Solar panels and battery - any real world reccomendations?

SoliD said:
Runs until next October, think deep down I'd rather just stay on it until after the winter and guarantee the savings as if prices rise further I'll be subject to them over the winter, might give up some seg payments in the short term for benefit next year. Can then work out how much of the heating would be done by the ac. Realistically I'll only be using it with any solar I'm generating.
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If you have it for another 15 months then it seems a big risk to change now, I agree see what happens this winter, nothing stopping you from moving coming into next spring if things start to look a little better. :)
 
BUDFORCE said:
Is this normal?

Panels been installed for 4 days, first two days a bit cloudier but was peaking about 4.3 ish kw, which is what Id expect on a 4.5kw system.

Yesterday and today, clear days, smoother generation, but it capping out about 3.2kw.

Only thing I can think is heat is affecting something????
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I've just been up to clean the panels again. Quite a layer of dust / sand has settled on them, so possibly another thing to look for.
 
I spoke to the installer this morning, said to keep an eye on it for a week or so, might have been the heat, if not he will send someone.

I will wait for the next clear day and see what happens.
 
Bug One said:
I've just been up to clean the panels again. Quite a layer of dust / sand has settled on them, so possibly another thing to look for.
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Hope you're not cleaning them with tap water, the lime scale will dry on them and cause problems eventually. I work in Sandwich, and live in Broadstairs. I've never cleaned mine, just let the rain do it.

PS Who did you use for your install?
 
I rang up another company earlier to get another quote, was quite surprised to have them call back within a few minutes and arrange for someone to come out tomorrow to look at the property and speak to us in person, which seemed really fast :)
Having said that they're a company that I think may be a little bigger than some, and do a mix of commercial, governmental, and private work so I suspect they have more people local to me.
 
For those that have battery storage, I just switched to go. They asked if I had an EV, which I do, but they didn’t request any proof.

My battery is coming in two weeks and looks like I am locking my price in now for 12 months at:

39.25p/kwh peek
7.5p/kwh off peek

I will also be getting 4.5p/kwh for export.

I think I will be about 90%+ of my usage to Solar or cheep rate.

39.25p sound high but if we are looking at a 50% increase in October that’s going to be around the 42p range anyway.
 
crazyDAJT said:
For those that have battery storage, I just switched to go. They asked if I had an EV, which I do, but they didn’t request any proof.

My battery is coming in two weeks and looks like I am locking my price in now for 12 months at:

39.25p/kwh peek
7.5p/kwh off peek

I will also be getting 4.5p/kwh for export.

I think I will be about 90%+ of my usage to Solar or cheep rate.

39.25p sound high but if we are looking at a 50% increase in October that’s going to be around the 42p range anyway.
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It's not high really.

We fixed for 2 years at 35p.

We were on 30p cap, but we figured as we are getting the panels, we would take a hit on the higher now, absorbing some of that until October where I'd bet the cap will rise over 35p anyway.
 
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BUDFORCE said:
It's not high really.

We fixed for 2 years at 35p.

We were on 30p cap, but we figured as we are getting the panels, we would take a hit on the higher now, absorbing some of that until October where I'd bet the cap will rise over 35p anyway.
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The main advantage with my plan is that I can charge my battery over the winter to provide 90% of my need.

So should be significantly cheeper than even my old fixed rate
 
crazyDAJT said:
The main advantage with my plan is that I can charge my battery over the winter to provide 90% of my need.

So should be significantly cheeper than even my old fixed rate
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Same here - I'll also be trying out heating water using electric up to 04:30 to see how long that stays hot for. Hopefully won't need much gas for that, just heating.
 
Had a guy out today to give a quote, I haven't got the full breakdown in writing yet (should be getting an email).

But for
  • 12 X 395w JA Solar black framed panels
  • 5kw Growatt Hybrid inverter
  • 6.5kw Growatt battery cell
  • Installation
  • Mesh Guard Protection
  • HIES insurance policy
  • 25 year panel warranty
  • MCS Certification
Install etc it's £11.9k

The bird protection wasn't initially in there, but they quoted £900 for if done during install (I think the guy worked out it was ~£2k if done as a retrofit i'm guessing due to the need for scaffolding etc again).


Apparently they can start very quickly with everything in stock (he was quoting as little as a week), and compares well with the previous quote which didn't include the bird guard.

[edit]
Just received the quote.
 
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The meshing is a bit of plastic, £900 is ridiculous.

Werewolf, I recently paid (today in fact) 11.6k for 17x370w panels, 5kw hybrid givenergy battery and 2x8.2kwh batteries. Granted I got the quote a week or so before the VAT drop, but if they can do it quick with current prices it's not obscene
 
Yeah the bird protection is mostly just meshing clipped around the edge. Granted there is some prep work to do to prepare the clips but all in £900 is way too much.
 
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