Stupid Question

[Maff]

Slightly off topic this one, A neighbour of mine asked me if I could look at their CCU and give a quote for a new one because the wife could occasionally smell burning coming from the meter cupboard. So I go and have a look!!! Oh dear, old rewirables 5 ways with lots of DIY additiions coming from all angles. eg one 30A fuse with bathroom underfloor heating/emersion heater/shed sockets(wash mashine, tumble drier, and chest freezer + 3 socketsand a light, Any way after I had resisted the urge to run home I tried to explain about max demand/diversity and that all these circuits need to be seperated/tested and pos have cables uprated or even have another phase from the street, nightmare.
This got me wondering if you had a healthy 3.68KW generator on your roof in theory would it increase/offset your max demand (during daylight) as it is current you can use but it isnt being drawn through the service head.

 

[BruceB]

In principle you could take it into acount when calculating maximum demand and it could be applicable in some commercial situations. But in reality for most domestic situations the maximum demand is likely to be called for when the sun is not shining and it is cold and they are cooking/showering.

 

[benide]

You cant guarantee power from solar during the day as iradiance varies a lot. It will also only offset 16amps maximum which isnt a great deal. Unless im missing something from the equation you don't need to worry about maximum demand as much as that. All those loads existed previously without blowing the service head let alone a 30amp rewireable fuse. You shouldn't need another phase, houses all across the Uk manage with 100, 80 or even 63amp on just a single phase.