Voltage Levels And Vo

[matt hunt]

Not gonna happen mate in our life times, plan for the realities not a wish list, embrace Domestic VO units (especially mine )

 

[kme]

Still awaiting spec. on those........

And conformity.........

And a note from SBS dave to say we`ve converted you to his, it must be said, excellent kit......

 

[binky]

not when its

JB'd into an existing circuit / fed from the load side of an RCD that now refuses to trip / runs around the outside of the house for 'half a mile' / etc,etc,etc

never mind the PV cables that are lying loose in the loft just waiting for a new TV point to be added into the kids bedroom.......

PV has to have it's own circuit, and has done for the last 3 years, unless fitted by winkers :slap

 

[steptoe]

well, when I done my PV , way before 3years ago, we were told it had to be dedicated then,

and,

not share an RCD with another load,

the reasons being as I discover all too often, some RCDs will not trip fast enough with PV backfeeding them.

 

[kme]

And, even if they do, anything else downstream has its disconnection time affected adversely....................

 

[binky]

well, when I done my PV , way before 3years ago, we were told it had to be dedicated then,

and,

not share an RCD with another load,

the reasons being as I discover all too often, some RCDs will not trip fast enough with PV backfeeding them.

when I first looked the NICEIC were suggesting tapping into upstairs ring mains as an acceptable connection method. When FiT scheme was released, MCS insisted on dedicated circuits.

 

[Steve3948]

Reading this thread it seems clear that idea of a VO being sold as and energy saving device has now gone out of the window and more a unit to stop PV blowing up your appliances

 

[binky]

clearly lacks the strength of his own conviction. Daft bugger - a demo unit, trialed and tested, and us proven wrong, would be the best sales pitch he could ever make :^O

VO has doubtful energy saving claims Steve - works for some things but not others. Which magazine report reckons they aren't worth buying, but they do have the benefit of avoiding voltage spikes from the mains, which has become an important selling point for these units, as in thoery this could extend the life of your appliances quite significantly.

 

[Steve3948]

clearly lacks the strength of his own conviction. Daft bugger - a demo unit, trialed and tested, and us proven wrong, would be the best sales pitch he could ever make :^O

VO has doubtful energy saving claims Steve - works for some things but not others. Which magazine report reckons they aren't worth buying, but they do have the benefit of avoiding voltage spikes from the mains, which has become an important selling point for these units, as in thoery this could extend the life of your appliances quite significantly.

Binky, yes but with most Fuseboard manufacturers selling surge protection devices as an addition to the board build up or even an external, I would suspect much cheaper than a VO.

Now I think the regs say you are to assess if surge protection is required and I currently have never fitted one at a domestic property, never felt it necessary, it's another idea that suddenly appeared.

So are we saying that with PV being installed that surge protection is a must, and is this why it was introduced into the regulations.

 

[Blue Duck]

I did try throw a spanner in earlier

It appears there are all types of spd now even one for pv

https://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&ei=aP7AU6rXHcm0O5DugLAO&url=http://www.electrium.co.uk/WylexSPD.pdf&cd=4&ved=0CEYQFjAD&usg=AFQjCNEJAcdpTlco9uYJLsIiBPfV5sih6w

Also claims that grid voltages are rising due to pv are contradicted by falls in voltage due to ancient dno equipment :|

 

[matt hunt]

Hi Guys, Gees I am away a week and you are planning my funeral already

Blue Duck where are you getting your information from? are you suggesting that ancient grid systems/equipment with PV has a lowering effect on voltage?

 

[matt hunt]

Canoe, of course you could just put a transformer in to step down the voltage, chances are though it would consume more power than what you would save!!

Always be aware of VO Companies that use laminated transformers, make sure the transformer type is a toroid but chose 1 that will take the largest amount of current possible as these consume less power at the lower end, some manufacturers claim that their transformers are rated at a constant 40amps, trust me they will not run at 40 amps for 2 hours never mind constant, ours is rated at 60amps CONTINUOS and we make them in England, not India or China like the rest of them.

In what area do you live Canoe and what kind of logging equipment do you own?

 

[matt hunt]

What are you using the transformers for?

 

[matt hunt]

I realise what a choke is canoe 

What size system do you have on your house and do you know what voltage you have day and night?

 

[matt hunt]

What I am thinking is to try a new design of transformer we are just completing, I would need a site that is obviously at the high end of the scale and one that preferably has the inverter set at 253v and may have a trip out problem

 

[binky]

Most of Plymouth is at the high end of the scale. Paddler has very nice fluke power analyser which he has kindly lent me a few times, it will cover all the info you need quite happily. Most inverters come set for 255V max, you have to tweak them to go higher generally. I do have one customer whose inverter was tripping out due to high grid voltages, which we overcame by setting inverter to 258V, but we got DNO involved, and this occurred about 10months after we fitted that system, so was probably a fault in the grid which I suspect has been rectified since.  I have my own PV system, and I can possibly borrow a decent set of monitoring gear from a company who do energy surveys - we fit the gear for them

 

[matt hunt]

Hi Binky

They sound ideal!

I had a chat with ABB last week and they confirmed they set their inverters at 262v though in line with G83-2!!

 

[matt hunt]

No I don't suppose they do canoe

Can any of you confirm what voltage level the inverters are factory set at for a G83-2 compliant inverter please