Is it worth buying solar panels now ?

bobbysox1v

My elderly parents live in a 4 bedroom house. I have tried over the years to persuade them to downsize but I now accept that they want to stay there for life (fair do's ).

The trouble is, they are worryingly about the gas and electric bills. So they sit in one room with no heating on and are cautious about doing any washing or cooking.

I say cautious because they really can afford to pay for a little more extra use if only they would use their small amount of savings. And they won't let me help pay any extra to help them out. They see everything as "our inheritance".

Sorry, long story !

So anyway, I was contemplating having solar panels put on their roof to remove the worry - not only for them, but for me.

I reckon for 2 people in a 4 bed property it's going to cost around £5k.

I could sell it to them as increasing the value of their home, not charity.

My only thought was: is it worth it now - are bills going to come down soon ?

I reckon it would save them about £100 month based on how they used to live.

Reed_Richards

It's not worth it for the reason you want them for.  Solar panels give little output in winter when you need energy for heating and a much bigger output in summer when you don't.  If you find this hard to believe, think about why it is cold in winter.  It's because our part of the planet gets much less energy from the sun than it does in summer.    

[Deleted User]

This was my output last month on a 6.35kWp solar array. My output was 40% over prediction as December 2022 was a particularly good month. That said, there were days when I generated just enough electricity to power a couple of LED lights.

Magnitio

If you want them to worry less about their electricity bills, then it might be worth it, but it won't help much with their gas bills unless you installed a larger PV system than £5k will buy you. Also, at current installation prices, you would be lucky to get a 4kWp system which might save between £800 and £1,000 per year.

Is the house well insulated? If not, that should be the first thing that is tackled.

markin

Are they on DD so summer savings would give them a larger balance so that they would not worry about it as much in winter? Or would they just see it as a saving account?

You would be looking at closer to £6K now prices have risen! And to fill the roof could mean more.

Is the Boiler an up to date condensing model, payback would be far faster at around 4 years, 20% Gas saving vs a none condensing, Or modern storage heaters in electric only?


Some predictions are for prices to return to a more normal £55-100 per MWH within 2 years. Others think £150 may stay for many years.

diystarter7

Hi OP

TBH I am no fa of these ugly things and would never have them or buy a house where I could see these from our property

Please also be aware of the implications and potential costs if the roof leaks and how much extra it may cost to take off and repalce properly etc if required.

Good luck and if your parents do go for it I hope they save money.

EssexHebridean

HI OP - do you have access to their energy accounts so you can see where their current DD is set, whether accurate readings are being given (or whether any smart meters are sending accurate readings) and establish whether they have any cushion of credit built up?

Also - not relevant to this but generally - are they on the priority services register with their energy supplier?

There's lot of knowledgeable folk on here on the subject of solar, you've already had answers from some of them I see - you could also check out the green & ethical moneysaving board as there are some solar discussions on there too.

[Deleted User]

To answer the OP’s indirect question, PV solar was indeed worth it. My annual electricity bill is less than £250 per year (including standing charges). This includes home use and EV charging.

Solar and battery prices have increased markedly. I purchased a 6.35kWp solar array (with SolarEdge and in roof fittings) with a Powerwall 2 battery and Gateway for under £13k just over 2 years ago. Out-of-interest, I priced a second Powerwall 2 battery yesterday (without the Gateway) and the price offered to me was £10500 plus VAT!  

Petriix

The answer to your question is: it depends...

If they're in all day and can adapt to when it's sunny or not then it could be a sound investment. Coupled with an air-to-air heat pump (a single split unit for around £1k, not a whole house system for £10k+) to heat the room they hide out in, it could even save them a fair whack against their winter heating bills. However, you don't define 'elderly' and it may imply that they wouldn't likely be around long enough to see a good return. Solar panels should add to a property's value, but there are a lot of ignorant estate agents and buyers out there so there is no guarantee of that.

The best way of calculating returns is to assume 33% self use of generation which would be roughly 1,000 kWh per 1kWp for south facing in southern England. A 4kWp array would typically save ~ 1,333 kWh worth £466 at 35p per kWh and earn another £400 in SEG payments at current (record high) prices. However, solar installation costs have also gone 'through the roof' so to speak and where it used to cost about £1/W it's more like £1.50/W now.

Scot_39

Dolor said:

This was my output last month on a 6.35kWp solar array. My output was 40% over prediction as December 2022 was a particularly good month. That said, there were days when I generated just enough electricity to power a couple of LED lights.

Thanks for the graph.

Better than I expected for a Dec - but even some of the cold days were quite bright I guess.

Got me wondering about UK wide variability - and the figures across seasons.

Found an EU  European wide prediction site to see how typical that was - left everything but location at the defaults.

https://re.jrc.ec.europa.eu/pvg_tools/en/

The UK sees quite a large variation in predicted outputs - and highly seasonal - but was interesting to see the summer vs winter trends - from SE Eng to NW Scotland - and even NW to NE Scotland just by selecting places like Brighton or Fort William / Aberdeen.

Officer_Dibble

diystarter7 said:

Hi OP

TBH I am no fa of these ugly things and would never have them or buy a house where I could see these from our property

Please also be aware of the implications and potential costs if the roof leaks and how much extra it may cost to take off and repalce properly etc if required.

Good luck and if your parents do go for it I hope they save money.

New all-black panels aren't remotely ugly - ours look rather better than the roof they're sitting on. The installation's covered by warranty by the installer.