Solar Panels

Gary1237

Does the cost of Solar outweigh the cost of paying monthly bills --  How long would it take to payback the cost 

FlorayG

It depends on how many you have, how efficient they are, how many electrical items you have, how much electricity you use ( because what you don't use you can get paid for).
You will still have a monthly bill - the standing charges and the trickle used to keep the inverter running. It so bugs me that I sell electricity back to them all summer and still have  a £15 bill every month

Newbie_John

No, you'll still be paying something.

Getting solar panels is like running a small business, of you do it well it can pay back after 7 years, if not it will never pay for itself.

There are two parts:
1) will you make most during the day when it's sunny - for example cook dinner at 2pm? Or do you go to work 9-18 and never get chance to use it? If you cook dinner at 2pm it could be free, if you cook in the evening it would cost you the same as not having them.
2) selling your electricity, will you be able to chase best deals possible? Some companies pay up to 25p and some as low as 7p - so if on sunny day you generate 30kWh it could be a difference between £2 and £6. Then again on cloudy day you can have £0 and £0.

So you see, it could work for some well, but may not at all for others.

I'd suggest an alternative to test yourself - if you're on Octopus try switching to Agile - you can leave anytime - and it will give you a chance to see how much you can adapt to weather changes - and yes, it sometimes also pays money for using electricity 😅

Screwdriva

Gary1237 said:

Does the cost of Solar outweigh the cost of paying monthly bills --  How long would it take to payback the cost 

We haven't paid anything for gas or electric since April 2022. That's because we import very little and export a lot of excess solar. 

Assuming you have a West/ East/ South aspect roof that's large enough, Solar PV is one of the few technologies that almost always makes economic and ethical sense. Even if doesn't totally offset your utility bills, it will dramatically reduce them. In my experience, most rooftop solar installations (no battery) pay for themselves between 5.5-7.5 years. 

Alnat1

I'm another who hasn't had to pay anything to our energy company since the solar was installed. Export payments over each summer have covered the cost of gas and electricity use over the winters so far. Admittedly this has been helped by the government £400 winter payment and Saving Sessions.

We are fairly low users and don't yet have an EV. Our small battery helps, so we can cook in the evenings without drawing from the grid and it can be filled overnight at cheap rate in winter when there's not enough being produced by the panels during the day.

Magnitio

We also have zero (or slightly negative) bills for gas and electric, even with an EV to charge. Panels and battery are nearly 3 years old and should pay for themselves by year 7.

Niv

Octopus made us set up a DD to cover the standing charge but I have over £600 credit now so intend to cancel that.

Gary1237

thats a good Credit Niv-  Thank you for all comments - I think Solar is the way forward 

Reed_Richards

Niv said:

Octopus made us set up a DD to cover the standing charge but I have over £600 credit now so intend to cancel that.

If you cancel the DD then it's harder for Octopus to refund you your excess credit; they would have to issue a cheque I think.  Why not just ask them to reduce it to s nominal £5 or something like that.

94JDH

Reed_Richards said:

Niv said:

Octopus made us set up a DD to cover the standing charge but I have over £600 credit now so intend to cancel that.

If you cancel the DD then it's harder for Octopus to refund you your excess credit; they would have to issue a cheque I think.  Why not just ask them to reduce it to s nominal £5 or something like that.

Niv said:

Octopus made us set up a DD to cover the standing charge but I have over £600 credit now so intend to cancel that.

Just get them to chance it to a Variable Direct Debit - best of both worlds, benefit of the cheaper pricing & only get charged what you have used (nothing or partial depending on the size of your credit)