Thinking about solar.....

[Deleted User]

Hi all.

We are thinking about installing solar pv.

We own our home, no mortgage, two sons early 20s, 1 student, 1 long term illness, electricity cost with SSE £73 per month, roof pretty much south facing.

Gas hob, electric oven.

Self and Mrs Wild Rover both early retired, home most days. (So able to use washing machines, dishwasher during the day without timers, etc.) Usual array of TVs, computers play stations etc.

Gas central heating.

House central Scotland just about true south facing, no trees or buildings to obscure daylight. Roof about 9.9 sq m.

I know that feed in tariffs set to reduce futher/be abolished.

We'd be grateful for any comments/hints/caveats, but especially from any similar sized households. Company called Save and Protect based in Galashiels have been in touch and I know they are installing in our area.

Cheers,

WR

tunnel

What sort of roof is it that's only 9.9sqm?, do you have any other rooves(E/W?). I ask as you're not going to get many panels on that area.
Happy to help with any questions but your roof space may be against you.

ajbell

Do you mean 9 metres by 9 metres or do you mean a total of 9 square metres?. Big difference and you won't get much on 9 square metres.

[Deleted User]

Central Scotland here too 4kWp SW system on all electric house.

We installed 2011 so a totally different FIT scheme but if you work out your likely return you'll see if the figures stack up.

We used http://www.greenpower-technology.co.uk/ and have used them many times for other work

Cheers

Colin

[Deleted User]

tunnel wrote: »

What sort of roof is it that's only 9.9sqm?, do you have any other rooves(E/W?). I ask as you're not going to get many panels on that area.
Happy to help with any questions but your roof space may be against you.

Aarrgggh! See me? See maths? Eejit!

No, we do not live in a skip......

Roof area that is virtually south facing is about 98 sq m!

Presumably that'll make a bit of a difference!

WR

[Deleted User]

jeepjunkie wrote: »

Central Scotland here too 4kWp SW system on all electric house.

We installed 2011 so a totally different FIT scheme but if you work out your likely return you'll see if the figures stack up.

We used http://www.greenpower-technology.co.uk/ and have used them many times for other work

Cheers

Colin

Thanks for that... I used the calculator and if I did it properly it doesn't look particularly promising - which surprises me. The figs appear to show £100 less in savings than the costs over the lifetime of the system.

Not what I was expecting at all, and it will probably be worse as the "fits" are falling.

One could be forgiven for thinking that the government is discouraging the installation of renewable energy kit!

WR

[Deleted User]

We have made an appointment for a rep to see us next Tuesday. Will do some digging on the web before then, but any hints, pitfalls or "must ask" questions would be much appreciated .....:D

WR

tunnel

Wild_Rover wrote: »

Roof area that is virtually south facing is about 98 sq m!

Well that changes things, that's one big roof(slightly jealous here)
Do you fancy going large with the array? Your roof would comfortably take up to a 10kWp system. A larger system obviously generates more and would come at a lower £'s per kWp and would help with the now modest payback.
Do you have a hot water tank/immersion? Using you own generated power to heat the hot water with the use of diverter will also help with the payback
The more you can do to use the generated power the better the return you'll get

Exiled_Tyke

Wild_Rover wrote: »

We have made an appointment for a rep to see us next Tuesday. Will do some digging on the web before then, but any hints, pitfalls or "must ask" questions would be much appreciated .....:D

WR

Let them know that you are seeing more than one company - to keep them honest. As in all fields some reps are brilliant but many don't know enough and are just pushy salespeople.

Check out their estimates on generation at: http://re.jrc.ec.europa.eu/pvgis/apps4/pvest.php?lang=en&map=europe
(Anything you don't understand on their just leave at the default - it won't be far off)

Comeback here with their suggestions and many experts will be able to advise on the quality/price of their proposal.

Martyn1981

Wild_Rover wrote: »

We have made an appointment for a rep to see us next Tuesday. Will do some digging on the web before then, but any hints, pitfalls or "must ask" questions would be much appreciated .....:D

WR

Hiya, some info, tips, basics etc are in the PV FAQs.

Obviously happy to number crunch and chat, but basic start, for a south facing system of 4kWp (go bigger if you can) you really need to pay less tan £5k now with the FiT reduction.

Wild_Rover wrote: »

One could be forgiven for thinking that the government is discouraging the installation of renewable energy kit!

Spot on. Off-shore wind (nuclear and fracking!) are still supported, but the cheaper options, PV and on-shore wind have 'taken a kicking' lately.

Mart.

gazapc

Wild_Rover wrote: »

We have made an appointment for a rep to see us next Tuesday. Will do some digging on the web before then, but any hints, pitfalls or "must ask" questions would be much appreciated .....:D

WR

Just whatever you do don't sign up or be pressured into signing up on the day. Come back here and post what they have offered first.

To stand any chance of the FiT working you need to really push on price. Get a spreadsheet set up to assess the return on various different install costs.