Solar panels

Soldato
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That’s a great price people shouldn’t really have much of an excuse not to have one. Problem is people want it either for free or they want to profit from it.

Think i said here already, when we move I'm getting a full solar, battery and air source heat pump. Don't know if all evs are compatible but will get a car charger that's compatible with using the car battery in the home too.
 
Soldato
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Perhaps you should link other people to what your finding. £2500 is not a bad price.

I paid £2.2k for my GivEnergy 8.2kWh unit, prices have gone up slightly sine I bought it though, but inflation seems to be hitting most things that are imported.

Other factors will make a difference I know for example which panels are actually installed i.e LG or sunpower (not saying others aren't good) vs some that are not so well rated.

Don't be fooled by expensive branded panels, they are not worth the premium that you pay for the slightly decreased degradation and sometimes shorter warranty, I spent many, many hours doing research, as I designed my own solar system inc. battery storage, there are many great panels for not huge sums of cash e.g. the Jinko 395w (JKM395N-6RL3-B) are ~£140, and have a good warranty and are a very well respected brand in the solar industry. As for inverters, if you are going for a battery backup, then you can look at Hybrid ones, as they act as charge controller and inverter for your solar. I said in the other thread, sourcing my own kit means I spent a lot less, and still have a really good sized system (6.2kW solar and 8.2kWh battery), installation costs will vary depending on who you can get to do it though.
 
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The jinko ones do look good. High efficiency above 20% and are only a little taller than the 400w sunpower maxeon 3. 10 of those panels would do just fine on my next property. As I think that will be my limit on roof space available.
 
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Is there actually any websites where you can compare prices of various solar panels with installation?
Don't be fooled by expensive branded panels, they are not worth the premium that you pay for the slightly decreased degradation and sometimes shorter warranty, I spent many, many hours doing research, as I designed my own solar system inc. battery storage, there are many great panels for not huge sums of cash e.g. the Jinko 395w (JKM395N-6RL3-B) are ~£140, and have a good warranty and are a very well respected brand in the solar industry. As for inverters, if you are going for a battery backup, then you can look at Hybrid ones, as they act as charge controller and inverter for your solar. I said in the other thread, sourcing my own kit means I spent a lot less, and still have a really good sized system (6.2kW solar and 8.2kWh battery), installation costs will vary depending on who you can get to do it though.
I see they now have a tiger pro out as well.
 
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Last time I looked into solar the fit had been nerfed so it would take about 15 years to pay for itself, is that still the case?

Yes. It seems if the gov want people to take it up (and contribute to the climate targets + bring their energy bills down) they need to revisit this type of scheme and get the ball rolling fast.
 
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Last time I looked into solar the fit had been nerfed so it would take about 15 years to pay for itself, is that still the case?
Sort of. There is now something called SEG where it's the energy company that gives us you money for feeding back in. The best at the moment is about 5.5p. it was a lot higher at on FIT for a long time I think. To be fair SEG isn't my main concern but if I can get a bit out of it, why not? I'm mainly concerned with trying to pay as little for my energy as possible.
 
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Yes. It seems if the gov want people to take it up (and contribute to the climate targets + bring their energy bills down) they need to revisit this type of scheme and get the ball rolling fast.
FIT was designed to boost an emerging technology which it did but it could never last for ever, paying artificially high prices for generated energy is not sustainable. The big mistake was not ensuring SEG was in place to replace it the gap between the two had a massive negative impact on the industry. Solar and other small scale generation is really going to come into it’s own in the next few years the switch to heat pumps and electric cars combined with more affordable battery storage is going to be a game changer.
 
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We really need home solar and batteries to be heavily incentivised by the government if we have any hope of it making a dent in UK's power usage and green targets. Which is unlikely.
 
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We really need home solar and batteries to be heavily incentivised by the government if we have any hope of it making a dent in UK's power usage and green targets. Which is unlikely.
This is effectively being done with the mandatory move to heat pumps instead of combi boilers, suddenly cheap electricity is going to become a whole lot more attractive and given most people want to run heating after dark solar combined with batteries will suddenly have a big selling point.
 
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This is effectively being done with the mandatory move to heat pumps instead of combi boilers, suddenly cheap electricity is going to become a whole lot more attractive and given most people want to run heating after dark solar combined with batteries will suddenly have a big selling point.

All well an good for (some) new builds, but where's the financial incentive to buy into this for say me as an owner of an old house? It's incredibly expensive.
 
Soldato
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All well an good for (some) new builds, but where's the financial incentive to buy into this for say me as an owner of an old house? It's incredibly expensive.

It's fairly big outlay, but pays back over time. Solar, especially with rising prices, can repay within 10 years. We paid £4500 almost exactly a year ago, and have saved about £600 last year (admittedly on an old meter that went backwards, which makes a good difference), even with a smart meter, with the increased prices I'd expect savings of £450 would be easily expected.

Get yourself on a electricity deal that has cheaper prices in the early morning, and with a battery you can easily start using that to heat your home through a heat pump, or make more savings. Batteries probably don't pay off as much as solar at the moment, but again, increasing prices = better returns as such.

Heat pumps still come with financial incentives too, 1 unit of electricity becoming 3 units worth of heat is pretty handy.

And of course, once the system pays for itself, it's not like it disappears. From then on, it's all just money in your pocket.
 
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All well an good for (some) new builds, but where's the financial incentive to buy into this for say me as an owner of an old house? It's incredibly expensive.
When your combi dies you will be forced to replace it with a heat pump and the cost of running one off the mains especially in an old less well insulated property will be a massive incentive to take on solar and batteries. Add in charging your electric cars, rising cost of electricity and likely increases in the SEG then it suddenly starts to make much more sense oh and there is that little bit of just doing it because it is the right thing to do :)
 
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When your combi dies you will be forced to replace it with a heat pump and the cost of running one off the mains especially in an old less well insulated property will be a massive incentive to take on solar and batteries!

I understand that, I'm talking about government incentives due to the huge costs being incurred. i.e. Recoverable VAT, extra funding etc. At the moment all I can do on the green deal is get a bit of insulation, that will do pretty much nothing.

Edit:
Side note: I thought it was only new-builds that were meant to be phased out?
 
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Soldato
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When your combi dies you will be forced to replace it with a heat pump and the cost of running one off the mains especially in an old less well insulated property will be a massive incentive to take on solar and batteries!
Not expected to apply on existing homes til 2035 I believe. So you might get a new boiler or two in before then, if you're unlucky/time it right!
 
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Not expected to apply on existing homes til 2035 I believe. So you might get a new boiler or two in before then, if you're unlucky/time it right!
If you had one fitted today it might not need replacing before they phase them out! Either way they are going in new builds much sooner which will bring down the cost of heat pumps and solar/batteries as the industry will scale to meet demands.
 
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I understand that, I'm talking about government incentives due to the huge costs being incurred. i.e. Recoverable VAT, extra funding etc. At the moment all I can do on the green deal is get a bit of insulation, that will do pretty much nothing.

Edit:
Side note: I thought it was only new-builds that were meant to be phased out?
Initially it is new builds after that it will apply to everyone probably quicker than expected as it creates a whole industry and keeps money flowing around which is good for the economy. What are these huge costs? yes solar isn’t cheap but if the pay back is only ten years it is hardly prohibitively expensive and the current real world realities mean it is only going to get more compelling as prices rise.

I will almost certainly install it in my next property if the deal to buy it comes off as it will be a forever home I would have installed it on my current home but we only expected to be here 5 years not 15 lol
 
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Similar for me a1ex2001. I have been told that my solicitors are about to agree a completion date for my next property for the 30th. My Mrs said to me never again lol. So looks like we will be there a long time, so the solar panels look like a good thing to get done especially how prices are going right now. Annoyingly if I could have moved last week I'd have been able to fix on a deal for £89 per month but now it is going to be at least £100. I know it's gas that has mainly changed but still. If I'm getting the electric down then at least that's something.
 
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On solar panels themselves, the Jinko tiger series mentioned before look like they maybe good value for money just need to find an installer for them and compare prices.
I'm also interested in REC alpha as a potential more premium option. They have very good ratings close to LG and sunpower but meant to be cheaper.

Longi himo4m are another option similar to the Jinko. Generally an upper midrange brand. Produce huge amounts of quality panels.

Futurasun silk pro look pretty good but I can't really find any pricing info but are Italian based and have good performance guarantee 87% after 25 years and over 20% efficiency.

Thing is most solar panels are guaranteed for 25 years. This doesn't mean they are crap over night. There are many thoughts out there believing they will go on for 35-40 years. Of course with degredation continuing. This is the main reason the REC alpha panels are getting my attention as their performance guarantee is 92% after 25 years as long as they are a good price of course.
 
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