[Technology] Advice sought, purchasing and installing solar panels
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Uncle C
Well-known member
Solar panels on the roof is tomorrows stone cladding.
Daddies_Sauce
Falmer WSL, not a JCL
- Jun 27, 2008
- 882
Our installation has been in since 01/12/2021 (though we had some issues for the first 3 months which impacted generation), based on current tariffs (recently been moved from a fixed to variable tariff), our projection is 7 years, though this will shorten once the next projected fuel increases are applied this autumn/winter.
So, very simply, can somebody tell me how much it would cost me to buy a (one) solar panel and have it installed on the roof at the back of my house? Presumably there'd have to be some gubbins - new meter or something - so I could get back a few pence for whatever I might feed back into the grid. That's all I want to know, a rough figure - how many £pounds would that cost me?
Do I need to install a battery too, or is that an otional extra? If having one is essential, how much would that add to the price? Just a straightforward number after a £ sign please!
I'm not bothered about how long before it pays for itself - I'm at an age where that is a lesser consideration - it might never happen for me. I am concerned with the environment, and if installing a panel will help, albeit in a very small way, I'd like to make that small contribution if I can afford it - and if it adds a few quid to the price of the house when the time comes for the kids to sell it, so be it.
So, in simple £pounds sterling, how much?
Do I need to install a battery too, or is that an otional extra? If having one is essential, how much would that add to the price? Just a straightforward number after a £ sign please!
I'm not bothered about how long before it pays for itself - I'm at an age where that is a lesser consideration - it might never happen for me. I am concerned with the environment, and if installing a panel will help, albeit in a very small way, I'd like to make that small contribution if I can afford it - and if it adds a few quid to the price of the house when the time comes for the kids to sell it, so be it.
So, in simple £pounds sterling, how much?
I would imagine that having just one panel in the UK would be the equivalent of watering one house plant with collected rainwater! Add the cost of the infrastructure and installation and it probably does more harm than good to the planet.
Over here I have 14 panels on my roof, it makes a meaningful difference although we still pay for more electricity as we have not gone the battery route yet. Our system will take 3 or 4 years to pay for itself. When I read of folk having 6 or 8 panels in the UK I really want to shout ‘NO!’. You guys probably need to cover your rood entirely, get a battery installed or wait for technology to improve. Most likely a mixture of all three will be best.
beorhthelm
A. Virgo, Football Genius
- Jul 21, 2003
- 36,014
one panel will cost >£200, but wont do much. for £500-1000 per 1kw you'll get an "off-grid" setup which would give some battery based power, could wire into seperate circuit in house to do lights or some low current use. for feed into grid you're spending ~10k with approved fitting.
Well, thank you for answering a question I didn't ask ................................... and avoiding answering the one I did ask! I asked how much it would cost, not how much - or how little - good it would do.
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So £10K for one panel and all the setting up then? Thank you.
Can't afford that. £5K might have made it ............. oh well, never mind.
Shropshire Seagull
Well-known member
My solar panels were installed in Jan 2018 and with my smart meter confirming, I can advise that the sun does NOT have to shine for the panels to generate power.
All you need is daylight and the UK has plenty of that this time of year.
When the sun is out they do kick out a little bit more juice but daylight hours rather than a "sunny country" is probably more important.
Shropshire Seagull
Well-known member
If you ask a potential supplier to do you a survey / quote you will likely get a better answer than asking the great and good of NSC.
One panel would likely only be any use as a simple water heater - when I had my panels installed 4 years ago the maximum you could install on a residential property was 4Kw and there is not a single panel [yet] that can produce this much - my 4Kw array comes from 14 panels - 6 East facing and 8 West facing.
When they install they use scaffolding and this will also be factored in to your price.
Uncle C
Well-known member
Let me play devils advocate.
Your solar panel investment should repay in up to 10 years in the UK climate. After 10 years, there is every likelihood that technology has moved on to the extent that what you have on your roof is obsolete and you will need to pay to have it removed together with a further bill to make the the roof good. Do you think this will make the sale of a property more or less attractive.
Add to this further issues like ongoing cost of cleaning, breakages and maintenance of panels and electrics, removal of birds nests, weather damage, inability to get access and carry out repairs to the roof structure and collapse of installation firms during guarantee periods.
People should make decisions based on merit and not on slick sales talk.
Your solar panel investment should repay in up to 10 years in the UK climate. After 10 years, there is every likelihood that technology has moved on to the extent that what you have on your roof is obsolete and you will need to pay to have it removed together with a further bill to make the the roof good. Do you think this will make the sale of a property more or less attractive.
Add to this further issues like ongoing cost of cleaning, breakages and maintenance of panels and electrics, removal of birds nests, weather damage, inability to get access and carry out repairs to the roof structure and collapse of installation firms during guarantee periods.
People should make decisions based on merit and not on slick sales talk.
Yes, absolutely. I simply wanted a rough guide as to price, regardless of age and return on my investment, neither of which are likely to have much relevance for me at my age! Not asking NSC for a quote! Just wanted a rough idea of the expenditure, not opinions on whether it was worthwhile, or how pointless it would be to install less than a dozen or so!
- Jul 5, 2003
- 1,494
Had a system installed 13 months ago. 10 panels, 1 inverter, installation and connection using two separate tradesmen, scaffolding, all for just under £6k. Had to wait a month before installing, as you need a smart meter, which we didn't have.
And to add answers you didn't ask for. 3 bedroom terrace house, two/three adults in it (depending on circumstances). Joint fuel bill went from £85 a month to £45 a month and with all the recent price rises it is still only about £60 a month. Get about £50-75 back every 6 months for energy sent to the grid.
What I was trying to point out earlier was that the manufacturing, transportation and installation of said equipment would nullify any benefits gained, not in financial terms but in waste of resources.
- Jul 5, 2003
- 1,494
Can't see the gubbins on the roof changing much, though they are talking about solar roof tiles now, but think that's a way off yet. Biggest changes I expect will be in batteries, especially if they do figure out how to mass produce solid state ones. My neighbour down the road had his system installed about 7 or 8 years ago and all that has really changed is the power of the panels and that they're split in half, so shade isn't too much of a problem in stopping the whole panel generating electricity. I'm guessing his old panels could be switched out for new ones quite easily.
sydney
tinky ****in winky
that's just plain daft , they'd get all dirty there as well........silly man, perhaps he's not suited to the profession.
sydney
tinky ****in winky
that , also with the large wind turbines the blades are fibre glass and pretty much intractable waste once they have reached their use by date, the "carbon footprint" of a lot of this stuff does negate the benefit a lot of the time.
Baldseagull
Well-known member
Panels should last 25 years+, inverter will be replaced at least once in that time. Had mine up 10 years without ever having a problem, linked to my immersion heater, so that any power I am not using goes to heat water, till its hit 70 degrees, and then goes to the grid. Solar panels do have a high embodied CO2 cost, but over their lifetime they should recover that in reduced emissions, unless of course grid power is all from renewables. Grid power is much less Carbon heavy today than 10 years ago when I had them installed, but some of that reduction has come from domestic solar panels feeding the grid.
My point was in response to GT49s idea to install 1 panel