Talk to me about solar panels.

tek-monkey

wanna see my snake?
EDIT: There are grants to install a charging point in your property, but only for landlords not for home owners!
Just to follow this up, if you live in an apartment they will offer help but not a house. Landlords can apply for any type of property.
 

c0tt0nt0p

Well-Known Forumite
More and more tempted to go for solar and battery, but just got to get my head around everything. Can the batteries be stored anywhere? Don't want to put them in the loft, which leaves the garage or the front room which we use as an office. Garage is at the end of the back garden (consumer unit is by the front door).

Our power eac is 3250kwh a year but if we could have stored power then potentially I could use the immersion heater in the water tank rather than the gas boiler...
 

tek-monkey

wanna see my snake?
More and more tempted to go for solar and battery, but just got to get my head around everything. Can the batteries be stored anywhere? Don't want to put them in the loft, which leaves the garage or the front room which we use as an office. Garage is at the end of the back garden (consumer unit is by the front door).

Our power eac is 3250kwh a year but if we could have stored power then potentially I could use the immersion heater in the water tank rather than the gas boiler...
Bear in mind gas is still less than a third of electric costs per kwh, but if you could use the immersion purely off spare solar then that fed into the gas boiler you'd get the best of both worlds? As for fitting, a lot depends on the type of system. Grid tied batteries need an AC feed whereas offline ones a DC (I think?), so an off grid would need DC from the panels going back to the garage then come back again to the consumer unit. A grid tied system should (and I stress here I don't know for sure!) just need an AC feed but I don't know how it knows what is 'spare' solar and what is grid energy.
 

c0tt0nt0p

Well-Known Forumite
Bear in mind gas is still less than a third of electric costs per kwh, but if you could use the immersion purely off spare solar then that fed into the gas boiler you'd get the best of both worlds? As for fitting, a lot depends on the type of system. Grid tied batteries need an AC feed whereas offline ones a DC (I think?), so an off grid would need DC from the panels going back to the garage then come back again to the consumer unit. A grid tied system should (and I stress here I don't know for sure!) just need an AC feed but I don't know how it knows what is 'spare' solar and what is grid energy.
The boiler feeds an unvented hot water tank which also has an immersion heater in it which we've never had to use. So it would purely be used when we had spare....
 

BobClay

Well-Known Forumite
Yeah did if a few years ago with a medical centre in Bristol. The executor of my will has the number (she's a family member) and will call them to come and pick up the stiff when I go 'silent key.' (Sparky's term for a croaker.) I'm not a believer or in anyway religious and I don't see any point in occupying a bit of ground that could be put to better use, like growing rhubarb or something.
No funeral or any of that, and if I get enough notice I'll put a bit of money behind the bar at my local so everyone can have a drink and celebrate that the grumpy old fu**** has finally checked out. :P:P:P
 

Theresa Green

Well-Known Forumite
Q

If there is a power outage / cut ..

Would a solar panel set up provide emergency electricity?

Or is that something else entirely..
 

BobClay

Well-Known Forumite
What you need is torches (preferably chargeable from an independent solar source,) candles ...... and a good rifle. :heyhey::P:angry:
 

Gramaisc

Forum O. G.
If it was sunny? Really you'd want a battery system for civil unrest power cuts.
What you need is torches (preferably chargeable from an independent solar source,) candles ...... and a good rifle. :heyhey::P:angry:
Flaming torches are the way.

However, where I am, the squad has been checking that people are adhering to the 'pitchforks only' policy in the current dry conditions.

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Withnail

Well-Known Forumite
We just did this. Panels on the roof and batteries in the garage.

I am not the 'details' guy.

I could get my people to talk to your people but not in the open.
 

Lucy

Well-Known Forumite
I'd be interested in talking.

Need to ring the council and check I can have them in a conservation area; but newer houses on the road do...
 

Cue

Well-Known Forumite
From what I can gather the short of it is you’d be looking at 10-15k for both if you’ve got a decently sized roof.

That being said, solar is the new uPVC so there’s almost as many shysters around trying to promise things and charging stupid money as people don’t know how much it should cost.
 

tek-monkey

wanna see my snake?
Started the switch to octopus, means dropping out of my current fix early but thats offset by the referral credit anyway. I'll then try to swap to the go tariff asap.
 
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