Anyone have solar panels in here?

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Soldato
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Just wondering what peoples experience are with them?

I'm just in the process closing a deal for some panels for my mums roof, she has two windows in the roof so can only fit 8 panels on the south facing side unless she loses a window then she can fit 10 panels.

We've found a company that can supply and fit 8 x 320~330watt benQ panels for £5,500 which gives her around 2.5kw, how does that sound? They are supposed to be premium panels.

She lives in a 3 bedroom semi, just her and my two brothers.

Edit : These are the panels - http://benqsolar.com/?sn=1327&lang=en-US
 
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Worth having if you plan to stay at the same house for a long time.

Otherwise, you are just paying a load of cash to benefit the next owner.

It'll take a good few years to make back 5k outlay.
 
My parents and sister have them and they will have done their homework so they must be worth it.

Anyone know exactly how these things work, as far as I know you don't directly use the electricity generated by them rather it's fed directly onto the grid and you get a reduced rate for your bill, I think this is correct as you would/could be chopping and changing from grid to home supply depending on the weather.

If so how does the grid regulate it's supply according to the surplus all these home solar panels add to it. Is there some kind of regulator on the grid that allow this to be seamless, there must be?
 
My parents have had a 4kW system for a few years now, and are very pleased with it so far. They got in on the higher feed-in-tariff and they're generating around the expected amount, or a little bit more if anything - but with lower prices and better efficiency now even the lower feed in tariff should still make them a sound investment financially, environmental benefits aside.

Registering for the tariff etc seemed very simple, and has been hassle free so far.

One of the neighbours didn't like the aesthetic, but they can do one tbh. If your mum wants them and has got the spare cash then I'd say go for it.

I'd recommend getting a few quotes from different companies just to see what kind of prices they're offering. Also they should evaluate this for you, but maybe have a look at one of the online calculators where you put in roof angle, direction, amount of shade (ideally none) etc and it gives an estimate of how much power you'll get out of the panels.

Also, check whether the company includes the price of the inverter (and remember it might have to be changed in 10 years or so) in their quote.
 
I had a 3.96kwp installed in 2010 (cost £14k) under the original Feed in Tariff regime. It returns around £2k per annum in FiTs payments which now exceed 50p per kwp. The system will have paid for itself in a couple more years.
I'm of the opinion the boat sailed on solar panel installs back in 2012 when the rates were slashed for new installs and a scale of ever decreasing reductions was introduced for new installs. Under the current regime (approx. 12p per kwp) a new 3.96kwp system would only return circa £500pa. The 2.5kwp mentioned by the OP would be looking at only around £300pa return.

Regarding using the power produced you most certainly do :D, only importing power when your usage exceeds system production.
To explain how it regulates itself you can look at the grid as a water supply. The grid is a tank holding 230 gallons (volts)
Your solar system inverter is also a tank and when producing it raises it's water level (volts) to 231 gallons. Now if you open the tap (use power) then just like the water example the flow will come from the highest level until it evens out.
If you don't use the power produced it goes into the grid causing a slight increase in the local voltage. This will be shared around the neighbourhood. Regulation to ensure grid stability is controlled by the inverter software. If say there a several local systems in operation, there's low local consumption of power and the grid is getting to it's permissible limit (around 257 volts) your inverter will shut output down until such time as the local voltage returns to permissible levels when the monitoring software will then bring the system back online.
 
Just got a new quote back from the company for 10 x benq panels and removing one of the windows, £6200 for 3.5kw, will probably go for that, they need to be installed pretty soon to locked into the current feed in tariff, quite a few companies are quoting around £800-850 PA Benefit @ 3.5kw.
 
Wow prices seem to have dropped a lot since 2010 then if a similar kw system can now be had for half the price. Does that (along with advances in technology) not counter the slashed rates?

Unfortunately my house has a hipped roof, which would mean having to have 10 panels split into 2 above 3 on two sides of the house. Which would look a mess imo.
 
lowrider007 said:
Just got a new quote back from the company for 10 x benq panels and removing one of the windows, £6200 for 3.5kw, will probably go for that, they need to be installed pretty soon to locked into the current feed in tariff, quite a few companies are quoting around £800-850 PA Benefit @ 3.5kw.
Click to expand...

6200 for 3.5kw is expensive = £1.70 per watt

I just had a 6.1kw system put in for 7800 = £1.20 per watt

I can put you in touch with the guys I used if you would like? They were very good and very reasonable.
 
I have.

They came pre installed in a new build house i've bought. Actually pretty handy, saves money on the electricity bill and makes some (not lots) of cash a year from the feed in tariff.

Not sure if i'd bother with them had they not been included mind, it's a lot of cash to begin with and will take a number of years to recoup.
 
Has anyone looked at the ones Ikea are selling/installing now? You'd hope they were decent being a company with a reputation to protect but who knows.
 
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