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[Varche]

Living in a sunny country and with prices of kit coming down plus electric going up, we took the plunge.

Ordered in April. Lots of delays. Hardest thing was getting a digger to dig four holes of a cu metre each. All the diggers are making good money working on the myriad of huge solar farms.

Anyway. We have a stand alone frame 5 x 4 metres , high enough to park a transit under. 16 panels ((2 by 1 m).   7.5 kw, a similar sized invertor and batteres. The latter are still quite expensive.

Still got mains connection but that is just for security. Also not worth disconnecting as reconnection costs a fortune here and takes ages. So will still be paying monthly standing charge.

Quite a complex install as we have 3 phase electric and a three phase well pump for irrigation and swimming pool water. Rural properties are served with 3 phase over twisted bell wire. As a result we can only have 5.5 kw max ( over that it trips)

I keep popping in to see how much is being generated. Any excess goes into the grid and after a wait of months the grid company agrees to pay you a tiny payment. Might be EU grant money available but I wont hold my breath. We do get half price council tax for a couple of years.

Payback? At least ten years but we didn’t do it to save money. We could well be dead before break even day!

Anyone else got panels or their own windmill?

[TheBoy]

No

[STEMO]

No

Surprised you haven't invested in this kind of thing, you being a vegan an all 

[scimmy_man]

we fitted solar on the house roof about 10-11 years back
due to a cock up with installer we just missed the higher payback tarriff

I like the idea of a freestanding carport solar kit, can I ask what kind of costing are you on?

[Lizzie Zoom]

No

Surprised you haven't invested in this kind of thing, you being a vegan an all 

.............and your huge energy bill with running the OOF...

[Varche]

we fitted solar on the house roof about 10-11 years back
due to a cock up with installer we just missed the higher payback tarriff

I like the idea of a freestanding carport solar kit, can I ask what kind of costing are you on?

Well lets not get too excited. It is located in our olive grove between mature trees. I can get our 4x4  under it but wouldnt dream of taking a road car there. I think a future owner of the property would install an ev charger point next the house. What do you mean by what kind of costing are you on?

[jonathanh]

Got a 3.6kw system here. I reckon 3 -4 year payback period including batteries which should arrive in September

[Mr Skrunts]

Not yet

But my plan is for a 5/10 acre solor farm (Field basesd)
Plus roof panels over my garage extention.

Also looking into solor roofed green house.

Plus looked at Ground force water & heat supplies etc.

Lots of daft questions in my head still.  Prob the daftest one is what happens during a power and the batteries are full, what happens to the leccy that feeds back into the grid - do the neighbers end up on free power?

Also looking into Bio mass boilers, need underfloor heating for the garage extentios & keeping the pool warm.

Cost versus return obviously a big thing

[dave the builder]

Not yet

But my plan is for a 5/10 acre solor farm (Field basesd)
Plus roof panels over my garage extention.

Also looking into solor roofed green house.

Plus looked at Ground force water & heat supplies etc.

Lots of daft questions in my head still.  Prob the daftest one is what happens during a power and the batteries are full, what happens to the leccy that feeds back into the grid - do the neighbers end up on free power?

Also looking into Bio mass boilers, need underfloor heating for the garage extentios & keeping the pool warm.

Cost versus return obviously a big thing

You can heat water (for baths, washing etc) if your batteries are full  or power electric underfloor heating .
obviously ,making your home more efficient in the first place is money well spent , good insulation, efficient appliances etc 

[Varche]

I think a common theme of new owners is looking at usage very regularly and thinking of load balancing. The electrician is monitoring our system via the app and asked us not to use it! Fine by me as plenty else to do.

Panels sell for 164 euros in our B and Q equivalent.

[jonathanh]

Not yet

But my plan is for a 5/10 acre solor farm (Field basesd)
Plus roof panels over my garage extention.

Also looking into solor roofed green house.

Plus looked at Ground force water & heat supplies etc.

Lots of daft questions in my head still.  Prob the daftest one is what happens during a power and the batteries are full, what happens to the leccy that feeds back into the grid - do the neighbers end up on free power?

Also looking into Bio mass boilers, need underfloor heating for the garage extentios & keeping the pool warm.

Cost versus return obviously a big thing

5/10 acres is a big investment. And will take a lot of effort to get going. Getting it past planning for one thing.  Plus you could be looking at a substantial bill from the DNO to upgrade their equipment.

Then need to look at the tarrif you get cos I doubt it will be micro generation

[Viral_Jim]

I don't have one yet, mostly because I've never planned to stay in a house more than 2-3yrs. That's changed now and I will be investing in solar (and probably a battery) soon enough. With energy prices where they are, I reckon a payback of around 4-5yrs is realistic on the SSW facing roof of our new place.

[jonathanh]

Given the prices that MCS approved fitters charge the only way to get 4-5 year payback is DIY fit I’m afraid and I would suggest buying the kit in the winter now. No way you’ll get anything decent before September

[Sir Tigger KC]

I've been pondering fitting a DIY 12V solar system like they use in caravans and boats etc just for lights.

My house is a bungalow, so wiring in a 12V DC lighting circuit alongside the existing 240v light circuits would be fairly straight forward, and I'd have thought that modern 12V LED lights would throw out enough light? 

Last time I looked, the solar panels, a control unit, a few leisure batteries and other bits and bobs would probably come in at under £1500 and my house is kinda SE facing so I get plenty of sun in the mornings.

I'm not sure if I would save enough just on the lights to make it worthwhile though. 

It would probably look a bit 'Heath Robinson' as well, so I'm not sure my neighbours would approve either! 

[STEMO]

I've been pondering fitting a DIY 12V solar system like they use in caravans and boats etc just for lights.

My house is a bungalow, so wiring in a 12V DC lighting circuit alongside the existing 240v light circuits would be fairly straight forward, and I'd have thought that modern 12V LED lights would throw out enough light? 

Last time I looked, the solar panels, a control unit, a few leisure batteries and other bits and bobs would probably come in at under £1500 and my house is kinda SE facing so I get plenty of sun in the mornings.

I'm not sure if I would save enough just on the lights to make it worthwhile though. 

It would probably look a bit 'Heath Robinson' as well, so I'm not sure my neighbours would approve either! 

Yeah. Car headlights dangling from the ceiling would look a bit weird