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Solar panels

Hi Every one

I am currently in the process of buying my first house (exciting times)

I have been looking into the possibility of having solar panels, but wanted some reviews? Is it worth the effort/ expense? Do you see the benefits? In hindsight would you still have them? All feedback welcome :)

Comments

  • ed110220
    ed110220 Posts: 1,633 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper Combo Breaker
    rllowe1 wrote: »
    Hi Every one

    I am currently in the process of buying my first house (exciting times)

    I have been looking into the possibility of having solar panels, but wanted some reviews? Is it worth the effort/ expense? Do you see the benefits? In hindsight would you still have them? All feedback welcome :)

    I'm sure someone else will be along soon, but solar PV pretty much does what it says on the tin. If you know the roof space available you can work out how much PV you can fit on, and once you know that with the help of the PVGIS website you can a pretty accurate prediction of annual generation just by feeding in your location, bearing from South and roof slope.

    The only two significant things that are difficult to predict are how much you'll save on your electricity bill, as this depends on how much you use in the day when the solar is generating, and shading which can have a big negative impact on panels if not mitigated.

    But basically you should be able to predict with a high degree of accuracy how much electricity and FIT you'll get so you don't need to go into it blind.

    Ed
    Solar install June 2022, Bath
    4.8 kW array, Growatt SPH5000 inverter, 1x Seplos Mason 280L V3 battery 15.2 kWh.
    SSW roof. ~22° pitch, BISF house. 12 x 400W Hyundai panels
  • tunnel
    tunnel Posts: 2,601 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Combo Breaker
    Hi,
    Is solar still worth it? I'd say yes and if I hadn't already used up all my "best" rooves then I'd still be adding.
    If you can post some info for the new house, roof direction? Pitch?Size of roof?(roughly) Any shading? Then myself and several others will help/advise as to whether solar can be right for you too.
    2 kWp SEbE , 2kWp SSW & 2.5kWp NWbW.....in sunny North Derbyshire17.7kWh Givenergy battery added(for the power hungry kids)
  • Dt1
    Dt1 Posts: 1 Newbie
    Hi, in answer to your question, I had a system fitted on 31/3/15. 16 x 250 watt panels (German made) and an ABB Inverter. I also added a solar iboost water heater. They were fitted by a local company in N Ireland called solarpanelconi. I couldn't be happier, I have generated up to date 2200 kW, average days are 14 kw with sunny days at around 20 kw. I use almost all of the power that I make due to my sons tropical fish hobby. The cost was £5800.00. I estimate payback will be 5 years due to the slightly more generous FIT in N Ireland.
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