Solar panels

lisajclayton

I have solar panels on my house & the price I get back for the electric I don’t use has never gone up, how can that be fair when the cost of electric has definitely increased over the last 7 years Ive had them? How can I get a better deal?

markin

Change to a better SEG provider, Octopus is the best i believe. Who are you with?

SEG launched on 1 January 2020

[Deleted User]

lisajclayton said:

I have solar panels on my house & the price I get back for the electric I don’t use has never gone up, how can that be fair when the cost of electric has definitely increased over the last 7 years Ive had them? How can I get a better deal?

Your FIT and export payments are constrained by the contract that you signed with the Government. You have the right to forego the 50% export payment (but still retain the FIT): you can then claim SEG.

To get SEG, you will need a smart meter and your supplier will have to apply to your DNO for an export MPAN. You will only be paid for the actual electricity that you export. The best SEG deal at the moment is Octopus Agile Outgoing.


https://www.energy-stats.uk/octopus-agile-outgoing-export/

gefnew

You could have a discussion on this board where they will enlighten you to the contract you signed up for.
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/categories/green-ethical-moneysaving

markin

Fit is rpi linked so i thought it must be seg.

Random info i just found on uk install costs, on their samples it never really went below 1.6 kw
https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/solar-pv-cost-data





 

QrizB

lisajclayton said:

I have solar panels on my house & the price I get back for the electric I don’t use has never gone up, how can that be fair when the cost of electric has definitely increased over the last 7 years Ive had them? How can I get a better deal?

If you've had the panels for seven years (ie. since 2015) you are likely to be receiving FIT payments. These increase annually by the RPI.

Please check your payment receipts and post the rates you are receiving here.

markin said:

Random info i just found on uk install costs, on their samples it never really went below 1.6 kw
https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/solar-pv-cost-data

The median is a better guide; 50% of installations will have cost that much or less.

The mean is quite a lot (20%-ish) higher than the median, which means there must be a few really expensive systems pulling the mean upwards.

It's also interesting (from the spreadsheet) that in 2020-21 the median was £1429/kWp, vs £1618 in 2021-22.

Per this pdf, even back in 2013 more than a quarter of 0-4kWp systems were £1560/kWp or less.

Sailbad

Solar costs are certainly rising. In 2013 my 4kW system total cost was £5848.50 ie £1462 per kW.
Even in North of Scotland I broke even 2 years ago.
Don't think that would be possible now even with latest scary electricity rates.

QrizB

Sailbad said:

Solar costs are certainly rising. In 2013 my 4kW system total cost was £5848.50 ie £1462 per kW.

... and in 2021 I had a £3.3kWp system fitted for £3450, £1050 per kWp. Prices vary and some deals are better than others.

Even in North of Scotland I broke even 2 years ago.

Don't think that would be possible now even with latest scary electricity rates.

In 2013, like the OP in 2015 (and like me in 2012), you benefitted from FITs. The FIT scheme closed a couple of years ago.

The median cost of a <4kWp system in 2021-22, from the figures posted, was £1618/kWp. Each kWp will generate around 1000kWh/yr, and if half is used (replacing mains electricity at 28p/kWh) and half is exported (at the best current SEG rate of 7.5p/kWh) it will return £177.50/yr. It will pay for itself in just over nine years.

(Electricity prices are likely to fall during that period, reducing the return, but at the same time inflation is outstripping savings rates. If you've got the money in the bank earning 2% you might well be better off spending it on solar.)