Solar PV - what’s the going rate these days ?

[Conanius]

Looking at getting Solar PV for our home.

I presume it’s still the done thing to get 4/5kw. How much are people paying fully fitted these days with some sort of decent monitor to view production and an immersun/iBoost for the hot water tank ?

 

[Semple]

I had a quote done last autumn, more just for curiosity on cost.
1kWh = £2,186
2kWh = £2,993
3kWh = £3,821
4kWh = £4,514

This included fitting, but no boost for hot water etc.

 

[varkanoid]

4kWh is the maximum for a domestic dwelling anymore and you are classed as Commercial so you are limited to a max 4kWh. We've had ours for about 4-5 years now. Cheapest quote we had was around £5000 for chinese panels or £6250 for German panels. Went for the German ones as they are the most efficient and last longer. Current Gov tarrif is 5.24p per unit. My sister in law got hers when it was 12p. Wish we had done it ages ago now when it was 24-30p+! Installation was a bit fraught it took longer than expected. Mainly due to the inverter tripping and they could not figure out why. It was because they wired the panels in series so it was pulling something like 4.5kWh and tripping the box. So they put the panels in parallel as the invert had two inputs and this sorted it and took it under 4kWh. Also as they had to come back another day whilst the scaffolding was still up I nipped up there and cleaned my gutter and painted the fascia under the gutter. I thought why not. (Dont try this at home kids!)

The more south facing you are the more efficient. Think we were/are 3 degrees off due south and we get 3.7kWh on a good day. Basically during the day our electricity usage is free with the excess going back into grid @ 5.24p per unit. We didnt go with the hot water as our system is not compatible and would cost too much. We get back about £400-£500 a year in tarrif and electric bill saving is about £250 a year so you could say it pays for itself in 10 years.

We use GoodEnergy.co.uk to claim our tarrif back. Also the panels came with a monitor that you can install and place the display in the house, ours is in the kitchen. It was an Owl Solar Panel monitor and it was terrible. It was way out with the actual reading. So I did some research and bought an Eco Eye which is just about spot on.

 

[Conanius]

I had a quote done last autumn, more just for curiosity on cost.
1kWh = £2,186
2kWh = £2,993
3kWh = £3,821
4kWh = £4,514

This included fitting, but no boost for hot water etc.

Do you know what panels (thank you !)

 

[sja360]

Hope the OP doesn't mind, while the topic is about solar panels, has anyone had them fitted to a roof that is west & east facing? Would it be best to split it over both faces?

 

[Jez]

Basically during the day our electricity usage is free with the excess going back into grid @ 5.24p per unit. We didnt go with the hot water as our system is not compatible and would cost too much. We get back about £400-£500 a year in tarrif and electric bill saving is about £250 a year so you could say it pays for itself in 10 years.

This sounds like net metering as they have in the states...I thought the FIT in this country was fixed calculated and had been quashed now? 5.24 is obviously a poor rate but it is better to be paid than the situation which I thought we were in which is use it or lose it? I didn’t know that you could back feed the grid in this country and get paid?

You mentioned goodenergy.co.uk, their tariffs are so high that I don’t understand their model as it makes no sense, but how does this all work? They are quoting 17p/kWh which is nearly 70% over the market rate(??)

I’m going to be forced via planning to install a PV system in the future onto a property that I am buying, to have some sort of net metering in place as you have would make this potentially viable hence a lot of interest to me

 

[Conanius]

Hope the OP doesn't mind, while the topic is about solar panels, has anyone had them fitted to a roof that is west & east facing? Would it be best to split it over both faces?

I dont mind at all

We've got *some* roof that is about 3 degrees off being South (its 208 degrees SW) but then lots of roof which is either East ( 116 SE) or West (Its 298 NW). Two other houses with only the 298 NW facing have had panels put on,

I'm guessing I'd be best to split over the South and NW roofing?

 

[varkanoid]

This sounds like net metering as they have in the states...I thought the FIT in this country was fixed calculated and had been quashed now? 5.24 is obviously a poor rate but it is better to be paid than the situation which I thought we were in which is use it or lose it?

The FIT are explained here https://www.gov.uk/feed-in-tariffs I probably didnt explain it properly. They've been saying that they were going to stop new take up of this every year but every year they seem to extend it. They were meant to be stopping it in 2016 but they are still accepting new sign ups upto March 2020, wouldnt have been surprised if they keep it going, climate change and all. Bit surprised they have not increased the pence per unit again to encourage people.

I didn’t know that you could back feed the grid in this country and get paid?

As well as the generation tariff, you can also sell any extra units you do not use back to your electricity supplier. This is called an ‘export tariff’.

You’ll get 5.24p per unit of electricity.

You mentioned goodenergy.co.uk, their tariffs are so high that I don’t understand their model as it makes no sense, but how does this all work? They are quoting 17p/kWh which is nearly 70% over the market rate(??)

No you do not use them for your energy bills you just use them for the FIT claim. You dont need to sign up with them as a supplier. Several companies do it including some of the Big 5 but I was recommended this company as its no frills and easy to do. I was with Sainsburys Energy at the time we got the panels but they did not do the FIT claim. So you can have your energy supplier with one company and process the FIT with a different one if required.

https://www.goodenergy.co.uk/our-energy/feed-in-tariff/

 

[Jez]

That’s great, I didn’t know that FIT was still running I guess as the energy isn’t actually going anywhere then it is still advantageous to store it...

Edit: oh right, it has closed...damn. Not a go-er then for the time being.

 

[peter]

SJA we have our split so they are south east and south west, work well and we are on the tariff from 2012.

 

[Psycho Sonny]

4kWh is the maximum for a domestic dwelling anymore and you are classed as Commercial so you are limited to a max 4kWh. We've had ours for about 4-5 years now. Cheapest quote we had was around £5000 for chinese panels or £6250 for German panels. Went for the German ones as they are the most efficient and last longer. Current Gov tarrif is 5.24p per unit. My sister in law got hers when it was 12p. Wish we had done it ages ago now when it was 24-30p+! Installation was a bit fraught it took longer than expected. Mainly due to the inverter tripping and they could not figure out why. It was because they wired the panels in series so it was pulling something like 4.5kWh and tripping the box. So they put the panels in parallel as the invert had two inputs and this sorted it and took it under 4kWh. Also as they had to come back another day whilst the scaffolding was still up I nipped up there and cleaned my gutter and painted the fascia under the gutter. I thought why not. (Dont try this at home kids!)

The more south facing you are the more efficient. Think we were/are 3 degrees off due south and we get 3.7kWh on a good day. Basically during the day our electricity usage is free with the excess going back into grid @ 5.24p per unit. We didnt go with the hot water as our system is not compatible and would cost too much. We get back about £400-£500 a year in tarrif and electric bill saving is about £250 a year so you could say it pays for itself in 10 years.

We use GoodEnergy.co.uk to claim our tarrif back. Also the panels came with a monitor that you can install and place the display in the house, ours is in the kitchen. It was an Owl Solar Panel monitor and it was terrible. It was way out with the actual reading. So I did some research and bought an Eco Eye which is just about spot on.

there is no 4kwh limit there used to be for FIT but it was removed ages ago

 

[Psycho Sonny]

Looking at getting Solar PV for our home.

I presume it’s still the done thing to get 4/5kw. How much are people paying fully fitted these days with some sort of decent monitor to view production and an immersun/iBoost for the hot water tank ?

it's a waste of money. you will never get your money back.

 

[Jez]

it's a waste of money. you will never get your money back.

Yep, pointless with no FIT at all. Shame. In my case if the planners force me to install, i will likely just buy the cheapest system that i can from ebay, used, and chuck it up myself.

 

[Psycho Sonny]

Yep, pointless with no FIT at all. Shame. In my case if the planners force me to install, i will likely just buy the cheapest system that i can from ebay, used, and chuck it up myself.

it's very very niche.

you need to have a high usage throughout daylight and summer hours for it to be worthwhile.

even batteries aren't worth it. the technology I'd say is still 10-20 years off being a decent investment.

which is funnily enough when we will be forced into electric cars. so then it will become even better in that sense and battery technology will have improved tenfold.

it's not worth looking at now. and i'd say anyone looking to buy a system smaller than 4kwh is mad. the bigger the better usually. you need a massive roof though for that facing the right direction.

 

[Jez]

The neighbouring property have a meaty installation with many panels. I am going to go and check theirs out if they would be so accommodating. From some reading you need DNO approval for the connection of more than 16A of backfeed per phase which might be relevant to Conanius and would certainly be relevant to me. As you say, 4KW seems like a pointlessly tiny amount to me, but it is fair and totally understandable that the DNO would want to know and give permission to backfeed a larger amount like that onto a single phase.

 

[varkanoid]

it's very very niche.

you need to have a high usage throughout daylight and summer hours for it to be worthwhile.

You mean like now when were are stuck at home ! Another nice sunny day and we havent used any electricity throughout the day. I know what you mean though we were just lucky to get the last tarrif step. Just wish we had done it years ago when FIT was a lot higher.

 

[Doobedoo]

Hope the OP doesn't mind, while the topic is about solar panels, has anyone had them fitted to a roof that is west & east facing? Would it be best to split it over both faces?

We have panels split over north east and south west 50/50.

This what we generated yesterday.

 

[Jez]

^ Can you share the array details for context with that mate

 

[ezekial]

We have panels split over north east and south west 50/50.

This what we generated yesterday.

What is the power unit?

 

[Doobedoo]

^ Can you share the array details for context with that mate

4kw split over 2 sides of the roof so 8 panels a side.