Solar Panels and savings

1961Nick

The OP's figures suggest self consumption of around 1200kWh which means there would be an annual export of about 2500kWh. The Octopus Outgoing Fixed tariff would pay £375 for that energy bringing the total revenue/savings from the system to £775 pa. Based on the quote of £5200 that's an annual return of 14.9% index linked to the price of energy.

The ROI would therefore be 6.7 years or 7.7 years if you deduct interest forgone @ 4% pa.

Tryinghardtosave

eskbanker said:

Tryinghardtosave said:

If I calculate the 5550 units at my current rate cost it is almost 1950 for the year, or 160 a month. If I kept the 16.5k in the bank at 3.1% I get 25.5 a month after tax@40%
So to me it is a no brainer, I get to save circa 160 a month on my leccy bill. Yes, the system has a finite life, but I am happy with my money earning me more than 6 times it can sat in the bank. I would have to get over 19% from the bank to get the same return.

The major flaw in that method of calculation (i.e. ignoring the capital) was outlined on page one:

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/80008683/#Comment_80008683

yes you are right. If i leave the 16.5k in place it will take an extra year of the savings accumulation to hit what it would give me if it was left in place - assuming nothing changes over the next 9 years. 

Screwdriva

Freecall said:

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

Actually, this report will highlight the exact opposite is true. Bear in mind this was published just prior to the recent energy crisis, which has only amplified their findings.

IanManc

Screwdriva said:

Freecall said:

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

Actually, this report will highlight the exact opposite is true. Bear in mind this was published just prior to the recent energy crisis, which has only amplified their findings.

Ooooh, the trade association representing the solar energy industry produces a report, the "findings" of which conclude that solar panels provide a good investment.

Amazing that the "findings" of the report they wrote support the very thing they were set up to promote, isn't it?

Freecall

IanManc said:

Ooooh, the trade association representing the solar energy industry produces a report, the "findings" of which conclude that solar panels provide a good investment.

Amazing that the "findings" of the report they wrote support the very thing they were set up to promote, isn't it?

Truly incredible news!

silverwhistle

I've had my panels ten years now, so any figures I would quote would be irrelevant, but in addition to the return and payback of the capital (a few ? years ago) I've also had the peace of mind in the current crisis of having manageable bills.

If I were to move I'd want panels on my new property even with a poorer payback, although wouldn't want a rent a roof scheme, which is the basis of Freecall's scaremongering.

69bertie

silverwhistle said:

 I've also had the peace of mind in the current crisis of having manageable bills.

If I were to move I'd want panels on my new property even with a poorer payback

Very true. Yes, solar and battery isn't a cheap option. But not that long back I got an update (our 'cheap' fixed tariff was finishing) on our estimated bills going forwards were going up to around £2400 a year. Wow! I decided to use the money sat in a bank to finance the solar and battery installation. 6 weeks in, I now use about £1.40 a day of electricity from the grid (some times its less than a £1.00 a day) and that is primarily to charge the batteries on the cheap E7 rate. Next week, I'll be stopping even that to let the solar do the charging instead.

However, what I do find comforting is to look at the current cost of electricity displayed on the smart meter monitor. From 8.30 am through to 01.30am it always reads.... 0.00p. We no longer worry about turning energy guzzling appliances on during the day, the solar and batteries supply the power. It'll get even better once all the paperwork is done so I can get paid for exporting.

ispookie666

I'm firmly in the solar + battery group. 
When solar was just about being pushed - a system would have cost 10k at the start of FiT. Now for that same price you can get a solar + Battery. 
I feel the battery is going to be a short term thing once Vehicle 2 Home is given the green light. 

adindas

nonolerigolo said:

The figure were provided by an solar panels installers and are specific to my house. 

This takes into account high current electricity price likely to decrease in the second part of the years.  Therefore likely to be less than 5% for the solar panels

Never trust the figure from salesman. They want you to buy it so they might only  be presenting you the good features and might hide the things that you might not aware of. It is highly unlikely a battery will have 25 years lifetime with constant charging and discharging without losing their capacity. So you might need to replace once. Same with solar cell they not be as good when it is a brand new and will keep losing their power output from time time.

You might be just getting be less than 50% from original storage capacity after 10 years+ (say). The same with your Electric Car, mobile phone battery, etc.

Also what about the roof construction, keep in mind there will be another 50KG on the roof to generate about 800w. The roof might not be ready to take another load so will need to be done to accommodate this.Also do not forget about about time value money, you are investing £10,000 now that money after 25yrs will be equivalent to about £21k given the 3% interest pa daily compounding.

Use the well known investment appraisal tools such as Payback Period (PBP), Internal/accounting Rate of Return (IRR), Net Present Value (NPV).

The easiest one is using Payback Period (PBP), After that period, you have get your investment back offset form the money saving in electricity bills. The cost of installing PV/Watt will become cheaper and cheaper ....

nonolerigolo

adindas said:

nonolerigolo said:

The figure were provided by an solar panels installers and are specific to my house. 

This takes into account high current electricity price likely to decrease in the second part of the years.  Therefore likely to be less than 5% for the solar panels

Never trust the figure from salesman. They want you to buy it so will only present what you ask and hide the things that you might bot aware of. It is highly a battery will have 25 years lifetime with constant charging and discharging without losing their capacity. You might be just getting be less than 50% from original storage capacity after 10 years+ (say). The same with your Electric Car, mobile phone battery, etc.

Also what about the roof construction, keep in mind there will be another 50KG on the roof to generate about 800w. The roof might not be ready to take another load so will need to be done to accommodate this

Use the well known investment appraisal tools such as Payback Period (PBP), Internal/accounting Rate of Return (IRR), Net Present Value (NPV).

The easiest one is using Payback Period (PBP), After that period, you have get your investment back offset form the money saving in electricity bills

After starting this thread I noticed that the calculation provided was incorrect.

They know my electricity consumption but for unknown reasons used totally different numbers.
i understand now that a battery is probably not needed. And that an electric car as (« the battery ») would be better. 

It is not easy to calculate the savings as there is many unknowns. I would agree that paid for solar panels would enhance the value of the  property. 

What type of gaurantee is usually given? The quote I had was 10 years.? Thank you