Solar Panels?

[Rick Sanchez]

Hey guys,

Have any of you got solar power?

I'm thinking of buying/building a solar power panel to attach onto a window in my flat to generate power. Have any of you done/tried this?

[Tim.Lad]

I have a 4kw system on the roof, not sure what diy solar is out their, what are you trying to power

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[rIKmAN]

What power do you get out of that TimLad, any worthwhile savings?

[Tim.Lad]

Right now it knocking out 2.50Kw cloudy but bright day about 20 miles north of Manchester, The system will max out at about 3.69Kw , i have only had the system in since the end of December so its hard to give definite numbers but i`m on target to save around £120. a year on electricity and gain about £530. in Fit payments total year one returns will be around £650. the fit payment are indexed linked so will go up every year for 20 years...

I think there is a lot of misconceptions and miss-selling of solar PV systems i did a lot of research before getting mine so if you have any questions ask away...

[big-paul]

Do you mind me asking how big your roof is mate and how much the panels cost to get installed? Also is your roof facing directly south or is it slightly off. I'm thinking about it for my place but don't know if it will be worth it.

Cheers fella

BP

[Tim.Lad]

Roof is W8.8M x H4.4M 30 Degree pitch SW facing 220 degrees system cost me £5450. all in, panels inveter wiring owl pv monitoring system and EPC cert and scaffolding ..

It should pay for its self in 6 - 7 years then its 13 pure profit

one thing a lot of people don't consider is the inverters have about a 10 years life, so at today's priced you will need to fork out £900. for a replacement at some point, but in 10 years they will be way more efficient and hopefully battery tech will have improved to the point where storing unused energy for night time use would be cost effective.

My original projection return was £23.000 over the 20 year fit payments

[big-paul]

Just roughly measured my roof using google maps and it is approx 9.5m x 8m facing SW (approx 234 degrees). No idea what the pitch is though. How much room does the kit take up, is it in your loft?

Thanks mate

BP

[pickie]

just read the panels themselves only last 20 years, and the fit is being cut again in july, so after 10 years you need a new inverter and after 20 the panels may go kaput, so after 7-10 years it pays for its self, but then you got to spend say 600 for new converter, then you only get 10 years profit, then you got to buy new panels and a new inverter again

[Tim.Lad]

Hard to say system size but my roof fitted a 16panel 4kw system no problem, the thing is if you go over a 4Kw system you need DNO approval and that can take upto 8 week, but you also get lower FIT rates, your installer can do estimates
based on various setup ups to work out whats best for your house and budget..regarding kit in the roof kit mine is stuck at the gable end on about about 100cm by 70cm board picture attached

2013-04-21 14.jpg

[Tim.Lad]

just read the panels themselves only last 20 years, and the fit is being cut again in july, so after 10 years you need a new inverter and after 20 the panels may go kaput, so after 7-10 years it pays for its self, but then you got to spend say 600 for new converter, then you only get 10 years profit, then you got to buy new panels and a new inverter again

partially true

The solar panels performance does degrade overtime all manufacturers offer a performance warranty in that the panels after 20 years the panels will be performing within a certain range of there original spec or they will replace them..

Take my panels for example suntech stp250s-20/wd they have a 10 year material and workmanship warranty and a 25year performance warranty

The inverter has a 5 year warranty with an expected min lifespan of 10 years, i have read the power one inverters have been manufactured with a life expectancy of 25 - 30 years in optimal conditions

After 20 year the FIT payments will stop i do not HAVE to replace the system, i have 2 choices run the system for free electricity only until the panels or inverter die or replace it and take advantage of the new FIT scheme ( if there is one) at the time.

[tombott]

I've gone the DIY route on my place.
I have 2 * 80w panels, 1 * 60w, 1 * 20w and 1 * 10w.
The 80's and 60's are hooked up to Grid Tie inverter so feed into my mains. The 20w is hooked up to 12v car battery that powers 6 * 12v LED lights on upstairs landing that are attached to a motion sensor.
The 10w is on roof of my greenhouse / shed. This charges 12v car battery, and powers 12v LED lighting. I also have inverter for 240v appliances (propagator, radio etc.).
Today I installed 400w wind turbine. At the moment this is just hooked up to 12v car battery, but will eventually be hooked up to grid tie inverter as well.
Eventually I will have 12v LED lighting installed throughout the ground floor of the house, all of which will run off solar / wind and 12v batteries.
Looking to get at least two more wind turbines, and thermal tubes by end of the summer.

[Rick Sanchez]

Do you need planning for these wind turbines? Do you live in the middle of nowhere?

[Tim.Lad]

You are braver man than me

My only concern with using a DIY grid tie inverter is a lot of them do not mention G83 approval, apart from all the gubin today with voltage and frequency sync a G83 approved inverter shuts itself off during a power cut, thus avoiding frying some poor utility worker in a ditch !!

[tombott]

Do you need planning for these wind turbines? Do you live in the middle of nowhere?

I do live rurally, and to be honest I've no idea regarding planning.

http://goo.gl/maps/MJCse

Just did a quick search and came up with this:

http://www.planningportal.gov.uk/per.../windturbines/

[tombott]

You are braver man than me

My only concern with using a DIY grid tie inverter is a lot of them do not mention G83 approval, apart from all the gubin today with voltage and frequency sync a G83 approved inverter shuts itself off during a power cut, thus avoiding frying some poor utility worker in a ditch !!

All my grid tie inverters have 'Island Protection' so in case of power failure they shutdown. I've tested this by turning off mains supply (from meter) and can confirm that the inverters do not output any power.

[big-paul]

Were looking to take plunge and have got a surveyor coming out next week hopefully. We're looking at 5kW system with a PV harvester and smart energy management system. All things being equal we should have it installed in the next 2 weeks. In NI it is ROC payments instead of FIT but the same thing really, we should be getting in the region of about £700 per year plus not paying for out leccy in daytime and any excess leccy makes about 5p per unit. It is more expensive than we thought though (looks like it will cost about £13k) but they do finance so we'll cough up £6k up front and repay the rest. Source be free and clear in less than 5 years. Can't wait now

[Tim.Lad]

To be honest mate that seems a bit expensive I'm not even sure what a PV harvester is can you post some details

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[big-paul]

Apparently the harvester maximises the output from the cells. Ordinarily they only output at the power of the lowest cell. So if one cell is shaded then it lowers the output of them all. With the harvester it takes all of the output from all of the cells.

[Tim.Lad]

Ahhhh more commonley known as Micro inverters or PV optimization.. do you have any shading issues i`e large trees neighboring houses that may cause shadows on you system ?

[big-paul]

We're pretty urban so some shading from our own house and the houses next door.