Re: Solar PV

[Mark Hindess <list-ukha@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

On 3 September 2010 at 18:43, "darren_karp2001"
<darren.karp@xxxxxxx>
wrote:
>
> Hi all,
>
> Has anyone installed a Solar PV system in their home? I've been doing
> a little research into it and the costs but would be interested to
> learn if after all the expense whether any real savings have been made
> and if the claimed amount of electricity these units produce are true.

We had our panels commissioned on 18th August so it is too early to tell
if they earn what we expect especially as the weather was pretty
rubbish for the first two weeks.  Our system is rated at 3.76kWp and
has produced 238 kWh since about midday on the 18th.  That's made us
approximately 110GBP which isn't bad but my gut feeling is that we
need to be making more in these (supposedly) summer weeks to make the
expected annual generation of 3215 kWh/year.  I'm planning to use NASA
insolation data (http://aom.giss.nasa.gov/srlocat.html)
to figure out
how much we should expect to be generating throughout the year and
see if it is living up to expectations.  I'll try to remember to post
something here when I get around to doing that.

This week there have been some good days with the panels producing more
than the spec.  This is apparently typical as panels have a guaranteed
power output for a number of years so they tend to start above the
spec'd value in order to ensure that they'll meet the guaranteed
requirement in years to come.

We created a simple calculator while trying to make a purchasing
decision at:

http://www.pvsolarpanelcalculator.co.uk/

It makes some assumptions like assuming your system will fall in to the
best category for Feed-in-Tariffs.  (There's also a link to a document
about the Feed-in-Tariffs for those that aren't aware of the governments
generous scheme.)

It certainly looks like a good investment in theory.  We see how it works
out in practice.  However, it helps that we have no plans to move, live
in the South and have an almost south-facing house, max out ISAs, pay
higher tax, etc. so it might not suit everyone.

I'd be happy to discuss our choice of installer off-list too.

HTH,
Mark.




------------------------------------

<*> Join the Automated Home Forums
http://www.automatedhome.co.uk/vbulletin/