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Original poster

Have you converted your home to solar?

16 replies

WhyMeLord · 03/02/2022 12:52

Given the announcement on energy prices, DH will no doubt dust off our conversation about installing solar panels on our house. I think we are good candidates as we expect to live here for 20+ years and have a good sized south facing roof.

When I've looked at it before I find all the information a bit overwhelming and a lot of it is from companies with a vested interest in selling you solar panels so if anyone has experience of going from gas cooker and central heating to solar power then I'd be grateful for your insight. What were the costs to install and ongoing? How did you go about finding someone to install? What were / are the pitfalls? Did you have to replace radiators, pipework etc? What other options did you consider (I don't think a heat pump would work for us as our house is 100 years old).

Thanks in advance for your help!

OP posts:

cherryredz · 03/02/2022 16:11

We had a salesman give us the overview last week (we agreed to talk to him as a favour for a friend who works for the company) - it was interesting.

As far as I can see it would cost us around £10,000 to install 9 panels and battery, this is the all in cost including scaffolding, men to install etc.

For this we would generate enough electricity to cover our use and export some to the grid - they reckoned in total a saving of £850 a year so it would repay itself after 10-11 years. We are on the South coast so get a reasonable amount of sunshine but it relies on the existing feed in tariff being available and us rejigging our appliances to use more during the day. If we had an electirc car it would make it more worthwhile. Longer term it might be viable to replace the gas heating with an electric but the cost (in money and environmentally) of taking out gas and installing electirc is too much currently. But this might change in the future as we move away from gas.

Having solar would improve the energy performance certificate for our house which apparently means it would be easier to sell. We were also told that having solar would make our house more desirable and sellable but I was a bit sceptical about that.

In terms of practical arrangements once its was installed there wouldnt be any changes needed apart from a new smart meter.

In the end we decided not to do it as we're not sure we'll be here for 10 years plus we have other uses for our savings and taking out a loan/ increasing the mortgage wouldnt be viable. Maybe it would be viable now that our electricity bill is set to increase?

In terms of finding a supplier its a bit hit and miss - I guess find one in your local area and then get them to come and give you quotes. Ask locally for recommendations?

earsup · 03/02/2022 16:20

I have a quote for 5k....did lots of research and sent my findings to a friend in spain who is in the business....i will do it in a few years once my cheap fix price deal ends. i will find the co details and post later.

Original poster

WhyMeLord · 03/02/2022 17:37

Thank you, that's an interesting read . Hadn't considered doing it in stages, ie doing the electric now and keeping the gas boiler til it craps out to spread the cost.

OP posts:

DameCelia · 03/02/2022 17:41

Just make sure you get and keep all the structural engineer's certificates you'll be getting included in that 'all in' price . You will need to hand them over when you sell if you ever want to sell to someone who needs a mortgage.

HotPenguin · 03/02/2022 17:44

Hi, you are unlikely to be able to heat your house over the winter using solar, so keep the boiler. But solar can replace your electricity use. You can also use any spare solar energy to heat your hot water tank (if you have one), saving you gas.

FurierTransform · 03/02/2022 19:21

There's no way round it aside from creating an excel sheet and working out if it's actually financially worthwhile for your specific circumstances.
You need to work out your own /anticipated future consumption profile, & you can get real world solar generation data online.
I'd ignore anything a solar sales company tells you.
Generalisation: Solar can make sense but for most people on the UK it doesn't (it's a constantly changing picture though obviously). Home battery storage very rarely makes sense.

Fifthtimelucky · 03/02/2022 22:13

We are having solar panels fitted in the spring and are paying £7,700 for 16 panels and a battery. The battery accounts for just over £2,000 of it.

We were told that it makes more sense to get a battery than to sell excess power back to the grid. The electric companies would pay us less for ´our´ electricity than we would have to pay them for theirs, so we want to use as much of our own as we can. Obviously the cost of the battery needs to be taken into account though.

We are keeping our gas boiler and are not replacing radiators etc at this stage. We are expecting to get an electric car in the next year or two though so it will be nice to be able to charge that with our own electricity.

parietal · 03/02/2022 22:31

we have solar panels on the roof & use them for electricity in the house (dishwasher & washing machine mainly) and to charge the electric car. They were installed v quickly (1 day) and everything runs smoothly. And we just had an email offering us more money for the electricity we put into the grid. We still have a boiler for heating & hot water.

my DH did the calculations so I don't know the figures, but I think we'd break even over 10 years. But we did it to be green, not just to save money.

earsup · 03/02/2022 23:44

Hi
found the details....company is UPS solar....as stated i looked at several....sent all info to friend in the business and also friend who is retired national grid electrician....he has had panels for over 20 years and is on the old good fit deal....he also analysed all the info and suggested this company...i am doing mine next year after some new tiles are fitted or roof section replaced etc but am on a good fixed tarriff until 2023 so may wait until then.,

RampantIvy · 04/02/2022 00:13

We had solar panels installed 10 years ago, and I estimate that they have paid for themselves. We were lucky that we got them done just before the feed in tariff went down. We get all of our utilities except water from one supplier, so for the last ten years the feed in tariff covered our gas, electricity, telephone and broadband for the most part.

I hope that our provider doesn't go under. I doubt that we will end the year in credit either, but getting the panels was one of the best decisions we ever made.

SauvignonGrower · 04/02/2022 00:21

We are getting them this year with a battery for storage. We've got some rooms with electric underfloor heating and have an electric car, so should manage to use enough without selling back to the grid. Expecting it to cost £10k. Large south facing roof on eastern side of country so we reckon it'll work out fine for us.

Invasionofthegutsnatchers · 04/02/2022 02:56

We did this 8 years ago and the panels have paid for themselves now. We sell excess power back to the grid. DH likes geeking over the data box on a sunny day!

Definitely worth doing if you're not selling for a while and your roof faces south. I don't even notice the panels are there. We've just had them cleaned which is recommended once a year.

alwayscrashinginthesamecar1 · 04/02/2022 03:45

I have solar, but I am in Oz so its a no brainer. My friends are looking into installing it on their new build and were told not to buy a battery yet as they aren't worth it yet, wait a few years until the price comes down and the technology improves. We just try to run the washing machine , pool pump etc during the day, as its more cost effective to use the power than sell it back to the grid. Our power bills are tiny, I love my solar!

FoggySpecs · 04/02/2022 04:39

My parents live elsewhere but got a high electricity bill in the early 90s and switched to solar, they have had the same panels ever since (german apparently) they've paid for themselves many times over. Apparently most are now Chinese and not as well made or durable. They now live pretty much off grid and have tiny carbon footprint.

JumperJump · 04/02/2022 04:42

@alwayscrashinginthesamecar1

Same, we’ve had it for two years but haven’t added a battery yet. It’s likely to pay itself off in within another two years.

PigletJohn · 04/02/2022 09:09

If you are in the UK, and will not be getting the FITS subsidy (paid out of money charged to the other customers) then it is not a profitable proposition.

Compare the "payback" calculation with the results of investing the sum in your pension or something. You are at "payback" from day 1, and all growth after that is "profit." What might it be worth in 5, 10 or 20 years?

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