Solar panels , would you ?

[Mudball]

Suddenly the misses is talking about solar panels. Out of the blue she is standing in the garden with her tools, looking at the roof and talks about the weather being good for solar.

We have about 6m width of a south/southeast facing unshaded roof. I have to try and work out how ‘high’ the rectangle would be to see what we could fit. If we get 2 high then it might be a decent size arrays available to us.

Some of the guys (if they bother to respond) will look your house up on Google maps and suggest how many panels you can put up

 

[Mudball]

Suddenly the misses is talking about solar panels. Out of the blue she is standing in the garden with her tools, looking at the roof and talks about the weather being good for solar.

We have about 6m width of a south/southeast facing unshaded roof. I have to try and work out how ‘high’ the rectangle would be to see what we could fit. If we get 2 high then it might be a decent size arrays available to us.

IMO, having panels only w/o battery makes no sense for us.. most of our loads (washing, drying, car charge) are going to happen in the evening - so you want to use own power to do it. Like clockwork, energy price will go up in Winter so you don’t want to use the grid at that time. That’s my opinion. @pauljames87 probably has a spreadsheet somewhere

 

[Tashyboy]

Suddenly the misses is talking about solar panels. Out of the blue she is standing in the garden with her tools, looking at the roof and talks about the weather being good for solar.

We have about 6m width of a south/southeast facing unshaded roof. I have to try and work out how ‘high’ the rectangle would be to see what we could fit. If we get 2 high then it might be a decent size arrays available to us.

South south east is a good angle for the panels, Re how many you can get up. Only the surveyor can tell you that.
That said, some panels are better than others, and I stand corrected but home owners can have a max of 4 KW.
again questions to ask yourselves, do you want Battery storage, get it bird proofed.

 

[PJ87]

IMO, having panels only w/o battery makes no sense for us.. most of our loads (washing, drying, car charge) are going to happen in the evening - so you want to use own power to do it. Like clockwork, energy price will go up in Winter so you don’t want to use the grid at that time. That’s my opinion. @pauljames87 probably has a spreadsheet somewhere

Indeed battery storage is key , you can be self sufficient in the summer (most people) because of my high usage we don't but for example we were away last night our usage was 10kw from the grid , average in summer is 15kw but average in winter is 20kw

Considering average usage of house is 25kw full stop the solar compliments it greatly

If we used less we could run all summer not touching grid

 

[full_throttle]

that looks small, but i am assuming, it impacted your leccy bill... so effectively there are 2 bits
a) there is money that it took off your bill, which you would have anyway paid to the grid - cost avoidance
b) Money overall you got credited - money made.

So in effect you 'made' a+b. Last year you were paying a to your energy provider and now you are paying to solar company. Also, you may have added equity into the house.

You forgot to add in:
c) Interest you would have made from keeping the capital in a decent savings account

So the actual benefit is a+b-c

At current import and export prices and interest rates, the analysis for my own house means that getting panels would result in a small profit, and getting a battery is actually not worth it.
(Of course, we don't have a crystal ball about future electricity prices and interest rates).

£86 for 9 weeks = £10 pw, considering we use the washing machine 3 times a week, and the tumble dryer at least twice, I'm quite satisfied atm

 

[PJ87]

Rhrh

You forgot to add in:
c) Interest you would have made from keeping the capital in a decent savings account

So the actual benefit is a+b-c

At current import and export prices and interest rates, the analysis for my own house means that getting panels would result in a small profit, and getting a battery is actually not worth it.
(Of course, we don't have a crystal ball about future electricity prices and interest rates).

Need to look into octopus flux rates.. with a battery and a low use house you can make profit from selling energy at peak times

Buy overnight say 22p .. any export during day is 22p until 3 hour window at night where it goes to 50p or something and you dump your entire battery out and then purchase at the standard day rate until the cheap window again

People are making serious money out of it

 

[full_throttle]

Electricity JUL 2023 - 31 JUL 202310.04 kWhWe charged your account £18.05
Gas1 JUL 2023 - 31 JUL 2023135.69 kWhWe charged your account £18.53

 

[larmen]

I stumbled across this calculator, one that actually gives me numbers before harvesting my data: https://heatable.co.uk/solar/quote
Do you experienced people think this numbers are 'reasonable and realistic'?

Depending on my drawing and selected roof pitch I am supposed to get 7 or 8 of their panels onto the roof, and that costs me either 6k for a 2.9kW 7 panel option or 6.5k for the 8 panel 3.4kW option.
That's supposed to be all in. (well, they don't mention bird protection).


For batteries I like the idea of the new givenergy all in one system which costs about 6k excluding vat for 13.5 kWh.


Just taking this as a starter for research.

 

[bobmac]

Just be aware that solar panel technology is changing fast and what you buy today might be out of date next week.
Do as much research as you can
eg perovskite and transparent panels

The Next Generation of Solar Is Lighter, Better, and Cheaper

The next generation of solar panel technology is emerging, offering designers new ways to integrate energy capture into their projects.

metropolismag.com

 

[Bunkermagnet]

Just be aware that solar panel technology is changing fast and what you buy today might be out of date next week.
Do as much research as you can
eg perovskite and transparent panels

The Next Generation of Solar Is Lighter, Better, and Cheaper

The next generation of solar panel technology is emerging, offering designers new ways to integrate energy capture into their projects.

metropolismag.com

Perhaps what you highlight is a reason so many are reticent about going ev or having solar panels.
We see all the time how electronic tech advances, (cameras, phones etc) and how what is top spec one week is redundant the following month.
I accept things are always improving, but for me with electronics ito the pace of improvement that undermines you.

 

[bobmac]

Perhaps what you highlight is a reason so many are reticent about going ev or having solar panels.
We see all the time how electronic tech advances, (cameras, phones etc) and how what is top spec one week is redundant the following month.
I accept things are always improving, but for me with electronics ito the pace of improvement that undermines you.

That's why I said do your research first.
If you think somethings about to change, maybe wait but it won't happen next week. It takes years if not decades for new technology to pass all the safety tests and become widely available at a reasonable cost.
How many years has it been since everyone switched from the old golf trolley batteries to the newer, smaller, more expensive lithium batteries?

If you're happy with the performance and the cost of what's available now, go for it because the next 'new thing' could be years away.

 

[larmen]

If you always wait for the next best thing you never buy anything good.

As example, look at the iPhone, the 15 will be better than the 14. Should I wait? I didn’t buy the 13 because the 14 was only 1 year away, …

At some point you have to bite the bullet or miss out forever.

Sent from my iPhone Xs;-)

 

[bobmac]

If you always wait for the next best thing you never buy anything good.

As example, look at the iPhone, the 15 will be better than the 14. Should I wait? I didn’t buy the 13 because the 14 was only 1 year away, …

At some point you have to bite the bullet or miss out forever.

Sent from my iPhone Xs;-)

Totally agree, but if your research shows some big improvement is about to come to the market, then maybe hang on.

 

[Pants]

Totally agree, but if your research shows some big improvement is about to come to the market, then maybe hang on.

As I see it. the thing is with all the "improvements" and "advances" is that probably 90% of the purchasers will never use or even want or know how to use them (as in the car gizmo threads). But hey, look at me, I've got this week's new upgraded X27 GI. Apparently it's so much better than the X26 GI that I had and it's only costing me £50 a month for a 3 year contract!

 

[cliveb]

Totally agree, but if your research shows some big improvement is about to come to the market, then maybe hang on.

Yes, there's a difference between incremental updates (eg. iPhones) versus revolutionary new technologies.

If (and it's a big if) they ever figure out how to make perovskite solar cells last for years it will be a game changer. But since they've been fiddling around with perovskites for decades and not cracked it yet, I'm not holding my breath.

 

[PJ87]

Still really glad we did

It's almost 4pm the battery is charging again it's up to 97%

That will see us easily until the cheap hours .

Fridge freezer being replaced Wednesday as it's got a fault and that's my main electric user so hopefully new one will reduce our usage

 

[Bunkermagnet]

That's why I said do your research first.
If you think somethings about to change, maybe wait but it won't happen next week. It takes years if not decades for new technology to pass all the safety tests and become widely available at a reasonable cost.
How many years has it been since everyone switched from the old golf trolley batteries to the newer, smaller, more expensive lithium batteries?

If you're happy with the performance and the cost of what's available now, go for it because the next 'new thing' could be years away.

I agree, but "doing your research" does in my case take a while. spur of the moment purchases aren't my way.
I was doing "research" on a new camera a while ago, just when I was going to buy a new one they announced the upcoming relase of it's mk2. For the money solar panels and ev's cost, I would be doing a massive amount of research and the fear of it being almost redundant soon after will never go away.

 

[bobmac]

I agree, but "doing your research" does in my case take a while. spur of the moment purchases aren't my way.
I was doing "research" on a new camera a while ago, just when I was going to buy a new one they announced the upcoming relase of it's mk2. For the money solar panels and ev's cost, I would be doing a massive amount of research and the fear of it being almost redundant soon after will never go away.

If something new comes along, it will not be soon and will not make your system redundant.

 

[PJ87]

If something new comes along, it will not be soon and will not make your system redundant.

This 1000 times

It's like people expect suddenly a new tech to completely ruin old tech

When does that happen??

The only thing that could ruin EVs is suddenly teleportation to be made for everyone in their homes. Simple as that

Solar panels? Even if they developed mini fusion reactor's for everyone's home for £1000 your solar would still be working .. it's not like it still won't make energy for you to use

If they stopped making and supporting chargers for EVs on the road that could be a problem but can anyone truly see that happening? Even so if you can do 90% your charging at home you would still be fine

On battery tech aswell battery tech hasnt overly changed much in years, what's changing is speeds of charge. It's still converting charge to store in a battery that takes up space

They need to increase the speed safely and have batteries take up less room. All of which won't happen just like that and even if it did it will be in EVs of 2040 onwards.

If they improve batteries the ones on houses and in cars won't be useless from the day the tech rolls out

Just like petrol cars aren't useless

 

[Mudball]

had our survey done... apparently we should be able to generate 5.3kWH... all inclusive for 16 panels, inverter, 6k battery, bird proof and EV charger - it works out about 12.5k
Now the big Q is how quickly will our payback be.. i am assuming atleast 7-8 years