2kw pv system

Skintsaver

I applied earlier in the year for solar grant from my council. Supprised call today saying Ive been accepted and these will be installed in a couple of weeks. I haven't seen the full details of the system yet, as I'm not paying for it I'll have very little input.

The system is 2kw 3 panels on East and 3 on West. They say they won't beable to install all 6 on one side due to space, I disagree. But as im not paying for it I have very little say.

Is there any advantage of having a east and west split?

2kw doesn't seem much what can I expect it to generate over the course of a average year?

The company said I could install battery system, but this would cost 4.5k! That seems extremely expensive

My annual household consumption is around 2100kw, what is the Likley saving?

They said I can apply for a smart meter to recieve a Seg payment what is this?

ComicGeek

Is your roof exactly east/west facing, or is it slightly rotated so that one part is more north-east/north-west?

What is the angle of the roof pitch? The higher the angle (and the steeper the roof pitch) the more difference it makes to the critical midday generation.

East and west split on a steep pitched roof is going to be better than all on one side, as you will get a longer period of generated electricity during the day at a lower output - if it's just on one side, then you'll either get morning or afternoon generation (depending on which side is used), but a higher output for a shorter period.

Skintsaver

I'm facing about West 285degrees. I guess my pitch is around 40?

I guess it'll ensure I get some generation all hours of the day. But midday will still give the highest output as the sun's the highest? Is that how it works

I was hoping to have all the panels on the east facing roof, I'm sure they'd fit. Is there a way of doing a solar plan? 

Alnat1

Rather than a battery at this stage, do you have the option to add a few more panels, 2kWh is a really small system. The installer will need to scaffold both sides anyway and I'm thinking while they are up there, get on as many as you can, if you have the cash. Adding more later will be expensive because of the double scaffolding.

You could think of adding a battery at some point in the future (maybe prices will come down?) and the panels should last at least 25 years.

grumbler

Skintsaver said:

2kw doesn't seem much what can I expect it to generate over the course of a average year?
...

My annual household consumption is around 2100kw

2100kWh, not kw

2100/365=5.75kWh per day

2kW panels generate 2kWh every hour (depending on weather and other factors, of course). How come this "doesn't seem much"?

Skintsaver

Alnat1 said:

Rather than a battery at this stage, do you have the option to add a few more panels, 2kWh is a really small system. The installer will need to scaffold both sides anyway and I'm thinking while they are up there, get on as many as you can, if you have the cash. Adding more later will be expensive because of the double scaffolding.

You could think of adding a battery at some point in the future (maybe prices will come down?) and the panels should last at least 25 years.

I think by just looking at the roof and guessing you could get 5 on each side? It's a hip Style roof so the angle of that doesn't help. How Can I work out myself what will fit?
I think they would install more if they could 

markin

2000kw peak system would on a south roof make around 1800-2000kwh, So ill take a guess and say 1600kwh a year, East and west is the best set up for self usage really, Better generation earlier in the morning and later in the evenings, Most people are out all day and at peak generation so it all just gets exported anyway.

ComicGeek

grumbler said:

Skintsaver said:

2kw doesn't seem much what can I expect it to generate over the course of a average year?
...

My annual household consumption is around 2100kw

2100kWh, not kw

2100/365=5.75kWh per day

2kW panels generate 2kWh every hour (depending on weather and other factors, of course). How come this "doesn't seem much"?

A 2 kWp system will only produce around 2 kW for a couple of hours each summer's day at best, and that will never be the case when the system is split east/west. With 1 kWp facing east at 40 deg, and 1 kWp facing west at 40 deg, this system would produce at best 1400 kWh/year (lower if the OP is up north) - there is a 22% generation reduction due to orientation/angle.

Given the low peak production there is very little benefit to buying a battery system, as it's unlikely that there will much left over from general background usage to store. The east/west split means that the OP is more likely to be able to use a larger proportion of the annual production - estimating around 50% usage would save the OP about 700 kWh/year (£200/yr at current prices), but covers around 1/3rd of the annual usage.

ComicGeek

Skintsaver said:

Alnat1 said:

Rather than a battery at this stage, do you have the option to add a few more panels, 2kWh is a really small system. The installer will need to scaffold both sides anyway and I'm thinking while they are up there, get on as many as you can, if you have the cash. Adding more later will be expensive because of the double scaffolding.

You could think of adding a battery at some point in the future (maybe prices will come down?) and the panels should last at least 25 years.

I think by just looking at the roof and guessing you could get 5 on each side? It's a hip Style roof so the angle of that doesn't help. How Can I work out myself what will fit?
I think they would install more if they could 

The installers have to allow space between the panels and roof edge, so you can't always fit as many panels as you would like. If you were paying, then the installers could look at different sizes/outputs to maximise the use of the roof - but I guess they will have priced 1 particular panel to cut costs. They probably have measured fairly accurately from Google earth/maps etc, so unlikely that they can fit more.

MSE_ForumTeam5

Closing thread as OP has duplicates on other boards.