Solar panels/electric boiler

mikedeuk

Hi i've been considering buying solar panels, but it dosn't seem much of an investment now that the feed in tariffs have been cut. I used the online usage calculator and it seems the panels would only just about pay for themselves after 10 years.

I know you can get varies free deals but im not really interested in letting a company get rich off my feed.

I'm guessing that that you save more money from personal usage than the the feed in half of the system.

So my idea is to do away with gas and get an electric cooker, and an electric boiler OR similar alternative. Surely this would make the panels pay for themselves alot faster!?

I've done a bit of research and electric boilers are not very popular at all, this is mainly because gas is alot cheaper than electric. But as i would be supplying my own electric for 80% of the time I can't see many drawbacks?

My goal would be to make panels pay for themselves in less than 7 years and have tiny energy bill forever after! :A

Would be grateful if anyone can help me work all this out.

Thanks

System

mikedeuk wrote: »

I know you can get varies free deals but im not really interested in letting a company get rich off my feed.

I'm guessing that that you save more money from personal usage than the the feed in half of the system.


Thanks

You will find it difficult to use all of your generated energy unless you have your dinner at 3pm during the Winter. I appreciate that FITs have fallen in line with the cost of installing PV panels but a 10 year return is not unreasonable. I have a small 2kWp system with an 8 year payback based on 85% income from FITs and 15% from export and energy savings.

sheffield_lad

mikedeuk wrote: »

and an electric boiler OR similar alternative. Surely this would make the panels pay for themselves alot faster!?

Electric boiler use around 9-12kw

Panels 4kw system you would be looking at a couple of hundred watts during the cold winter months when your heating would be on. Electric unit price 12-14p gas 3.5-5p.

Warning such a boiler will seriously damage your wealth regardless of panels on the roof.

Cardew

If you do decide to go down the Solar PV route, there are devices(e.g. Immersun) that divert any surplus generated electricity to an immersion heater in a hot water tank(that tank can normally be heated by gas)

Martyn1981

mikedeuk wrote: »

Hi i've been considering buying solar panels, but it dosn't seem much of an investment now that the feed in tariffs have been cut. I used the online usage calculator and it seems the panels would only just about pay for themselves after 10 years.

I know you can get varies free deals but im not really interested in letting a company get rich off my feed.

I'm guessing that that you save more money from personal usage than the the feed in half of the system.

So my idea is to do away with gas and get an electric cooker, and an electric boiler OR similar alternative. Surely this would make the panels pay for themselves alot faster!?

I've done a bit of research and electric boilers are not very popular at all, this is mainly because gas is alot cheaper than electric. But as i would be supplying my own electric for 80% of the time I can't see many drawbacks?

My goal would be to make panels pay for themselves in less than 7 years and have tiny energy bill forever after! :A

Would be grateful if anyone can help me work all this out.

Thanks

Hiya, I'd split your thoughts up, to make it easier.

Start by considering the PV system, see what it will cost, and what you'll earn. The FiT is being cut every 3 months at the moment, but is still very high (proportionately) as prices have fallen fast. It will fall to 12.92p/kWh on 1/7/15 and I'll be very surprised if installs in Apr, May and June aren't high enough to trigger another 3.5% cut on 1/10/15. I'd also suspect that July to Sept installs will remain high and trigger another cut on 1/1/16.

If you can fit 4kWp of panels, and have a very good roof (southern UK and south facing) and pay £5k, then a 7 year payback may be possible, but 10 years is probably more likely.

Have a look at the PV FAQs for a starter.

I think this first step has to stand on its own, for you to consider PV, before looking at the next parts as smaller extras.

Next, consider diverting spare leccy to water heating. This will add the cost of the diverter (haggle within the PV install deal) but you'll need a hot water tank, and the amount you can divert will depend on the size and position of your immersion element. The bulk of these savings will be in the BST months.

After that, consider heating, this will be very small, possibly none if you have a diverter mopping up excess. I can run a small oil filled rad during most sunny parts of the day through the GMT months, but this is only a small contribution to keep the chill off one room, between GCH periods. A very steep south facing roof, will increase your winter potential, but I really wouldn't think of PV based heating as anything other than a small bonus.

Mart.

captainhindsight_2

If you had panels installed, all electric appliances, solar batteries and an ASHP/GSHP. You would use all electricity that is generated from your panels onsite and not export any which like you say where you get most of your savings from. And receive both the RHI and FIT, in theory you could almost be self sufficient. It should be fairly easy to calculate using free online tools on DECC websites you estimated electricity generation and work out your electricity consumption from your current gas/oil and electricity bills

[Deleted User]

captainhindsight wrote: »

If you had panels installed, all electric appliances, solar batteries and an ASHP/GSHP. You would use all electricity that is generated from your panels onsite and not export any which like you say where you get most of your savings from. And receive both the RHI and FIT, in theory you could almost be self sufficient. It should be fairly easy to calculate using free online tools on DECC websites you estimated electricity generation and work out your electricity consumption from your current gas/oil and electricity bills

That's pretty much what we do. In a few days we get £700 FITs and £210 RHI. Same again next qtr. The winter Qtrs... £460 FITs and £420 RHI.

So ~£2700pa from FIT's/RHI plus considerable free leccy due to being all electric with DHW diversion. Vs annual electricity bill of ~£870...

As for an electric boiler :eek: