Discussion
For anyone who wants a real world daily generated figure.
My south facing 4kw system with no shading has been in for 9.5 years and the average daily generated figure is 7.42kwh. So you may want to use a similar figure in your calculations.
Worst daily figure this winter so far is 300wh on the 19th of December.
My south facing 4kw system with no shading has been in for 9.5 years and the average daily generated figure is 7.42kwh. So you may want to use a similar figure in your calculations.
Worst daily figure this winter so far is 300wh on the 19th of December.
Worth repeating my post above:
dmsims said:
2 years ago quote for 8 panels - £2074
KTF said:
I dont know if install prices are higher than a few years ago (I suspect they are) due to the current demand moment but how is it a viable option from a financial point of view to fit solar, battery, etc. unless I am missing something?
KTF said:
Ok, so as I thought, the numbers do not make it worthwhile.
I dont know if install prices are higher than a few years ago (I suspect they are) due to the current demand moment but how is it a viable option from a financial point of view to fit solar, battery, etc. unless I am missing something?
IMHO people are keen to reduce their energy costs so eager to find a way of doing so. Unscrupulous sales people are happy to tout unrealistic in-house consumption figures from panels and even further energy import reductions from batteries which give short payback periods and people take the bait.I dont know if install prices are higher than a few years ago (I suspect they are) due to the current demand moment but how is it a viable option from a financial point of view to fit solar, battery, etc. unless I am missing something?
ARHarh said:
For anyone who wants a real world daily generated figure.
My south facing 4kw system with no shading has been in for 9.5 years and the average daily generated figure is 7.42kwh. So you may want to use a similar figure in your calculations.
Worst daily figure this winter so far is 300wh on the 19th of December.
Interesting I have 8 year old west facing 4kw Sunpower panels that have produced an average of 9.9 kWh My south facing 4kw system with no shading has been in for 9.5 years and the average daily generated figure is 7.42kwh. So you may want to use a similar figure in your calculations.
Worst daily figure this winter so far is 300wh on the 19th of December.
ARHarh said:
For anyone who wants a real world daily generated figure.
My south facing 4kw system with no shading has been in for 9.5 years and the average daily generated figure is 7.42kwh. So you may want to use a similar figure in your calculations.
Worst daily figure this winter so far is 300wh on the 19th of December.
Always good to see real data.My south facing 4kw system with no shading has been in for 9.5 years and the average daily generated figure is 7.42kwh. So you may want to use a similar figure in your calculations.
Worst daily figure this winter so far is 300wh on the 19th of December.
It would add value if you said where in the country.
OutInTheShed said:
ARHarh said:
For anyone who wants a real world daily generated figure.
My south facing 4kw system with no shading has been in for 9.5 years and the average daily generated figure is 7.42kwh. So you may want to use a similar figure in your calculations.
Worst daily figure this winter so far is 300wh on the 19th of December.
Always good to see real data.My south facing 4kw system with no shading has been in for 9.5 years and the average daily generated figure is 7.42kwh. So you may want to use a similar figure in your calculations.
Worst daily figure this winter so far is 300wh on the 19th of December.
It would add value if you said where in the country.
Too many winter in my original numbers.AW10 said:
KTF said:
Ok, so as I thought, the numbers do not make it worthwhile.
I dont know if install prices are higher than a few years ago (I suspect they are) due to the current demand moment but how is it a viable option from a financial point of view to fit solar, battery, etc. unless I am missing something?
IMHO people are keen to reduce their energy costs so eager to find a way of doing so. Unscrupulous sales people are happy to tout unrealistic in-house consumption figures from panels and even further energy import reductions from batteries which give short payback periods and people take the bait.I dont know if install prices are higher than a few years ago (I suspect they are) due to the current demand moment but how is it a viable option from a financial point of view to fit solar, battery, etc. unless I am missing something?
The tree is now removed, and RPI linked FIT payments are useful - for us.
Chris Type R said:
I've mentioned this before on the thread. In Sep 2011 the former owners of our house paid £14.5k for 9 panels on a single story building - 2kWp - in shady conditions. Maybe there was some sales pressure at the time to get installs in place under the good FIT rate. Certainly the elderly owners paid over the odds. We bought the place in Jan 2015 - they probably recovered < £2.5k.
The tree is now removed, and RPI linked FIT payments are useful - for us.
I think the FIT rate was due to drop significantly at the end of 2011 so there was a rush to get systems installed and accepted by the FIT provider before the end of 2011. I seem to recall there were so many installs planned that the deadline was extended into March of 2012. The bottom sort of dropped out of the domestic PV solar market after that, at least for a while. Another boom to bust cycle induced by government policy with quite a few installers shutting shop.The tree is now removed, and RPI linked FIT payments are useful - for us.
The pressure to get on the gravy train before the doors closed meant prices went up and there were loads of people (self?) convinced to put panels on unsuitable houses. I recall seeing one install on the south facing roof of a bungalow with a two story house situated just 5 or so metres south. They wuz conned!
AW10 said:
I think the FIT rate was due to drop significantly at the end of 2011 so there was a rush to get systems installed and accepted by the FIT provider before the end of 2011. I seem to recall there were so many installs planned that the deadline was extended into March of 2012.
Speaking of which, Dec 2022 RPI figures just released put RPI at 13.4% - meaning 68.3/4.82p ~ 70.7p/kWh from April 2023 under this FIT agreement - if my sums are correct. Sheepshanks said:
I know there's a bunch of earlier answers but one issue here may be that your electricity use is pretty low - you're averaging just under 6kWh per day.
Yeah, this probably isn't helping the maths either. It is lower than average so I can see that there is less benefit to getting solar as a result.KTF said:
Not that I am looking to move, but if a house I was interested in had solar panels I would see it as a 'nice to have' rather than a 'must have'. Am not sure how other people view it these days but I don't think the cost of the install would inflate the cost of the house by the same amount for example.
I don't have an EV yet but the next car may well be, although thats probably several years away at the moment.
KTF - if you don't have an EV, have a look at Octopus agile outgoing. I don't have an EV yet but the next car may well be, although thats probably several years away at the moment.
- just done the maths for a neighbour and since July I've averaged 26p kWh export tariff.
- Given the import is 30p per kWh, the battery doesn't work economically for me and indeed there have been times last year that it was better for me to export as the tariff was higher and put things on at night. Of course no guarantee that agile export stays high, but has been pretty good for me.
some real world numbers from Wiltshire, with a south facing roof.
I put a 5 kw, 14 panel system in last summer for £7500.
- total generation in the 6 months I had it to December was 2586 kWh of which I exported 1372.
if everything stays the same that would give a payback of just over 5 years
Uncle boshy said:
KTF - if you don't have an EV, have a look at Octopus agile outgoing.
- just done the maths for a neighbour and since July I've averaged 26p kWh export tariff.
- Given the import is 30p per kWh, the battery doesn't work economically for me and indeed there have been times last year that it was better for me to export as the tariff was higher and put things on at night. Of course no guarantee that agile export stays high, but has been pretty good for me.
some real world numbers from Wiltshire, with a south facing roof.
I put a 5 kw, 14 panel system in last summer for £7500.
- total generation in the 6 months I had it to December was 2586 kWh of which I exported 1372.
if everything stays the same that would give a payback of just over 5 years
Guessing you have to be an existing Octopus customer to get Agile outgoing! - just done the maths for a neighbour and since July I've averaged 26p kWh export tariff.
- Given the import is 30p per kWh, the battery doesn't work economically for me and indeed there have been times last year that it was better for me to export as the tariff was higher and put things on at night. Of course no guarantee that agile export stays high, but has been pretty good for me.
some real world numbers from Wiltshire, with a south facing roof.
I put a 5 kw, 14 panel system in last summer for £7500.
- total generation in the 6 months I had it to December was 2586 kWh of which I exported 1372.
if everything stays the same that would give a payback of just over 5 years
NMNeil said:
I agree.
My system powers my whole house, but I'll never recoup my money so for me it's more of a hobby. But with power outages so common here it's nice to have the security of never having the lights go out
Just waiting for some breakers to set up my latest 15kwh battery bank, which has cost me $2300 to build.
Sounds like this would make a great thread, I'd love to read more about your setup.My system powers my whole house, but I'll never recoup my money so for me it's more of a hobby. But with power outages so common here it's nice to have the security of never having the lights go out
Just waiting for some breakers to set up my latest 15kwh battery bank, which has cost me $2300 to build.
Uncle boshy said:
KTF - if you don't have an EV, have a look at Octopus agile outgoing.
- just done the maths for a neighbour and since July I've averaged 26p kWh export tariff.
- Given the import is 30p per kWh, the battery doesn't work economically for me and indeed there have been times last year that it was better for me to export as the tariff was higher and put things on at night. Of course no guarantee that agile export stays high, but has been pretty good for me.
some real world numbers from Wiltshire, with a south facing roof.
I put a 5 kw, 14 panel system in last summer for £7500.
- total generation in the 6 months I had it to December was 2586 kWh of which I exported 1372.
if everything stays the same that would give a payback of just over 5 years
I have a little homebrew app on iOS ‘octopus compare’ which does all the calcs for you by connecting into your smart meter. - just done the maths for a neighbour and since July I've averaged 26p kWh export tariff.
- Given the import is 30p per kWh, the battery doesn't work economically for me and indeed there have been times last year that it was better for me to export as the tariff was higher and put things on at night. Of course no guarantee that agile export stays high, but has been pretty good for me.
some real world numbers from Wiltshire, with a south facing roof.
I put a 5 kw, 14 panel system in last summer for £7500.
- total generation in the 6 months I had it to December was 2586 kWh of which I exported 1372.
if everything stays the same that would give a payback of just over 5 years
Agile is consistently cheaper it appears…
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