Latest moan from me and you!!!

My moan is the way time seems to go quicker when your enjoying youreslf

 

Join the club.

Hi Wobbly, that's a myth!

I've been running a test with my panels (facing almost due South) and my cousin's panels (facing almost due East). He has had his panels for 18 months and I've had mine just over 8 months.

We have installed exactly the same system with both of us having a Bluetooth monitor so that we can record the daily/monthly/yearly production. It plugs into the computer and my cousin wrote some software to extract the full details from it. It records the output every ten minutes and stores it in an Excel spreadsheet.

His first year's output was 3,450 kWh . A very respectable amount.
My output so far is 2,959.12 kWh (monitor is sitting next to the computer ) and I have 81 days to go to the end of my first year. So I should end up with somewhere around 3,800 - 4,000 kWh. Just 10% more than him.

He has a house and I have a bungalow, so he will have the sun hitting his panels before mine - the sun has to rise higher for me. This is only relevant mainly between the vernal equinox and Spring equinox (explained by the next statement )

After Spring equinox the sun rises in the North East and sets in the North West - it traverses more of the sky during the Spring/Summer. During the Spring/Summer months he gets the sun on his roof in the mornings up to two and a half hours earlier than I do - but loses it about four and a half hours earlier. So it's not an enormous difference.

According to our records the earlier, morning, sunshine seems to produce more electricity than the later, afternoon/evening sunshine. Maybe because of less air pollution, although we both live in the country. There would also be a slight difference because he's in Kent and I'm in Essex.

End result:- it doesn't really matter about comparisons as getting over 3,000 kWh is well worth the investment.

I'm happy to discuss details (costs/returns) if you want to PM me.

 

Ground level is fine if there's a clear sky view. Unfortunately there rarely is in Walsall!

 

Be wary of doing that! Is the roof structurally sound enough to take the weight? Do you have power to the garage? Is there room to put the inverter? You don't need much space for it. Is it easy enough to run a cable back to your meter?

If they're installing it for nothing then you won't be getting the Feed In Tariff, the installers will! All you will get is any electricity you use as it's coming in.

PM me if you want to talk about the pros and cons of the different ways of going about it.

 

That's good. They'll need to run the feed from the inverter to your meter so that it passes unused electricity back into the national grid. That should all be down to the installers, as should be the decision whether to change your meter if it isn't digital.

The installers will decide whether it's worth them spending the money on the installation. It depends on how much electricity they calculate the panels would produce. If they don't think it will reach the level at which they will make a high enough return (through the FIT) then they won't install it even if it is a viable proposition.

I reckon that I shall get my full capital back in five years and then it's pure profit - not quite, because the inverter will probably need replacing by year ten. I'll make more than that back in a single year.

It should show a return of 15% p.a. compound. A better return than the measly sum the banks give. Illustrations, based on government proscribed calculations, will normally show between 8% and 11%. Still a good return.

 

Smelly people anywhere near me!