thats misleading quoting like that since it makes it look like an investment with dividends and capital appreciation, with a typical investment the 8,000 euro initial capital can always be sold back to the market reclaiming your capital and usually asset appreciation. With solar panels you cannot get back your investment so you really need to be adding depreciation cost aswell for 10 years, 10% per year probably . Then after 10 years if the panels are still working you can use 17.5% return but probably the system won't be so effective after 10 years in operation.
Are domestic solar panels financially beneficial - or just ideological?
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The warranty documentation for my Trina solar panels states that their performance will decline by a maximum of 2 % after one year
and that the maximum degradation from year 2 to 25 will be 0.55% annually, meaning that after 10 years the panels will be about 93% as efficient as they are today. And the battery performance will decline; it is guaranteed to hold at least 60% of the full charge after a decade.
The expected lifetime of my inverter ranges between 10 - 15 years, so it will be approaching replacement time in a decade.
On the positive side, in ten years time, the price of replacement inverters and batteries is likely to have fallen significantly.
BIG-notorious
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The proof of the pudding is in the eating, and myself and anyone i know who gotten solar is getting a very good return on their investment.
The only people questioning the return on a solar panel investment are people who haven't gotten them and likely never will because it'd be in conflict with their world view. People who can do maths either have them already or are planning to.
The only people questioning the return on a solar panel investment are people who haven't gotten them and likely never will because it'd be in conflict with their world view. People who can do maths either have them already or are planning to.
That's gouging verging on outright theft. If you drop 65% over the going rate for anything it'll look like very poor value. But to be fair that's basically just another form of market segmentation- same kind of pricing strategy that has some people paying €45 a month for eir sim only while I pay them a third of that through gomo....
Today I dried 2 loads on the line, 2 loads in the dryer, 1 load on the clothes rack (still not dry) and I have another load in the washing machine. With working I am time poor so need to get stuff done as quickly as I can. But for the last 5 weeks I line dried everything, but that would be unusual for me.
To solve the clothes drying question while also delivering solar power, there's the option of a solar panel canopy, with a clothesline underneath. This keeps the rain off clothes while still letting the wind get to them. And you have panels on top for electricity generation.
A good site for analysing your solar quote. You definitely should get a few quotes and shop around, and evaluate suppliers. The FB page mentioned above is a good resource.
Having installed in March this year, with a couple of batteries and using a 'set and forget' strategy with the equipment, I have to say I'm delighted with the return, from a fairly modest 5.7kWp system on a south facing roof with a couple of batteries and a smart plan that allows me to take advantage of very cheap 2-5am rates (7c). Basically we charge the batteries at the 2-5 rate which lasts most of the day. What's produced from the panels is mostly exported to the grid at 19c, with the rest topping up the battery so it's fully charged to run the house in the evening/night when the system ism't producing. It's even possible to dump what's left in the battery back to the grid at the FIT rate before charging again at the 2-5 rate. This is not difficult to set up and is basically a bog standard approach. I could tweak it but you can get a bit obsessed with this stuff and I think it's important to remember that you want the electricity and the system to be working for you rather than the other way around!
Winter will obviously be different, but I will certainly post back here in March with a complete analysis of the first year of operation.
While it works for us - all electric house with teenagers, EV, annual usage of around 8,000 kW, obviously it's different for people in different situations.
It is certainly not 'ideological'.
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BIG-notorious
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The ideological people adopted earlier at higher cost points. For at least the last 18 months it's a financial decision not ideological.
Yeah it seems to lag current costs which are dropping. But I could probably have saved over a grand by waiting longer to install my panels but I would have spent the saving on electricity anyway so what's the point?
As with any significant purchase it's important to know what you're buying, do the maths using an appropriately detailed spreadsheet with correct data inputs and (maybe most importantly) shop around for suppliers of both panels and electricity- the biggest sunniest roof in the world isn't going to help you much if you're getting robbed on every side because you went with the first Instagram add you saw..
Got them three years ago. Added more last February. I figure they will have paid for themselves in four years time. Nothing particularly ideological about the decision. It makes financial sense and it is the right thing to do if you have the cash to do so.
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Family of 6 here and ours were installed 5 years ago its a 6kwp system. We were about 12 months off paying for themselves when I spent an additional 2.5k adding a battery to enable grid shifting. We're currently earning more than we spend on electricity and should have sufficient credit to get us through the winter to next spring. I also recently purchased a 2017 Nissan Leaf to cover all our short journeys and even charging it we're still building credit.
This is what I was thinking too, thank you for explaining it better than I could.
The quote I got over the phone was for 14 panels, no battery and it seemed, no interest in a site visit or talking through the options once he learned I wasn't availing of a grant which suggests to me that they know themselves that the inbuilt subsidy is making it all a bit of a ripoff.
A lot more info and food for thought here to be fair, thanks all!
The price they sell to you will include transmission charges to get the electricity from the generation point to you. Also there will be an element of profit and admin costs.
The electricity they buy from you will also have transmission charges and those charges are paid by the customer who "uses" your electricity.
That's a very simplistic description, but it's generally in the ballpark as an explanation.
Most estimates show that the energy created will offset the cost of installation within 7 years.
The prices of system installs has gone up massively in the last 5 years.
We got a 2.5kW system (small roof) for €2,400 in 2020, post grant.
These have already more than paid for themselves.
quoted €9100 today (net of grant) for a 6.1KW with inverter and 5kw battery.
They say €1900 savings a year, but base that off 34c a unit whereas real world use is 30% night rate at 14c and 70% day rate at 27c. (increase taken into account) So in reality its €1335 and that is if you generate and use the 5700 units they say.
I'm always skeptical of sales people so I'll take 20% off their figures. So about €90 a month savings. 8 years payback.
If I can get someone to under 8k, I'll do it
They say €1900 savings a year, but base that off 34c a unit whereas real world use is 30% night rate at 14c and 70% day rate at 27c. (increase taken into account) So in reality its €1335 and that is if you generate and use the 5700 units they say.
I'm always skeptical of sales people so I'll take 20% off their figures. So about €90 a month savings. 8 years payback.
If I can get someone to under 8k, I'll do it
Pay no heed to the 'savings' theyll claim you will make. Its off-putting sales baloney
Focus on the KWp (panel size x no. Of panels) and potentially get a battery if your use calls for it snd budget allws for it. Get as many panels as you can fit on roof. Theyre vat free at initial installation and are cheapest part of the install.
Focus on the KWp (panel size x no. Of panels) and potentially get a battery if your use calls for it snd budget allws for it. Get as many panels as you can fit on roof. Theyre vat free at initial installation and are cheapest part of the install.
clinteastwood
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I have a 6kWp, 5kW battery, with 18 panels , 5 on east and 13 on south.
Set and forget with Eddi hot water .
Installed for 9k by the Eniskillen boys ,who have installed lots in Cork region (at least 8 I know off).
Before Feb 2022 and Putins invasion of Ukraine, I estimate annual usage of c.5000 kWh (units) of elec.
I got a smart meter installed in March 2023, to get the export credit working. The meter read 0 kWh in March 2022 as a result with brand new Solar setup.
Since then, I have noticed the smart meter reading is 5835 units, so for a family of 4 we are using c.1800 units per annum now.
Additionally, the Eddi has saved usage of the gas-boiler in summer and even now, for DHW /shower usage.
I have c.300euro credit built up which is nice buffer for winter.
Overall, seems very good. Sheets of Silicon are inherently robust.
I am definitely not ideological, except wishing to ween myself from Putin and his cronies in so far as reasonably practicable and to save a few bob. I burn 1 ton of coal and plenty wood for winter and drive a 2016 diesel.
Energy costs are high in ireland, so that is my main motivation, then Putins profits are 2nd and last is Greta who comes from a country with lots of nuclear power and hydro power and Biofuels from their vast intensive sitka spruce mono culture timber industry .
Set and forget with Eddi hot water .
Installed for 9k by the Eniskillen boys ,who have installed lots in Cork region (at least 8 I know off).
Before Feb 2022 and Putins invasion of Ukraine, I estimate annual usage of c.5000 kWh (units) of elec.
I got a smart meter installed in March 2023, to get the export credit working. The meter read 0 kWh in March 2022 as a result with brand new Solar setup.
Since then, I have noticed the smart meter reading is 5835 units, so for a family of 4 we are using c.1800 units per annum now.
Additionally, the Eddi has saved usage of the gas-boiler in summer and even now, for DHW /shower usage.
I have c.300euro credit built up which is nice buffer for winter.
Overall, seems very good. Sheets of Silicon are inherently robust.
I am definitely not ideological, except wishing to ween myself from Putin and his cronies in so far as reasonably practicable and to save a few bob. I burn 1 ton of coal and plenty wood for winter and drive a 2016 diesel.
Energy costs are high in ireland, so that is my main motivation, then Putins profits are 2nd and last is Greta who comes from a country with lots of nuclear power and hydro power and Biofuels from their vast intensive sitka spruce mono culture timber industry .
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notsure1960
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I installed solar panels three years ago,I know absolutely nothing about electricity or solar panels,the crowd that installed them were from Meath,decent people by the way,anyway I got the spiel about payback in seven years,all good.after installation an electrician came to sign off and he was amazed,told me that I had a meter that goes backwards and it should pay for itself much faster.three years later I’m nearly there.
Installed ours 3 years ago, missed the boat where would have been much cheaper even a year or two earlier
we use over 20k kwh per annum with about 5500khw coming from solar, everything runs off electricity (heat pump for heating and water) and weve one EV which we do about 20k kms each year
I reckon 7 or 8 year pay back so financially it makes sense for us
Generally, if you have the money sitting on deposit it makes financial sense, less so if you borrow or are carrying other debt you could pay down
As others have said you need to do the maths though to see if it makes sense.for you
we use over 20k kwh per annum with about 5500khw coming from solar, everything runs off electricity (heat pump for heating and water) and weve one EV which we do about 20k kms each year
I reckon 7 or 8 year pay back so financially it makes sense for us
Generally, if you have the money sitting on deposit it makes financial sense, less so if you borrow or are carrying other debt you could pay down
As others have said you need to do the maths though to see if it makes sense.for you
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