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Solar Panels UK - is it worth it?
- Thread starter jdwuk
- Start date
I am in Northern Ireland and we are limited to 3.68kW inverter. It can be overloaded so have 7.1kW pv installed. I simply could not make the maths work for a battery but an interesting situation has now arisen: our export/feed-in tariff is now higher than our night import rate. Not sure how long this will last and may herald an import tariff increase but to me it means that I need to stop using pv to charge the car (send all to grid) and just use night rate. If I had a battery or 3 [assuming close to 100% conversion each way], I could charge at night and export each day. A bit perverse!
Rooster6655
Active Member
In reality I don't think you would be able to be charging your car off your solar/batteries especially not 30kWh a day unless you pay for a big battery setup and related costs, so the solar/batteries are more likely to be used to offset against the home use.
The average person without a cheap rate would be able to offset solar production average say 14kWh a day * 35p = £4.90 or about £1788 a year, or payback over 6.7 years which isn't bad. If you had say octopus go at 4hours 7.5p then £3.85 = £1405.25 a year (8.5 years).
We don't know what the future holds with regards to long term pricing but overall solar/batteries should give long term value, I think the key would be getting the initial install costs down as low as possible to reduce the payback period.
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john19951
Member
Current price indication from Oval Renewables on their youTube channel is £20,500 for a 8.2kW system.
Includes
20 x 410w Longi Panels on single roof - total 8.2kW
Solar Edge 9.7kWh battery
SolarEdge 5kW inverter
Looks like a top quality installation, meeting the latest electric specs.
Includes
20 x 410w Longi Panels on single roof - total 8.2kW
Solar Edge 9.7kWh battery
SolarEdge 5kW inverter
Looks like a top quality installation, meeting the latest electric specs.
Not necessarily solar related but my Powerwall quote came in at £12,900 and 12 month lead time (at minimum maybe and possibly more) .
My current average price per kWh for the last month is 18p on octopus go @ 7.5p/39p. My average peak (@39p) use is 11.6 kw and 31.2 kw per off peak (7.5p).
Ive now given up on the powerwall route due to price hikes plus lead time (12+ months waiting time is adding further cost to the system!)
For £6741 I can have 14.4 kw of pylontech batteries (3x 4.8kw) and a solis 6kw hybrid inverter delivered next week which allows for time of day use and is g98 and g99 compliant/certified hence could commission it very quickly to start off with.
My neighbour knows is acquainted with professional installer but not expecting mates rates Im budgeting what I hope is a generous £1250 for the install thus bringing the total to lets say £8000 all in hopefully including an earth rod.
This is my plan to further reduce my average rate per kWh for the moment and also allowing me time to source some solar panels for future implementation and maybe more batteries that will be easy enough to add myself since everyone seems to be very busy these days
My current average price per kWh for the last month is 18p on octopus go @ 7.5p/39p. My average peak (@39p) use is 11.6 kw and 31.2 kw per off peak (7.5p).
Ive now given up on the powerwall route due to price hikes plus lead time (12+ months waiting time is adding further cost to the system!)
For £6741 I can have 14.4 kw of pylontech batteries (3x 4.8kw) and a solis 6kw hybrid inverter delivered next week which allows for time of day use and is g98 and g99 compliant/certified hence could commission it very quickly to start off with.
My neighbour knows is acquainted with professional installer but not expecting mates rates Im budgeting what I hope is a generous £1250 for the install thus bringing the total to lets say £8000 all in hopefully including an earth rod.
This is my plan to further reduce my average rate per kWh for the moment and also allowing me time to source some solar panels for future implementation and maybe more batteries that will be easy enough to add myself since everyone seems to be very busy these days
Tend to agree. Oval Renewables do a great job but they run on a 12 month lead time for installation.
I went with Dual Fuel Solutions and can recommend them.
Not necessarily solar related but my Powerwall quote came in at £12,900 and 12 month lead time (at minimum maybe and possibly more) .
My current average price per kWh for the last month is 18p on octopus go @ 7.5p/39p. My average peak (@39p) use is 11.6 kw and 31.2 kw per off peak (7.5p).
Ive now given up on the powerwall route due to price hikes plus lead time (12+ months waiting time is adding further cost to the system!)
For £6741 I can have 14.4 kw of pylontech batteries (3x 4.8kw) and a solis 6kw hybrid inverter delivered next week which allows for time of day use and is g98 and g99 compliant/certified hence could commission it very quickly to start off with.
My neighbour knows is acquainted with professional installer but not expecting mates rates Im budgeting what I hope is a generous £1250 for the install thus bringing the total to lets say £8000 all in hopefully including an earth rod.
This is my plan to further reduce my average rate per kWh for the moment and also allowing me time to source some solar panels for future implementation and maybe more batteries that will be easy enough to add myself since everyone seems to be very busy these days
I was also looking at Powerwall and decided it's too expensive! Are you able to share info about where you got those from please?
Undecided_2
Member
Yachtsman
Member
John19951 said
Current price indication from Oval Renewables on their youTube channel is £20,500 for a 8.2kW system.
Includes
20 x 410w Longi Panels on single roof - total 8.2kW
Solar Edge 9.7kWh battery
SolarEdge 5kW inverter
Personally I could not recommend a SolarEdge system. When it works it’s very good but my installation has been a nightmare.
A 4.8kWh 12 x 400W panels, 5kWh inverter/EV charger & 9.7kWh battery, commissioned in May this year. The inverter failed after 6 weeks, no replacements available
for months so after a 11 week wait I accepted a 3.68kWh inverter as a replacement.
Failed again last week, the inverter shutdown & failed again this morning, the battery is not communicating with the inverter. So yet another few hours tomorrow will be wasted dealing with SE, It’s a good job I’m retired.
I’m in serious deep sh…t with the better half for wasting 14.5k and only getting 3 months use out of 6 months since installation.
I seriously do believe in solar + battery but I’d look at other makes if I were you.
Current price indication from Oval Renewables on their youTube channel is £20,500 for a 8.2kW system.
Includes
20 x 410w Longi Panels on single roof - total 8.2kW
Solar Edge 9.7kWh battery
SolarEdge 5kW inverter
Personally I could not recommend a SolarEdge system. When it works it’s very good but my installation has been a nightmare.
A 4.8kWh 12 x 400W panels, 5kWh inverter/EV charger & 9.7kWh battery, commissioned in May this year. The inverter failed after 6 weeks, no replacements available
for months so after a 11 week wait I accepted a 3.68kWh inverter as a replacement.
Failed again last week, the inverter shutdown & failed again this morning, the battery is not communicating with the inverter. So yet another few hours tomorrow will be wasted dealing with SE, It’s a good job I’m retired.
I’m in serious deep sh…t with the better half for wasting 14.5k and only getting 3 months use out of 6 months since installation.
I seriously do believe in solar + battery but I’d look at other makes if I were you.
PITA
Model 3 Performance
Sorry to hear that.
We have a Sunpower Maxeon 3 (7.2 kWp) system with 5kW SolarEdge inverter and it's brilliant so far. 18 months of perfect use.
Installed outside in all weather on the North Facing wall (in the shade).
No issues so far
PITA
Model 3 Performance
Our Sunpower Maxeon 3 (7.2 kWp) solar array (with scaffolding front, back and side of house), SolarEdge 5 kW inverter, Powerwall 2 (13.5 kWh) & Gateway 2 cost us £18,000 back in April 2021.
At the time that was expensive.
ACarneiro
Active Member
I had 24 LG panels with optimisers for 9.6 kWp, an 8kW SolarEdge inverter and 2 PWs for about £24.000 in 2019
Seems cheap now…
Seems cheap now…
Undecided_2
Member
It does as you have two PWs. I should have gone with two batteries. 9.7kW doesn’t last long enough.I had 24 LG panels with optimisers for 9.6 kWp, an 8kW SolarEdge inverter and 2 PWs for about £24.000 in 2019
Seems cheap now…
Can someone help a noob like me understand what steps I should take in order to understand and install battery/and or solar to get off the grid and maximize the octopus go window - I don't use it unless I'm charging!
We have 2 young ones and my wife refuses to switch the usage during the off-peak times. So I've been thinking a battery would probably be the best solution - charge it up with go/ solar and use it during the peak hrs. The dilemma is, I have no idea which companies are reputable /good, or how much installation should be.
Any advice will be very much appreciated!
We have 2 young ones and my wife refuses to switch the usage during the off-peak times. So I've been thinking a battery would probably be the best solution - charge it up with go/ solar and use it during the peak hrs. The dilemma is, I have no idea which companies are reputable /good, or how much installation should be.
Any advice will be very much appreciated!
RedMod3
Member
In winter, with batteries, the objective is to charge the batteries at the cheap GO rate, and release the charge during the expensive period. Up until today our two Powerwalls (with solar) enabled us to do that but today at 7pm, I'll run out of electrical juice.
In summer, it is different, you use the Powerwalls to soak up all solar and release it when demand exceeds solar supply, that way, you just pay the standing charge in the summer months.
For seasons in between, it's a mix of the two objectives.
What is key is having batteries and solar balanced with consumption, so we will have 3 PWS and 9kW net of solar very soon.
I'd recommend you contact 3 Tesla recommended installers in your area, having worked out in advance the business case for your requirements.
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RedMod3
Member
Our April ordered Tesla Powerwall was due last month, and it now looks like it will not be here this month as my installers have no news. So, in April, lead times were 8 months, and I'm sure they are worse now.
Yachtsman
Member
Update to my previous post.
Contacted SolarEdge this morning to discover they had tried to update the battery bank firmware & it had crashed, although they hadn’t realised at the time, somewhat akin to tesla then. Shove it out & hope it works!
So after about 35 minutes the system was up & running again, so fingers crossed.
Going by others responses I’ve been very unlucky.
I’ve got to say when it works it works well, it’s so unreliable & the warranty spares backup is dire. When it failed in June they were forecasting early 2023 for a replacement inverter, that’s why I accepted a lower power (cheaper) replacement that was available, still waiting for a refund.
I do have another niggle, you aren’t able to configure you’re own profiles, any changes you want/need have to be done by SE or the installer.
Contacted SolarEdge this morning to discover they had tried to update the battery bank firmware & it had crashed, although they hadn’t realised at the time, somewhat akin to tesla then. Shove it out & hope it works!
So after about 35 minutes the system was up & running again, so fingers crossed.
Going by others responses I’ve been very unlucky.
I’ve got to say when it works it works well, it’s so unreliable & the warranty spares backup is dire. When it failed in June they were forecasting early 2023 for a replacement inverter, that’s why I accepted a lower power (cheaper) replacement that was available, still waiting for a refund.
I do have another niggle, you aren’t able to configure you’re own profiles, any changes you want/need have to be done by SE or the installer.
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