Technology Archives - A Simple Life of Luxury

Maximising Export

Alan Cole — Tue, 05 May 2026 12:58:21 +0000

We used to try to maximise using as much of our own solar power as possible. It made sense at the time — run the washing machine, charge the battery, power the house and the car directly from solar, and avoid exporting it back to the grid for little or no return. But things have...

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Electricity Trickery

Alan Cole — Wed, 01 Apr 2026 12:34:06 +0000

Well, our decision to install solar panels, battery storage, and an EV has just taken a very welcome turn for the better. Overnight electricity prices have effectively been slashed in half — dropping from 7p per kWh to just 3.49p per kWh. Because we charge the batteries overnight, we can now shift almost all of...

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Improving My Solax WordPress Plugin — Adapting to a More Dynamic Charging Schedule

Alan Cole — Thu, 19 Feb 2026 19:59:00 +0000

Back in November 2021, I wrote a post about how I built my own Solax WordPress plugin to display data from our inverter in real-time. It worked extremely well for years, and for our setup at the time it gave an accurate picture of our solar production. However, towards the end of 2025 we added an additional battery...

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Broadband Upgrades

Alan Cole — Sat, 14 Feb 2026 07:45:27 +0000

Exciting News! We’ve changed broadband provider. Yes, I know, yawn, yawn, that’s not news, it’s just common sense to change now and then to save some money, but it does come with a few new ‘upgrades’. We were fortunate back in 2016, despite living in the middle of nowhere, we were one of the first...

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Crunching the Numbers: 2025 Sets a New Solar Record

Alan Cole — Sat, 03 Jan 2026 15:37:00 +0000

The figures are in, the numbers have been crunched and… trumpets and fanfares… ta-da! 2025 was our best year of solar energy yield yet. It was a close-run thing, and I genuinely didn’t think we’d beat the 2022 record. However, a few good solar days between Christmas and the New Year tipped the balance. Our...

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Because Why Wouldn’t You Add Off-Road Mods to a Robot Mower?

Alan Cole — Sat, 13 Dec 2025 13:39:09 +0000

Our robot lawn mowers might be in winter hibernation mode, but the off-season is the perfect time for… upgrades. On a recent trip to Bristol, my Dad deployed his 3D printer (aka the family’s unofficial R&D department) to produce a pair of traction rings for the wheels on our Mammotion Yuka Mini. Now, the stock...

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Maximising Solar and Off-Peak Tariffs: More Storage, More Savings

Alan Cole — Wed, 10 Dec 2025 10:43:00 +0000

Having had our solar panels and home battery storage system for four years now, we’ve grown used to its capabilities and the money it saves us. It’s also given us time to evaluate it and decide where best to upgrade next. The obvious choice was to add more battery capacity — so that’s exactly what...

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Robot Rest and Recuperation

Alan Cole — Tue, 25 Nov 2025 17:58:37 +0000

With the temperatures dropping and the days shortening, I’m hoping the grass has finally stopped growing. Time, therefore, to give the robot mowers some well-deserved rest and recuperation and let them hibernate for the winter. That was my chore for Saturday morning. It was a grey, slightly damp, chilly day — but not too bad...

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New Car Day

Alan Cole — Tue, 11 Nov 2025 19:33:36 +0000

It’s been a week of new things — hot on the heels of a new bike comes a new car! Our previous car, a Hyundai Kona, was the first brand-new car we’d ever leased, and our first electric car too. To say we loved it would be an understatement. Obviously, the fact that it was...

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Solar Comparisons

Alan Cole — Sat, 30 Aug 2025 12:40:00 +0000

I’ve added some new data features to my Solax Solar Panel Plugin for WordPress. This plugin isn’t publicly available for a few reasons, but I use it on this website to display the status of our solar panels and track their performance over time. It’s also used on a small Home Info-Display, which shows data...

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