Solar panels

[Shahpor]

35 minutes ago, hockeyedwards said:

@Shahpor good to see your system is up and running, the glory months are just around the corner!

After install last year, September ran 90% off grid, winter months have been 'tough' and due to sub optimal roof position and lack of sun, was pretty much reliant on overnight charge, but still better than running from the grid for the day! Plus the government grant was pretty much covering my expenditure. Recent weeks have seen 6kw+ being generated, so more to come in sunnier months!

I have set up the Eddi to force discharge power from the battery in the morning and evening to heat the hot water, regardless of surplus from the panels. Heating will soon be completely off and will be much less reliant on grid charge overnight. Small bills here we come!

Enjoy watching your apps like a hawk haha!

Thanks Kieran,

Yep, already watching the apps on an hourly basis 🙂

Still trying to fine tune the Battery charging, but apart from that, it is working well.  I am charging it too much overnight at the moment, so it is already full for the day.  I will modify my charging profile tonight to reduce it down even further.  In a month or so, it will stop the overnight charge altogether and we should be 100% solar powered for the incoming summer months!

Terrible performance over the weekend, but yesterday was much better:  managed 14.5 kWh generated as opposed to 12.9 consumed 🙂

Don't have our solar water heater installed yet either, so a little more work to be done yet, but you are correct that it is definitely a good time of year to get it setup!  Definitely looking forward to seeing my electric bills for the coming months.

[Shahpor]

3 hours ago, zydeshpelsh said:

Installing a solar water heater will further reduce your reliance on the grid, adding another layer of sustainability to your home. With each step forward, you're not only saving on bills but also contributing to a cleaner, greener environment.

Quite right, and after a lengthy delay due to lack of stock, I have my solar water heater installed now, so looking forward to getting some good use out of it in the coming months!

[Malc1]

18 hours ago, Shahpor said:

Quite right, and after a lengthy delay due to lack of stock, I have my solar water heater installed now, so looking forward to getting some good use out of it in the coming months!

Sharphor hi again,   Can you update us on pricing, payback, current likely ongoing value economically of all this with UK  Supplier pricing with wars etc 

If you’re able and the calculations won’t drive you nuts 😄

Malc 

[Shahpor]

4 hours ago, Malc1 said:

Sharphor hi again,   Can you update us on pricing, payback, current likely ongoing value economically of all this with UK  Supplier pricing with wars etc 

If you’re able and the calculations won’t drive you nuts 😄

Malc 

Hi Malc,

It is tricky to determine exact values as I am on a tariff that provides cheap electricity for 4 hours each night (9p kWh).  Also, I haven't had it a full year yet!  There are probably people smarter than me that could extract the data from the Solaredge site, but I don't know how I'm afraid.

What I can tell you is that it ended up at roughly £18k all-in for my install.

Also, it looks like I have generated about 5.4 MWh's in the last 10 months:

So, it depends on how you look at it.  This time last year I believe my tariff was roughly 41p kWh, so if all the energy my solar generated was at that price, then I would have saved about £2.2k!  Of course, this isn't the case and some of it was at the cheaper rate, which were around 11p kWh at the time and is 9p kWh now.

The calculations are also a little more tricky as the whole point of the house Battery is that you charge it at the cheaper rate (9p) and then, in combination with the solar panels, you use it during the day instead of grid power.  This means that the electricity I am consuming during the day is technically costing me only 9p even though I am not in the cheaper rate hours.

This also means, depending on your usage and Battery capacity, it is still economically viable to have the system, even with the rates of electricity coming down, as I doubt they will drop to less than 10p kWh anytime soon.

One last contributing factor that makes my calculations more difficult to define is that I have an EV car, so I need to charge that either from the grid or via solar.

All that being said, the easiest way I can explain the cost saving is that my monthly direct debits for gas and electricity have come down from £300 a month to £100! 🙂  We have been on £100 since last August and it looks like it will average out for us for the winter months.

Last year, I think it was from May onwards, it was fantastic as the solar generated so much power that it could run the house easily, charge the Battery fully (so no overnight charging required) and fill up the EV!  Occasionally, it even sent back enough energy into the grid during the month that we ended up in positive figures on our bill, even after the standing charge was applied.  This year, we have our solar water heater, so I am expecting a reduction in our gas bill as well.

It does depend on your circumstances, and we are quite heavy users, but based solely on the bills we have received, I do believe we will breakeven in 7.5 to 8 years or so.  Of course, no one can predict what will happen with prices, but with our increase in usage of our EV, and the solar water heater now helping, I definitely think it will end up owning us nothing before the 10 year mark.

Apologies for the rambling nature of this post 🙂 If there is anything that I haven't cover here, please say so and I'll do my best to work it out.

[ColinBarber]

1 hour ago, Shahpor said:

I am on a tariff that provides cheap electricity for 4 hours each night (9p kWh)

Worth considering switching to Intelligent Octopus Go which is 6 hours over night at 7.5p.

[Malc1]

Thank you for this analysis …… it all sounds very positive especially having an EV ……. BUT what about depreciating the asset technology to write-off and likely cost of needing a sinking fund to replace  it all at some future time ….. especially as technology changes/improves and the asset simply wears out  ??

Bit like how one might treat car ownership 🤔

Or am I trying to overthink these financials maybe 

Malc 

[Shahpor]

11 hours ago, ColinBarber said:

Worth considering switching to Intelligent Octopus Go which is 6 hours over night at 7.5p.

Didn't think I was eligible for that one, but will have a look and change if so.  Thanks for the tip 👍

[Shahpor]

1 hour ago, Malc1 said:

Thank you for this analysis …… it all sounds very positive especially having an EV ……. BUT what about depreciating the asset technology to write-off and likely cost of needing a sinking fund to replace  it all at some future time ….. especially as technology changes/improves and the asset simply wears out  ??

Bit like how one might treat car ownership 🤔

Or am I trying to overthink these financials maybe 

Malc 

Well, the panels themselves have a 25 year warranty, so they shouldn't need replacing anytime soon!  Most of the systems looks designed to last the long term, with the exception of the Battery, which is just like any other Battery.  In this case, SolarEdge guarantee 70% capacity remaining after 10 years regardless of charge cycles.  It should be noted that this is a minimum and the likelihood is that the remaining capacity will be higher.  Either way, the plan has always been to invest in another Battery when the time comes.  So, for example, lets say that somewhere 10-15 years from now, the Battery isn't holding as much charge as we would like and is managing only 6kWh's capacity.  In this case, we would simply buy another Battery to go alongside the existing one to make the total available Battery power 16kWh's.  Yes, this would represent another cost, but by then we would have made back the expenditure of the existing system, and added a few years afterwards, so it is still worth it.  Also, the cost of the batteries is coming down all the time, so it wouldn't cost the same as the last time.

Technology does move on, and perhaps when replacement parts are required, something newer and better will be available.  However, from my point of view, as long as the system we have continues to provide what we want and works well, I am happy to stick to what we have rather than upgrade unless the financial figures compel me to do so.

In the end, it is really like any other house system, in other words, intended for long term use but might require the old hiccup rectifying once in a while.

The crux is that you need to think long term and not plan to move house for a long time!

[Malc1]

25 years or so sounds a good forecast outcome  and not moving home built into the fiscal thoughts too …….. wonder what “ add-on “  house  value there might be for any on-sale if ever 🤔

I don’t much look at houses for sale these days but when I do I don’t notice any mega upgrade on solar stuff ever mentioned ……. might be they just don’t have any done yet ………   You’d have to be young enough to factor in uplift in value benefits when focussing on the house price one’s thinking to buy ……. Good on you for doing all this and long may you glean the benefits 

My great advantage having an ancient 400 year old rather odd house in a Conservation Area just stops me thinking about solar panels whatever …… Not allowed in large measure here, and restoring timber windows at the front of my house, well, that’s mega if ever I do that I know …..and at my age I’m not going to get the ££££££ value “ long term “ 😂

Well Done to you ……. I’m sure the £££££ values will stack up for you AND of course doing your bit to “ save the planet “ 

Its all GOOD 

Malc 

 

 

 

[Shahpor]

Thanks Malc 👍

The up front investment and long term thinking, house wise, means it certainly isn't for everyone, but given the choice, it is definitely something I would recommend doing if the figures line up.  Very happy that I did mine, at least so far! 🙂

As for adding value, we were told to expect no uplift in the purchase price of the house should we ever sell, but it is claimed that it would be more 'sellable' due to the desirability of having a system already installed for any potential buyer.  Who knows if that is true 🤷‍♂️