Solar panels

[beguilingeyes]

We are vaguely thinking about getting solar panels. Would anyone recommend them? Or a reputable company for installation? We are in East London.

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Updated by MNHQ
Landed on this page in search of solar panel advice? Find our guide to installing solar panels in your home in the UK. HTH!

I'm not local to give a recommendation but we got ours in January (with battery) and so far they've been fab in terms of reducing electricity bills. I think they're down by about £350 a month. Ok, we've had some good weather but still.

I guess the only thing is if you don't have a garage then you need a bit of space to store the battery (if indeed you want one). But the company should be able to advise on this.

We paid about £12k in West Midlands and also signed up to export money to the grid in case of oversupply so should make some money from them too.

I did see an article about the increased risks of fire from solar panels so make sure you get a decent company to install.

I think they should be mandatory on all new buildings!

have had solar panels for 11 years, added a battery this year - very much recommend. I would say prices have come down a bit this year - and the no vat has helped. The company that installed my battery has been signalling that prices have levelled off and they are currently advertising a good deal. They are in Doncaster but cover most of the country. PM if you would like more details. I can only recommend their battery install as that was all they did for me but were very helpful with my queries and follow up questions. They do solar and battery btw

If you can't afford a battery just yet then look at Octopus SEG tariff. they pay 15p per kWh for energy you generate. If you don't already have a smart electric meter get one installed now though because it takes ages.

Had them installed march 2022, local authority scheme,cost 8.5k,12 panels,2 batteries. We're in the SE UK. We didn't get a say in installers, obviously council together with "solar Together", use the cheapest quote. They were arseholes. 2 bedroom detached bungalow,cook with electricity, emersion heater, mostly since march when clocks went forward,our own electricity is covered, no gas required,we just pay the SDC. We were already with octopus,and the 15p export tariff is the best ATM,we are getting roughly £80 export.

Making between 20& 30kw per day.

Octopus don't pay you 15p for each kw you generate. It's 15p export tariff if you are on the fixed,and then you just get 15p per kw on the export,of any electricity you don't use. After we had the solar panels installed, and the smart meter,it was really complicated obtaining the certification (this is from your grid area) to send to your supplier,to obtain export tariff,it took several months. The installers didn't tell us how to go about this. We also were not informed, you have to let your insurance company know, because you have made a structural alteration to the property.

Yep go for it. We reckon ours will pay for themselves in 5-6 years, so to get your money back you need to stay put, that said in the future I think they could add value to a home
you def want a battery so think about where to put it- ours is in the garage

Meant to add, we don’t get any feed in tariffs because we use all the power we generate via the battery (any excess goes into our EV) .

Our inverter (which changes DC direct current to AC
alternating current is in the loft with the 2 batteries.

We had them installed in April this year as part of a home improvement mission. We are in Rotherham and used a local company https://allseasonsenergy.co.uk/. Cost was about £10,000 for 10 panels and battery. A lot of people are very negative towards solar panels but it's saved us a fortune over the summer months. The savings basically pay off the finance. We are still addicted to the app we use to monitor the system and they are still happy to talk to us if we have any questions 😀

I don't think there is the negativity towards solar as there is towards heat pumps.

Solar in general is a lot simpler a proposition than a heat pump and my guess is that most people are happy with their installation.

There are a few things to watch out for, dodgy installers and dodgy deal terms.

But provided you aren't a vampire and use most of your electricity at night they are pretty simple to do the CBA on.

Sorry. I've been away for a few weeks - it's great to be back in sunny South Yorkshire 🙄

I agree with your comments on heat pumps. There seems to be a huge push on them at the moment, with both Octopus and OVO releasing products or packages to encourage people have them. Expect if anyone is going to make it happen it will be the big energy companies.