Solar Panel Guide Discussion

bjohnson

KevinG wrote: »

That seems like a reasonably fair way of doing it. It also means you couldn't run the two installations through the same export meter, which could slightly increase the cost of an expansion. I would consider expanding mine when the inverter packs in, as I am told they tend to after 10 years, but if I'd have to run the additional panels through a separate export meter, I would presumably need two inverters as well, which would bump up the cost even more.

So the second installation would be paid at the aggregate rate but presumably it would be at whatever the rate is in ten years time which could be very little?

Cardew

zeupater wrote: »

Hi

You need to consider that, for this to be the case, the twenty installations would need to be over twenty years and the 4kWp tariff for each system would be at whatever was current at the time of installation ..... two, or more, 4kWp installations within any one year would result in the capacity being aggregated and the tariff corrected to the appropriate band.

HTH
Z

Agreed! If you added a 4kWp to a 2kWp sytem you would get the FIT rate for a 6kWp system.

That is very different to:

Hi have checked with my FiT provider and yes if you add another system to your roof before april 2012 you will get 43.3p they treat it a new application, hope this helps.:D:D

KevinG

bjohnson wrote: »

So the second installation would be paid at the aggregate rate but presumably it would be at whatever the rate is in ten years time which could be very little?

Agreed, the economics of it could be rather different by then, there's no way of knowing what the FiT rate would be and how much the installation would cost.

zeupater

Cardew wrote: »

Agreed! If you added a 4kWp to a 2kWp sytem you would get the FIT rate for a 6kWp system.

That is very different to:

Hi

[STRIKE]
The OP has a system which is currently over 12 months old, therefore, from a FiT point of view in this particular case the above is incorrect.

Adding a 4kWp system to a 2kWp system in this case will result in a 4kWp system and a 2kWp system, not a single 6kWp system. If the new system is registered before the April 2012 deadline, each system will be able to attract the 43.3p/kWh tariff for being in the sub 4kWp band, however, if the new system is registered after this cutoff date the existing system will attract payments based on the current 43.3p rate and the new system will be based on the lower rate applicable for systems from 1st April 2012.
[/STRIKE]

## Edit 21:00 - To correct the above posted text

The OP has a system which is currently over 12 months old, therefore, from a FiT point of view in this particular case the above is incomplete and the following clarifies the situation.

Adding a 4kWp system to a 2kWp system in this case will result in a 2kWp system attracting a FiT at the sub 4kWp rate and a 4kWp system attracting a FiT at the rate applicable for an aggregated 6kWp system, not a single 6kWp system. If the new system is registered before the April 2012 deadline, the original system will be able to attract the 43.3p/kWh tariff for being in the sub 4kWp band with the new system attracting the lower 37.8p/kWh rate for sub 10kWp systems, however, if the new system is registered after this cutoff date the existing system will attract payments based on the current 43.3p rate and the new system will be based on the reduced lower rate applicable for sub 10kWp systems from 1st April 2012.


HTH
Z

Doc_N

zeupater wrote: »

Hi

The OP has a system which is currently over 12 months old, therefore, from a FiT point of view in this particular case the above is incorrect.

Adding a 4kWp system to a 2kWp system in this case will result in a 4kWp system and a 2kWp system, not a single 6kWp system. If the new system is registered before the April 2012 deadline, each system will be able to attract the 43.3p/kWh tariff for being in the sub 4kWp band, however, if the new system is registered after this cutoff date the existing system will attract payments based on the current 43.3p rate and the new system will be based on the lower rate applicable for systems from 1st April 2012.

HTH
Z

That's not the way I read it. From your very helpful earlier post:

"any expansion of an installation within 12 months (of the same technology) will be treated as an increase in the capacity of the installation; if an expansion takes place more than one year after confirmation in the Central FITs Register, the expansion will be treated as a separate station - the original installation will be treated as having continued in the same class, while the new installation will be rated at the capacity of the aggregate of the two stations."


Doesn't "the new installation will be rated at the capacity of the aggregate of the two stations" mean, if the new system is registered by 31 March 2012 that the 37.8p rate will apply to it, because the aggregate, in your example, would be 6kWp?

KevinG

Doc_N wrote: »

Doesn't "the new installation will be rated at the capacity of the aggregate of the two stations" mean, if the new system is registered by 31 March 2012 that the 37.8p rate will apply to it, because the aggregate, in your example, would be 6kWp?

That's how I read it too - can't see any other way of reading it!

Freepost

Hello everybody,

I've recently had some discussions with Tescos about installing a Solar electrical system. Unfortunately the info they give over the telephone and their quote after visiting me seem worlds apart. I have also looked at the SMA software to try and achieve some calculations but I am presently unable to drive the software to anything meaningful. Consequently I'm hopeful that somebody here will be able to help me with my calculations.

First the system; Tesco propose installing 16 Sharp NU250 (NU series J5) with a Diehl Platinum 3800 inverter.


Location : 20miles west of Leeds (Lat. 53.82°)
Orientation : South West (227°)
Roof Pitch : 37°
Shading : Zero

I was initially told that with a 3.91kWp (*) system I would generate a tariff payment of approx. £2000.00 via the FiTs. Sounds a lot, so of course I thought they say £2K and actually mean £1.5K. But now their quote says £1381 (almost a third less) which will mean it takes longer to recover the initial outlay but how accurate is this figure, hence my messing about with the software.


(*) Initially their quote was for 17 x NU230 panels @ £11.300 but now upgraded to 16 x NU250 panel @ £12,000.

Also, the cost of the system £15000.00 less 20% because of their current offer. Is this a good price?

I hope you can offer some advice here.

best regards
F.

Doc_N

Freepost wrote: »

Hello everybody,

I've recently had some discussions with Tescos about installing a Solar electrical system. Unfortunately the info they give over the telephone and their quote after visiting me seem worlds apart. I have also looked at the SMA software to try and achieve some calculations but I am presently unable to drive the software to anything meaningful. Consequently I'm hopeful that somebody here will be able to help me with my calculations.................


............................Also, the cost of the system £15000.00 less 20% because of their current offer. Is this a good price?

I hope you can offer some advice here.

best regards
F.

The £1381 is a standard figure, and probably fairly accurate. My Tesco system (similar size) was supposed to achieve this, and actually managed it in 11 months.

The £12,000 is probably about right in the current market. You might get it for a bit less, but probably not a huge amount.

This site, with actual cases, might help you:

http://www.uksolarcasestudy.co.uk/

Doc_N

prologis wrote: »

Without trawling through several pages of discussions, has anyone been able to pay for their installation using credit card as a means of invoking the Section 75(?) protection facility?

Yes - with Tesco.

KevinG

prologis wrote: »

Without trawling through several pages of discussions, has anyone been able to pay for their installation using credit card as a means of invoking the Section 75(?) protection facility?

My supplier accepted the deposit on a credit card at no cost but would have wanted 1.7% extra for the rest, so I just paid the deposit by CC which means the whole lot is covered by the protection anyway.