Thinking about solar.....

[Deleted User]

Bit of a change of plan!

When I went on line to look for other suppliers, they had estimated installation costs quoited for 4kWh systems on their sites and were all higher than the figure we have been quoted, by hundreds of pounds. As the supplier who has quoted for us is not based in or immediately adjacent to Edinburgh, it may be that his fixed costs are lower.)

I contacted the Energy Saving Trust whose initial reaction was that the cost for a system of that size was fine; however, they offered a free visit for someone to come out to visit and discuss the figures given in the quote and other options.

That's happening next week.

Given that the on line estimates we have seen for installing a 4kWh system are all higher than our quote, I'm reluctant to get more at this point. The quote is valid for 30 days, so we'll wait until after the EST rep's visit to see if there is any point in seeking other quotes.

Thanks all for the advice so far.

WR

Exiled_Tyke

You may find that many website quotes are out of date. As the FIT tariff reduced considerably at the end of December, I would expect most companies who intend to stay in the industry to be revising their prices quite significantly.

Martyn1981

Exiled_Tyke wrote: »

Sorry I must have been working on my reply when you added the edit. That's good news then.

@ Wild Rover. I agree, that's good news. I (and I suspect others) was concerned that your estimate was at the better end, nothing wrong with that, local weather conditions do have an effect, but was concerned that most random pins were lower.

Anyways, no thoughts as such, just a congratulations on generation potential.

Mart.

pinnks

A few thoughts on export. I have 2 immerSUN diverters and use one for heating hot water and occasionally for space heating with a 2kW oil-filled radiator (when I work from home). The other is used with 2 2.4kW oil-filled radiators to use any excess to heat the living room in the cold months. The second unit comes into its own in March/April and September/October to take the chill off the room thus keeping the gas heating off for a while longer.

We have a timer on the dishwasher and my wife or I can generally time turning on the washing machine or drier to grab the available sun (or as others have said to just miss it). We have a 1kW kettle and use devices in series, not in parallel to maximise own consumption. So, other than low-value use like TV, radio or PCs, we are as good as at home all day in terms of own consumption and well-versed in how to maximise it.

My system is 5.25kWp and produces about 4,500kWh per year.

I have been able to monitor export and generation using the immerSUN since 1 June last year and while that is not accurate in terms of FITs etc (as with any of these monitoring devices) I assume the errors are consistent across what it measures. As of today (8.5 months in) my own consumption is 62%.

Sounds excellent but as we complete the rest of the first 12 months we will see higher levels of generation and therefore export. I therefore expect to end up at about 55% to 60% for the year.

This is still good but I think it shows you would need a magic wand to get 80%.

Exiled_Tyke

pinnks wrote: »

I have been able to monitor export and generation using the immerSUN since 1 June last year and while that is not accurate in terms of FITs etc (as with any of these monitoring devices) I assume the errors are consistent across what it measures. As of today (8.5 months in) my own consumption is 62%.

Sounds excellent but as we complete the rest of the first 12 months we will see higher levels of generation and therefore export. I therefore expect to end up at about 55% to 60% for the year.

This is still good but I think it shows you would need a magic wand to get 80%.

Very useful data. I wonder how it would come out without the immersion. Makes the 50% target for most of us look optimistic.

pinnks

Good question - turns out that without diversion the percentages are reversed, i.e. 62% export. Very interesting...

zeupater

Exiled_Tyke wrote: »

Very useful data. I wonder how it would come out without the immersion. Makes the 50% target for most of us look optimistic.

Hi

From previous discussions on these boards & elsewhere, for a 4kWp system it's probably in the region of 25%-30% over the year for most, with smaller systems likely achieving a higher overall level of self consumption but importing more energy. Of course, this assumes that decent energy efficiency measures are already in place and there's a basic understanding of how to best use the self-generated electricity when available ....

HTH
Z

[Deleted User]

Hi all. Thanks for the various comments since I started the thread.

Having crunched the numbers, we have decided not to have the panels.

Taking a perhaps more realistic view of the likely savings, the payback period shoots up to well over 10 years. I used the energy comparison websites and the first 7 gave unit prices way, way, below the 15p unit cost used in the original quote, and when coupled with the difficulty in getting near a 50% usage of generated power, we really had no choice.

No idea how new domestic solar pv will survive if the vat goes up to 20%.

WR

Exiled_Tyke

Wild_Rover wrote: »

Hi all. Thanks for the various comments since I started the thread.

Having crunched the numbers, we have decided not to have the panels.

Taking a perhaps more realistic view of the likely savings, the payback period shoots up to well over 10 years. I used the energy comparison websites and the first 7 gave unit prices way, way, below the 15p unit cost used in the original quote, and when coupled with the difficulty in getting near a 50% usage of generated power, we really had no choice.

No idea how new domestic solar pv will survive if the vat goes up to 20%.

WR

Sorry it didn't work out for you but am also pleased that you managed to get enough reliable data to crunch to get a meaningful answer.

It does show what a horribly sorry state the renewables industry is now in. Very very sad

kevin6666

Exiled_Tyke wrote: »

Sorry it didn't work out for you but am also pleased that you managed to get enough reliable data to crunch to get a meaningful answer.

It does show what a horribly sorry state the renewables industry is now in. Very very sad

Seems to be a reoccurring theme around the world, Australia, Spain Japan....wherever FIT goes. I don't think it looks so bad in the UK with the 4p rate still decent and offering better ROI than ISA's. It's not the cash cow it was for installers & generators but for those wanting to do what they perceive is the 'right thing' regarding saving the planet etc still viable.