solar panel help needed

traveler1010

i am looking at buying some solar panels for my roof but there is not alot of personal experience of if they work well and if they can power a home depending on how many you have.i live in a single bedroom house and dont watch tvs at all and wanted to know if solar panels could power my home.i use about 2,900kwh per month.has anybody got a solar panel and do they save you money?

zeupater

traveler1010 wrote: »

i am looking at buying some solar panels for my roof but there is not alot of personal experience of if they work well and if they can power a home depending on how many you have.i live in a single bedroom house and dont watch tvs at all and wanted to know if solar panels could power my home.i use about 2,900kwh per month.has anybody got a solar panel and do they save you money?

Hi

I certainly hope that you don't use 2900kWh/month in a one bedroom house !! . Firstly, regarding your roof, does it face south(ish), what size is it and is there any shading at all (including chimneys etc) ??

Z

Cardew

Traveler2010.

Please don't open identical threads in two forums!

noncom_2

Ok, depending on the answers to the above questions (and assuming you do mean 2700kWh per year, not per month), then a Solar Panel system could save you money. In fact, it could make you money, because of the Feed In Tariff which pays you for each unit of electricity you generate, whether or not you use it. There are many threads on here and info on other places which will help you to understand the installation costs and likely returns, but as a back of the envelope guesstimate, budget 10-15k for the system, and expect about 9-10% return per year tax free from FITs. In addition you will save some money on not importing electricity, which will be maybe £100-£200 per year (varying according to how much you use while the panels are actually working).

I have a 4kW system on my roof, and it is predicted to generate about 3500 units each year (roughly South facing, minimal shading, South Midlands of England), which is more or less equal to the amount my family consumes, so in that sense it "powers my home". However it's important to understand that you get nothing from it except during periods of good light, and none of the generated energy is stored, so you cannot use it to remove yourself from the Grid. You will still be buying in electricity from your supplier all year round, just less than you would have done otherwise.

zeupater

noncom wrote: »

Ok, depending on the answers to the above questions (and assuming you do mean 2700kWh per year, not per month), then a Solar Panel system could save you money. In fact, it could make you money, because of the Feed In Tariff which pays you for each unit of electricity you generate, whether or not you use it. There are many threads on here and info on other places which will help you to understand the installation costs and likely returns, but as a back of the envelope guesstimate, budget 10-15k for the system, and expect about 9-10% return per year tax free from FITs. In addition you will save some money on not importing electricity, which will be maybe £100-£200 per year (varying according to how much you use while the panels are actually working).

I have a 4kW system on my roof, and it is predicted to generate about 3500 units each year (roughly South facing, minimal shading, South Midlands of England), which is more or less equal to the amount my family consumes, so in that sense it "powers my home". However it's important to understand that you get nothing from it except during periods of good light, and none of the generated energy is stored, so you cannot use it to remove yourself from the Grid. You will still be buying in electricity from your supplier all year round, just less than you would have done otherwise.

Hi noncom

I think that the main issue at the moment revolves around not knowing the size of the roof on a 1 bedroom house combined with the orientation.

Z

noncom_2

Agreed, zeupater, but from the OP it was not clear how much understanding s/he had of the principles of Solar PV in general, so I thought that might be helpful to give at least some guidance. The OP was asking whether it could power their home, so I wondered if they were aware of the issues of time-limited generation and no "storage".

A one bedroom home might after all be the top floor of an old house and have a massive South facing roof. I appreciate this is unlikely however.