Solar panels and battery - any real world recommendations?

[Ron-ski]

You can, but the more people that do it, the more likely Octopus will try to stop it.

It amazes me that they pay 15p at off peak times, all they need to do is just change the export to 7p at off peak times, problem solved.

 

[john_smith]

You can, but the more people that do it, the more likely Octopus will try to stop it.

It amazes me that they pay 15p at off peak times, all they need to do is just change the export to 7p at off peak times, problem solved.

15p during daylight hours at a minimum!

 

[200sols]

Octopus have the same rules on Go, they just don’t enforce them.

On the plus side, if I did go to Eon, my MCS says I have a 10kw array but it’s east - west so in reality it performs more like a 7kw array, that will give me a bit of headroom.

You'll be fine. The people having issues are down to Eon applying a dumb algorithm, they seem to think solar production is linear across the year. So people submitting for the last 3 months are being hit with extra questions. There were some quotes on the Facebook group where they say they'll pay up to the stated annual generation figure on the MCS certificate.

 

[Ron-ski]

15p during daylight hours at a minimum!

There's not much daylight between 23:30 and 5:30, ok a bit before 5:30 but pretty negligible generation really

 

[Marakith]

Just had my last quote in:
26 panels (Aiko - various sizes but rated to produce a total of 12.93kW) mounted to 3 different roof types
10kw Fox ESS Inverter
20.6kw Fox ESS Battery
Bird guard
Off grid cutover
£14,100

Think that'll do!

 

[Journey]

Interesting article here about solar install costs at an overall UK view.

UK small-scale solar costs tumble as competition heats up for installers

Figures for 2024-25 financial year reveal double-digit percentage drop in median price for UK small-scale solar. Falling prices were driven by increased supply and technology advancements, according to DESNZ, while installer warns new rooftop opportunities could come with tighter margins.

www.pv-magazine.com

 

[SkyTerran]

I got two quotes for 14 solar panels. They are both for mono glass, mono facial panels with 108 half cells. Quote 1 is for Aiko Neostar 2S 460W 23.1% efficiency, quote 2 is for Neostar 3S 470W 23.5% efficiency.

Quote 2 is 280 quid more expensive than 1 (20 quid more per panel). Which one do you think is a better choice for use with Powerwall 3 - is it worth paying extra for the newer panels?

 

[tamzzy]

Quote 1 is for Aiko Neostar 2S 460W 23.1% efficiency, quote 2 is for Neostar 3S 470W 23.5% efficiency.

Quote 2 is 280 quid more expensive than 1 (20 quid per panel). Which one do you think is a better choice for use with Powerwall 3 - is it worth paying extra for the newer panels?

the efficiency doesn't matter for this equation
one is a 460wp panel, the other is a 470wp panel - that's all that matters

at 10w difference per panel are you going to earn £20 back per panel over its lifetime?

 

[b0rn2sk8]

I doubt you'd actually notice a material difference between the two, we are talking about a ~2% difference in performance.

24 south facing pannels would probably generate 11,000-12,000 kwh per year. Lets assume 12,000kwh, the 2% uplift would generate an extra 240 kwh per year worth about £36 at 15p/kwh. So £280 uplift in cost would take 8 years to pay back.

So yes, they would pay back but it really is margin of error stuff and basically doesn't matter. This is probably one of those 'you are over thinking it' questions.

 

[tamzzy]

@b0rn2sk8 you did the maths
I couldn't be assed lol. I did think it was pretty marginal

 

[Mercenary Keyboard Warrior]

So south facing I would say yes, just about, East or West nope.

Aesthetics as well, 3 is all black with routing via the back. I wouldn't care but some people, especially women do.

 

[200sols]

You won't notice a difference in performance, however in the scale of things £280 isn't much. Usually on here we see people being quoted £2k more for those panels over non aikos. Have you had any quotes without aiko panels?

 

[Mercenary Keyboard Warrior]

Just to add some complexity into the valuing.
You wont see 15p for all units, the winter and some of spring and autumn will be used so are higher value.
How many units you use vs import we cannot know, linked to above, assuming your getting batteries.

IE if your getting batteries there will be far fewer days when the extra generation, which may be absolutely tiny matters.

I think if the £280 matters to you then don't bother. If its irrelevant and you plan to be where you for ages (like 10 years+) the extra generation is probably worth it.

@b0rn2sk8 he said 14 panels not 24 unless you meant 14 in your calc. But that seems steep generation for 14

The export assumption, at 15p, is a high risk considering the payback period.

 

[Ron-ski]

Its official, YOU DO NOT NEED MCS to get paid for export, you DO NEED a system installed by a suitably qualified electrician.

Basically any electrician that's certified under a competent persons scheme is suitably qualified.

Also, you do not need a communicating smart meter, you can just give the meter reading, just like the old days - this is for a basic SEG tariff, not time of use.

The guy in the video actually helped write some of the regulations, and his energy provider is OvoEnergy, and they are paying him SEG without having MCS, I think he said it took 7 months, but he got there in the end.

Watch the following video to learn more, you need to watch up to the 33 minute point.

 

[b0rn2sk8]

@b0rn2sk8 he said 14 panels not 24 unless you meant 14 in your calc. But that seems steep generation for 14

Was working on 24 so yeh, extend that pay back period out another 5-6 years

The export assumption, at 15p, is a high risk considering the payback period.

Agree but it’s the best we have at the moment.

But yeh, what @200sols said. £280 is nothing really.

 

[SkyTerran]

I'm quite cheap, so decided to go with the cheaper panels

They actually delivered 465W panels, with 23.3% efficiency - so not too bad after all.

 

[Gazanimal]

One week to go until fitment of my system. Not that I'm counting or anything.

 

[BUDFORCE]

Its official, YOU DO NOT NEED MCS to get paid for export, you DO NEED a system installed by a suitably qualified electrician.

Ours isn't MCS either and we can export. It was certified through something called Flexiorb.

Interesting article here about solar install costs at an overall UK view.

It's crazy how much the costs have fallen in about 3 years.

In hind sight if we had waited until now, we would have been much better off despite the 3 or so years of benefit we've had.

 

[Ron-ski]

Ours isn't MCS either and we can export. It was certified through something called Flexiorb.

Yes, thats been around for a number of years, think once upon a time Octopus used to accept it, but not any more, which is odd.

It just seems all the energy companies, seem to expect MCS, just nice when someone proves you don't need it, they also showed quite a bit of distaste for the cost and paperwork side of MCS.

 

[SkyTerran]

Got 14 Aiko 2S 465W panels installed today and connected to my pre-existing Powerwall 3 (by buying the battery and the panels separately I overpaid 3800 quid - learn from my mistake ).

For some reason the Tesla app doesn't show any solar panels on the roof of the house on the main screen. I think I saw on the installer's Tesla One app a screen showing the three MPPTs and how much energy was coming through each one of them. Is there a way to see this information in the customer Tesla app or in Netzero?

I have Octopus iGo tariff and use the Netzero app to manage the Powerwall. I think I had good understanding of how it works before there were any solar panels. But now I wonder what happens when I connect the EV to the charger during the day, when the solar panels produce electricity - is the car charged from the gird and the panels export energy to the grid, or is it charged partially from the panels and partially from the grid?