Solar panels and battery - any real world recommendations?

Freefaller said:
Ultimately even with a tiny bit of generation you're still spending less on electricity. Marginal gains are better than losses.
Click to expand...

I've just helped a friend of a friend install his two cheapo second hand 240w panels, with a grid-tie micro inverter, straight into the 3-pin basically, and he's over the moon with the results already, the panel mounts can he adjust for different angles and they are just sat on his patio for now pointed as south as they can be with no shading. Spent less that £400 for everything, including a waterproof socket etc. Payback time in less than 12 months, and now he's looking at getting a small 12v battery setup. :cry: :D
 
Journey said:
I've just helped a friend of a friend install his two cheapo second hand 240w panels, with a grid-tie micro inverter, straight into the 3-pin basically, and he's over the moon with the results already, the panel mounts can he adjust for different angles and they are just sat on his patio for now pointed as south as they can be with no shading. Spent less that £400 for everything, including a waterproof socket etc. Payback time in less than 12 months, and now he's looking at getting a small 12v battery setup. :cry: :D
Click to expand...

Can you link to the Inverter you used please?

I think sticking a few panels on the shed to cover base use is better than paying over the odds for a proper setup right now.
 
Journey said:
I've just helped a friend of a friend install his two cheapo second hand 240w panels, with a grid-tie micro inverter, straight into the 3-pin basically, and he's over the moon with the results already, the panel mounts can he adjust for different angles and they are just sat on his patio for now pointed as south as they can be with no shading. Spent less that £400 for everything, including a waterproof socket etc. Payback time in less than 12 months, and now he's looking at getting a small 12v battery setup. :cry: :D
Click to expand...

And that is exactly how I started out 5-6 years ago, now I have a homebuilt system with 1.5kw solar with 17kWh of Lifepo4 batteries, all from small beginnings :D
 
Journey said:
Was this one.
Click to expand...
Tell your friend to get one of these, plug the inverter into it before the wall socket.....it will read the energy produced via solar in Watts/going into the ring.

www.ebay.co.uk

Power Consumption Meter 3-pin UK Plug in Electricity Energy Monitor Analyzer | eBay

Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for Power Consumption Meter 3-pin UK Plug in Electricity Energy Monitor Analyzer at the best online prices at eBay! Free delivery for many products.
www.ebay.co.uk
 
Last edited:
200sols said:
Great thanks. Those we're the ones I had seen on amazon. Good to know they aren't junk.
Click to expand...

We'll see in a few months, although he only paid £88 with a discount voucher so it was worth a punt, and the panels we £35 each. Spent more on cables, and mounting than actual generating equipment.
 
Bug One said:
Is there an amount of generation you're allowed to do before you have you're supposed to inform the DNO?
Click to expand...

If its grid tied I think I saw something just under 1kw is the point you need to notify

Edit : Looking again I am not so sure now. I think it still needs notifying but they make some claims about not needing to complete other data that larger installs need.

Maybe something changed
 
Last edited:
255kwh in October for us.

We get shading this time of year it seems, more or less from the start of October which reduces generation quite a bit until about 11am (before the clocks changed) but it is what it is.

Still thinking about putting some more panels up myself but may leave it until spring now, mainly as I want the weather to be better working outside :)
 
We got 280 units from our panels in October that we were able to use (saving £91.84), 354 including what was sent to the grid.
 
Last edited:
Troop said:
21st to the 31st of October with the new inverter fitted =60.4kWh.
Click to expand...

Where abouts are you based? I suppose it also depends on your system and your orientation.

I'm lucky that I got nearly double yours in that same time span but I guess that's the advantage of being 20 miles from the south coast.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom