Queries on Solar Panels (PV panels) on the house I am buying

maton91

EricMears said:

maton91 said:

Thanks for this, much appreciated.

Is my understanding correct with regards to the payments based on the figures in my post?

There are several variables you need to consider.  The spreadsheet you can download from the link I quoted makes it (slightly !) clear for which rate you qualify.

I don't mean the specific values but just wanted to confirm I would be paid say 15p (or whatever the April 22 rate is based on my installation) and if the current rate for electricity is 30p per kWh then I'm getting a 50% rebate essentially?

QrizB

maton91 said:

I don't mean the specific values but just wanted to confirm I would be paid say 15p (or whatever the April 22 rate is based on my installation) and if the current rate for electricity is 30p per kWh then I'm getting a 50% rebate essentially?

The answer is no, you aren't.

Your solar panels will generate a certain amount of electricity in a year. For argument's sake let's say they generate 2000kWh/yr.

Let's also say that you get paid 15p/kWh generated (the number you've quoted). This means you'll be paid £300 a year for the generation.

That £300/yr is entirely unrelated to the amount of electricity you use.

Let's imagine you're a typical household and use 3000kWh/yr. At 30p/kWh that's £900/yr. Your FIT payment will be 33% of your electricity bill.

But you might use much less than average. If you're like us (unlikely, but possible) you'll use 1500kWh/yr from the grid, which at 30p/kWh would be £450/yr. In this case your FIT payment will be 67% of your electricity bill.

Or you might buy a hot tub and n electric car and then use more electricity than average, maybe 5000kWh/yr. Your annual bill will be £1500 and your FIT payment will only be 20% of that.

Exiled_Tyke

A few points here:

1. I'd estimate your current payments (FIT plus the 50% deemed export) will currently be somewhere between 19 and 20p.  My system is a year younger than yours (so rates had come down at the time of installation). At the time of install I was getting (I think) around 14.5p in total (It was something like 12p FIT and something under 5p for the export rate (applied at 50%)). Now it is over 18p. 

2. Systems installed in 2014, I think will have 20 year FIT contracts. Not 25 years as mentioned earlier. 

3. So (to try to be really clear) your total benefits are:  1. The payments you receive for everything generated regardless of whether you are using it or whether you are exporting it to the grid.  And 2. The savings on electricity not bought from the grid when you are generating your own. 

4. You will want to maximise your savings so will learn to make the best use of the 'free' electricity. So running dishwashers and washing machines when the panels are catching most sun. (For the washing machine maximum power consumption is a few minutes after the cycle starts for heating the water. For the dishwasher there is also a second heating cycle at the rinsing and drying stage).   You can get more careful e.g. only running one appliance at a time (kettle for tea and then the toaster) if the sun is out.    There is a whole thread somewhere on here on how to get the most benefit from the system. Which is even more important now as prices go up. 

5. The David Wilson homes near me, built about the same time as yours, had integrated panels built into the roof rather than sitting on top. If this is the case then there is nowhere for pigeons to nest underneath. These panels look neater but don't generate quite as efficiently as they get hotter.  Yours seem to be standard size but the ones near us are smaller panels and make up only a little of the roof space. Which is a shame. Most of the houses could have had 4kW systems at least. But these are around 2kW maximum.  It would be useful for you to find out the size of the system to  estimate your benefits.  By 2014 I think standard panels were up to about 275 or 285pW. Mine are 300pW which was unusual in 2015. Most installers were still offering me the smaller figures. 

6. Do be aware that typically a good summer's day will produce more than ten times as much as an average winter day.  When you need electricity the most you will produce very little. And in the best months of the year you won't be using most of what you produce (depending on your usage of course).  There is a website that will produce estimates for you based on where you are located.  I can't get to that right now but may be someone else will post the link. 
 

Merlin139

Your Fit rate will be the same as mine from 01 April 22.

18.02p per kWh generated and Export will be 5.99p for every 2 kWh generated.

My old rate up to 31 March was:

16.76p per kWh generated and Export was 5.57p

I submit readings every quarter as requested by my FIT provider and an additional reading on 31 March.