Yet another battery / no battery system

shibli

Have to agree regarding the battery, could not do without it, the satisfaction not drawing from the grid and to balance the load throughout the day alone is worth it. My only wish is that I had another 1.5kwh of panels. 

QrizB

Alnat1 said:

I'm willing my 3kWh to break.

I really want a 2kWh kettle but ditching a perfectly good one.......I just can't make myself do it to save the occasional 1p cost.

We already had a 800 watt travel kettle, so we've switched to using that for the summer.

Reed_Richards

ccbrowning said:

Interesting graph! Looks like the Quooker this house came with is just 1.6kW.  I'm considering a battery mainly since my largest roof is east-facing. However I'm worried that there won't be enough output for the heat pump with a givenergy 9.5

ABrass said:

Heat pumps run during winter when there's insufficient solar power to power them. They just don't work well together. @Reed_Richards has been trying something similar in practice and can confirm.

I have 4.8 kWp solar panels, an ASHP and a battery.  In winter the heat pump eats all the electricity my solar panels can produce and a lot more.  This is my imported electricity since I bought my house.  I got the heat pump in December 2020.

  

Alnat1

Awwww don't tell me about your kettles. I just know this will be the first kettle I ever had that lasts 10+ years lol

Mikeyboy01443

Battery is a no brainer to me, charge it up in the day off my solar and use it overnight , or in winter i will charge off peak to meet the extra demand my solar cant meet. 
I just dont understand the idea of something not being worth doing if you don't break even, doesn't anyone do anything just because they want to now? 
Not everything has to balance out on the spreadsheet...
I dont think electricity prices will drop much if at all so anything that helps that is a good thing surely. 
I could be a doom monger and say what if there is a massive recession and i end up jobless... well at least i wont be worrying about paying hundreds a  month on utility bills!

Alnat1

I'm with you on this @Mikeyboy01443. There are no other home improvements where people are so concerned about ROI.

Folks all know putting in decent double glazing is going to make the house more energy efficient so they simply get it done. The DG salesman isn't expected to write up sheets of data to prove how much the savings are and when it will have paid for itself. Same goes for a new boiler or central heating system.

Why is it such a huge focus when people are interested in solar?

ABrass

Alnat1 said:

I'm with you on this @Mikeyboy01443. There are no other home improvements where people are so concerned about ROI.

Folks all know putting in decent double glazing is going to make the house more energy efficient so they simply get it done. The DG salesman isn't expected to write up sheets of data to prove how much the savings are and when it will have paid for itself. Same goes for a new boiler or central heating system.

Why is it such a huge focus when people are interested in solar?

Double glazing doesn't pay for itself, its famous for that. It does make your house quieter and rooms more comfortable. It has a tangible improvement in living in your house.

Solar panels won't make your rooms warmer, a battery doesn't reduce outside noise. All they do is save money. If they can't do that then you'd have more benefit to the climate by donating the money to Ripple.

70sbudgie

Up until now solar panels and batteries haven't added to the value of the house they are fitted to. I guess it may be related to them not being a permanent fixture as well as the market not really being interested in running costs. However, that may be changing, due to rising energy costs, so perhaps only considering the ROI will change too.

Ripple is too new to be a realistic alternative, yet.

QrizB

70sbudgie said:

Ripple is too new to be a realistic alternative, yet.

That's an interesting take on a project that has built and commissioned its first wind turbine and which is paying money back to the members who won it, some of whom are regulars here.

70sbudgie

QrizB said:

70sbudgie said:

Ripple is too new to be a realistic alternative, yet.

That's an interesting take on a project that has built and commissioned its first wind turbine and which is paying money back to the members who won it, some of whom are regulars here.

This isn't meant as a criticism of Ripple - I have bought into Kirk Hill, made a reservation for the next project and think it is fantastic.

But the number of Craigh Fatha members is in the hundreds. Even Kirk Hill only has a few thousand. If you look at the uptake of domestic PV, it is the equivalent of the early years. It will take a few more years yet (probably months after Kirk Hill starts generating) before it is a more mainstrean option. It took domestic PV >5 years. And yes, Ripple is more accessible and the political climate is different, but it will still take time to reach its rightful place in the market.

Edit to remove duplicate quote.