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Solar Panels UK - is it worth it?
- Thread starter jdwuk
- Start date
Pink Duck
Active Member
The recommended advice is to clean the panels once a year for a 12% economy gain. However, with your own kit and if fallout lands on them occasionally that’s worth it. Was expecting Saharan dust here in the East but nothing has turned up as yet. Might just have survived at the fringe, or be about to be deluged 
Drew57
Active ember
Today has been dull so no way to compare. The mottling was purely resulting from the fact that the sand came with rain (as in this pic of a BMW parked right next to me now)
Well, the panels will certainly build up some moss or somesuch over the years. It's just how often it needs it.
My gut feel is that the sand would have washed off on the next day of decent rain. But if you've got the kit to do it, why not....
I'm thinking i'll probably pay someone to do it in 3-5 years
My gut feel is that the sand would have washed off on the next day of decent rain. But if you've got the kit to do it, why not....
I'm thinking i'll probably pay someone to do it in 3-5 years
Drew57
Active ember
Yes it should but the garage roof panels were firstly sprayed with a hose on the full setting from quite close proximity three times and after drying the panels still remained obscured, hence reverting to the brush.
The issue has been sand filled rain immediately followed by full sun and very high heat which effectively 'baked' it onto the panels. The agitation of a wet brush completely removed this, similar to avoiding slight bird muck & lichen build up when I do the same every few months or so (try leaving any external angled glass without wiping for several years and see the effect).
I will continue cleaning periodically, it's quite a hassle to do this but my panels are now completely clean again. It's perfectly fine for others to disagree of course.
Makes sense, I can see that "sticking". Just trying to tease out how beneficial it is and if it's worth paying for the kit
Chimpy McChimp
Member
We had a bit of the dust over last couple of days. Very noticeable on cars. Thought I could spot it on my panels today. Had a downpour this evening so will look and see if I can see a difference tomorrow.
Drew57
Active ember
Our garden adjoins a nature park, a small forest behind the plot and birds regularly sit on the apex of ours and the neighbours roofs. There is evidence of muck on the panels most times I look so this gets cleaned away and the brush is also useful in (rare) winter situations as mentioned in the earlier post I referred to
I hope most of you are fortunate enough not to be confronted with regular pigeon splats on your car which you then have to wash off (we are not). When I started out with PV my reasoning was that periodical cleaning of the panels couldn’t have a negative influence & at worst, only a small gain. Additionally, as I’m retired I have the time to clean the house windows so within a relatively short time the cost was more than covered by the savings vs the previous window cleaner.
Hello, I’ve been thinking about solar for a few months now and I have a few questions.
I have been proposed an “emphase” system - which essentially are panels which aren’t reliant on each other. They have their own seperate inverters on the bottom of the panels meaning each panel can be generating its own wattage without effecting the next - has anyone had this system installed? Pro’s and con’s?
Batteries - is it best to get Tesla powerwalls? Or GivEnergy (or other brands) is really the only benefit of PW is because it’s Tesla and you’re already in its eco system?
Battery placement- this one’s tricky.
I live in a detached house with a detached garage at the end of the my garden (around 10 metres away from the house)
I was initially thinking of putting batteries in the garage, however I’ve seen people in this thread talk about having their batteries in their loft - I suppose this is okay to do? Not sure how batteries perform in high heat (like we’ve had in the past few days)
Overall would be going with solar just a few questions to you guys with the experience with them!
Thanks!
I have been proposed an “emphase” system - which essentially are panels which aren’t reliant on each other. They have their own seperate inverters on the bottom of the panels meaning each panel can be generating its own wattage without effecting the next - has anyone had this system installed? Pro’s and con’s?
Batteries - is it best to get Tesla powerwalls? Or GivEnergy (or other brands) is really the only benefit of PW is because it’s Tesla and you’re already in its eco system?
Battery placement- this one’s tricky.
I live in a detached house with a detached garage at the end of the my garden (around 10 metres away from the house)
I was initially thinking of putting batteries in the garage, however I’ve seen people in this thread talk about having their batteries in their loft - I suppose this is okay to do? Not sure how batteries perform in high heat (like we’ve had in the past few days)
Overall would be going with solar just a few questions to you guys with the experience with them!
Thanks!
Other then the PW, batteries hate high heat or very cold. In the UK people have problems with none PW batteries outside with cold but garages seem to be OK. Personaly I would if possible put batteries in garage other then loft.
(The PW uses energy to cool/heat the batteries.)
(The PW uses energy to cool/heat the batteries.)
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Pro's of microinverters at each panel: Better monitoring, probably better optimisation
Con's of microinverters at each panel: potential cost, replacement if one goes faulty. i.e. access issues, particularly if it's not one on the edge of the array.
Personally, I would avoid electronics in the loft. Heat kills electronics.
Con's of microinverters at each panel: potential cost, replacement if one goes faulty. i.e. access issues, particularly if it's not one on the edge of the array.
Personally, I would avoid electronics in the loft. Heat kills electronics.
my batteries are in the loft. it is OK, no biggie, performance as usual.
Powerwall is probably better - but the it is probably 2-3 the price for same capacity from Pylon or Givenergy. if you have spare cash...
It all depends on the price for the system.
FYI: I have a system delivered by OTOVO (Referal for discount available via PM) of 20 panels (8.3 KWp, east-west orientation) with 6 KW inverter (Growatt) and 10,5 kwh battery for under 14.000
however it still going to be long period of time until it pays off. If system was much more expensive (I got quotes at 18k for same config) - that would be few more years...
I'm sure lofts are fine - mine has my inverters in but not my battery. temps do get hot but usually not for long and they cool quickly at night.
My givenergy is outside on the side passage wall. I'll look at getting a little enclosure built and hope the active electronics give off enough heat to keep the temps usable. Need to find a good handyman to do that..
someone (on here?) did one with insulation board on the inside and vent holes, and they said they'd remove the insulation in summer to prevent getting too hot (although mine is rarely in direct sun)
My givenergy is outside on the side passage wall. I'll look at getting a little enclosure built and hope the active electronics give off enough heat to keep the temps usable. Need to find a good handyman to do that..
someone (on here?) did one with insulation board on the inside and vent holes, and they said they'd remove the insulation in summer to prevent getting too hot (although mine is rarely in direct sun)
Chimpy McChimp
Member
My givenergy battery is outside. Instalers said there might be a bit of a drop in efficiency when very cold but they seemed to think it would need to be very cold.
They said I could build an enclosure round it if I really wanted to but I want to see how it performs before I start messing about doing that.
I asked about putting the battery in the loft and they advised against it. But. The battery is pretty heavy so I am sure they wanted to avoid lifting it through my house and up the loft hatch!!
They said I could build an enclosure round it if I really wanted to but I want to see how it performs before I start messing about doing that.
I asked about putting the battery in the loft and they advised against it. But. The battery is pretty heavy so I am sure they wanted to avoid lifting it through my house and up the loft hatch!!
At the time we had our first Powerwall installed there were not a lot of options in the market. What attracted me was the Powerwall does an instant switch to battery backup in the case of a grid power failure. And it is approved so that our solar can continue to produce when the grid is down. Neither of these may now be unique to Powerwalls, but were in 2020 when we had our first one installed.
As others have said, putting electronics in a hot loft is not optimal. Our Powerwalls are hung on the side of our house on a wall which is somewhat shaded and near a fence so not terribly exposed.
the givenergy AIO is a PW clone in terms of functionality and I think cheaper?
13.5kwh usable, 6kw continuous charge/discharge (7.2kw peak), gateway with auto switchover of entire house etc. Seems a pretty great system and if they'd released it 6 months earlier maybe I'd have gone for that instead of their 9.5kwh. I really like their software too
