Complete noob looking to get solar panel advice on value

[AttackTitan]

With the rising cost of electric im wondering if it would be worth getting solar panels fitted, we go through alot more electric then your average house due to old grandmother constantly requiring to be kept warm. Probably around 8000kw per yer maybe more. I don't know anyone who has had solar panels fitted but ive seen online post saying they can generate 6000kw per yr. But im guessing that will be in optimal conditions. I live in the middle of England in a semi detached house with N E and west facing roof so im qurious as to how much what systems can generate and what the cost involved are.
If anyone has them any advice will be appreciated

 

[roys]

Solar panels are great, the down side off them especially in your situation, is that at the exact time of year that you need most heating happens to be when the daylight hours are at their shortest and darkest.
In the middle of summer I can generate a max of about 10kWh per day, I am averaging about 3 or 4 kWh just now, in Dec, Jan and Feb a lot of the time I was lucky to generate 1kWh per day.
Other considerations are shading and roof orientation.

 

[Murdoch]

We've got solar and whats most interesting is that you use more than you think when the sun isn't shining. Use of timers on white goods helps, as does the device that sends excess production to our immersion giving us free hot water

Feb production was 176kw
Jan was 111 kw
Dec was 54kw
Nov was 131kw

April 2021 was the highest production @ 484 kw and for the year it was 3.5 mw

Looking at Feb there were days when the production was under 1 kw and the highest was 17 kw

Our panels are facing almost due south with no shading

For many people the sums do not add up

Fingers crossed @binky will offer his thoughts soon

 

[binky]

Solar panels are great, the down side off them especially in your situation, is that at the exact time of year that you need most heating happens to be when the daylight hours are at their shortest and darkest.
In the middle of summer I can generate a max of about 10kWh per day, I am averaging about 3 or 4 kWh just now, in Dec, Jan and Feb a lot of the time I was lucky to generate 1kWh per day.
Other considerations are shading and roof orientation.

this year has been particularly dark and gloomy, outputs have been rather low!

 

[binky]

With the rising cost of electric im wondering if it would be worth getting solar panels fitted, we go through alot more electric then your average house due to old grandmother constantly requiring to be kept warm. Probably around 8000kw per yer maybe more. I don't know anyone who has had solar panels fitted but ive seen online post saying they can generate 6000kw per yr. But im guessing that will be in optimal conditions. I live in the middle of England in a semi detached house with N E and west facing roof so im qurious as to how much what systems can generate and what the cost involved are.
If anyone has them any advice will be appreciated

Not great roof orientation for solar. Your west roof will generate roughly 800kWh per kW of panels fitted, your NE roof, roughly 700 kWh per kW or panels fitted. Not ideal!

A kW of panels facing south will generate, on average, 1000kWh of electric per year. Costs will vary dependent mostly on scaffolding - one of the biggest costs. That can easily be around £600 for a standard 2 storey house. The cost of the solar gear itself has dropped significantly over the last few years, so a standard 4kW array can be fitted for around £5k. If you are a keen DiY er and have suitable skills, there's nothing to stop you fitting it yourself. The Feed in Tariff was the one thing that drove the need ofr MCS registered installers. Now there is no FiT, the only legal requirement is to let your DNO (Western Power or the like) know you have a solar system fitted, and to use an approved 'grid tied' inverter.

Payback ona system is hard to calculate, without the FiT I would say it would be around 12 years, panels should last 30+ years, the inverter around 15 years if it's a decent make. However, with energy costs rising rapidly, payback is probably going to be much shorter now.

 

[AttackTitan]

Solar panels are great, the down side off them especially in your situation, is that at the exact time of year that you need most heating happens to be when the daylight hours are at their shortest and darkest.
In the middle of summer I can generate a max of about 10kWh per day, I am averaging about 3 or 4 kWh just now, in Dec, Jan and Feb a lot of the time I was lucky to generate 1kWh per day.
Other considerations are shading and roof orientation.

Thanks for the reply, what system is it you have and over the past 12 months how much did it generate. Ive worked out we have used 20kw in past 24 hours without using the dryer. so if its only able to generate 1kw per day it might not be worth it.
@Murdoch thanks for the details how many panels is it you have,
@binky unfortunatly the south roof is the neighbours. so we have choice of east or west we go through far more electric then average household due to grandmother having her room at a constant 30c even during summer she needs heating. So im not worried about selling extra electric as their wont be any. how many panels can fit on a roof. For a 10kw system how much would i be expecting to pay. How many panels would that be and how much can i expect to generate

 

[Richard-the-Ninth]

@AttackTitan, I am just thinking out loud.
You say that you live in the middle of England in a semi detached house with N E and west facing roof.

What are the dimensions of each roof as that will ultimately answer your question of how many panels can you have. (Also have you any sky lights?)

How much will always depend on too many factors, and a guestimate is just that, a guess, you will need to get a few quotes from someone who has been to site.

 

[AttackTitan]

@AttackTitan, I am just thinking out loud.
You say that you live in the middle of England in a semi detached house with N E and west facing roof.

What are the dimensions of each roof as that will ultimately answer your question of how many panels can you have. (Also have you any sky lights?)

How much will always depend on too many factors, and a guestimate is just that, a guess, you will need to get a few quotes from someone who has been to site.

good question that i can say i dont know the answer too. but i have someone coming out on monday to give a quote so i will get back to you then

 

[roys]

Thanks for the reply, what system is it you have and over the past 12 months how much did it generate. Ive worked out we have used 20kw in past 24 hours without using the dryer. so if its only able to generate 1kw per day it might not be worth it.
@Murdoch thanks for the details how many panels is it you have,
@binky unfortunatly the south roof is the neighbours. so we have choice of east or west we go through far more electric then average household due to grandmother having her room at a constant 30c even during summer she needs heating. So im not worried about selling extra electric as their wont be any. how many panels can fit on a roof. For a 10kw system how much would i be expecting to pay. How many panels would that be and how much can i expect to generate

I have a 10 panel system which from memory is 220W per panel so a 2.2kW system. I have had the system in for about 10 years and I generate about 1.8MWh from it per year, I am slightly low on annual production per year due to a tree that shades the panels at 5 o’clock in the summer.

 

[binky]

Thanks for the reply, what system is it you have and over the past 12 months how much did it generate. Ive worked out we have used 20kw in past 24 hours without using the dryer. so if its only able to generate 1kw per day it might not be worth it.
@Murdoch thanks for the details how many panels is it you have,
@binky unfortunatly the south roof is the neighbours. so we have choice of east or west we go through far more electric then average household due to grandmother having her room at a constant 30c even during summer she needs heating. So im not worried about selling extra electric as their wont be any. how many panels can fit on a roof. For a 10kw system how much would i be expecting to pay. How many panels would that be and how much can i expect to generate

east west split can work better for you as this gives a longer spread of power over the day rather than peaking around noon time. Panels are now in the 380W to 480W region, but the 480W panels are physically much larger at 1.8m by 1m. The secret is to try to find the panels that fit your roof the best. What pitch is your roof? Is it slate or concrete tile? If you mesage me your address I'll google it and draw up a rough design over the weekend.

 

[AttackTitan]

dm sent

 

[Mike.J]

@binky if I PM my address to you could you have a look at what options I have, the main roof of the house face's South, but I have options on a large shed roof that also face's South.

 

[binky]

@binky if I PM my address to you could you have a look at what options I have, the main roof of the house face's South, but I have options on a large shed roof that also face's South.

Pm me


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