Solar System Performance - 2 year review

RE: Solar System Performance - 2 year review

neilk — Wed, 19 Feb 2020 14:06:43 GMT

Hi Ralph

Yes, a 5 year payback is pretty damn good. I looked into it here in the UK about 6 or more years ago. Costs were higher but so were subsidies and pay back for excess electricity. Even so, my payback, on the most optimistic calculations, was 11 years - at the age of 66, I decided to keep my money invested.

I was also concerned about total carbon footprint if you take into account manufacturing and recycling costs

Since then, the view from my conservatory has gained a group of wind turbines..........another technology which does not appear to justify itself on total carbon footprint!

Neil

RE: Solar System Performance - 2 year review

kmikemoo — Mon, 17 Feb 2020 03:21:17 GMT

[mention:dc11ece8204f479e8dce2a47a33b20d3:e9ed411860ed4f2ba0265705b8793d05] Awesome update. It's still very impressive that you generate as much as you consume. I agree with [mention:5113eb164b024bb2b527087f480871a9:e9ed411860ed4f2ba0265705b8793d05] that a 5-year payback is very respectable. While you don't have optimal sun, you do live in the beautiful, lush green Great North West. What you don't have in sun you have in scenery. It's gorgeous up there.

RE: Solar System Performance - 2 year review

three-phase — Sun, 16 Feb 2020 22:00:50 GMT

Interesting update on your solar panel system. A 5 year payback is pretty respectable, especially given that there is no payment for excess generated.

All subsidies and feed in tariffs for solar are now gone in the UK and they earn their keep by reducing the electricity take from the Grid of payments for the actual energy exported to the Grid when there is excess, so the installation of them appears to be slowing down now.

Kind regards.

RE: Solar System Performance - 2 year review

dubbie — Sun, 16 Feb 2020 17:32:14 GMT

I must admit when I first saw this title I thought you had installed a planetary solar system model(?) on your roof and I was intrigued as to how (and why!) you wanted planets on your roof.

It was interesting to see the real-life costings of this system rather than just theory. Your system seems to be doing very well. It is not so widely known that solar panel voltage output drops as they heat up (they have a negative temperature co-efficient) otherwise they would just heat up until they exploded! You can also lose up to 10% of the power if the surface gets dirty so the panels really need to be cleaned regularly - not something always easy to do.

In the UK any excess power can be sold back to the system although most systems are smaller than needed due to the limited grants provided by the government, soon to disappear all together I think. I do not have a set as I am more worried about my roof blowing off due to the extra strain. Technically, if calculating the carbon footprint you have to include the cost of manufacturing the panels, which I believe might be great than any energy related carbon saving, although that might have changed now due to mass production and better technology.

Dubbie