PC Pro - UK 2021-12)

@PCPRO FACEBOOK.COM/PCPRO Realworldcomputing

Paulownsanagency

thathelpsbusinesses

exploittheweb,from

salestomarketing

@PaulOckenden

(from$20to$22),Office 365 E 1 (from
$8to$10),Office 365 E 3 (from$20to
$23),Office 365 E 5 (from$35to$38),
andMicrosoft 3 6 5 E 3 (from$ 32 to
$36).Theseincreaseswillapply
globallywithlocalmarket
adjustmentsforcertainregions.
Therearenochangestopricingfor
educationandconsumerproducts
atthistime.”

Switchboardvsspam
Thenumberofrandomincoming
scamphonecallscontinuestorise,
witharecentfloodofphonecalls
fromwhatappeartobelegitimate
UKphonenumbers–youanswerthe
call,andthecallisimmediately
dropped.It’salmostasifthey’re
randomlydiallingnumberstoseeif
they’realiveornot.
Tostopthisnonsense,andto
deterthosecallcentresthatare
robocalling trying to sellme
somethingI don’tneed,I have
implementedtheDigitalReceptionist
facilityinour3CXphone switch.
Thiswasveryeasyto do:justrecord a
shortexplanationofwhichbuttonto
pressforeachextensionorfeature,
thenwire up thosebutton pressesto
thetasks. Forexample,press1 forthe
lab,2 forJondirectly. Thenmakethe
digitalreceptionistthedefaultroute
forincomingphonecalls.
I checkedit outfrommymobile
phoneandeverythingwasworking
fine.Sincethen,wehaven’thada
singlespamphonecall.Ifyouhave
anequivalentcapabilityinyour
phonesystem, thenitmight be
usefultoenableit.

Andfinally...
Twoquickiestoendon.I hadtosetup
a newApplelaptoplastweek,along
withanewAppleAccount.Todothis
youneedtoenteryourdateof birth.
Outofcuriosity,I scrolleddownthe
yearselectorandwassomewhat
amusedtosee thatI could setmyyear
ofbirthbacktosomewhereinthe
middleofthe 18thcentury.
Lessamusingly, I wantedtowritea
smallupdatetosay...there’sbeenno
updateonmyQuickBooksOpen
BankingconnectiontoAmerican
Express.Itstillshowseverythingthe
wrongwayup.I geta reassuringemail
everyfewweekssayingthey’re looking
intoit,butthematterisopaque.

“Shadingisthedirtylittlesecret

ofthesolarpanelindustry,and

onewhichisoftenglossedover”

Paulconcludeshistwo-parteronusingtechnologytosave

money,energyandtheplanet

PAULOCKENDEN

A

s I wrotelastmonth,the

startingpointformygreen

homeenergyjourneywasan

arrayofsolarpanelsstrappedtothe

roofofmyhouse.I mentionedthatmy

setupusesmicroinvertersratherthan

a more conventional“string” inverter

thattakesa singleinputfromallthe

solarpanelswiredtogether.

Microinverterssitonthe backofa

singlesolarpanel(oraresometimes

sharedbetweentwo;dual

microinverterscanbeused to reduce

costs,buttheyalsoreducethe

benefits).Theyliveontheroof,

attachedtothepanelarray,whereasa

stringinverterwouldbeindoors,

somewhereclosetoyourelectricity

meter.Microinverterssend 2 40VAC

downofftheroof,whereas a string-

basedsetupwill havea nice fatcable

carrying a fewhundredvoltsof DC.

Comparedtoa traditionalstring

inverter,microinverters offertwo

mainbenefits.First,they’resupposed

tolastlonger,typically 25 years,

comparedtotheten-yearlifespanofa

stringinverter.Second,theyreally

helpwithshadingproblems.

Shadingisthedirtylittlesecretof

thesolarpanelindustry,andone

whichisoftenglossedoverbythe

slick-suitedindividualtryingto sell

youthesysteminthe firstplace.With

a conventionalstringinvertersetup,if

oneofyoursolarpanelsis half-shaded

bya shadowfroma chimneyortree,

say,itreducestheoutputfromallof

theotherpanelsbyupto50%too.

That’sa hugeissueunlessyouhave

a south-facingroofwithno

obstructions.Butwitha microinverter

oneverypanel,thisproblemis

eliminated:each panelcangiveitsfull

output,andonlytheoutputfromthe

singleshadedpanelisreduced.

I shouldpointoutthatbesides

microinvertersthere’sanalternative

technologythatcanhelp,calledDC

Optimisers.Theseareadditional

modulesontheroof,oneperpanel,

butthefeedinto thehouseremains

DC,so youneeda stringinverter as

well.I don’tthinkthat’sanywhere

nearsuchanelegantsolutiontothe

shadingproblem.Microinverters are

definitelythewaytogo.

Orrather,thatwasmyreasoning

whenI hadthesysteminstalleda few

yearsback.ThemicroinvertersI chose

werefroma high-flyingBritish

manufacturercalledEnecsys, based

outoftheCambridgeScienceParkand

whosetechnologywasoriginally

developedintheuniversity’s

Department ofEngineering. It all

sounded greatuntilsoonafterthe

systemwas installedI heardthat

Enecsys hadgonetitsup.Thensodida

coupleofmymicroinvertersbecause

ofaninherentdesignflaw.Thesystem

wasstill underwarranty atthetime,

butthecompanyI’dusedforthe

installhaddisappearedtoo,andthe

insurance-backedwarrantyturned

outtobea completeandutterwasteof

time,assuchthingsusuallyare.

Asa result, I currentlyhave 16 solar

panelsonmyroof,butonly 14 ofthem

work.That’sanotheradvantageof

microinverters, though– at least I can

tellthatI’mnotgettingoutputfrom

twoof thepanels.Witha string

inverter,I’dbenonethewiser:I’dsee

slightlyreduced peak output but

wouldhaveno ideawhetherthiswas

downtohardwarefaults,panels

degrading,orseagull poo. Having

panel-levelaccesstothedatameansI

canseeexactlywheretheproblemis.

I justneedtofindalocalroof monkey

BELOWSolarpanels

canbetroublesome

unlessthey’refree

fromshadows

[email protected]

“Ifonepanelis

half-shaded,it

reducesthe

outputfromall

theotherpanels

byupto 50 %”