Solar panel quote

schmutz

Hi everyone, 

I've done so much research into solar panels and I'm just completely confusing myself now. I live in an old uninsulated terrace house with no gas, my heating at the moment is just a log burner in the living room. I've got external insulation being fitted later this year which I'm hoping will help this winter and have been looking at other forms of heating. My next thought it to get solar panels on the roof (with a battery) and then use this to help power an air source heat pump (or even just intermittent usage of oil radiators). Does anyone have any advice on the below? This is being set up through Bedford Council and the company were the lowest price on the sceme they set up. I'm happy to have solar panels on both/either roof and am south east facing I think. I'm on the Bedfordshire/Hertfordshire border as understand that makes a difference! Many thanks in advance.

Your recommended package from Solar Air

Because you weren’t sure of your roof size when you registered, we have used the average number of panels for your location. The optimal number of panels for most people in your region is 11. You can edit your roof details above for a more personalised recommendation.

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The total price of your package is: £11,630

Prices include VAT at 0% for all Solar installations (inc battery) and 20% for battery-only installations. Please note that if you accept the offer, the installer will carry out a roof survey and suggest changes to your contract if necessary.

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In your first year:

		Solar PV	With battery
	You'll save on your energy bill:	£226	£546
	With an export tariff, you could earn:	£207	£121
	Your panels will generate:	3,569 kWh	3,569 kWh
	Of which, you'll be able to use:	821 kWh	1,963 kWh
	Your independence from the grid:	27 %	65 %
	The amount of carbon emissions saved:	757 kg	757 kg

Read more about how we calculated your personal recommendation.

These figures are for the first year only, the output of your solar panels is guaranteed for 25 years.

Do you want to add battery storage to your package?

Battery Storage 

4 kWh8 

£3,464

Based on your energy usage and the energy that can be generated by your solar PV system we recommend a battery with a capacity of 4 kWh.

Check the table above to see what adding battery storage could do for you!

Personal package breakdown

£11,630

Your offer is made up of the following:

Complete solar panel system

£8,166

• Roof survey
• Installation
• 12 panels
• Inverter
• Materials and fittings
• Monitoring tool
• Extended warranties 
• Insurance-backed guarantee 
• Additional scaffolding cost for multiple roof slopes at £500 

With battery

•  Battery storage 
•  Battery inverter 
•  Installation 
•  All cabling and mounting materials 
•  In-home monitoring 
•  Guarantees and warranties 
•  Onsite survey (if advised by installer) 

Evan3020

4kwp for £8k is way too expensive, you have said which way your house faces but not your roofs and you are unlikely to be able to use stored energy for much heating.
I am able to use mine without batteries when it sunny from Feb through Nov for limited heating with an oil filled radiator to supplement CH and get a tank of hot water 300 plus days a year with a diverter.

gefnew

You will find a lot of posts the same as yours here so try your post there.
Green & ethical MoneySaving — MoneySavingExpert Forum

Reed_Richards

Solar panels will provide you with lots of free electricity in summer when you don't need it for heating and very much less in winter when you do need it.  What you can do in summer, if you have a hot water tank, is to use the solar electricity to heat the water in the tank via its immersion heater.  

schmutz

Reed_Richards said:

Solar panels will provide you with lots of free electricity in summer when you don't need it for heating and very much less in winter when you do need it.  What you can do in summer, if you have a hot water tank, is to use the solar electricity to heat the water in the tank via its immersion heater.  

I was hoping in the winter it might at least take the edge off the electricity usag, especially if I went down the heat pump route although some days but I guess we can't even rely on that with how cloudy it gets! The log burner does a decent job of warming the house a few degrees and keeping the living room/kitchen warm if it's been going all day. I was hoping with the heat pump and insulation this would improve the effectiveness too.
Yes, I have an immersion heater at the moment but was looking at moving it to a standard electric shower for instant hot water. I hoped the battery would be able to power the shower in the evening if it's had a chance to charge up during the day. 

schmutz

gefnew said:

You will find a lot of posts the same as yours here so try your post there.
Green & ethical MoneySaving — MoneySavingExpert Forum

Thank you, I'll take a look. I've done lots of forum searches but feel like I'm getting so many mixed messages reading every post!

schmutz

Evan3020 said:

4kwp for £8k is way too expensive, you have said which way your house faces but not your roofs and you are unlikely to be able to use stored energy for much heating.
I am able to use mine without batteries when it sunny from Feb through Nov for limited heating with an oil filled radiator to supplement CH and get a tank of hot water 300 plus days a year with a diverter.

I've had a few quotes online (no one seems to want to actually come out and talk to you!) and terrifyingly with the battery this seems to be about standard these days. Wish I'd bitten the bullet 18 months ago when I moved in, joys of hindsight!

That's helpful information thank you.

According to Google maps the house/roof is NE / SW.

Evan3020

Wow, prices have gone up. Unless you are quick that 4kw battery will be drained with one electric shower.

Alnat1

In winter most of the solar generated will likely have been used by the house load during the day, fridge, freezer, lights, router, computers etc. It's dark by 4pm and then you start on any stored battery power, which probably won't be full unless it's been a bright day. Oven for cooking might use most of it and the remainder will run the house load for a few hours.

You can only expect an average of around 4kWh a day between Nov and Feb and some days will be much less. Some days more but can't be predicted much in advance.

Evan3020

The worst months are December and January where you might get 3 or 4 kwh a day on average, Feb to Nov its much better.

schmutz

Evan3020 said:

The worst months are December and January where you might get 3 or 4 kwh a day on average, Feb to Nov its much better.

I'd be very happy with that, it would cover my "normal" usage at least! 

Alnat1 said:

In winter most of the solar generated will likely have been used by the house load during the day, fridge, freezer, lights, router, computers etc. It's dark by 4pm and then you start on any stored battery power, which probably won't be full unless it's been a bright day. Oven for cooking might use most of it and the remainder will run the house load for a few hours.

You can only expect an average of around 4kWh a day between Nov and Feb and some days will be much less. Some days more but can't be predicted much in advance.

That's really useful information, thank you for the explanation!