Advice on inherited solar panels

Sio810

Hi,
I am looking for some help and advice as I cannot find anyone who understands domestic solar panels and everything online is a bit too technical for me to understand. This has ended up as a long winded essay and I am hoping someone can make sense and at least point me in the right direction.

I have recently bought a house that already has 10 solar panels installed (about 4 years ago) The panels have been paid outright, belong to me, but the previous owners did not sign up the the FiT so I cannot receive money from the grid. The company that installed them went bust.
I would like to find out 1. How efficient the panels are and 2. The best way to maximise the energy generated.

I would eventually like to get a battery but have been advised that currently they are too expensive to be viable, and the house needs a lot of work so I want to wait until most of the work is done and see how much I have left. The company who came round to talk to me about batteries tried to push me into a loan for them but I'd rather pay for anything outright, I also couldn't find much information about the company who were selling me a Duracell battery that would store the energy and the grid could buy it during surges so I would be getting some money from this.

Currently my house has an old gas boiler for central heating which isn't working (I've had a plumber look at this) and an emersion heater which looks quite new, I know you can add somthing to the Emerson heater so it is using the solar energy but I don't know how to find out if this has been done. Would it be more economical to switch to an electric combi boiler? Or is there another way.

Trying to be a bit more environmentally minded I'd eventually like to get an electric car and install a charging point at the side of my house.

I think what I'm trying to find out is how do I find out if the panels generate enough energy to heat my house and charge a car (Or at least enough to make it efficiant) or what is the best way to maximise usage of the energy created.

I'd appreciate any help if anyone has any idea what I'm going on about

Thanks in advance

twhitehousescat

Sio810 wrote: »

Hi,
I am looking for some help and advice as I cannot find anyone who understands domestic solar panels and everything online is a bit too technical for me to understand. This has ended up as a long winded essay and I am hoping someone can make sense and at least point me in the right direction.

I have recently bought a house that already has 10 solar panels installed (about 4 years ago) The panels have been paid outright, belong to me, but the previous owners did not sign up the the FiT so I cannot receive money from the grid. The company that installed them went bust.
I would like to find out 1. How efficient the panels are and 2. The best way to maximise the energy generated.

I would eventually like to get a battery but have been advised that currently they are too expensive to be viable, and the house needs a lot of work so I want to wait until most of the work is done and see how much I have left. The company who came round to talk to me about batteries tried to push me into a loan for them but I'd rather pay for anything outright, I also couldn't find much information about the company who were selling me a Duracell battery that would store the energy and the grid could buy it during surges so I would be getting some money from this.

Currently my house has an old gas boiler for central heating which isn't working (I've had a plumber look at this) and an emersion heater which looks quite new, I know you can add somthing to the Emerson heater so it is using the solar energy but I don't know how to find out if this has been done. Would it be more economical to switch to an electric combi boiler? Or is there another way.

Trying to be a bit more environmentally minded I'd eventually like to get an electric car and install a charging point at the side of my house.

I think what I'm trying to find out is how do I find out if the panels generate enough energy to heat my house and charge a car (Or at least enough to make it efficiant) or what is the best way to maximise usage of the energy created.

I'd appreciate any help if anyone has any idea what I'm going on about

Thanks in advance

not overskilled on this but ,,,,,,,,,,, the charging wont work at night

molerat

Best asking here https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/forumdisplay.php?f=100


One thing that sticks out - do not install an electric boiler, it is the equivalent of burning £10 notes, stick with gas.

dprice8893

You should be able to view what the panels are generating at any given time from the inverter display. Some inverters, namely SMA have Bluetooth connectivity, so you can view the generation history on a PC or tablet

Unfortunately, all the financial gains to be made involve having a registered FIT account, so you'll only have the benefit of the electricity generated at any given moment, which isn't as much as people imagine. My 3KW system probably only saves me about £150 per year and I manage it fairly well.

For example, if I boil the kettle at midday on a sunny day, the panels may cope with two thirds of the required power consumption. The best way to monitor the system is with a smart meter because it shows you exactly what the balance of use is at any given time.

ajbell

10 panels will be about 2.5kw which should generate around 2500kwh per year. Not signing up for FIT payments was an expensive mistake that would be earning you about 20p+ for every kwh generated.
Don't bother with batteries at the moment as they are too expensive, just buy a cheap energy monitor that tells you what you are producing at any moment and use power when you are generating.
I have an iboost which puts excess power into the hot water tank.

Sio810

I was more thinking that if I bought a battery I could use the stored energy, but I'm not sure it would store enough

System

Sio810 wrote: »

I was more thinking that if I bought a battery I could use the stored energy, but I'm not sure it would store enough

You need to factor in the cost of the battery; cost of installation and it’s predicted life. My 2kWP system generated only 43.6kWhs of electricity in December last year. I suspect that a high proportion of that was used by various appliances during the day.

dprice8893

To summarize, and I know it's unfortunate but you'll be lucky to save about £100 per year if it's a 2.5Kw system, whereas owners of the same system with a registered FIT account would be earning around £1200 per year.

The maths is fairly simple, it's not worth spending money on batteries because you'd never recoup the outlay. At least you didn't pay to have the system installed.

baldelectrician

If you are getting a new central heating system then i would recommend one with hot water storage.
I have a hot water tank and have installed a Solac immersion heater controller which diverts the power going to the grid and heats the water tank instead
In other words it monitors electricity going past the meter (using a current clamp that clips round the meter cable) and diverts this to the immersion heater

It operates like a glorified dimmer-
If the panels are sending 500w to the grid it powers the immerser with just under 500w

On another note (for people who are registered for FIT)
DO NOT get a smart meter as they measure ACTUAL export, if you export less than this you will be paid less
If you have DEEMED EXPORT then you will be better off.

sevenhills

Sio810 wrote: »

I have recently bought a house that already has 10 solar panels installed (about 4 years ago) The panels have been paid outright, belong to me, but the previous owners did not sign up the the FiT so I cannot receive money from the grid. The company that installed them went bust.

Maybe you are been told lies so that the original owner can keep the money, just a thought.

dprice8893 wrote: »

whereas owners of the same system with a registered FIT account would be earning around £1200 per year.

I have eight panels and I receive around £300 per year, they were installed in 2015

System

sevenhills wrote: »

Maybe you are been told lies so that the original owner can keep the money, just a thought.

Presumably, a ghost of the owner past will read the generation meter.:snow_grin