Newbie so forgive me if asking stupid questions.
We have a 3 phase supply to the property and a 3 phase meter although only 2 phases are in use. I have just had 3KW pv system installed on roof and single phase inverter in the loft. The electrician said he would join the pv array to phase 1. Does this mean that when I am using appliances that are connected to phase 2 then I will always be importing from the grid even if my panels are generating excess power at the time?
I'm not sure how to tell which circuits are on which phase of the supply. There are 2 consumer units, is it as simple as looking at the descriptions under each rcd circuit breaker?
1 unit contains circuit breakers labelled with all the normal household rings eg. lighting , sockets, double oven. the other consumer unit has rcds labelled with underfloor heating and combi oven.
My most power hungry "appliance" is the electric underfloor heating in the kitchen diner which has 2 x 17w/m cables rated at 2920W each. My plan was to set the timer so that they only heat up in daylight hrs so that I would use up my generated supply. If these badboys are on phase 2 then am I not going to maximise my bill reduction benefit of the pv array?
On bright sunny days with my baseline (alwayson) appliances running I can see that the importing meter led goes solid and stays solid even if I run w/machine and dishwasher etc. But it starts blinking fast again as soon as I switch on the underfloor heating. Is this just because the total load is more than I am generating or is it because I can't offset my generation against the load on phase 2?
Feel like I should have asked these questions before installation but then again they did the survey and designed the system knowing I had a multiphase supply and didn't discuss with me about any implications this would have on the system design or energy saving.
Would be really grateful for any advice / clarification, many thanks
We have a 3 phase supply to the property and a 3 phase meter although only 2 phases are in use. I have just had 3KW pv system installed on roof and single phase inverter in the loft. The electrician said he would join the pv array to phase 1. Does this mean that when I am using appliances that are connected to phase 2 then I will always be importing from the grid even if my panels are generating excess power at the time?
I'm not sure how to tell which circuits are on which phase of the supply. There are 2 consumer units, is it as simple as looking at the descriptions under each rcd circuit breaker?
1 unit contains circuit breakers labelled with all the normal household rings eg. lighting , sockets, double oven. the other consumer unit has rcds labelled with underfloor heating and combi oven.
My most power hungry "appliance" is the electric underfloor heating in the kitchen diner which has 2 x 17w/m cables rated at 2920W each. My plan was to set the timer so that they only heat up in daylight hrs so that I would use up my generated supply. If these badboys are on phase 2 then am I not going to maximise my bill reduction benefit of the pv array?
On bright sunny days with my baseline (alwayson) appliances running I can see that the importing meter led goes solid and stays solid even if I run w/machine and dishwasher etc. But it starts blinking fast again as soon as I switch on the underfloor heating. Is this just because the total load is more than I am generating or is it because I can't offset my generation against the load on phase 2?
Feel like I should have asked these questions before installation but then again they did the survey and designed the system knowing I had a multiphase supply and didn't discuss with me about any implications this would have on the system design or energy saving.
Would be really grateful for any advice / clarification, many thanks
