Solar Panels and savings

subjecttocontract

I have solar panels. The system allocates any solar generated power as follows:
1. It uses what is needed to operate the house. If there is any excess then.....
2. It heats the domestic hot water supply until the water reaches its thermostat setting. If there is any excess then....
3. It exports to the grid. I get paid 15 p per unit exported.

jimjames

Freecall said:

Remember that houses with solar panels are generally considered less attractive to potential buyers.

That may have been the case with rent-a-roof schemes historically but I find it very hard to believe that in the current energy situation any house with owned solar panels would not be more attractive rather than less attractive. With FIT payments on some systems of thousands per year it would be even more of a bonus (FIT rate 70p per kWh). Our panels provide a large proportion of our electricity with considerable excess over the summer.

subjecttocontract

There is a lot of misunderstanding concerning solar energy. Remember the UK does not have the weather that exists in California or Spain/Portugal. A lot of people think a UK domestic solar installation can power their house & heat water & charge their electric car & charge their battery. There are very few days in the year when enough solar is generated to provide power for everything. It's better if you live in the South, but if you are in Liverpool or Scotland the solar production is considerably less

Freecall

jimjames said:

That may have been the case with rent-a-roof schemes historically but I find it very hard to believe that in the current energy situation any house with owned solar panels would not be more attractive rather than less attractive. With FIT payments on some systems of thousands per year it would be even more of a bonus (FIT rate 70p per kWh). Our panels provide a large proportion of our electricity with considerable excess over the summer.

I agree that the rent-roof-schemes were a particularly extreme example but nowadays we tend to be thinking more of purchased systems.

As any estate agent will tell you, PV panels are a barrier to sale, not a show stopper but certainly a barrier to parts of the market.

The time when it was impossible to get a mortgage have passed but with tightening lending criteria returning it is unwise to do anything to a house which can make it less saleable.

subjecttocontract

I disagree with Freecall as well.

Housing with solar panels results in a higher rated EPC certificate. That translates to lower running costs which is important with inflated energy bills.

In addition, rented property needs to have a minimum EPC rating which solar panels help to acheive.

To suggest that any property which has reduced energy cost features installed is less desirable or less likely to be mortgagable is just ridiculous.

Bianchiintenso

subjecttocontract said:

There is a lot of misunderstanding concerning solar energy. Remember the UK does not have the weather that exists in California or Spain/Portugal. A lot of people think a UK domestic solar installation can power their house & heat water & charge their electric car & charge their battery. There are very few days in the year when enough solar is generated to provide power for everything. It's better if you live in the South, but if you are in Liverpool or Scotland the solar production is considerably less

Our 8kwh system with 10Kwh battery and the relatively new octopus flux tariff of .22p export means on a good sunny day our electricity bill is (minus) -£5, on an average sunny day (minus) -£2/3 on day with no direct sunlight +£4. 

This is with an all electric house (ashp) and being at home all day long. Since installation in late November last year we have produced 1798kwh total. On a good sunny day we export in excess of 27kwh. All in all the return on investment figures (according to the app for the system which may or may not be correct?) say the return to date is 4% (£750) and that’s before we get into the peak sunshine months May-September. 

So much depends on house orientation, system size, price paid and most importantly how you use electricity.

subjecttocontract

My understanding is that UK domestic installations are limited to a maximum size of 4kwh on a single phase supply. Most, if not all domestic property is single phase and will therefore have a 4kwh limit and will not match your findings.

Bianchiintenso

subjecttocontract said:

My understanding is that UK domestic installations are limited to a maximum size of 4kwh on a single phase supply. Most, if not all domestic property is single phase and will therefore have a 4kwh limit and will not match your findings.

Nope, single phase and 8kwh here, some people may have trouble getting an export DNO depending on their supplier on for over 4kwh, but if all certified correctly MCS etc shouldn't be a problem, have a look on the Green money saving forum it's fairly standard

wmb194

Freecall said:

jimjames said:

That may have been the case with rent-a-roof schemes historically but I find it very hard to believe that in the current energy situation any house with owned solar panels would not be more attractive rather than less attractive. With FIT payments on some systems of thousands per year it would be even more of a bonus (FIT rate 70p per kWh). Our panels provide a large proportion of our electricity with considerable excess over the summer.

I agree that the rent-roof-schemes were a particularly extreme example but nowadays we tend to be thinking more of purchased systems.

As any estate agent will tell you, PV panels are a barrier to sale, not a show stopper but certainly a barrier to parts of the market.

The time when it was impossible to get a mortgage have passed but with tightening lending criteria returning it is unwise to do anything to a house which can make it less saleable.

It's not hard to remove them if you need to: they're not welded on! If someone wants to give their money away I'd be happy to take a discount for an extant system, though.

wmb194

subjecttocontract said:

My understanding is that UK domestic installations are limited to a maximum size of 4kwh on a single phase supply. Most, if not all domestic property is single phase and will therefore have a 4kwh limit and will not match your findings.

Years ago people not getting systems >4kWhp was to do with how the FiT would tumble above this level and ruin the business case but this isn't a constraint anymore.