Comment on Britons could soon install balcony solar panels in flats and rental homes
unexposedhazard@discuss.tchncs.de 3 weeks agoYes, its kinda complicated and there are lots of reasons. The solar advocacy groups fought a lot to make it so that you dont even have to ask/notify your landlord or energy provider for these <800W installations
- Feeding in a lot of power (and especially quickly switching it on and off) can create grid instability
- At some point (really big installations) you are even required to install a remote disconnect system that the provider can use to turn off your installation if the grid is overloaded
- You dont get the same amount of money for selling energy then buying it, which means with high power installations the provider loses money if they dont install a smart meter (meter that keeps track of how much flows out and into the grid)
- With <800W installations the provider can still install a smart meter if they want, but you dont have to notify them of your installation
MouldyCat@feddit.uk 3 weeks ago
That’s neat. Someone told me about inverters you could just plug into a wall socket and have it feed appliances in the house here in Spain, but I just thought they were crazy.
In Germany, can you use the solar panels to directly feed the grow-lamps for a couple of healthy cannabis plants? Is that also permitted?
unexposedhazard@discuss.tchncs.de 3 weeks ago
As long as you dont connect it to the grid (island mode) you can do whatever the fuck u want and go way beyond 800W. You can buy a full kit of these 800W setups (panels, cables, inverter) for like 2-300€ sometimes. The one i got says that its island capable, but its not really optimal for grow lamp use, because for that you need battery storage and the cheap ones arent capable of that. Idk how much power these lamps use, but there are relatively cheap 12V solar charger + inverter systems that use car batteries for storage.
MouldyCat@feddit.uk 3 weeks ago
Yeah I think you’d definitely want a battery. TBH I just threw that question about grow lamps in there to draw attention to how you can not only run low/medium power solar setups in Germany, but you can also grow a couple of weed plants for your own use.
I think Germany might actually be the only country in Europe where you can do that fully legally? I used to think growing your own weed was fully legal in Spain and Portugal, but now after speaking to some of my family who live in Spain, I think it’s really just a grey area and not technically legal at all.
Anyway, I’m not actually trying to grow my own weed or anything like that, I just think it’s a stupid thing to make illegal. So go Germany, we’re all counting on you!