FenTiger

Obviously, this depends on what they are being used for. There's a nearby property with 15 x 2, 6 x 2 and ten more clustered together. That's a total of 52. The property appears to be a large 3 bedroomed house with like a long house attached at the rear. The middle of that is a double garage.

Without actually knocking on their door asking why they have so many or someone knows it's got the better of me and I'm so intrigued why anyone would have 52 solar panels. Other properties around here have around 16-18.

If I've already asked this question please ignore it!

Pulaski

At the risk of stating the obvious, I would assume they have more panels because they have higher power needs/ consumption.

The easiest for you to verify would be if they have an electric car(s), as those are going to need a lot more power, especially if they have more than one.

Another power hog that most homes wouldn't have, would be air conditioning (for which you may, or may not, be able to see the condenser coils next to their home), and as that is used most during the hottest part of the day, increased battery storage doesn't really help - they'd need real time capacity to power their AC .... and to charge their batteries on top.

Another possible reason is that they're using the "long house" for a grow-op. Is there lots of coming and going at all hours of the day and night, and perhaps commercial vehicles visiting more frequently than you might expect, especially if they're not marked with signage for a business, i.e. white vans? If the house is anywhere close to the road, you may be able to smell a grow-op if you casually walk, or ride a bicycle past it.

FenTiger

I've not seen any electric cars on site when I've walked past and not seen any commercial vans going in and out. No business signage and no grow-op smells coming from there. AC units - I forgot to look at this so will have another look.

It could be they run a workshop and need so many solar panels to run machines and equipment.

I may know someone who might know so I'll ask him. I'll let you all know if I find out. We can then debate whether 52 is too many.

Peter_in_Hungary

I have 18 panels running an electric car (charged about 3 times a month and about 14,000 km/year) and hot water during the summer for 2 houses and bore hole water which needs 2 pumps plus the usual household stuff. The last annual bill was 6,000 huf. so the 18 panels just about covered our needs

There is not much point to batteries in Hungary as the domestic tariffs are either annual reconciliation (like us) or monthly reconciliation and it doesn't matter what time of day or night you use the power, so no point in having batteries to cover when the sun isn't shining.

The amount you get paid for excess production (export greater than import) is so little there is no economic sense to over production.

With 52 panels I would expect electric heating in the winter and A/C in the summer for a fairly big volume and / or an indoor swimming pool, sauna etc.

Arkwright

My in-laws are as tight as a duck's whatsit and they fitted as many as their roof could bear the weight of and even then they were disappointed that they couldn't have more fitted.

They received a grant which covered 65% of the costs (up to max 5 million iirc) and they have to display a small notice (with EU flag on it) on their gate.

Unless there was something in it for them they wouldn't have bothered, they aren't the most environmentally concerned people I know.

Finknottle

Why?

FenTiger

I have local friends like that. They got a grant for triple glazing and 20cm insulation. When it's cold they still refuse to fire up the CH Woodburn despite having three years free supply of firewood! One occasion when we popped in we were told to keep our coats on.
They've applied for a grant for solar panels but three years on they still haven't been approved.

ecurb

I believe before the recent changes to the feed-in tariff and monthly reconciliation, any excess would be paid at the retail price so you would get more than the wholesale producers that support the grid get.
And the recent changes are not retrospective, so as long as you maintain the account you will continue to get the yearly reconciliation and get paid well for any excess solar energy you feed back to the grid.

The old system was also causing over production in some areas so now if you are installing a new system, you can only feed-in any excess with a monthly reconciliation (and with a miserable rate for any excess), if the power company is happy your area is not already oversupplied from other existing residential solar systems.

That explains why you see some house in Hungary with so many solar panels.

FenTiger