Solar PV Systems

[Cav]

I know this group has some experience with Solar systems for the home and wanted your guys thoughts and feelings on this quote...

Paid in cash so no repayment plan to factor in, just 'immediate' savings

What other things should I consider that aren't involved in these illustrations?

[D6Nutz]

Does it include any battery storage?

At the moment, the only savings I'm getting really at the moment are coming from charging overnight at cheap rate and using that for as long as I can before going back to the grid.

Also, export tariffs aren't stunning so don't bank on that making you rich.

[Cav]

He quoted with and without.. ROI is 50% beyond the warranty of the battery. For us it does seem better to go without the battery as the solar should produce more than 100% of the power we consume annually.

Does anyone have just a battery and charge it overnight on the cheap tariff but without panels?

I can add a battery in the future though so if we get an EV it would 100% make sense to do that.. cheap charge overnight and charge the car via the grid in the meantime.

[Cav]

I'll share those details shortly

[D6Nutz]

He quoted with and without.. ROI is 50% beyond the warranty of the battery. For us it does seem better to go without the battery as the solar should produce more than 100% of the power we consume annually.

Does anyone have just a battery and charge it overnight on the cheap tariff but without panels?

I can add a battery in the future though so if we get an EV it would 100% make sense to do that.. cheap charge overnight and charge the car via the grid in the meantime.

We were told about 7 years for our ROI and the batteries have a 10 year lifetime.

If you have a smart EV charger there are some really good tariffs at the moment. Car chargers can also be problematic with battery storage, if they're not wired up right they can drain your batteries before you get a chance to use them. Make sure you talk to the installer.

Things to remember, you may theoretically be able to generate all the power you need. But there is a but. Your inverter will have a limit to what in can convert, ours is 3.6kwh. if we demand anything beyond that then it pulls from the grid as well.

[Cav]

3.6kwh inverter for this one too.

There is a 25% reduction in unit cost for 12 months on the British Gas/Hive when switching to a solar tariff. Obviously that's beneficial either way.

Really good to know about car chargers and batteries though! Didn't know that

[C00kiemonster]

I wouldn’t have a solar system without a battery. There are many days where you won’t generate what you need and pay peak prices for electric.

Charging batteries on off peak electric and/or solar is by far the most economic.

It also makes you less dependent on the grid, which is always a good thing.

Prices of energy are only ever going to go up.

You can always charge using cheap power and export from the battery to grid during peak and make a profit. Plenty of people do that without solar.

[Cav]

That's a good point.. hmm more thought required. I don't think I have enough cash to do the battery as well straight away. 0% credit card might be required

[D6Nutz]

These are my inverter stats since October when the system was installed.
Load = demand fun the house, Import = cost me money, PV = free from the sun.

There 'aint a lot of free even when the sun is shining it's very low in the sky and we probably only get a couple of hours generation. Our panels are also perfectly south facing.

However, we are now heading to spring where the days are longer and should be sunnier. You could consider getting the panels and inverter now, knowing it might start a bit shit but will get better soon. Then you could look to add batteries around September/October when the days start to shorten.

[D6Nutz]

I should add that we use a lot of electric over the winter as I WFH 4 days and my shoffice is heated exclusively by electric heating.

[duke63]

This winter has been particularly dark and dreary. My client who has solar panels has produced less energy this winter than last.

That in the one downside in solar...living in the UK where you cannot rely on sunshine.

[C00kiemonster]

9 months of the year a correctly sized system and battery should keep up with a house demand, even in the uk.

The other 3 months you either oversize the system or take off peak energy when the sun isn’t out.

Part of the problem with payback periods is the cost of install. Some companies really take the piss.

My new house will have lots of solar and batteries but most of it I will do myself.

[Monty]

I would start with getting a quote for a heat pump and size your inverter and batteries for that as the minimum. Will future proof you "when" the gas prices go up. I wouldn't consider Solar without batteries, and I would fit the biggest batteries I could afford

[duke63]

9 months of the year a correctly sized system and battery should keep up with a house demand, even in the uk.

The other 3 months you either oversize the system or take off peak energy when the sun isn’t out.

Part of the problem with payback periods is the cost of install. Some companies really take the piss.

My new house will have lots of solar and batteries but most of it I will do myself.

He also has a home system. I know it cost him £25k+ and he does have batteries but i think he buys in cheap electricty in the night, stores it and uses it in the daytime when needed in the winter months.

His panels are producing almost nothing in the last month or so as we were talking about it just the other day.

[kiwikrasher]

I would start with getting a quote for a heat pump and size your inverter and batteries for that as the minimum. Will future proof you "when" the gas prices go up. I wouldn't consider Solar without batteries, and I would fit the biggest batteries I could afford

Late to the party, but totally agree with this.

The heat pump I’ve put in saves me 10 kW minimum everyday compared to the electric system I had.

The battery saves me 12 kW on the best day, and even in Aussie I have noticeable amount of days it gets no charge.

The only other point I’d make in addition to all the great info from Cookie and Nutz is that with a battery/solar combo you remain powered in a grid outage. With just solar you don’t. They can’t have random solar being exported while linesman are trying to fix faults. But with a battery the grid isolation leaves the solar and battery feeding your house (with no export)