Solar Panels in North East

neil.dobson7

Hi everyone.

I'm looking into installing solar panels into my house as a long-range investment. It's in Hartlepool facing 130º (SSE) at an incline of 30º, with about a 25 square metre roof coverage.

I recently got a quote from Project Solar, who reckon that nine solar panels will cost me £8358, generate 2000kWh/year, and pay me back within 11 years. As much as solar panels are a sound investment - and Scottish Power recommends them - I'm not sure if I'm good with Project Solar or am better off looking at somewhere more local. Does anybody more solar-minded know if this is a good deal or not?

Thanks,
Neil

rustyg

Complete rip-off. You should be paying half that. Get more quotes.

Martyn1981

neil.dobson7 wrote: »

Hi everyone.

I'm looking into installing solar panels into my house as a long-range investment. It's in Hartlepool facing 130º (SSE) at an incline of 30º, with about a 25 square metre roof coverage.

Hiya Neil, and welcome. For a first post that's loads of info, great start.

25m2 should hopefully allow 14x 285Wp panels, so approx 4kWp. For Hartlepool at SE (-50 from south) you should generate about 3,300kWh pa. (I'll explain later).

That would earn you / save you about £330pa. (again explain at the end).

neil.dobson7 wrote: »

I recently got a quote from Project Solar, who reckon that nine solar panels will cost me £8358, generate 2000kWh/year, and pay me back within 11 years. As much as solar panels are a sound investment - and Scottish Power recommends them - I'm not sure if I'm good with Project Solar or am better off looking at somewhere more local. Does anybody more solar-minded know if this is a good deal or not?

Thanks,
Neil

@rustyg couldn't have said it better.

With an income of about £230, that would take about 36 years to pay off! I suspect they gave you a very high figure for electricity savings, with a monstrous inflationary rise each year.


So time to restart, have a read of the PV FAQs, sections 1 & 2, which will explain the annual income figures I gave. Quick calculation for you:
3,300kWh pa FiT subsidy of 4.11p/kWh = £136
Export deemed at 50% of generation 1,650kWh @ 4.91p = £81
Leccy savings depend on consumption and daytime use, but around £80-£160 = £120
Total = £337

[For the 2,000kWh quote I guessed at £100 leccy savings.]

In the PV FAQ's you'll find section 5, which explains PVGIS, a fantastic tool for estimating generation. Note - this is only an estimate and for an average year, but it's pretty damn good.

I popped a flag on Hartlepool, changed the kWp to 4, changed the roof pitch to 30 and changed the orientation to -50 (130d as seen from south which is zero). If you zero in to your house, it will be more accurate, though it probably won't vary much.


Price wise you need to aim for £5k, closer to £4k would be good, but the whole industry is struggling at the moment as the FiT was cut too low in 2016.

Don't rush, don't leap, ask us lots of questions, there are no stupid questions. Consider your options. So long as you appreciate this is a long term investment, and if the environmental aspect is a plus (not lecturing, just saying the economics are tough on their own now) then you may want to proceed and have fun with PV.

Speak soon, Mart.