Social Energy

jmneate

I wonder if anyone could give me some advice. I am thinking about getting solar panels a company silvercrest energy quoted me £12k for 12 and a battery saying that I would then be signed up to Social Energy. I have since had a quote for £6k for the panels and £2k for a battery.

 If I go for the cheaper option can I sign up to social energy myself at a later date or do I have to go for the more expensive option

Do I have to have the Social energy battery?

Any advice would be most appreciated

ASavvyBuyer

Have a look at the Green & Ethical forum on here for advice.

I think there was someone on there that signed up for Social Energy, but cancelled after lots of problems.

£12k for 12 panels & a battery appears to be very expensive. So does £6k !

Talldave

First things first. Why do you want solar panels? Did you start out wanting a battery? £6k sounds pricey for panels (what rating, how efficient?) whilst £2k for a battery sounds cheap so it's probably crap and pointless. You need to know what you want the battery for in order to determine what capacity you need. Then start looking for quotes. 

You can buy what you like and not sign up to anything, but it's probably sensible to sell your excess energy back to the grid.

Personally I would love panels and a battery but sadly don't own a house. That said, it's early days for domestic battery storage whereas solar technology has plateaued in terms of development.  But you need to shop around and buy the best panels cheaply rather than paying a high price for cheap panels. Always ask a potential supplier for the panel specification and do some research. 

Gerry1

I'm never impressed by the sales technique of quoting a very high price and then suddenly halving it, nor by the competency of a company which refers to its 'Principle Terms' ! 

binao

Gerry1 said:

I'm never impressed by the sales technique of quoting a very high price and then suddenly halving it, nor by the competency of a company which refers to its 'Principle Terms' ! 

I'm also never impressed when "offered" the "halving opportunity" quickly followed by, " Would you like me to ring my manager for a, special, today only, discount".

Then comes, "in your area, free installation", etc.

Why are peeps so gullible?

matelodave

TBH I'm not really convinced of the benefit of solar power at present, especially if you've got to borrow money to buy them. There is no government feed in tariff any more so the best you can do is use the energy you generate and try to sell any surplus back to one of the energy companies. Generally most people generate the leccy when they don't always need it (especially if they are at work all day) and cant do the washing and stuff when the sun is shining.

You really do need to do some very careful sums to see how long it will take you to recover the outlay (possibly never if you've borrowed to pay for them) and do your own research and do your own sums and don't listen to a salesman

Petriix

Don't do it. Those prices are astronomical and you will never recoup your costs. A 4kWp solar PV array should cost no more than £4000 today. You could conceivably save £200 per year off your bill (if you are at home all day and able to use the power when it's sunny) and maybe earn £100 per year from exports so you might break even after around 13-14 years (if the inverter doesn't need replacing in that time).

A battery could increase the saving to £350 but would probably not last more than 10 years; so the battery would have to cost under £1500 to have any chance of breaking even in its usable life. The truth is that, since the withdrawal of the Feed In Tariff, the economy of solar panels has become marginal at best. In any case stay well clear of the snake oil salesmen. If you're genuinely interested then get some quotes from local companies who don't have to pay commission to salesmen and don't spend £thousands on advertising.

stevecutbilll

Social energy do not allow you WiFi access to your battery or grid tie inverter, this is so you cannot adjust the settings on your own equipment. 

Reason, they take all your excess solar and pay you 5.6p kw they then charge your battery at 16p kw  and then watch them take it back at 5.6p. 

Watch your empty house with no electric usage actually run up a normal size bill !!

and you have no control over the equipment you bought so it’s actually useless !

[Deleted User]

I looked at Social Energy for all of 30 seconds. I had a 7kWp array and battery installed last September. I get my electricity from and supply my excess electricity to Octopus Energy. My array should produce c.6000kWhs/year and I need to import 800kWhs/year to top up the battery during the Winter months. My home consumption is c.4000kWhs/year. I can charge my battery overnight at 5p/kWh, and I can export at 5.5kWh. The sums should look like this:

Import cost £40 per year plus standing charge

Export cost = Generation plus Import minus Home usage = 2800kWhs/year at 5.5p/kWh or £154 per year

Difference between Export and Import is £114/year which more than covers my standing charge. In sum, free electricity. I also have the option of saving a further £100 per year if I give up control of my battery but this would involve a high battery cycle rate.