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We will be renewing our roof shortly and as we are big electricity users (9500kWh per year), have suitable large S, E and W facing roof elevations and hopefully will be in the house for at least another 10 years I thought it would be a good opportunity to go for solar PV with battery backup. I'm looking for advice on where to start my research and how to go about finding good installers.
You need to consider that you are normally limited to 3.7kw for a single phase electrical supply.
There are ways around this but you need to get permission from the local DNO.
You need to consider that you are normally limited to 3.7kw for a single phase electrical supply.
There are ways around this but you need to get permission from the local DNO.
Your installer will guide you on that. Alot of it boils down to your incomer. I'm on the end of a country supply. I can't go bigger - they tried for me 🙁
Consider that lead times are silly just now due to the covid break. We are booked in for end of next month having originally been February. -booked in November.
We went with AES solar in Forres but I suspect if your on the downs that's a touch far for you.
Interested to see what opinions on battery's come up. When I looked in sept/Oct I couldn't see past Tesla's battery the others looked a bit shit by comparison.
But technology was moving fast so opted to not take the Tesla battery due to the lead time being effectively 2022.
Ta. Used to live on the North Wessex Downs but now in Chester so Scottish installer probably a bit far.
Ideally I'd like to island the battery so it can be used as backup in a power cut but that reduces choice of system to Tesla and a couple of others. Tesla does seem to be very expensive.
Islanding can be done - check with installer and DNO on particular requirements.
Also if you are installing a battery ask about export limiting as that should let you go beyond 3.68kW per phase - again check with installer and DNO on particular requirements.
Note that 3.68kW is per phase - if you are split-single or 3-phase you will be able to install more as a right.
PS - anyone with installer recommendations near York, I’m interested.
There's a local authority thing in London at the moment - called "Solar Together". Might be something your council is doing?
Had a quote through (from GET) and it's just over £3k for four panels (£650 of that appears to be for additional scaffolding to get onto the top roof).
4.6 kWh battery adds £2.5k
It's £150 to get to the point where they do a full survey. TBH the trust pilot review weren't at all glowing for GET.
Ta. Nothing on Solar Together for my area
I'll just chip in to say that the place we've just bought has a solar array, installed by the previous owners. It doesn't have a battery, instead the 'excess' is used to heat the hot water, then the remainder goes into the grid. They couldn't have enthused about that kind of set up more, saying it was the best decision they made, in the summer they basically get free hot water and money from the FiT, and in the winter it still made a considerable difference to heating bills.
Maybe something to consider
This sort of thing IHN?
Most use with FIT, but cheaper than a battery if you don’t want to export.
What is the current feed in tariff?
Worth looking and seeing what the payback is going to be.
This sort of thing IHN?
Having dug out the paperwork, its one of these:
https://www.marlec.co.uk/product/solar-iboost/
What is the current feed in tariff?
Worth looking and seeing what the payback is going to be.
Its been replaced by the Smart Export Guarantee (SEG) which varies from around 3p to 5p per kWh depending on your supplier. I think its less generous than the FIT but I've no idea by how much.
I've heard about the smart immersion heaters and was thinking about on eof those as well.
Its been replaced by the Smart Export Guarantee (SEG) which varies from around 3p to 5p per kWh
That's flat rate how ever if you go for a battery if you buy the right one you get access to agile tariffs that let you export brown energy at peak use and recharge at my low rate.
Those rates are far more amenable
My idea would be to use the battery to capture excess solar for use mainly in the evening to minimise grid use and maximise cost savings. If there was any excess from this it could then discharge to grid again at peak time to maximise any feed in payment on an agile tariff. In winter when solar would not cover all our needs the battery could be topped up from the grid at cheap rate again to cover use at peak time. What I'm trying to say is that the amount being fed back to grid would be minimised so the economics don't depend on feed in tariffs. However if you didn't have solar then the battery could be used to charge at off peak for use at peak times but I don't know if that scenario is economically viable
I have a 3.6kw system on a commercial property I own in Wirral, just above Chester, no battery. S/W facing roof which gets direct sunlight after about 10am. Tenant gets the free electricity, I get the FIT which works out to a whopping £10/month on average I think.
My idea would be to use the battery to capture excess solar for use mainly in the evening to minimise grid use and maximise cost savings. If there was any excess from this it could then discharge to grid again at peak time to maximise any feed in payment on an agile tariff. In winter when solar would not cover all our needs the battery could be topped up from the grid at cheap rate again to cover use at peak time. What I’m trying to say is that the amount being fed back to grid would be minimised so the economics don’t depend on feed in tariffs. However if you didn’t have solar then the battery could be used to charge at off peak for use at peak times but I don’t know if that scenario is economically viable
Pretty much looking at. A power wall 2 then with the smart box.
About 9 grand.
Came across an article on solar panels, which i didnt really read, but i did notice one section which warned about high winds and the security of the panels
Are you prone to high winds ?, or experienced them, even is a rare occurrence ?. Maybe an idea to look into seeing how they are attached and if the high wind problem has any solutions.
Solar is brilliant and part of the future of power generation and management, good on you.
For your benefit and for your neighbours, please consider how to pigeon proof your set up at the outset and try and go as flush as possible.
One house with 'open' panels on our road attracts so many damn pigeons and all the associated guano is vile.
Ex colleague of mine and a top level decorated scientist writes a blog, and his experience of this is one theme. Worth a read and he might answer some of your questions too.
Protons for breakfast is the blog.
We've just had solar fitted along with a solar boost immersion. We run on oil, so wanted to reduce our reliance upon it.
Turned off our hot water last week and so far the solar has supplied us with all our hot water, plus paid back to the grid. We should only have to top up our tank once a year now which is great.
My 9 panels on my house I bought 2 years ago give me around £1200-1400 FiT. That covers all electric, wood and Oil for all the year. The panels were installed in 2015, so newer panels will be more efficient, but lower FiT.
I also have 1 solar thermal panel for hot water, which works out to give 6 months' free hot water.
We were pleasantly surprised at how much our gas bill went down when we installed the solar boost immersion. As has been said, suggest you pigeon proof the panels from the start.