Solar Panels UK - is it worth it?

[notmeguv]

BTW - did you use my Otovo referal?

Yes I did

What is your highest daily use? Do your batteries cover a full peak day?

Looking at previous usage our highest month was January at 533kWh which averages out to 17.19kWh a day. And that was before having an EV.

I’ve just got some more quotes and could go to a 4 module battery array (would be 18.4 kWh usable) which would increase the total price to £16944. That would still just about fully charge during IO off peak.

Not sure if doubling the battery capacity is worth the extra £4k. Need to do some calcs.

 

[yessuz]

Yes I did

What is your highest daily use? Do your batteries cover a full peak day?

Looking at previous usage our highest month was January at 533kWh which averages out to 17.19kWh a day. And that was before having an EV.

I’ve just got some more quotes and could go to a 4 module battery array (would be 18.4 kWh usable) which would increase the total price to £16944. That would still just about fully charge during IO off peak.

Not sure if doubling the battery capacity is worth the extra £4k. Need to do some calcs.

the best way to check your daily use is - use your smart meter "current" consumption which in my case, was like 350-500w... and a bit more if tdrying/washing happens.

currently, I have battery at almost 100%(or at 100%) by the sunset.
then I live off the battery until the morning when sun kicks in. Then I live off the sun. then it charges my battery up by around mid-day.

yesterday it looked like this:

generation/consumption:

Battery usage / SOC:

note - I charge around 10%+ of car battery during the day when sun is available

p.s. with 15p export and 7.5p import during IO the pattern and use case might change significantly

 

[PITA]

I am also on 15p per kwh export ;D

for those with 3 phase supply - can you get separate meters on each phase?.

Not sure why you'd want that? But I doubt it

Our 3-Phase meter monitors & measures the power coming in and out on each phase.

So we can have a seperate Solar Array on each phase all exporting at different rates. All being totalled in the one meter

 

[browellm]

Factor in 20% round trip losses and the arbitrage will just about cover the battery cycle degradation. Don't spend it all at once.

 

[notmeguv]

the best way to check your daily use is - use your smart meter "current" consumption which in my case, was like 350-500w... and a bit more if tdrying/washing happens.

I’ve had the Bright app set up for over a year so already have very detailed usage recorded, I just need to go through it.

At a quick glance, one of the highest pre-EV days in January was 32kWh! I think that was a combination of the wife using the washing machine and tumble dryer constantly, plus electric cooker/hob, plus two teenagers gaming all day (it was a Sunday)

 

[GRiLLA]

Yes I did

What is your highest daily use? Do your batteries cover a full peak day?

Looking at previous usage our highest month was January at 533kWh which averages out to 17.19kWh a day. And that was before having an EV.

I’ve just got some more quotes and could go to a 4 module battery array (would be 18.4 kWh usable) which would increase the total price to £16944. That would still just about fully charge during IO off peak.

Not sure if doubling the battery capacity is worth the extra £4k. Need to do some calcs.

17kWh a day is a lot, probably worth first considering where that's going and if you can reduce it e.g. with new appliances.

If you are using Electricity to generate heat then is may be reasonable, but if you are just running lights, gadgets, cooking, laundry etc then my 4 bed uses about 8kWh on average to achieve the same.

 

[yessuz]

Not sure why you'd want that? But I doubt it

Our 3-Phase meter monitors & measures the power coming in and out on each phase.

So we can have a seperate Solar Array on each phase all exporting at different rates. All being totalled in the one meter

well, maybe that's the answer I was looking at. this is on the joke level, obviously, but...

if you have 6 hrs of IO - you can charge battery array to 18 kwh. you then can export that 18 kwh to grid at net (roughly) 7.5p / kwh or 1.35 gbp a day or 40.5 per month or 486 per year of pure profit
if you can manage to use let's say 2 phased of 3 phase supply at the same time - you can rake up to 1k a year

I actually really struggle to understand how Octopus manage to pull this off... unless they got paid a lot for some capacity or have loads of capacity during the day with people at 25p or so and it makes sense for them...

otherwise - massive and huge battery pack at home, especially if it can unload a lot at once, can create the situation where you can profit from this

 

[Chimpy McChimp]

I’ve had the Bright app set up for over a year so already have very detailed usage recorded, I just need to go through it.

At a quick glance, one of the highest pre-EV days in January was 32kWh! I think that was a combination of the wife using the washing machine and tumble dryer constantly, plus electric cooker/hob, plus two teenagers gaming all day (it was a Sunday)

With no EV charging we are around 30kwh per day. But we have a hot tub. Which Mrs McChimp has been convinced to switch off for a while when she saw how much it was really costing us.

 

[yessuz]

Factor in 20% round trip losses and the arbitrage will just about cover the battery cycle degradation. Don't spend it all at once.

well obviously - that is at the joke level.

but it is very peculiar situation

 

[yessuz]

I’ve had the Bright app set up for over a year so already have very detailed usage recorded, I just need to go through it.

At a quick glance, one of the highest pre-EV days in January was 32kWh! I think that was a combination of the wife using the washing machine and tumble dryer constantly, plus electric cooker/hob, plus two teenagers gaming all day (it was a Sunday)

it is still a lot! 32 kwh.
ok, I game on laptop, daughter on desktop, tumble dryer and washer use a lot only initially.. ok, Oven and hob are the massive consumers.. where you running this whole day (sunday roast...?)

 

[browellm]

well obviously - that is at the joke level.

but it is very peculiar situation

You'd be subject to G100 restrictions too unless you were either very lucky or paid for reinforcement.

 

[Avendit]

U-oh. Have cancelled my export move for now on the back of this. May just be confusion in contact centers while things get set up, but will wait a week or 2...

 

[PITA]

well, maybe that's the answer I was looking at. this is on the joke level, obviously, but...

if you have 6 hrs of IO - you can charge battery array to 18 kwh. you then can export that 18 kwh to grid at net (roughly) 7.5p / kwh or 1.35 gbp a day or 40.5 per month or 486 per year of pure profit
if you can manage to use let's say 2 phased of 3 phase supply at the same time - you can rake up to 1k a year

I actually really struggle to understand how Octopus manage to pull this off... unless they got paid a lot for some capacity or have loads of capacity during the day with people at 25p or so and it makes sense for them...

otherwise - massive and huge battery pack at home, especially if it can unload a lot at once, can create the situation where you can profit from this

Yes exactly...

I could have 3 x 6kW Solar Array inverters (one on each phase)... all exporting

Nuts

 

[notmeguv]

17kWh a day is a lot, probably worth first considering where that's going and if you can reduce it e.g. with new appliances.

If you are using Electricity to generate heat then is may be reasonable, but if you are just running lights, gadgets, cooking, laundry etc then my 4 bed uses about 8kWh on average to achieve the same.

That was only in January, other months have been lower. No heat generation via electricity. I did start looking at what different devices were consuming with a plugin meter and changed or switched off a few (server that was on 24/7, some older decorative lights, got rid of the last halogen lights that were in the bathroom, etc). Even started forcing the family to switch off devices when not at in use that had ‘vampire drain’.

Our average daily use over the last couple of months without the EV, looks like it’s around 10kWh. Still higher than I would like but it might be down to running 2 fridge/freezers (dog fed on raw food and we save a small fortune buying it in bulk and freezing it) and the kids constantly gaming.

Still some investigating to do and then trying to persuade the rest of family to change habits!

On the plus side we use a lot less gas than the supposed average for a household of our size (typical annual use suggested by ofgem is 12000 kWh… ours is around 5400kWh).

 

[notmeguv]

it is still a lot! 32 kwh.
ok, I game on laptop, daughter on desktop, tumble dryer and washer use a lot only initially.. ok, Oven and hob are the massive consumers.. where you running this whole day (sunday roast...?)

I wouldn’t be surprised if wifey ran the tumble dryer 4 times that day! At around 5kWh per cycle it soon adds up. Re-education is required

 

[Mrklaw]

I wouldn’t be surprised if wifey ran the tumble dryer 4 times that day! At around 5kWh per cycle it soon adds up. Re-education is required

5kwh is a lot for a load! I think ours uses 1.5 roughly (regular condenser, not heat pump). Once thats ready to replace, a heat pump tumble dryer you could run probably 5 times a day for the same as one cycle!

10kwh if you have a quiet washing day sounds about average I’d think. you can improve but its a good baseline to work from.

 

[notmeguv]

5kwh is a lot for a load! I think ours uses 1.5 roughly (regular condenser, not heat pump). Once thats ready to replace, a heat pump tumble dryer you could run probably 5 times a day for the same as one cycle!

10kwh if you have a quiet washing day sounds about average I’d think. you can improve but its a good baseline to work from.

It’s a fairly old Bush V7SDW vented dryer. About as basic as you can get. It was given to us when the last one went pop a few years ago and I’ve not really thought much about it. Just looked it up and apparently it is 4.38kWh per cycle! Couple that with someone who will run a load on a second full cycle just because a couple of items still felt a little bit damp and it soon adds up.

Sounds like it’s worth looking in to a replacement. I’ve just swapped our dishwasher for an all bells and whistles Bosch which is amazing. Should probably get a tumble dryer to match.

On another note, our Viessmann 050 boiler is being fitted in a couple of weeks so hopefully our gas consumption will decrease even further.

 

[Chimpy McChimp]

It’s a fairly old Bush V7SDW vented dryer. About as basic as you can get. It was given to us when the last one went pop a few years ago and I’ve not really thought much about it. Just looked it up and apparently it is 4.38kWh per cycle! Couple that with someone who will run a load on a second full cycle just because a couple of items still felt a little bit damp and it soon adds up.

Sounds like it’s worth looking in to a replacement. I’ve just swapped our dishwasher for an all bells and whistles Bosch which is amazing. Should probably get a tumble dryer to match.

On another note, our Viessmann 050 boiler is being fitted in a couple of weeks so hopefully our gas consumption will decrease even further.

Sounds like you are in same position is me. Our usage is high (mainly due to hot tub) but we had an old tumble dryer that got so hot it was scary. Literally been burnt from buttons on jeans as they came out. Our new heat pump one is waaay more efficient. Takes a bit longer for a load but I haven't yet found an item of clothing that can't go in it (the old one would wreck some clothes) the best bit is how efficient it is. Just changed has boiler too. No idea how efficient it is compared to old one as our gas smart meter doesn't work .

Very pleased with our solar PV and battery set up. It's been nice weather recently and we have gone from 2-3 quid a day to closer to 50p. I know it won't be like that all the time but it pleases me when the sun comes out now.

 

[notmeguv]

Sounds like you are in same position is me. Our usage is high (mainly due to hot tub) but we had an old tumble dryer that got so hot it was scary. Literally been burnt from buttons on jeans as they came out. Our new heat pump one is waaay more efficient. Takes a bit longer for a load but I haven't yet found an item of clothing that can't go in it (the old one would wreck some clothes) the best bit is how efficient it is. Just changed has boiler too. No idea how efficient it is compared to old one as our gas smart meter doesn't work .

Very pleased with our solar PV and battery set up. It's been nice weather recently and we have gone from 2-3 quid a day to closer to 50p. I know it won't be like that all the time but it pleases me when the sun comes out now.

What make/model heat pump dryer did you go for?

 

[browellm]

U-oh. Have cancelled my export move for now on the back of this. May just be confusion in contact centers while things get set up, but will wait a week or 2...

View attachment 972013

Good old call centre bollix.