MaraMan wrote:Don't want to hijack this thread but we are considering having solar panels fitted. The local council has teamed up with an installer and provides good value, allegedly. Their estimates say it should provide about 50% of our electricity needs, for a cost of around £5,000 for 20 panels.
I can't make up my mind whether this is a good idea or not and wonder if any other more learned lemons have a view?
Thanks
MM
Hi Maraman, There is much to consider in respect of solar panels:-
1. Solar Panels (make, efficiency, long term performance degradation, warranty, appearance)
2. Inverter (make, avoidance of single panel failure/shading problems, maximum output, remote monitoring features, warranty)
3. Installation (inverter location, wiring, future enhancements, installer experience and references)
4. Future Plans (EV, solar water heating)
5. Financials (payback time, export payments, does it make sense ?).
I went solar in January 2019 to beat the March 2019 deadline to get into the FIT scheme. Those who bought many years ago will have paid more up front but be coining it in the FIT scheme now. My 3 quotes all predicted an 8-9 year payback time, which has proven to be wildly optimistic – I reckon it’s more like 17 years right now based on my real life figures. But we like the lower bills and being a bit green so on balance we have not been unhappy with the move.
The prices you quoted are much less than I paid, doubtless due to your co-operative deal. But then I bought the very best equipment available at the time – Sunpower 335w panels (for their performance, warranty and appearance – I HATE those silver lines) and a SolarEdge inverter all covered by 20 years warranty.
IMHO with the removal of the FIT scheme financially solar in the UK makes little sense anymore from a purely financial perspective. Yes you can get some payments for your export from someone like Octopus, but your payback time is still going to be very long. That move (cancelling the FIT scheme) dealt a huge blow to domestic solar in the UK IMV.
I looked closely at batteries before I had my installation done and decided not to proceed with that and my view on that hasnt changed - yet. My house typically only uses 2-3 units overnight (about £150 a year) so even £3,000 spent on a battery installation would have a 20 year plus payback time for me. And TBH if I was going to get one I wouldn’t buy a cheap one. Batteries aren’t guaranteed to last forever more than about 5-10 years either, and when it goes wrong you get to shell out for another one !. No, I am waiting for technology to improve and the price to come down and ideally I’d like my battery to be in an electric vehicle not some new bulky box inside my house – that tech is coming, saw it on BBC Click just the other day.
So in summary I would say. Getting solar panels is good, but don’t do it purely thinking it will save you money because it almost certainly won’t. Yes you’ll have lower bills but your payback time will be significant. In exchange you will get to feel a bit "green" and have some future options. Personally I would forget battery storage right now, certainly not cost effective (for me anyway) and I’m sure that the tech and prices will improve significantly in the years to come on the back of EVs. Rarely pays to be an early adopter !.
ATB
Pref