Solar panels and battery - any real world reccomendations?

[ChroniC]

I guess the question is, are the benefits of solar, the usage or the sale of excess energy..
The cost saving from a DIY job seems to be completely pointless if you can't get a SEG cert and sell anything back to the grid.
In summer if your not using much electricity there can be no benefit other than selling excess surely.

 

[tamzzy]

both, but your ROI will be measured in years (6-10+, depending on your choice of components)
octopus will accept self-installs iirc, other operators won't though.

 

[b0rn2sk8]

So I now have a revised quote for 16 panels plus PW3 and a comparison quote from another London installer + an estimate from Octopus:

Quote 1: £16.5k
Quote 2: £15.5k
Octopus: £16-16.8k estimate

Getting all three out to fully survey but suggests the London tax is real / I need to start negotiating on pricing assuming there is a massive margin built into all three quotes.

If you are inside the M25 then its not completely unreasonable but it is expensive.

For context, I live in the East of England and my installation was £16.5k for:
23 panel (9 east, 14 west)
8k Solis Inverter
13.5kwh GivEnergy 'All in One' with gateway
Bird meshing
Scaffold on 2 sides of the house.

The GivEnergy battery is cheaper than the Tesla PW3 but you don't need a separate solar inverter so they are not that far off in reality. Tesla tends to carry a bit of installer margin because its 'premium' despite being no more difficult to install than my GivEnergy system and if anything, its easier now with the PW3.

Prices have dropped further since I got mine installed so bear that in mind. While I'm not in not London in terms of labour rates, its not cheap either, mainline train station to London and within commuting distance of Cambridge pushes up prices a lot.

 

[b0rn2sk8]

I've seen full kits, inverters etc for a little over 2.5k.. Are batteries worth the extra or is the storage capacity to low for the cost? Is a 10kw battery going to sod all to warranty the cost?

Batteries have similar ROI to the solar itself IF you combine them with time of use tariffs.

There is a sweet spot of battery size though, its not simply a case of more = more return. The return starts falling off once you can cover the majority of your daily usage on battery.

I recharge my battery from the grid overnight all year round, I import electric for 7p, I can export solar for 15p. Sure I'm drawing more from the grid than I 'need to' but its increasing my return on investment.

 

[ChroniC]

So a weird wild thought, what's the point of me putting the money into solar on my house. With the amount of fields available in the UK, why is there not a scheme where I can put in money to just add more panels to cheaper existing structure, then somehow they workout what my cut back is...
Doesn't matter where the panels are if the electricity always get used somewhere or returns to the grid..

It would eventually be a slow investment and a huge benefit to a green economy no?

 

[Stu999]

So a weird wild thought, what's the point of me putting the money into solar on my house. With the amount of fields available in the UK, why is there not a scheme where I can put in money to just add more panels to cheaper existing structure, then somehow they workout what my cut back is...
Doesn't matter where the panels are if the electricity always get used somewhere or returns to the grid..

It would eventually be a slow investment and a huge benefit to a green economy no?

Don’t know if there is one for solar but there is Ripple for wind power.

 

[b0rn2sk8]

Ripple do Solar also but IMO, the return is both rose than installing your own solar and other investment vehicles*

*this is not financial advice

With the amount of fields available in the UK, why is there not a scheme where I can put in money to just add more panels to cheaper existing structure, then somehow they workout what my cut back is...
Doesn't matter where the panels are if the electricity always get used somewhere or returns to the grid..

Fire up BBC iPlayer and watch todays 18:30 edition of Look East (local news for the East of England) and you'll soon see why.... (NIMBYs)

You can also sort of see their point, The Range just built a new 1.4m square foot warehouse just off the A14 in Suffolk, it has Solar but the pictures on google maps show only about 5-10% of the roof space has been utilised. That's the sort of thing that would trigger @Ron-ski and well most people who regularly post in this thread

 

[tamzzy]

Batteries have similar ROI to the solar itself IF you combine them with time of use tariffs.
There is a sweet spot of battery size though, its not simply a case of more = more return. The return starts falling off once you can cover the majority of your daily usage on battery.
I recharge my battery from the grid overnight all year round, I import electric for 7p, I can export solar for 15p. Sure I'm drawing more from the grid than I 'need to' but its increasing my return on investment.

this, i do the same too

 

[Ron-ski]

I have a naive question but with solar panels being so cheap these day. I've seen figures of £60 a panel. (is that right?)
With enough panels and extras would it be possible to do a DIY setup for only a few thousand.

Am I wrong to believe that a lot of the cost stopping people from having solar panels is the installation cost.?

How much work is involved that could be done before a professional is need to wire it into the house.

Yes you can pick up panels for £57 including VAT, as DIY you have to pay the VAT though.

You can get a 15kWh battery for £2500.

Then you need an inverter, cabling, rails for the panels, along with numerous other bits and pieces, it does add up but can be considerably cheaper than an installer, but you really need to know what you are doing.

You'd need a electrician for the AC work, and its hard to find one that will work with you. You need to do the G98 or G99 DNO application, although the electrician might do it (I did my own).

Its also extremely hard physical work, working on a roof at an angle, removing tiles, fitting roof hooks, but before you can do that you have to plan it out, making sure you comply with regulations. You need to install the inverter, battery, and get the cables to it, and the mains back to the CU.

Once its up and running, you then want to get paid for export, this is the biggest and most annoying hurdle, pretty much every energy supplier insists on an MCS certificate, and you won't have one, and won't get one. Octopus apparently will assess your installation, and then accept it, but a lot struggle going this route, I think I've only heard of one person on here that's been successful.

That's the sort of thing that would trigger @Ron-ski and well most people who regularly post in this thread

It's so annoying seeing vasts roofs with silly arrays or none, whole housing estates going up without a single panel, large car parks without solar roofs, if roofs and car parks were better utilised we wouldn't need to fill fields with panels.


This is how they do it in Belgium, this is actually a truck park, but the entire area is covered by a solar roof, its been there for years.

NOMAD POWER · Industrieweg 15, 3550 Heusden-Zolder, Belgium

★★★☆☆ · Auto electrical service

maps.app.goo.gl

 

[b0rn2sk8]

It's so annoying seeing vasts roofs with silly arrays or none, whole housing estates going up without a single panel, large car parks without solar roofs, if roofs and car parks were better utilised we wouldn't need to fill fields with panels.


This is how they do it in Belgium, this is actually a truck park, but the entire area is covered by a solar roof, its been there for years.

NOMAD POWER · Industrieweg 15, 3550 Heusden-Zolder, Belgium

★★★☆☆ · Auto electrical service

maps.app.goo.gl

this is how we do it in the UK

The Range Distribution Warehouse · Near, Gateway Blvd, Stowmarket IP14 5BP

★★★★★ · Warehouse

maps.app.goo.gl

They may well be adding more panels, I'm not actually sure if this is the finished array but clearly they will not be filling the roof based on its design.