Is it worth considering solar panels?

suzyp1982

Can anyone point me in the direction of any recent thoughts/considerations into get solar panels installed what with energy prices on the increase. 

Alnat1

Have a look at the Green & Ethical threads (Spending & Discounts section) Lots of people who have or are considering solar ask on there, you can find lots of information by having a good read. The people on there can give you advice on any quotes you might get and suggest the type of system that might suit you.

I took a few months to research all I could about solar, understanding how it works, whether I wanted a battery to store the generated electricity etc. before I took the plunge and I'm now 3 months in with a solar/battery installation and loving it.

kroggy

In my opinion It is not worth it unless the technology improves, the deal is improved and you move to a country with more sun.

Friends of mine obtained theirs second hand, they have set them up to power simple isolated supply such as the fridge.

You are far better off getting a meter to check the usage of energy in your devices in your property and making small adjustments

ebay.co.uk/itm/234480950928

Simple tips I have seen on this forum or others include turning fridge freezer to lowest setting whilst making sure it is at safe temperature (mine is OK a bit lower than green zone).

Eliminating things like fish tanks that obviously consumer a lot.

Don't iron things you do not need to

Empty the kettle before each use (to reduce limescale) and add water by 3/4 cup to only boil what you need

Not using a high performance PC with a hot AMD CPU but a low energy CPU from Intel

Putting your top shelf in the oven as high as possible and reducing the temperature or cooking time accordingly (test it as every oven is different.

Turning brightness of your TV to lowest you can tolerate, I reduced mine by 50% using the meter above checking in real time the watts and kwh that were being used.

Using power blocks that turn other devices off if the main socket is turned off saves money and I use Alexa power devices to turn off devices either on a schedule or on demand (these do not have great ROI but they are relatively cheap if you buy when on offer and in multipack).

Spending thousands or even tens of thousands on Solar with little or no ROI is not a solution for most.

Some love it because they want green credentials, but I am all about the money and the figures simply do not add up for me.

gefnew

Have a read on this forum to see some good reasons for and against solar at present.
Green & Ethical MoneySaving — MoneySavingExpert Forum

[Deleted User]

kroggy said:

In my opinion It is not worth it unless the technology improves, the deal is improved and you move to a country with more sun.

Everyone is entitled to their personal view, so here is mine. I had a 6.35kWp array installed 18 months. No financial help whatsoever from the Government: I get to use what my array generates and any surplus is exported to the Grid. I get a small payment per kWh for each unit that my system exports.

At today’s energy prices, I will re-coup my solar investment in 7 1/2 years. So far today (3.30pm) my array has generated 34kWh of electricity and my App shows the panels are still outputting 5kW. My total generation meter is now showing in excess of 11000kWh.

Personally, I doubt that prices have changed so much that getting PV solar is no longer worth it.

Alnat1

Not much to go on, only 3 months since system was installed (and it is summer!) but I'm in credit with Octopus £26.81 as at my 8th June bill. I have not paid them a penny yet as I am on variable DD.

So the credit from my exported solar has covered standing charges for both electric and gas and the units of energy I have used. Water tank is heated by gas daily, plus a small amount of electricity that gets used when the battery takes a few seconds to click in.

There's as many ways of working out payback times as there are people with solar but it certainly beats turning off plugs at sockets.

Alnat1

4pm, solar has generated 21.4kWh, my batteries are full for use overnight and early morning, 1 load of washing, tumble dried, dishwasher run and 13.5kWh exported at an average of around 16p/kWh. SW facing system so generates into the evening, Agile rates hit 35.58p at 6.30pm.

BUFF

kroggy said:

Simple tips I have seen on this forum or others include


Not using a high performance PC with a hot AMD CPU but a low energy CPU from Intel

This hasn't been true for a couple of years - these days AMD CPUs use less power than equivalent Intel. Running a laptop rather than a desktop also probably will result in lower power use.
If you are running a high-end gaming rig the CPU is probably the least of your worries - your gfx card(s) probably use as much power or more.

Xbigman

If you are just talking about saving money the hierarchy is to cut back usage first (costs virtually nothing to do and gives immediate savings). Insulate second (costs vary depending where you start from) and you start looking at Solar arrays last (costs thousands and won't be in and working until summer is over with possibly a decade payback time). 
Solar is more attractive for those who also have the environment in mind because its seen as the green option but in reality cutting back and insulating are equally green and cheaper. You still do both before you go solar. 



Darren

Xbigman

BUFF said:

kroggy said:

Simple tips I have seen on this forum or others include


Not using a high performance PC with a hot AMD CPU but a low energy CPU from Intel

This hasn't been true for a couple of years - these days AMD CPUs use less power than equivalent Intel. Running a laptop rather than a desktop also probably will result in lower power use.
If you are running a high-end gaming rig the CPU is probably the least of your worries - your gfx card(s) probably use as much power or more.

I recently retired an old Dell XPS 420 that was from early 2008. I measured the power usage as 89w an hour just ticking over. My new (2012) dell Optiplex 790 ex business machine (£123 + £109 for a decent graphics card) uses around 50w an hour rising to 73w if I do something graphics intensive. Modern systems should use a bit less. Laptops less again.  
As the post quoted says, its the high end graphics cards that eat the juice.


Darren