Solar ... In the news

Screwdriva

In a manner of speaking it is very much a forum wide effort. We may disagree on some of the detail, but many return back here to help others in a variety of ways. I have certainly benefitted from this rather unique distribution of community knowledge, and do believe it is what makes this sub-forum a special place.

Martyn1981

I think this is a good article, looking at potential savings, for a 4kWp south facing system, in different parts of the UK. I'd suggest the size is a bit small these days (as an average), and £7k (for 4kWp) can be beaten, but overall, not bad.

Solar cuts ‘at least £400 from bills in even the cloudiest British areas’

Households in Great Britain’s cloudiest regions could still save more than £400 a year on their energy bills by installing rooftop solar panels, research has found.

Rising wholesale energy prices mean the potential savings from a home solar panel system have climbed in recent years, as the cost of installation has continued to fall, leading to increased demand.

An analysis carried out for the Guardian has found that in areas with the fewest sunny days, solar panels could bring annual savings of about £450 a year on the average household electricity bill. In areas with the brightest skies, this figure could climb to more than £600.

QrizB

A couple of thoughts after reading that article:

• While the Energy Saving Trust seems reluctant to drop their £7k indicative price for a 4kWp system, plug-in prices are beginning to show the "true" price of PV. At Octopus's £650 for 800W, for example, 4kW should be closer to £3250.
• Savings of £450-£600 for using half the electricity generated by 4kWp would scale to being £90-120 for a 800Wp plug-in system - or (noting the current discussion on the plug-in thread) maybe £110-£150 if overpanelled to 1kWp.

It's a shame it's now September with only one "good" PV month left in the year.

ed110220

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82121875#Comment_82121875

It got me looking at my savings so far this year. It's difficult to tease out the solar from the battery so I haven't.

I've consumed 3666 kWh since the start of Jan which would have cost £1101 (54.6p/day standing charge, 26.39p/kWh) on the Octopus flat rate tariff but my actual bill after exports is £155 so I've saved £946.

I've generated 3600 kWh, imported almost everything at 8.63p/kWh and exported at 12p/kWh as I'm Octopus Go.

Our monthly consumption has jumped from about 350 kWh to about 750 kWh since I got the EV in June, so I'm expecting the savings to be much bigger from now on.