Help regarding Solar and Battery installation

gh67

Heedtheadvice said:

I am also South of Scotland location (West side) and rural.

You have many good responses to mull over there. I cannot add much

Support post install is valuable but some installers expertise soon fades and it is not always great to rely on manufacturers especially if you struggle technically. Personal recommendations of long established companies that are diversified are in my opinion of value.

 I went with Lotus Electrical  who have  a very good reputation and could not be more pleased - not the cheapest though, but quality.

It is difficult to financially justify battery purchase with the tariffs (as alternatives) currently available but  there are other reasons. 

One is risk reduction ( as mentioned Tariffs and associated costs do change), we can be more prone to blackouts in rural areas -sometimes for days such as with recent storms and a freezer full of food spoiled is costly ( if not insured) or just a mess to deal with, so backup facility is very useful. 

That also could apply to fibre router voice services where emergency calls fail if one's power fails come 2025 or sooner as older analogue cable phones ( yes I still have one available as well as a mobile) can get powered from the exchange. Paranoid belt braces and binder twine!

There is also a convenience aspect such as less concern over when power is used and having the ability to arrive home late in the day and still get some free/cheapcharge into an EV.

These days using solar PV to heat a domestic hot water cylinder is not really worth it of you have to buy/install a diverter.

Thanks for the reply, you mention it’s not worth getting the hot water diverted. It will cost just over £300 fitted if getting it with the panels, as far as I’m aware the average cost of heating a tank on gas is around £200-£400 a year, surely a 2 or 3 year pay back is worth it or is it better to export the power required to the grid? 

Heedtheadvice

Well if you use a lot of your solar to heat the water you loose much of it's benefit to replace the much more expensive electricity plus you will find that you likely will not have solar power all and every time you need to heat the tank. Not sure if this will still apply but it used to be ( for a typical system) you might save £50 per annum.

I did install a diverter It paid for itself in about 7 years ( Using just excess generation) but I was on FIT and get payment for deemed export. As is typical with basic systems I still had significant excess exported. Now you can get payments for export greater than the cost of gas you would use.

Now with batteries and an EV even still on FIT it makes even less sense to divert.

QrizB

Screwdriva said:

When I installed my own PV system in Q4 2019, the installer predicted electricity import tariffs of 19p per kWh and several enlightened forum members simply wouldn't have it

For the two and a half years that I've been on Octopus Go, my average electricity cost has been less than 13p per kWh.

I don't see energy prices coming down anytime soon.

The price of standard variable tariffs will be falling in April, and is expected to fall again in June.

https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/publications/changes-energy-price-cap-between-1-april-30-june-2024

Screwdriva

QrizB said:

For the two and a half years that I've been on Octopus Go, my average electricity cost has been less than 13p per kWh.

I don't own an EV and am not eligible for Go. That said, given we will export over 3X what we import annually, I'm not sure if Go and the necessary capital expenses on an EV + battery make it the right tariff.

QrizB said:

..and is expected to fall again in June.

I'm not sure how much faith I put in any predictions in this crazy world we live in. Let's not forget the price cap rose again for this current quarter and all it would take is a sneeze from any global supplier for energy prices to shoot up.

Heedtheadvice

What one needs is a crystal ball!

During  a tidyup just came across an energy bill from 2008 £45 a month covered it. If it wasn't for solar panels and price caps we would be on approx 7 times that now.

There can be expected to be big short term fluctuarions but I am confident energy costs will continue to rise long term at a rate higher than general inflation....

Niv

gh67 said:

Heedtheadvice said:

I am also South of Scotland location (West side) and rural.

You have many good responses to mull over there. I cannot add much

Support post install is valuable but some installers expertise soon fades and it is not always great to rely on manufacturers especially if you struggle technically. Personal recommendations of long established companies that are diversified are in my opinion of value.

 I went with Lotus Electrical  who have  a very good reputation and could not be more pleased - not the cheapest though, but quality.

It is difficult to financially justify battery purchase with the tariffs (as alternatives) currently available but  there are other reasons. 

One is risk reduction ( as mentioned Tariffs and associated costs do change), we can be more prone to blackouts in rural areas -sometimes for days such as with recent storms and a freezer full of food spoiled is costly ( if not insured) or just a mess to deal with, so backup facility is very useful. 

That also could apply to fibre router voice services where emergency calls fail if one's power fails come 2025 or sooner as older analogue cable phones ( yes I still have one available as well as a mobile) can get powered from the exchange. Paranoid belt braces and binder twine!

There is also a convenience aspect such as less concern over when power is used and having the ability to arrive home late in the day and still get some free/cheapcharge into an EV.

These days using solar PV to heat a domestic hot water cylinder is not really worth it of you have to buy/install a diverter.

Thanks for the reply, you mention it’s not worth getting the hot water diverted. It will cost just over £300 fitted if getting it with the panels, as far as I’m aware the average cost of heating a tank on gas is around £200-£400 a year, surely a 2 or 3 year pay back is worth it or is it better to export the power required to the grid? 

I have a diverter and am happy with it. It a solis and I think it cost ~£200. On a bright morning the water is normally heated by approx 10am. Strictly on financials oil is cheaper per kWh than the cost of selling the electricity back so is not cost efficient in that way, however I like that it means we have to fill the tank less often and provides a buffer if I forget to order it and run out or if there is a long lead time on oil delivery.

Alnat1

Gas on my Tracker tariff has been 3-5p/kWh for months. I get 15p on Fixed Outgoing for every kWh I export. 

I would already be losing money by using solar to heat my hot water and would never make back anything on the cost of fitting a solar diverter if prices remain as they are. Using gas is definitely cheaper for me. In future when we've all got heat pumps, they will heat the tank, again cheaper than a diverter.

EcoScruples

Niv said:

gh67 said:

Heedtheadvice said:

I am also South of Scotland location (West side) and rural.

You have many good responses to mull over there. I cannot add much

Support post install is valuable but some installers expertise soon fades and it is not always great to rely on manufacturers especially if you struggle technically. Personal recommendations of long established companies that are diversified are in my opinion of value.

 I went with Lotus Electrical  who have  a very good reputation and could not be more pleased - not the cheapest though, but quality.

It is difficult to financially justify battery purchase with the tariffs (as alternatives) currently available but  there are other reasons. 

One is risk reduction ( as mentioned Tariffs and associated costs do change), we can be more prone to blackouts in rural areas -sometimes for days such as with recent storms and a freezer full of food spoiled is costly ( if not insured) or just a mess to deal with, so backup facility is very useful. 

That also could apply to fibre router voice services where emergency calls fail if one's power fails come 2025 or sooner as older analogue cable phones ( yes I still have one available as well as a mobile) can get powered from the exchange. Paranoid belt braces and binder twine!

There is also a convenience aspect such as less concern over when power is used and having the ability to arrive home late in the day and still get some free/cheapcharge into an EV.

These days using solar PV to heat a domestic hot water cylinder is not really worth it of you have to buy/install a diverter.

Thanks for the reply, you mention it’s not worth getting the hot water diverted. It will cost just over £300 fitted if getting it with the panels, as far as I’m aware the average cost of heating a tank on gas is around £200-£400 a year, surely a 2 or 3 year pay back is worth it or is it better to export the power required to the grid? 

I have a diverter and am happy with it. It a solis and I think it cost ~£200. On a bright morning the water is normally heated by approx 10am. Strictly on financials oil is cheaper per kWh than the cost of selling the electricity back so is not cost efficient in that way, however I like that it means we have to fill the tank less often and provides a buffer if I forget to order it and run out or if there is a long lead time on oil delivery.

Exactly this, I turn my eddi off from Oct to April and heat water with oil, it has a terrible payback but it means I use less oil and so am a bit greener.