Are solar panels worth it

Groundhog22

Hi we’re thinking about solar panels. In the process of getting a quote from octopus and an Independant guy.
pensioners, live in a bungalow. I’m disabled so home all day. Main problem is conservatory - 7mx 3m glass roof. A lovely space but very cold in winter - thought about warm roof but worried about light impact on adjoining rooms.
Trying to calculate if solar panels are worth it - is there an app that will work it out or is there any advice you can give me please. 

FlorayG

You could live another 30 years and it would pay for itself, or you could both die next year and it won't, so that's not something worth considering really.
How much would it cost you in extra electric to heat the conservatory? Easy to work out, estimate how many hours a day you want to use it, assume a 3kw heater, the calculation is 3 X number of hours X number of days per year X cost per KW that's how much per year it will cost you.
On the other hand, solar panels can make you money. Because April/May was so warm and sunny my electric and gas bill for import was £64 and my payment for export from my panels was £67 so I was £3 in profit.
If you have the cash to pay for them it's a different consideration to taking a loan out to pay for them. The interest on a loan will probably more than equal what you would spend extra on electric NOT having them

QrizB

There's an ongoing debate over the financials of solar panels in this thread:

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6610958/solar-options-mind-field#latest

Most of the "green and ethical" regulars think they should pay for themselves in 8 years or less.

It's not entirely clear to me where your conservatory comes into the solar panel question?

QrizB

This thread has made the "forum highlights" - not entirely sure why they've picked this one!

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6611283/forum-highlights-6th-june-shoes-singing-solar-panels#latest

powerful_Rogue

Groundhog22 said:

Hi we’re thinking about solar panels. In the process of getting a quote from octopus and an Independant guy.
pensioners, live in a bungalow. I’m disabled so home all day. Main problem is conservatory - 7mx 3m glass roof. A lovely space but very cold in winter - thought about warm roof but worried about light impact on adjoining rooms.
Trying to calculate if solar panels are worth it - is there an app that will work it out or is there any advice you can give me please. 

I've got solar panels and was the best investment I made.

For our conservatory, we paid £1500 to get the roof insulated. Now its warm in the summer and winter. 

https://conservatoryinsulationsuk.com/

bedmechanic

Every solar panel system instal is different and depends on location, roof orientation shading from buildings and trees and the sytem being installed. If you are electric only and on economy 7 a solar power system with battery could save you from using day rate electric (I doubt I use 100Kwatt a year of day rate electric). In my case I have some panels that face a little east of south and some that face a little south of west, I am located in East Anglia and my panels total 4.62Kwp. My system is rated at 4.6Mwatt per year but I tend to make a little over 5Mwatt, half of which I export. In my case it was and is very much worth having the system installed but you really need to get a survey done to see what is possible in your circumstances and get a few quotes from different companies so you get a better idea if it is cost affective in your circumstances

Petriix

We replaced the roof on our conservatory with a proper 'warm' roof and it absolutely transformed the space into a year-round usable room. Electric lights are cheap to run but there are options to allow natural light through a warm roof.

Solar is a medium to long term investment. It almost certainly won't save you money over a 5 year period but probably will over 10 or more years (8 seems to be the accepted average) but there are many variables that impact the ROI including the future price of electricity (and potential earnings for exports) and future interest rates (how much your money would earn if you left it in the bank).

Interest was a deciding factor for me not adding a battery to my solar PV system. I used the £4k to overpay my mortgage, saving a significant chunk of interest over the remaining term. If I was making the same decision today, that £4k would go into an ISA at 4.5%, returning £15 per month while (crucially) retaining the capital.

Before you do go for solar, post your quotes on here. People will be able to sense check them for you and possibly put you in touch with other installers offering better deals.