuko is fine as well. They’re just plugs.)