Solar panels questions

ComicGeek

onomatopoeia99 said:

Doozergirl said:

Deleted_User said:

OK - Is one panel much the same as another ?

Presumably - none of these companies manufacture them, themselves ?

How do I judge quality ?

Is it OK to buy the cheapest available and rely on warranties ?

Is fitting the panels a bigger issue than the quality of the panels ?

At the moment - they appear to be around £6k for a 4kW system

And should generate around 3000-4000kW hrs of power per annum - ie) we use around 2500kW hrs - so that would cover all of our daylight needs !

Will it?  Are you home all day ready to use it all as it's produced?  

Otherwise you need to store it in batteries at more cost.  

I think anyone buying solar panels right now needs to look at it as a hobby, not a moneysaving exercise.  

I have a battery as well, with that added in to the cost, payback gets up to around 13-14 years.

But you still have the feed in tariff, which the OP won't have. My PV system had a payback of less than 3 years at the highest tariff point, but that doesn't help the OP as that situation doesn't exist anymore.

Ectophile

onomatopoeia99 said:

Rosa_Damascena said:

onomatopoeia99 said:

Deleted_User said:

onomatopoeia99 said:

Deleted_User said:

onomatopoeia99 said:

Solar panels are generally PD so provided you have PD rights (not all properties do) you should be OK.  Checking with the local authority is advised.

Are you intending to DIY this?  I'm curious why you would ask the question about the voltage 

No not DIY - purely a safety point of view
PD?? 

I have solar panels professionally installed on my roof and there are no exposed wires, everything is insulated so the only way you'll get a shock is if you start disconnecting things or decide to attack the cables with shears.

Sorry - maybe I failed ot explain - I am concerned - since a house roof is consideraby higher than a garage roof and doesn't get cats etc walking on it !

II am just worried about the safety vs heght

My house is a bungalow, at their lowest extent the panels are not much higher than the gutter, which I can almost touch when standing on tip toe, and a similar height to the garage roof.  If you are concerned I'd suggest putting them on your house roof rather than your garage.

I got in right at the end of feed in tariff, so get approx 4p/kWh plus about half as much again from deemed export.  As a relatively heavy user of electricity (~6000kWh/year) my payback is 8-9 years.

That is very high. Explain yourself, Sir! Do you use an electric UFH system?

The constant load on my home is about 400W even when I'm not there, which is 10kWh/day.  2/3 of that is the server, which began its life in a datacentre.  The draw from the socket in my study where I have the rack, network switch and other items is around 300W with my desktop computer switched off.  

Working from home I'm using a fairly steady 900W-1kW during the day with the desktop computers on as well.

So you do have an electric heating system, that does a bit of computing as a sideline!

[Deleted User]

onomatopoeia99 said:

Doozergirl said:

Deleted_User said:

OK - Is one panel much the same as another ?

Presumably - none of these companies manufacture them, themselves ?

How do I judge quality ?

Is it OK to buy the cheapest available and rely on warranties ?

Is fitting the panels a bigger issue than the quality of the panels ?

At the moment - they appear to be around £6k for a 4kW system

And should generate around 3000-4000kW hrs of power per annum - ie) we use around 2500kW hrs - so that would cover all of our daylight needs !

Will it?  Are you home all day ready to use it all as it's produced?  

Otherwise you need to store it in batteries at more cost.  

I think anyone buying solar panels right now needs to look at it as a hobby, not a moneysaving exercise.  

I have a battery as well, with that added in to the cost, payback gets up to around 13-14 years.

Purely out of interest  -  what size is the battery and cost ?

onomatopoeia99

Deleted_User said:

onomatopoeia99 said:

Doozergirl said:

Deleted_User said:

OK - Is one panel much the same as another ?

Presumably - none of these companies manufacture them, themselves ?

How do I judge quality ?

Is it OK to buy the cheapest available and rely on warranties ?

Is fitting the panels a bigger issue than the quality of the panels ?

At the moment - they appear to be around £6k for a 4kW system

And should generate around 3000-4000kW hrs of power per annum - ie) we use around 2500kW hrs - so that would cover all of our daylight needs !

Will it?  Are you home all day ready to use it all as it's produced?  

Otherwise you need to store it in batteries at more cost.  

I think anyone buying solar panels right now needs to look at it as a hobby, not a moneysaving exercise.  

I have a battery as well, with that added in to the cost, payback gets up to around 13-14 years.

Purely out of interest  -  what size is the battery and cost ?

14kWh, cost £7000.  Also doubles as massive UPS for the whole house, as where I live gets a power cut a month on average.

Slinky

Doozergirl said:

Deleted_User said:

OK - Is one panel much the same as another ?

Presumably - none of these companies manufacture them, themselves ?

How do I judge quality ?

Is it OK to buy the cheapest available and rely on warranties ?

Is fitting the panels a bigger issue than the quality of the panels ?

At the moment - they appear to be around £6k for a 4kW system

And should generate around 3000-4000kW hrs of power per annum - ie) we use around 2500kW hrs - so that would cover all of our daylight needs !

Will it?  Are you home all day ready to use it all as it's produced?  

Otherwise you need to store it in batteries at more cost.  

I think anyone buying solar panels right now needs to look at it as a hobby, not a moneysaving exercise.  

We were all set to sign up for solar last year, payback would have been about 15 years, but then covid hit and took a chunk of our savings so unfortunately we decided not to proceed as we just couldn't justify the expense.

[Deleted User]

Slinky said:

Doozergirl said:

Deleted_User said:

OK - Is one panel much the same as another ?

Presumably - none of these companies manufacture them, themselves ?

How do I judge quality ?

Is it OK to buy the cheapest available and rely on warranties ?

Is fitting the panels a bigger issue than the quality of the panels ?

At the moment - they appear to be around £6k for a 4kW system

And should generate around 3000-4000kW hrs of power per annum - ie) we use around 2500kW hrs - so that would cover all of our daylight needs !

Will it?  Are you home all day ready to use it all as it's produced?  

Otherwise you need to store it in batteries at more cost.  

I think anyone buying solar panels right now needs to look at it as a hobby, not a moneysaving exercise.  

We were all set to sign up for solar last year, payback would have been about 15 years, but then covid hit and took a chunk of our savings so unfortunately we decided not to proceed as we just couldn't justify the expense.

If I go for it - the reasons will NOT be financial 

Muttleythefrog

Deleted_User said:

Slinky said:

Doozergirl said:

Deleted_User said:

OK - Is one panel much the same as another ?

Presumably - none of these companies manufacture them, themselves ?

How do I judge quality ?

Is it OK to buy the cheapest available and rely on warranties ?

Is fitting the panels a bigger issue than the quality of the panels ?

At the moment - they appear to be around £6k for a 4kW system

And should generate around 3000-4000kW hrs of power per annum - ie) we use around 2500kW hrs - so that would cover all of our daylight needs !

Will it?  Are you home all day ready to use it all as it's produced?  

Otherwise you need to store it in batteries at more cost.  

I think anyone buying solar panels right now needs to look at it as a hobby, not a moneysaving exercise.  

We were all set to sign up for solar last year, payback would have been about 15 years, but then covid hit and took a chunk of our savings so unfortunately we decided not to proceed as we just couldn't justify the expense.

If I go for it - the reasons will NOT be financial 

If you're doing it from the perspective of a hobby then great.... but I'd be wary regarding for financial with FITS now dead in the water. Battery technology still isn't great in my opinion for domestic solar use (I could never financially justify it) and you will find you probably would still use electricity from the grid even in daytime through some of the year even with battery storage (because unfortunately the times when the battery stored power will be required will be when little is produced to store - my system can produce less than a kWh on a winter day yet produce 20 on a June day). I'm actually in the process of selling my house that has had Solar PV 4kWp (not ideal orientation split system - 10 panels plus 6 panels) and generated for now 6 plus years. The predicted annual generation is almost exactly the average over the 6 completed years so you'll probably find some good calculators today out there for working out realistic output if you know orientations etc. My 4kWp system has generated average 2850kWh per year and around 50% generated has been actually used as produced according to calculations I've made based on drop in electricity use and also analysis of usage for periods where almost all is coming from grid. 

A word of warning - as I try to sell my house I realise I've breached a covenant when getting the panels installed as although permitted development the council as previous land owner retains restrictive covenants that demand permission is sought before altering exterior of property. In theory they could ask me to take it all down so I'm taking legal direction on that...lol. So check the deeds!

In summary, for typical domestic setting, I agree with Doozergirl "I think anyone buying solar panels right now needs to look at it as a hobby, not a moneysaving exercise.  "

ComicGeek

Deleted_User said:

Slinky said:

Doozergirl said:

Deleted_User said:

OK - Is one panel much the same as another ?

Presumably - none of these companies manufacture them, themselves ?

How do I judge quality ?

Is it OK to buy the cheapest available and rely on warranties ?

Is fitting the panels a bigger issue than the quality of the panels ?

At the moment - they appear to be around £6k for a 4kW system

And should generate around 3000-4000kW hrs of power per annum - ie) we use around 2500kW hrs - so that would cover all of our daylight needs !

Will it?  Are you home all day ready to use it all as it's produced?  

Otherwise you need to store it in batteries at more cost.  

I think anyone buying solar panels right now needs to look at it as a hobby, not a moneysaving exercise.  

We were all set to sign up for solar last year, payback would have been about 15 years, but then covid hit and took a chunk of our savings so unfortunately we decided not to proceed as we just couldn't justify the expense.

If I go for it - the reasons will NOT be financial 

The environmental argument doesn't stack up either - much better to look at other energy efficiency measures which use less intensive manufacturing processes and fewer raw materials.

Much better to reduce usage through other means first. I still get calls from clients asking about PVs when they don't have loft insulation, have a 20 year old oil boiler, single glazed windows, halogen spotlights etc. 

Doozergirl

ComicGeek said:

Deleted_User said:

Slinky said:

Doozergirl said:

Deleted_User said:

OK - Is one panel much the same as another ?

Presumably - none of these companies manufacture them, themselves ?

How do I judge quality ?

Is it OK to buy the cheapest available and rely on warranties ?

Is fitting the panels a bigger issue than the quality of the panels ?

At the moment - they appear to be around £6k for a 4kW system

And should generate around 3000-4000kW hrs of power per annum - ie) we use around 2500kW hrs - so that would cover all of our daylight needs !

Will it?  Are you home all day ready to use it all as it's produced?  

Otherwise you need to store it in batteries at more cost.  

I think anyone buying solar panels right now needs to look at it as a hobby, not a moneysaving exercise.  

We were all set to sign up for solar last year, payback would have been about 15 years, but then covid hit and took a chunk of our savings so unfortunately we decided not to proceed as we just couldn't justify the expense.

If I go for it - the reasons will NOT be financial 

The environmental argument doesn't stack up either - much better to look at other energy efficiency measures which use less intensive manufacturing processes and fewer raw materials.

Much better to reduce usage through other means first. I still get calls from clients asking about PVs when they don't have loft insulation, have a 20 year old oil boiler, single glazed windows, halogen spotlights etc. 

Yes!! 

"Fabric First".  If and when it can be cost effective to self-generate, the house is already using the least amount of energy possible.  

Wisest use of funds.  

[Deleted User]

Doozergirl said:

ComicGeek said:

Deleted_User said:

Slinky said:

Doozergirl said:

Deleted_User said:

OK - Is one panel much the same as another ?

Presumably - none of these companies manufacture them, themselves ?

How do I judge quality ?

Is it OK to buy the cheapest available and rely on warranties ?

Is fitting the panels a bigger issue than the quality of the panels ?

At the moment - they appear to be around £6k for a 4kW system

And should generate around 3000-4000kW hrs of power per annum - ie) we use around 2500kW hrs - so that would cover all of our daylight needs !

Will it?  Are you home all day ready to use it all as it's produced?  

Otherwise you need to store it in batteries at more cost.  

I think anyone buying solar panels right now needs to look at it as a hobby, not a moneysaving exercise.  

We were all set to sign up for solar last year, payback would have been about 15 years, but then covid hit and took a chunk of our savings so unfortunately we decided not to proceed as we just couldn't justify the expense.

If I go for it - the reasons will NOT be financial 

The environmental argument doesn't stack up either - much better to look at other energy efficiency measures which use less intensive manufacturing processes and fewer raw materials.

Much better to reduce usage through other means first. I still get calls from clients asking about PVs when they don't have loft insulation, have a 20 year old oil boiler, single glazed windows, halogen spotlights etc. 

Yes!! 

"Fabric First".  If and when it can be cost effective to self-generate, the house is already using the least amount of energy possible.  

Wisest use of funds.  

But we only spend £400pa on energy - how can this be reduced further? We have 12 inches of loft insulation, double glazing and cavity insulation