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Electricity Use With Solar Panels

AncientMariner
I have just been asked about solar panels in a domestic environment and not wanting to guess and likely get it wrong, thought best to ask here.


With solar panels are you paid for what you generate in total, ie the output from the inverter? Or are you paid for the net amount that you actually export ie the difference between the inverter output and whatever is being used in the property?  


Thanks.

Clive



  • 0
    The cost of installation has dropped considerably.  I was one of the "lucky" ones to install in 2010 and benefit from the high FIT rate.  My 3.6 kWp installation in the London area cost £10959, and that was a relatively cheep quote.  And at the time the risks were relatively unknown, the generation "predictions" were clearly optimistic if you took the trouble to look at the historical solar radiation levels for your location, and you have to factor in things such as the orientation (you are lucky if your roof points due south) and the angle of the roof.  Being something of a geek I have records of the generation on a week-by-week basis since installation.


    In the event I paid back my investment in 9 years and am now in profit assuming that I had not invested the nearly £11000 in something else.


    David
  • 0
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    Both the installers and the customers say that installing a PV system with batteries is worthwhile even withoutthe feed in tariff. 


    The batteries keep the lights working if there's a power cut,  which is an added bonus. 


    Andy B.
  • 0
    Yes, Solar PV can still be a good investment - but only for a very few.

    The main problem is that only a few suppliers are paying for the exported electricity and then only 5p per kWh, and why should they, the wholesale price can be less than this. If, however, you use substantial quantities of electricity when the sun is shining then the economics may be favourable. One place I know has a mobile mast off the same meter (with a sub meter on the feed to the mast) this gives a constant 5kW load all day every day - very nice. Another is an office with lights on and 10 computers running so again a reasonable daytime load.

    And all this talk of batteries only tells half the story. Yes, a battery costing £5000 might store 4kWh excess during the day for use at night but what they don't tell you is that a typical 4kW system only generates more than 6kWh on about 250 days a year. (6kWh gives 2kWh to be used during the day and 4kWh to charge the battery). This means that on 100 days a year the battery is not fully charged by evening, and on 50 days it is not charged at all.

    A bigger battery could store a few days at a time but I calculated a battery big enough to store the summer excess for use in winter is going to cost about £1/2 million. Not so attractive!

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