Generators?

[steve_earwig]

That's actually the goal, to produce 7 times less per capita than India by 2020. The target seems to be 39% of electricity production from renewable sources (solar, wind, hydroelectric - do they really include nuclear in that figure too?) In 2013 the figure they quote was 35%-odd already, so I guess they think this is attainable without doing, er, anything. Although how they think it's going to stay like that while they open another bloody coal-fired power station is anyone's guess.

Trouble with backfeeding the meter is it's not actually legal, I don't know what'll happen if they come to read it and it's lower than the last reading but I suspect that I'll have to disconnect it before that happens. Or at least make sure we use more than we produce (I suspect the air conditioning will be running rather a lot this year...)

Some figures (mainly for my benefit)
Last meter reading - 98846
Reading when the solar panels were connected (17th December) - 99827
Presently - 99749
That's a difference of 903kWh from the last meter reading. Production to date is 473kWh, which includes all the days the panels were covered in snow or it was pissing down. Now the weather's brightened up we're producing 25-30kWh a day and using something like 10kWh, so at this rate we'll be panicking in 1.5 to 2 months. The next meter reading is due at the end of March, which probably means I'll have to keep a close eye in it until then.

[Welly]

Need to charge you phone or laptop battery?

Fed up with getting electricity billz?

L@@K no further!

Send your sh*t to Steve_Earwig in that Croatia and he will charge them up and return free* of charge*.

Hurry whilst the sun's out.....

[steve_earwig]

Oddly enough, I was lying awake last night thinking about running extension leads into our neighbour's houses. Not that I like them very much, but I like the lectrick co less.

I just realised the air conditioner also does heat, so that's running now, and this afternoon I'll de-scale the electric boiler and put that back into service (damn, I'll have to buy a new thermostat as the existing one died just before we went to wood). I just checked the meter, with the air con running, the washing machine going and lunch in the oven, it's still running backwards.

T'wife reckons we should still be able to get a second meter and feed in, we'll just get the flat rate for it though. I worked out before that running the meter backwards we're saving 0.5Kn for every kWh but owing to the way the bills are calculated the actual charge for actual electricity is 0.11Kn per kWh (about 1p) and I reckon this would be the figure they used. It might actually be even less because I'm sure the buggers will still charge for using the network even though we're feeding the other way.

So yes, roll up, roll up, get your batteries charged here

[Welly]

It's daft isn't it that you are able to produce but no-one wants any

Don't forget you can get electric underfloor heating elements (like mats) and screed/tile over them that'd suck up some juice....

[steve_earwig]

I've finally got around to checking t'wife's email, Denis, the PV guy, reckons things might change in November (but that's bloody yonks away!) when something will happen in the Sabor (not sure what he means here, his English is about as good as my Croat).

It strikes me as daft that the EU is handing out long-term edicts to countries like Croatia, which seems to have about 57 different political parties and a high turn over in politicians, because its politicians only see as far as the next election, whereupon they'll retire with their big fat pensions to take directorships etc. and the next bunch can deal with it.

Under floor heating would be nice but I'm not sure I want to do anything that permanent really, things might change. Besides, that sounds a bit too efficient for my needs...

[Welly]

Besides, that sounds a bit too efficient for my needs...

Steve's back garden, seen earlier:

[steve_earwig]

As if, all I have out there are 2 150 watt reflectors.

Power generated today: 32.88kWh
Meter reading: 99729 (that's 20 down on this morning)

[steve_earwig]

More and more sun every day, meter reading presently 99673.

I've just connected up the electric boiler. It's take a few days because I needed to get another thermostat as the one in there made the water too hot even on its minimum setting. I'd changed the element last year and I was thinking "do I really need to de-scale it again?" Well, I did it anyway and got a bucket-full out, my god the water's hard here (comes out of a mountain). The element was caked as well so, rather than clean it now, I thought I'd get another one with the thermostat as they don't seem to last and clean the old one at my leisure. There used to be 2 plumber's in town here but sadly both have closed (more-or-less, a plumbers with no stock is no good to me) and the nearest now is in Lučko, which is almost in Zagreb. So I chugged along there with the old element and 'stat and an assistant (of which there seem to be dozens floating about) helped me find replacements. He then felt duty bound to warn me to disconnect the electricity before I started working. Ah, hello? See this in my hand? He also asked if I needed the flexible pipes for it, which I declined as I changed them last year. Got home, connected it all up, started filling, pissing out around the element. Bugger. It seems neither the hole in the tank nor the element are dead flat. So I got out my trusty tube of jollop, drained the tank again, smeared loads around the gasket and tightened it all up. The trouble with this stuff is it takes a while to set, so I pulled the outlet pipe off and turned on the hot water from the wood burner and let it set overnight.

Yesterday afternoon, when all my chauffeuring duties were done, I connected it all up again and filled it up - no leaks! Errr, not from the element anyway, but the outlet pipe was leaking from the end that's meant to be crimped solid, only now it isn't. Bugger. Drain it out again, pull off pipe, turn hot water from wood burner on again. A bit late in the day to go and get a new one so I went this afternoon. I got 2, seeing as they're crap.

While I was at the plumber's guess who I bumped into - Denis the PV guy! Yay! He says things might change in November when the government will have some kind of policy review (not holding my breath). He says there are probably about 100 people in Croatia in the same position as us. He "thinks" this system where we use what we produce and get paid for any excess will pay about 2p a kWh (still not much but I reckon we'll be generating 100kWh a day in summer, maybe more) but this might involve having our meter read once a month. for which we'll be charged. Or it might not, he's not sure as it's a brand new system and he doesn't know anyone on it yet.

Thinking about it, I bet this has replaced the tariffs and quotas system, people will still fit solar panels but only enough to cover what they use, there's no point in going mad and putting loads up there as we'll only get a small amount for the excess. So they won't have to pay 2.5-3 times as much for what they get over what they supply, it'll be 1 to 1 so no money changes hands for the electricity used, plus maybe a few coppers for the excess but I'm sure they'll claw that back with network charges or whatever, wire tax, roof tax, mouse tax, bollock tax. Heads they win, tails we loose. Again. Arseholes.