Thinking about installing some solar panels. Any tips on this as it’s very much in its infancy as an idea! Given feed in tariffs are now rubbish I assume payback is poor unless labour is very cheap (hence diy!)

What are the basic requirements I assume as well as panels, some sort of control unit to convert the power into 50hz, single phase is needed plus maybe a battery to store unused power.

Not sure it’s going to be cheaper to go DIY – scaffolding, roof supports & fixing of framework etc.
Plus you’ll need a spark to connect the G59 meter etc into your electrical system.

You’re looking £5-6k for a 4kW system – payback is probably looking at around 8-10 years depending on where you are and panel orientation etc.

Is that 6k for the materials or installed too? I didn’t (initially) plan to put them on the roof of my house. I was thinking of using a large shed.

Typical install prices based on the below:

Cost of solar panel installation.

following.

ive been wanting solar for years. gas prices are going up but electricity wont be as bad so im still not convinced

I’ve just done this. I have two setups.

1. 1.2kw system of 5 panels and micro inverter on the garage roof with an angled frame pointing South.

2. 1kw system of 4 panels and micro inverter on single extension pointing southwest

I managed to find a local company that had excess stock from installing panels for housing associations so picked them up for £40 each and inverters where £150 each. With everything, it comes to just under 1k but looking at getting an iBoost for the immersion at some point. Best I’ve had out of the system around 4.5kwh on a sunny day so is working and hasn’t burnt anything down yet.

How does the micro inverter link up to your house – does it just wire into the fuse board via another RCBO?

How did you decide on the sort of panel to get or was it just what there was that was cheapest. I can imagine solar panel marketing being like li-ion batteries; there are hundreds on Amazon / EBay all purporting to be a million mAH but in reality you’ll get no where near.

I paid 4700 installed for 4.06Kwp on my roof last summer.

It’s about 2grands worth of bits and bobs when I bought the same stuff for my oldmans house in France due to the costs over there…..

5 boys showed up and fitted them to my roof in 1 day , wired in and left me with a warrenty and an installation certificate I can chuck at the insurance should the house burn down(mate looks after council housing stock and they have had a spate of inverter fires off the back of cheap installs)

Most of all – due to my exposed location installation designer revised the design for mounting the panels on my roof incorporating a heavier duty bracketing system……much to my annoyance it was done at the 11th hour

Ours remained in situ through arwen…..others locally were not so lucky. One at carnie that I know was a self install ended up sprayed across the field next to the farm house

Seen 25kWh peak in august. December was the worst averaging 3-4kWh but November and January both much healthier at 6-8kWh – I’m at 57degrees north so I’d expect better further south.

But more than that. Year on year energy consumption has been half of the previous year every month the panels have been in situ so worth while for me.

following.

ive been wanting solar for years. gas prices are going up but electricity wont be as bad so im still not convinced

Per kWh cost for electricity will be close to £0.30p from April (the only reason they aren’t now is because of the cap) 100% increase over the last six months.

I’ve got an AC isolator and then into the fusebox on it’s own RCBO.

I’ve got 250/275w panels. They had a warehouse full of new and used panels but went with the new panels they had. They had loads of seconds 195w panels that had been taken off houses after a couple of years.

Lots of reviews about the ebay and amazon ones on youtube so worth doing some research but you can find one ebay one’s like these if they suite your budget.

Ebay

So the wiring the inverter in the mains is the part p to do but what about the panel array? This can be DIY I assume What sort of outside cable for this?

what about the panel array? This can be DIY I assume What sort of outside cable for this?

18th ed. wiring regulations still apply for the DC wiring but typically 4mm^2 TUV approved. MC4 connectors.

Remember to notify DNO (G98 form, assuming <3.6kWp)

Suggest you ask your insurer bluntly about third party coverage for self installed panels. Mine didn’t have a problem -I was so surprised I actually asked them twice- but it needs to be in accordance with all manufacturer specs incl. clamps and fastenings!

When checking load calculations don’t neglect the uplift (i.e. wind ripping the panels off can be a bigger issue than the weight of the panels on the roof)

Keep everything safe and legal.

Watching with interest, the only thing holding me backbat the mo is three very large trees that would need major crown reductions, unless I can do that DIY too it’s going to be cost prohibitive