Solar panel quote

Evan3020

I get good generation here (Lincolnshire) in Feb and Nov, typically 7 kwh a day

armistice

To get an idea of what solar owners generate, have a look on pvoutput.org which is a  free service for sharing and comparing PV output data.

Here's my system, in North Yorkshire 10 years old, ~3kw capacity  (2 of the panels removed due to faults).  https://pvoutput.org/aggregate.jsp?id=83945&sid=74437&v=0&t=m

QrizB

schmutz said:

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!

Don't get too excited.

Here's a 4kWp system in the central south: https://pvoutput.org/aggregate.jsp?id=40451&sid=37008&v=0&t=m

In December last year, it generated 52.6kWh - less than 2kWh/day.

Magnitio

schmutz said:

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. 

The battery is unlikely to provide sufficient power for the shower. These are typically 7.5kW or more and the proposed battery installation is probably going to be rated at 3.6kW or less, so it would maybe halve the amount of power consumed from the grid. With an immersion heater you can heat the water when your solar panels are generating excess power.

schmutz

Magnitio said:

schmutz said:

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. 

The battery is unlikely to provide sufficient power for the shower. These are typically 7.5kW or more and the proposed battery installation is probably going to be rated at 3.6kW or less, so it would maybe halve the amount of power consumed from the grid. With an immersion heater you can heat the water when your solar panels are generating excess power.

Thank you, I'm leaning towards the air source heat pump heating the hot water over an electric shower now! Was going for a quick solution to get hot showers now but really should be thinking long term.

rjmachin

I have just had a 5.18kWp panel system installed, and battery on order.

The solar panels cost me £5,216.42, VAT free.

The battery is a Solax 5.8kWh AC side connected storage battery, and the cost is £4,426.09 including installation.

I can also have a second battery added later for a cost of £2,892.77

I got this with Solar Star Power, who are based in Uttoxeter.

They did not come out to look, just did a digital survey using google maps/earth.  The first time they came to my house is when they installed the panels.

I ordered on the 25th April and at that point they were booking installations in for July.

[Deleted User]

QrizB said:

schmutz said:

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!

Don't get too excited.

Here's a 4kWp system in the central south: https://pvoutput.org/aggregate.jsp?id=40451&sid=37008&v=0&t=m

In December last year, it generated 52.6kWh - less than 2kWh/day.

An average output is what it is: an average. I have a 6.35kWp array which last December generated 110.3kWh or 3.54 kWh/day. That would be great were it not for the simple fact that daily outputs ranged from 10.3kWh to 0.35kWh.

The array itself averages 16.4kWh/day with daily outputs ranging from 43kWh to not a lot. My advice, take it or leave it, is if you want to live off Grid from March through to September then IDEALLY chose a battery which stores twice your daily usage AND make sure that you are not too power limited; that is, 5Kw is better than 3kW. 

If you have a battery, you also need to take into account transmission loses which vary with battery design. You don't get out what you put in.

Bliss118

rjmachin said:

I have just had a 5.18kWp panel system installed, and battery on order.

The solar panels cost me £5,216.42, VAT free.

The battery is a Solax 5.8kWh AC side connected storage battery, and the cost is £4,426.09 including installation.

I can also have a second battery added later for a cost of £2,892.77

I got this with Solar Star Power, who are based in Uttoxeter.

They did not come out to look, just did a digital survey using google maps/earth.  The first time they came to my house is when they installed the panels.

I ordered on the 25th April and at that point they were booking installations in for July.

Has your system been installed yet? Do you have any feedback? 

Oscarmax

rjmachin said:

I have just had a 5.18kWp panel system installed, and battery on order.

The solar panels cost me £5,216.42, VAT free.

The battery is a Solax 5.8kWh AC side connected storage battery, and the cost is £4,426.09 including installation.

I can also have a second battery added later for a cost of £2,892.77

I got this with Solar Star Power, who are based in Uttoxeter.

They did not come out to look, just did a digital survey using google maps/earth.  The first time they came to my house is when they installed the panels.

I ordered on the 25th April and at that point they were booking installations in for July.

Solar Star Power are local to me, how did you get on with the Solax AC battery installation

rjmachin

Yes, I now have the solar panels and battery installed.

I am very happy with the system so far.  Yesterday the solar panels nearly filled my battery and supplied the house with power from around 10am until 2pm.

Of course, the winter is very variable, so a few days earlier the panels only generated 0.5kWh, so I had to import from the grid.

I now also have the SEG setup so that I get paid for any export.  I am hoping this is minimal with the battery, but may as well get paid for any I do export.

Sadly, I missed the peak summer with the battery installed, so have not had the experience yet.

I may need to look in a year or two at adding the second battery, depending on how much I have to export next summer to see if the cost is worth it.

In terms of Solar Star Power, the price is very competitive and when the installation team are on site, they are very good.  The only downside I felt was the office admin team lacked communication.  I placed the order, got the installation date of the solar panels, booked time off work and then the person come to put the panels on the roof a day early.

The battery installation date kept getting pushed back, but only when I called them to check was I told.   They then called me saying they had a cancellation and could they come to install it that same day.   Luckily, a family member was home, so it was okay.