Solar panels for residential house Post Reply

[Jonny Dyson Property Consultants]

I'm shamelessly copying a post by Julian the tennis coach from earlier on in the year, as I have exactly the same question!! Unfortunately he didn't seem to get any replies so I thought I'd try again:

I live off Northcote Road. I'm interested in installing solar panels for various reasons including reducing our domestic bills and our carbon footprint. Does anyone have any experience of doing that, recommendations, pitfalls to avoid etc?

Thanks very much,

​​​​​​​Jonny

[chorister]

I'm not sure if this really answers your question, as it is based on a study which looked at installing solar panels on the large flat roof of a block of flats, not on a domestic property.

However - you will reduce your carbon footprint, but the economics depends on the pattern of your consumption because of changes to the feed in tariff regime.  Basically if you are using electricity at the same time as you generate it then it will probably be economic (depending on installation costs) because of the electricity purchase costs you avoid, but if you would be relying on selling the electricity you generate back to the grid and buying when you need it then it probably wouldn't be.  It is a ludicrous counterintuitive incentive!  Installing batteries would almost certainly be uneconomic.

There are quite a few consultants, who seem to be more or less honest, who can advise (I'm not one of them).

[Jonny Dyson Property Consultants]

Thanks Chorister, appreciated.

I have done a fair amount of research so far, all of which supports your post.  I understand that having a battery for storing the electricity is pretty much vital (albeit as you say, expensive), however with children growing up and using more electrical kit, plus two of us working from home on a more or less permanent basis, it seems like this is the time to make a switch.  We're intending living here for the foreseeable future too so I don't expect it to add value to the house, it's more about trying to reduce costs, and be more environmentally aware.

Jonny

[aimochris]

You need to do your sums i.e.. how much will you need to invest to make sure you get something that does look like a return and how long does it need for that return to pay off the investment.
Solar panels are good when:
a) there is enough sun exposure (your roof needs to be a certain angle to maximise the exposure, it is better if you are south or south-west facing obviously and you need a lot of sunny days). 
b) how much is it going to reduce your electricity bill.

[calliwally]

We installed solar panels in our previous house. The outlay was quite expensive and we moved after 6 years so really did not see the full benefit, but if you are staying-put then that's a different matter. We had a Tesla storage battery, which in itself wasn't a huge cost, but the panels and the installation would take far longer to pay themselves back. 

Years ago the pay back from the feed in tariff was far better, but we didn't get much back honestly (it was paid quarterly). You get paid for the electricity you generate, not just the electricity you send to the grid, so as mentioned above it's correct in that using the electricity as it's made by running the washing machine, dishwasher etc during the day is best as once the battery is completely full, anything that is made goes to straight to the grid. If you are working from home then I'm sure this will benefit you as you will be using a lot during the day, but maybe not so much in the winter time honestly. We used to run the house in the evening fully from the battery even during most of the winter as well, as long as we were careful with how we used appliances, made sure to turn lights off etc.

I would get them installed again in our new house, but my husband wouldn't. I think the technology will change in the not too distant future

[chorister]

It's really interesting that despite all the growing concerns about climate change and 'going green' people (including me) look at this more or less entirely from a financial perspective.  Given the demographic around here there are many people who could just do it for its own sake without noticing the economics.

[calliwally]

@chorister sadly I think it's a catch 22 - until they become more cost effective, people can't afford to put them in and with London being quite transient and many people moving (as in our case) it makes it a non starter as they take 20 years to pay themselves back. We installed them it entirely for green reasons as soon as we moved from a flat to a house. We had previously tried to convince the other flat owners to install them for the communal areas, but it wasn't a goer! Believe me, a £14k bill when we had managed to afford a house in SW wasn't a simple choice for us as it may be for some, but we wanted to do the right 'green' thing. I have to say, looking at the figures compared with the green tariffs now that energy providers have available at the moment (and which weren't as readily available when we installed the panels), it's not economically viable for everyone, sadly. I'm not sure it's a simple matter of being able to afford it but also you need to consider the technology and we went into it quite 'green' without considering all of the environmental impacts of making the solar panels and then, what happens to them at the end of their lives. I've heard some good developments about roof tiles that are also solar panels, but really the technology will come on in leaps and bounds in the not too distant future. 

[chorister]

@Calliwally - Well, although I'm not an activist or anything I've been interested in this climate malarkey for at least 20 years now, and I really commend you for going into it carefully.  You are right, solar isn't for everyone, and the economics are certainly a problem for some.  The real argument is the climate one, and many (not all) people in Nappy Valley wouldn't even notice the cost - you can buy lots of solar panels for the price a Range Rover or Jaguar F Pace! 

The technology will improve, though solar panels are now quite close to their theoretical best efficiency.  The end of life issue is something to think about, but if you are interested then I'd suggest two things to think about - firstly, even if there is an end of life issue in say 20 years, that still buys 20 years to sort it out, and that time could be really vital at the moment.

And secondly, environmental and climate issues are ultimately not the same, and are sometimes actually in opposition to each other.  To give you one example, the Danish Environmental Protection Agency did a fascinating study on plastic bags - a single use LDPE shopping bag is over 50 times better for the climate than an organic cotton one, even though it may be worse environmentally ie you have to use the cotton one 50 times before it is better for the climate than 50 plastic ones (the study is available online in English).  The reason is counterintuitive - the environmental issue with plastic bags is that don't degrade and recycle; but that actually means that they lock up the carbon used to make them for a very long time, so it doesn't make it into the atmosphere (this is a bit of an over simplification, but the conclusion is right).

[EHMorris]

Had a leaflet recently from Wandsworth Council regarding a group/bulk buying scheme for panels - google Wansdworth Council Solar Together if you've interest