Government grant solar panels

[BurntBroccoli]

Hi has anyone had any experience of solar panel installation via a government grant scheme?
My LA asked for EOIs and as a single person I meet the criteria as off gas grid and low income.

A company called Yes Energy solutions left a message to call them but I wanted to do some research first!
I know nothing about domestic solar installation at all but I do have a south east facing garden and that half of house gets sun pretty much all day.
Thanks for any help.

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Updated by MNHQ
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We went with impact energy if they operate in your area. They did a good job. We're with eon next for the tariff & they pay 16.5p feed back tariff which is pretty good going

Yes. The process had terrible communication from e achem to various subcontract layers, but the scheme fitted solar to my house for free. Amazing really. One thing to be aware of is that the cable runs will be on the walls in conduit because it's cheap unless you make it easier for the fitter to hide them than it would be to fit conduit (I lifted floorboards).
Also the panels were sized to the available inverter rather than the maximum that works fit on the roof. Makes financial sense so ok.

I had issues with my main fuse which had to be replaced before the smart meter could be fitted to then get paid for export of excess generation to the grid. If you don't have a smart meter arrange to get ove fitted now (and tell them you are going solar so you get the version 2)..

Once fitted and all the paperwork is complete you can register with electric company to be paid for export to the grid.
Octopus pay 15p pet kilowatt hour that goes to the grid. I'm getting over £40 a month since April (gas heating, water and cooking, I have a South facing roof). Over the year I think I'll generate twice as much electric as I use. So my electric bill nets to zero.

Go for it.

Thanks so much. I would never have even thought about where the cables would go!
How big is the battery? Could this go in a garage rather than the loft? Would feel it's safer there.
I could basically run the panels for hot water in the summer I think using existing immersion instead of oil.

Oh how many panels do you have? Are they just on one side of the roof?

@Rollercoaster1920

You would need a Iboost or Eddi to control the immersion to heat the water.

You can only sign up for Smart Export Guarantee if you are the property owner if it’s a LA house the certificates needed to
make the application will be sent to the LA.

It will be easier for the fitters to install the battery and inverter in the garage especially if the fuse board is near by.

Depending on battery brand it could be the size of a DVD player (Plyontech) to one that’s 1.2mtr heigh weighing 25kg (Solaredge)

Ask if bird proofing is provided. Under these schemes the panels are usually installed on roof. Many residents go in to have issues with birds nesting under the array.

who will own the panels? If you are the homeowner ownership needs to be passed to you or could cause issues with a future sale.

Thank you - yes the main power leads to the garage where the meter is so think that would be straight forward.

Definitely need to ask about the bird protection!

I have 6 or 8 panels, but that's not the important number. The sub contract company that designs and installs may have larger or smaller panels. Mine is a 6KW array and no battery. Just on the south facing roof. As you are off gas I expect you qualify for a battery (great!). Worth asking the surveyor about adding water heating because I expect that is a lot of your energy use.

No bird proofing and we have a pigeon nest already.
Inverter went in the loft, I am terraced so no garage.

My house is owned (mortgaged) but I qualified for the scheme. Once installed the panels were owned by me. There is a two year insurance backed guarantee. It really was the council effectively giving a £6k solar panel install away for free.

@Rollercoaster1920
Thanks again - really helpful.

How long does the installation take? Assume scaffolding has to be erected?

I had 14 panels installed on a garage roof in a morning, no scaffolding. The battery weighed 250 kilos.

On a house scaffolding is needed.
Timeline was
Apply: summer
Survey: autumn
Install: April

Scaffolding went up 2 weeks before.
Panels installed in a day
Connection and test the following day. So operational.

Paperwork took about 3 months or more.
Had a follow up check by the council about 5 months later. Who sent the installers back to tidy up some wires over the panels (I thought they were fine visually but could rub on the roof in the wind so a short circuit risk).

How many solar panels were fitted . I have been told three 460 panels with a 2.5 inverter

I have 8 x 375 watt longhi panels so a max 3 Kw array with a 3Kw Solis invertor. Different manufacturers and models have different size and power ratings. Invertor capacity needs to be equal to or higher than panel output.

Sadly Octopus have just announced they are lowering the export price to 12p per kwh. Last year I exported 2,500 Kwh which was £397.