We’re lucky in that the house is big and the previous owners didn’t build over the attached double garage so on one side of the house we have around 85sq m of South Southwest facing roof. Using the high efficiency panels we need around 70sq m of roof space.A 12kWh array is massive mate (I’m jealous).
You might be surprised at how much you’ll generate ever in winter.
We’ve got a 4kWh array on a large bungalo, all the cooking and what have you are electric, we’ve done a cotton wash and dried it today. Cooked meals, had electric showers, boiled water for countless brews, defrosted stuff in the microwave, powered 2 fridges and 3 freezers, had the lights on and the cats heated blanket etc.
At 11pm I checked usage for the day and we’d used 83p worth in the 23 hours since midnight.
We were generating circa 1.5 / 2kW for about 4 hours (and a bit before and after) and it was enough to cover all the ‘high use’ activities.
On bright winter days we just stagger what we’re doing so that we don’t exceed generation and cause us to draw from the grid.
When there’s no sunshine going on we put the washer & tumble drier on overnight when it‘s only a fraction of the peak hour cost, but you’ll have so much generating capacity that, even on dull days, you might not need to bother with that.
I’m planning another 4KW array, on a south facing double garage roof and whopping great battery. Still be way behind your set up but should be enough for us to have nothing to worry about ‘except’ the standing charge.
One point with renewables that is often ignored is you have to factor in the capital cost. If a system costs you 20k and will last 20 years then it's costing you a grand a year.A 12kWh array is massive mate (I’m jealous).
You might be surprised at how much you’ll generate ever in winter.
We’ve got a 4kWh array on a large bungalo, all the cooking and what have you are electric, we’ve done a cotton wash and dried it today. Cooked meals, had electric showers, boiled water for countless brews, defrosted stuff in the microwave, powered 2 fridges and 3 freezers, had the lights on and the cats heated blanket etc.
At 11pm I checked usage for the day and we’d used 83p worth in the 23 hours since midnight.
We were generating circa 1.5 / 2kW for about 4 hours (and a bit before and after) and it was enough to cover all the ‘high use’ activities.
On bright winter days we just stagger what we’re doing so that we don’t exceed generation and cause us to draw from the grid.
When there’s no sunshine going on we put the washer & tumble drier on overnight when it‘s only a fraction of the peak hour cost, but you’ll have so much generating capacity that, even on dull days, you might not need to bother with that.
I’m planning another 4KW array, on a south facing double garage roof and whopping great battery. Still be way behind your set up but should be enough for us to have nothing to worry about ‘except’ the standing charge.
The panels have a design life of 25yrs albeit that they drop to 80% efficient at their end of life. Batteries are 10yrs with around 10% less capacity at end of warranty. It will probably last a maximum of around 15yrs assuming that you don’t deep discharge the battery too often. By then it’s likely that tech will have moved on and higher energy density batteries will be available at lower costs.One point with renewables that is often ignored is you have to factor in the capital cost. If a system costs you 20k and will last 20 years then it's costing you a grand a year.
No idea how much a system like that would be, and the big question is how long will it last. I have a double garage south facing so have been looking into this.
Interesting.The panels have a design life of 25yrs albeit that they drop to 80% efficient at their end of life. Batteries are 10yrs with around 10% less capacity at end of warranty. It will probably last a maximum of around 15yrs assuming that you don’t deep discharge the battery too often. By then it’s likely that tech will have moved on and higher energy density batteries will be available at lower costs.
Considering that even on my 2yr fixed price rate from Oct 21 (18.299p/kWh), I’m using £1225 of electricity per year, with prices now at just under 34p per kWh that will make my electricity bill around £2300 per year, so spending just over 20k on the system which pretty much means we won’t use anything off the grid makes sense. We don’t intend to move again so we should get the full payback from its installation.
If I put 20k in the bank for 15yrs at 3.66% (which is the highest you can currently get for a 10yr bond). It would return 14k of profit. On the assumption that with such a large system I could reduce my energy consumption by 90%, a solar system would save me 2k per yr or 30k over the same 15yr period.
That because the feed in tariffs of 5p per kWh are pathetic, much better to store it and use any left over to have constant hot water. Having a plug in hybrid car or maybe an EV in your household is also a good move, could be pretty much free motoring over the summer months assuming you don’t do long trips.Interesting.
One massive beef I have is the push for systems with batteries. It would be a far better economic model if you could just channel the surplus production back to the grid and get credit for it.
Depends on the manufacturer unfortunately. Big name brands LG, Tesla Samsung are all 10yr, Chinese manufacturers might only be a year. Generally the more you pay for the Battery/inverter unit, the longer the warranty.How long are the inverters covered for?
My mother in-law has had to change them twice at £500+ each time, and she hasn't had the panels more than ten years yet. No batteries that i can see.
She gets around £600 money off them per year. I think she paid around £11k to have them put in.
We think she was mis sold so we are looking into it.
Just this. It’d be simple to administer, would reduce reliance on fossil fuels, would actually encourage people to use less but it might just reduce profits so it’ll be a no go. Another example of this morally bankrupt country that puts profit at the head of EVERYTHING, knows the cost of everything and the value of nothing.Interesting.
One massive beef I have is the push for systems with batteries. It would be a far better economic model if you could just channel the surplus production back to the grid and get credit for it.
Well I bought a house that had a 4KW array on the roof which was on the feed in tariff.One point with renewables that is often ignored is you have to factor in the capital cost. If a system costs you 20k and will last 20 years then it's costing you a grand a year.
No idea how much a system like that would be, and the big question is how long will it last. I have a double garage south facing so have been looking into this.