Scotland and dictator Sturgeon

[david wood]

thats true electric prices are getting horrible,    now i know sod all about solar so i hate to imagine how many panels to be worth it,   can they go on a garage roof instead of house?     garage roof only has about 20 degree slope,   hate thought of adding to house roof as its a windy site and dont want to compromise roof structure any.

 

its all a totally new topic to me so any folks with an idiots guide please post,

[Sutton]

We looked into solar options when install costs were lower and said no. Annual number of sunny days, lifetime warrantees, country of origin were all factors.

Community CHP is my preference after the basics like educating responsibility to yummy mummies is drummed up, obviously.

[Baldbloke]

We looked into solar options when install costs were lower and said no. Annual number of sunny days, lifetime warrantees, country of origin were all factors.
Community CHP is my preference after the basics like educating responsibility to yummy mummies is drummed up, obviously.

I’ve heard that although the cost of panels might be lower than at the start, the subsidy itself isn’t the incentive that it used to be. So unless you can warrant the saving against future bills it may just not be worth it.

[Baldbloke]

thats true electric prices are getting horrible,    now i know sod all about solar so i hate to imagine how many panels to be worth it,   can they go on a garage roof instead of house?     garage roof only has about 20 degree slope,   hate thought of adding to house roof as its a windy site and dont want to compromise roof structure any.
 
its all a totally new topic to me so any folks with an idiots guide please post,

I’ve seen farmers put them on their cattle sheds but think that’s under a micro generation commercial subsidy. I’ve not seen domestic consumers putting them on sheds, but if the garage was adjoined to the house it may be viable. However, you’d need to look at the subsidy rate as it tends to get lower as time passes. Existing installations usually get an increasing subsidy linked to RPI, but as a new entrant, it may be that it just won’t pay these days as any subsidy will be minimal.
You also have to realise that assuming you put up a 2kW installation, the moment your consumption goes over what the sun is giving the meter starts to rotate and you pay like anyone without panels.

[Woodworks]

8 hours ago, david wood said:

thats true electric prices are getting horrible,    now i know sod all about solar so i hate to imagine how many panels to be worth it,   can they go on a garage roof instead of house?     garage roof only has about 20 degree slope,   hate thought of adding to house roof as its a windy site and dont want to compromise roof structure any.

 

its all a totally new topic to me so any folks with an idiots guide please post,

No problem. Our fist set went on a barn at just 15 degrees but due south. It's a 3.8 kWh system and has produced 40650 kWh of electricity to date on a cloudy part of Dartmoor. If there was no grant at all and at the new price capped cost of electric at 28p per kWh that would still be £11382 worth of electricity generated. 

[kevinjohnsonmbe]

35 minutes ago, Woodworks said:

No problem. Our fist set went on a barn at just 15 degrees but due south. It's a 3.8 kWh system and has produced 40650 kWh of electricity to date on a cloudy part of Dartmoor. If there was no grant at all and at the new price capped cost of electric at 28p per kWh that would still be £11382 worth of electricity generated. 

£11.3k worth - but only if you use it all no?

 

Unused (back into grid) is at the token effort £rate isn’t it?

 

Secret being - if max return to investment and best use of tariff is the prime motivation - you gotta use it all or store it. 
 

Im starting to look at battery packs - should have done it much sooner - if I can push my free leccy a bit further past sunset I’ll be happy. 

[Sutton]

49 minutes ago, Woodworks said:

No problem. Our fist set went on a barn at just 15 degrees but due south. It's a 3.8 kWh system and has produced 40650 kWh of electricity to date on a cloudy part of Dartmoor. If there was no grant at all and at the new price capped cost of electric at 28p per kWh that would still be £11382 worth of electricity generated. 

Please say a bit more.

Install date on shed, type & make of panel, offset returns for unused electric.

 

I appreciate Devon gets more sun than most despite the rain.

[openspaceman]

1 hour ago, Woodworks said:

Our fist set went on a barn at just 15 degrees but due south

I shall not know for a few months but my immediate impression from two months data with the battery is that optimising power generation in the winter months makes more sense than maximising annual generation, so a steeper angle than my roof makes sense. We have been about 45% independent of the grid in the worst months and now it seems to have risen to 60%, so in high summer unless I intervene and use an immersion to heat water I will be exporting some.

 

Has anyone a current figure for a 4kW PV installation? Mine was paid in 10 years if you ignore loss of interest on capital sum.

 

If anyone still has a cheap offpeak tariff I would say a battery with capacity of one day's usage is probably a first step.

[Woodworks]

29 minutes ago, openspaceman said:

I shall not know for a few months but my immediate impression from two months data with the battery is that optimising power generation in the winter months makes more sense than maximising annual generation, so a steeper angle than my roof makes sense.

It's all a complicated equation. Our second system is at the supposed optimum angle of 36 degrees also supposedly the best panels at the time (Sanyo) Interestingly the 15 degree system out produces the 36 degree system annually. It's hard to be sure of all the reasons for this. There is a little bit of shading late in the day and shading is killer without micro inverters or what ever the equivalent these days but I doubt this account for all of the difference. The other aspect is our localised weather conditions. Being on the very west of Dartmoor we get a lot more cloud than places just 5 miles away. Interestingly a system at 0 degrees is more productive than any other angle when it's cloudy or overcast as the light is diffracted straight down through the clouds. A another thing to consider is an east west system should produce around 80% of a due south system with all other things being equal but morning and evening are times many of us are more likely to be in and able to use that production. 

 

When it was all about getting money from the FIT most opted for the max production per year but when you are looking at personal usage there are more things to consider. 

Edited February 7, 2022 by Woodworks

[Woodworks]

1 hour ago, Sutton said:

Please say a bit more.

Install date on shed, type & make of panel, offset returns for unused electric.

 

I appreciate Devon gets more sun than most despite the rain.

I dont have the details on the installation date to hand but think its around 10-11 years ago. It was right at the beginning of the FIT system. The panels are REC . The inverter is an SMA which is still going strong and never had a fault. We have no record of what gets used on site and what was exported as the early system had none of todays Bluetooth connectivity to follow these things. 

 

As for Devon getting lots more sun thats not quite the case and just an illusion put out by the local tourist board IMO 😆.  I once saw a map that showed actual PV production per kWh installed. The best areas were in an arc starting from Exeter going up to Bristol and coming down near Eastbourne. Then there was an area around the Wash that was super productive.

Edited February 7, 2022 by Woodworks