Solar panels working!

I had had solar panels on my roof since early June. But because of communication issues, they did not work. They would only work once I would get the additional array of five panels on the flat roof. So now what?

I discussed this with the company that had had them installed. And when they finally agreed to just phone  me rather than exchange aggressive emails, I told them that I hoped to have the west facade re-rendered in only a few weeks’ time. The company had offered to exchange my big inverter for two separate inverters; one for the array of six and one for the array of five. Then the setup would just work both before and after the installation of the last panels. But with the path hopefully clear for everything to be finished within weeks, I suggested they hold their horses. On the condition that the renderer would actually show up and do the work.

The renderer was as good as his word! So we proceeded with the plan. And on Wednesday August 3rd I should get my final panels. That also gave me time to paint the wall. There was still a small spanner in the work; something had not been delivered, and it turned into the day after. But then they really came!

Given they only had to install some panels on an accessible roof, the men were done in a few hours. And then they were done! I quickly had a look at my electricity meter; indeed, it now ran backwards. I should have had a smart meter, of course, but the energy company had not been forthcoming.

Coffee break

When I had a look at what the installers had done I noticed there were six panels there, rather than the agreed five. I liked that; they had basically forced changes to the contract on me that were in my disadvantage, and now they had suddenly made a change in my advantage. Maybe that would cancel out!

The next day the company phoned. Was everything okay? And they said they had indeed delivered six panels by way of an apology. And I accepted that. I had calculated how much I had paid for my electricity since the panels had been installed, how far along their period of writing off the panels have got in the meantime, and how much I wanted to charge for the time they had made me waste. That boiled out to the same value as this sixth panel. It meant that the cost of having the installers come twice fell on me, but at least the relationship with the company was okay again. So we closed that case!

The next day when I came home from work I checked how much I seem to have generated. My electricity meter was 28 KWh less than it had been when the installers had left! This was going fast. It was totally evident my next electricity meter reading would be less than the previous one. Maybe that would kick the electricity company into action.

The weekend after getting my solar power I was away, but after that I could start adapting my life to this new power source! Do the laundry during the day rather than during the night; boiling water and putting it in my big flasks before the sun sets so I can do the rest of the day with hot beverages that have been produced sustainability, and so on. I'll try to do as much as I can with the power from the sun! Let's see how far I get!