Would you do it again?

Dave_Fowler

There is a technical document http://innovation.ukpowernetworks.co.uk/innovation/en/Projects/tier-2-projects/Flexible-Plug-and-Play-(FPP)/Project-Documents/FPP_Technical+Solution_FINAL.pdf which gives details of an system being trialed in part of East Anglia. Bit of heavy reading, but section 3.1 gives some explanations of the problems of reverse power flow when this occurs at the 11kV+ part of the power network.

Dave F

zeupater

carol_palmer wrote: »

check out for this docs by bcsea.org which gives you insight on installation expenses

Hi

I've just had a quick look at the site references and can't readily see which particular documents you are referring to.

Obviously there will documents from a Canadian website (British Columbia Sustainable Energy Association) which would apply to microgeneration and distributed generation wherever it would be conducted, but nothing which is specifically linked to the discussions on this particular thread seem to be immediately visible .... however, the association do seem to frequent pubs & restaurants quite regularly, so it must be quite popular!

This part of the forum is mainly frequented by a UK based community individuals with varying levels of microgeneration and energy efficiency technologies, so can you steer us toward what you would consider relevant & useful on the site referenced.

HTH
Z

Alan_Brown

Martyn1981 wrote: »

Obviously this all comes down to money, but you can no longer apply for FiT on extensions, so certainly worth exploring the options of going bigger now.

I have to agree with this. We had the option of going for a 5kw installation with solar edge technology, but I would have had to borrow money instead of just using our savings, plus we had to do a quick install to get the FIT payments before they reduced in January 2016. I regret not spending the extra and getting the additional panels. If I add them now, they won't qualify for FIT payments, plus I'd need an additional inverter.

Over summer, we have had plenty of surplus electricity, but in the winter months that extra 1kw would have really helped.

pinnks

I took the expensive route because we did not get approval to go over 4kWp in time to meet the FiT deadline. So we ended up with 2 completely separate installs (inverter, TGM, switches etc), and suffered the additional expense of two lots of labour, travel and scaffolding, hence the expensive route.

To be honest I think we all focus too much on those deadlines (well before the recent changes) as a 3% drop compared to the extra cost of putting it "right" (going SolarEdge if you misjudged the shading, or continuing to miss out on potential generation/FiT; going larger or again, missing out on that opportunity/maximising own consumption and less FiTs and so on).

I wanted to go either 5.5kWp or go for ~330kWp panels which would have been about 7,500kWp but in the end went for 3,500 on the first install and then, realising the lack of generation on a WSW-facing roof in the morning decided to shell out on an additional 1,750kWp on my SSE-facing roof.

I am happy with what I have but it could have been better for the same net expenditure and the increased production would probably, even over the 20 years, have equalled out the lower FiT rate.

To some extent, as with many once-in-a-lifetime decisions, you pays your money and takes your chance....

rugbyleague

Have now got 3 quotes, a few issues

1 quote is very poorly written lots of spelling mistakes and the payback for the system is much higher than the other 2. In addition he doesn't think I can get a 6kw system on my roof.

The second is for 20 solar edge panels 5.7kw at £7200 and finally a non local quote who hasn't been to my property, thinks there maybe shading issues and has quoted £4900 for 15 panels on a 4kw system.

A couple of the quotes have offered batteries one quite a bit more than the other.

I've written to each one asking for clarity.

Ian

tunnel

rugbyleague wrote: »

Have now got 3 quotes, a few issues

1 quote is very poorly written lots of spelling mistakes and the payback for the system is much higher than the other 2. In addition he doesn't think I can get a 6kw system on my roof.

The second is for 20 solar edge panels 5.7kw at £7200 and finally a non local quote who hasn't been to my property, thinks there maybe shading issues and has quoted £4900 for 15 panels on a 4kw system.

A couple of the quotes have offered batteries one quite a bit more than the other.

I've written to each one asking for clarity.

Ian

£7200 for a 5.7kWp system is too expensive, solaredge or not it's just too much.
Could you not ask the non local for a price for 5.7kWp(guessing 20 x 285'S) with solaredge. It's only 5 panels more and all the other costs are fixed(apart from 5 more PO's and a bit extra bracketing)


As for payback, it could all depend on what % they have worked out your in house own consumption to be. Taking into consideration that you're not at home in the day if they're working on 50% own consumption then they're living in LA LA land, that figure should be closer to 25% and even then at a push. Maybe the first installer has been a bit more conservative with their figures? Care to share the return figures?


T

EricMears

rugbyleague wrote: »

Have now got 3 quotes, a few issues

1 quote is very poorly written lots of spelling mistakes and the payback for the system is much higher than the other 2. In addition he doesn't think I can get a 6kw system on my roof.

The poor writer isn't necessarily a poor electrician - though you'd certainly need to check his arithmetic carefully

lanstrom

I would do it again BUT this time I would have wire mesh around the panels to stop the damn pigeons building nests underneath.

3.84 kWh installed in 2011.

ASavvyBuyer

Martyn1981 wrote: »

You can actually connect a stupid amount of PV to a 3.68kW capped inverter, as it only 'takes' as much leccy as it needs from the panels. However, the bigger you go, the more capping you'll see, and therefore the greater your losses, which will start to negate the extra investment.

If the DNO says "NO", then 4.5kWp via 3.68kW is absolutely fine. the system will rarely exceed 90%, due to panel temps pulling down efficiency, and on a long hot summers day, will be running at 80%, so next to no capping on those occasions.

Mart.

Hi Mart, This discussion has got me thinking about adding a couple or more panels to our West Facing System. When it was installed last August, we just went for 4kw of panels, but there is room on the west facing roof for a couple more panels, and we could possibly add a few to the East facing roof. We have a Solaredge inverter, so if more panels were added, it could still cap output if we exceeded the limit, but in the mornings it rarely goes above 2 kw and in the afternoons only occassionally reaches 4kw. It may not be worth it if it costs too much to add them now, but do you know if you need to get planning permission for going above 4kw of panels and how would it affect FIT payments?

Martyn1981

ASavvyBuyer wrote: »

Hi Mart, This discussion has got me thinking about adding a couple or more panels to our West Facing System. When it was installed last August, we just went for 4kw of panels, but there is room on the west facing roof for a couple more panels, and we could possibly add a few to the East facing roof. We have a Solaredge inverter, so if more panels were added, it could still cap output if we exceeded the limit, but in the mornings it rarely goes above 2 kw and in the afternoons only occassionally reaches 4kw. It may not be worth it if it costs too much to add them now, but do you know if you need to get planning permission for going above 4kw of panels and how would it affect FIT payments?

Hiya. You only need planning permission for ground mounts (bigger than 9m2). Roof mounted is permitted development, other than in a few cases, and subject to a few rules.

Firstly, you can't get FiTs on an extension anymore, so it won't receive subsidies, and I assume it also won't get export payments.

Regarding your existing FiTs, you'll need to check with your provider, but you'll probably be fine. Just tell them what you've added, and they'll then apportion accordingly. So if you add 1kWp to an existing 4kWp, then they'll simply pay out against 80% of your generation figure.

Mart.