My experience with installing SEAI grant aided solar PV

[Laughahalla]

Hi. Thanks for your great report. I am at the point of installing an almost identical system but am torn between suppliers. My first choice company is not responding to emails of calls so I must write them off. My second choice seems to have difficulty answering semi technical questions. I am being quoted similar prices to yours but who can I depend on? I'm not sure if this site supports PMs as I don't see a link to that.

i used a company based in Dublin but work around the country, I'm based in the mid west . They're called save me money wind and solar. They were mentioned earlier in the thread. I've mine installed about 14 months now and still think they're excellent.

 

[Dreamon]

HI went ahead and got the 4.2KW setup with Battery and Solis Hybred inverter No Diverter and so far so good
total cost after grant will be 4700e It took the installers about 10hrs to install on a Bungalow roof including all electrics
firemans etc a very neat job and with information and advice every step of the way At the moment i am using less than I generate
so will look at an I booster or other type of Diverter one I can install myself or maybe extra pylontech battery at a later date

Something to be aware is the size of the Solis inverter and the battery cage it takes up a lot of space I have mine
in the utility room

I all ready see they advantages of the set up allthough the main disadvantage on a sunny day is watching all
that power go back to the grid .
others on this forum remarked If you had 5k the Banks would give you SFA
in interest on that amount so at todays rates it may be the better investment
for that 5k

yildun

Hi - which company did you go for in the end? Can't see it referred to in the thread. You got a similar-sized system to what I'm looking at but your pricing seems really very good in comparison to quotes I'm getting. Thanks in advance

 

[IrishGunner]

Hi

Moving into new house soon in the Dublin area and interested in getting solar panels.

Reading the Solar Energy Grant section on the Seai website and also the list of registered companies

Have read all this thread & looking for 3 quotes and see what is best. What company did you use

Also what should I be asking them or what questions could they have for me

Complete Noobie on this so still in research mode

Cheers

 

[Zenith63]

I recently had the following installed in the Dublin area -
4.85kW of panels (14 panels in East/West config, two story and no scaffolding access to one side, so some extra work to install!)
5kW hybrid inverter
5.2kWh battery
MyEnergi EDDI (diverter to the immersion)
All associated wiring/safety gear
BER survey
€8k after grant (this was the old grant, so €3800)

There were three roofers onsite for a day, then three electricans for a day and finally the BER survey which takes the guy about 2 hours. I went through NextGenPower, I found them good to deal with and would recommend.

Definitely worth shopping around for a couple of prices, there are one or two companies charging absolutely bonkers prices and using high-pressure sales tactics.

Some things to think about -

• What size system is necessary for you. I have two electric cars so will easily make use of this system, but you might not need as much
• The panels are relatively cheap, generally it makes financial sense to stick as many up as you can while the roofers are there, within reason!
• The focus should be on how you can maximise your self-consumption of power you generate. So while a south-facing system will generate the absolute maximum number of kWh's per day, if the system is pumping out 5kW of power at midday while you only ever need 2kW and have no battery, it might make more sense to go with an East/West split, which will not get to that 5kW peak but will be generating earlier in the morning and later in the evening than a South facing equivalent
• Batteries are still relatively expensive and in reality will not last forever. I wanted to put in a larger one because I'm into technology/green-energy and return on investment was fairly low down my priority list, but you'll likely find that getting quite a small battery (which gets you the bigger grant) will have the system paid back sooner
• While the diverter to your immersion sounds like a good idea, at €3-400 it could take quite a long time to get that money back, especially if you usually use gas to heat water which is very cheap. Putting the excess power into your battery or electric car would be a better bet, or if you won't have too much excess maybe just let it go to the grid
• Think about where you want the equipment to go and how that affects what cables will be required to the fusebox etc. Mine all went in the attic, but I had the option of putting them outside in a large enclosure
• At the moment there is no feed-in-tariff in Ireland, so any excess you send to the grid will be 'wasted' to you. There's some talk of a FIT coming in the next year or two, but other countries have rolled theirs back so not something to bank on
• Generally the panels cannot be generating power during a power outage, but any stored energy in the battery is usable via the 'Essential Loads' output from your inverter. The installer won't tend to mention this, but you could get them to throw a double socket on this connection so you could use it if your power goes off
• My BER went from C3 to B1 with the solar/battery/diverter and a few other small things (extra bit of attic insulation, LED lights, insulated attic door), you can decide if you should factor this into the value of having the system
• I've really enjoyed keeping an eye on the console to see how much power I'm generating, how much is going into the battery etc. This is definitely a fun techy gadget to have, if you're into that kind of thing

Hope that helps.

 

[losttheplot]

Maybe a stupid question, I live in an area very susceptible to moss. Do the panels need to be cleaned or are they resistant to moss / algae / bird droppings?

 

[Laughahalla]

The rain keeps mine clean. Moss normally grows on north facing roof or a roof that gets little sun. If you were to get solar PV you more than likely will be putting the solar panels on south, east or west facing roof which should have very little moss growth.

 

[RipVanRadio]

It’s depressing that nearly every reply here is focused on money saving. We need to shift this discussion to CO2 reduction.
In my case I installed 14 (4.2kw) panels on a south facing roof, together with 4.8 kw battery storage.
I got 60% of my electricity from the sun last year, when panels installed end of January. I expect that to increase this year.
As to behaviour, it’s difficult to retrain a wife to use the heavy consumers while the sun shines, but I think I’m making progress!
Aside from the money and the CO2 reduction , there is great satisfaction in using this technology.
I’m not sure if I’m allowed to mention the name of the company which did the installation, but I would recommend it highly.

 

[Zenith63]

It’s depressing that nearly every reply here is focused on money saving. We need to shift this discussion to CO2 reduction.

To be fair this is the ‘Ask about money’ site, I think it’s OK that the discussion here has more of a money focus to it. It irks me much more to see discussions on non-money focussed sites talking only about the cost and payback period and virtually ignoring the environmental benefits!

I also put in 14 panels and 4.8kWh and am loving seeing the amount of my electricity usage it is covering in this great weather! It would cover most of our driving in the EVs if it wasn’t for the fact we cannot drive anywhere with the lockdown...

 

[Leo]

We need to shift this discussion to CO2 reduction.

As above, most people seeking advice here will have a focus on the financial aspect, and payback will be important as many people can't afford to spend thousands on a project ourely motivated by its green credentials. People who are primarily motivated by reducing their CO2 footprint will know there are low or no cost alternatives that will yield greater CO2 savings than a solar PV installation.

Out of interest, do you know what the CO2 footprint of your installation is?

I’m not sure if I’m allowed to mention the name of the company which did the installation, but I would recommend it highly.

New users are not allowed provide recommendations.

 

[Laughahalla]

Going by the description it sounds like the company that did mine. The company name was mentioned earlier in this thread.

 

[EmmDee]

It’s depressing that nearly every reply here is focused on money saving. We need to shift this discussion to CO2 reduction.
In my case I installed 14 (4.2kw) panels on a south facing roof, together with 4.8 kw battery storage.
I got 60% of my electricity from the sun last year, when panels installed end of January. I expect that to increase this year.
As to behaviour, it’s difficult to retrain a wife to use the heavy consumers while the sun shines, but I think I’m making progress!
Aside from the money and the CO2 reduction , there is great satisfaction in using this technology.
I’m not sure if I’m allowed to mention the name of the company which did the installation, but I would recommend it highly.

I'm seriously considering doing a revamp for exactly this reason - cutting external electricity usage and not just as a financial decision. I'm following this thread for examples like yours - good to hear your experience.

 

[Zenith63]

I recently had the following installed in the Dublin area -
4.85kW of panels (14 panels in East/West config, two story and no scaffolding access to one side, so some extra work to install!)
5kW hybrid inverter
5.2kWh battery
MyEnergi EDDI (diverter to the immersion)
All associated wiring/safety gear
BER survey
€8k after grant (this was the old grant, so €3800)

Just for anybody interested, here is the performance for yesterday (nice sunny day, but not height of summer yet of course) from the system above:

PV Generation Today 17.40kWh
Battery Throughput Today 12.80kWh
House Consumption Today 15.00kWh
Grid Import Today 2.90kWh
Grid Export Today 5.20kWh
CO Saved Today 0.017T

So without the solar the electricity would have cost about €2.55 for the day, with the solar it cost €0.49. When we can start driving again the electric cars should soak up some of that electricity we ended up exporting to the grid, and we should produce a good bit more as we get further into the summer.

 

[EmmDee]

Just for anybody interested, here is the performance for yesterday (nice sunny day, but not height of summer yet of course) from the system above:

PV Generation Today 17.40kWh
Battery Throughput Today 12.80kWh
House Consumption Today 15.00kWh
Grid Import Today 2.90kWh
Grid Export Today 5.20kWh
CO Saved Today 0.017T

So without the solar the electricity would have cost about €2.55 for the day, with the solar it cost €0.49. When we can start driving again the electric cars should soak up some of that electricity we ended up exporting to the grid, and we should produce a good bit more as we get further into the summer.

Can I ask a question? I believe you said you had battery storage included. I'm guessing then that during the day you reach a stage where the battery is fully charged and you are generating excess - which goes back to the grid.

Do you think I should consider extra battery storage? Does your system look to use battery first and then switch to grid? So in the evenings are you running the battery down?

Thanks

 

[Zenith63]

Can I ask a question? I believe you said you had battery storage included. I'm guessing then that during the day you reach a stage where the battery is fully charged and you are generating excess - which goes back to the grid.

Do you think I should consider extra battery storage? Does your system look to use battery first and then switch to grid? So in the evenings are you running the battery down?

Yeah yesterday with there being so much sun the battery was actually at 100% charge by 2pm, it didn't start to really discharge until the sun had gone off the panels at around 7pm and managed to keep the house running until about 7am this morning. But yes the battery is always there ready to provide power if required, to avoid importing from the grid. So for example if you turn on the kettle and the oven and that requires 4kW of power but the solar is only generating 2kW, the battery will provide a further 2kW (assuming is has some charge) so you don't import anything from the grid.

I also had a hot water diverter (aka EDDI) installed. So the flow form the solar is -
- Run the house
- Send excess into the battery until it is full
- Send excess into the immersion heater until the tank is full of hot water
- Send excess out to the grid (wasted basically)


From a pure economics point of view my understanding is that the batteries increase your payback time quite a bit. And with the diverter to hot water the gas is so cheap the payback on it will also be quite long. So if you were just looking to get rapid payback you might take the smallest battery just to get the battery grant and no hot water diverter.

However in my case the payback was just one of the reasons to do it, and not that high up on the list to be honest (don't tell the wife!) . I love the techy/gadgetry of the batteries/diverter and seeing them all work together, the graphs are very cool, I check it out a couple of times a day. I'm into being more green. I like to enhance my home, so going from C3-B1 BER was nice.

 

[Fidgety]

Your enthusiasm is great. I have solar hot water for 15 years and get a kick out of having a shower powered by the sun so to speak. I’m now thinking of following your lead but need to learn more.

 

[RipVanRadio]

I'm seriously considering doing a revamp for exactly this reason - cutting external electricity usage and not just as a financial decision. I'm following this thread for examples like yours - good to hear your experience.

EmmDee, you are so right. We must look beyond the purely financial calculations, although they have become much more persuasive than they were even a few years back. You will get an incredible satisfaction from looking at the statistics, such as Zenith63 has outlined above, and sunshine will lift your spirit more than ever before.
As Zenith63 has outlined, my system minimises units returned to the grid, by prioritising the house, the batteries and the water heating, in that order, before returning any surplus to the grid.
In my case I have the added bonus that my old mechanical meter has not yet been replaced with a ‘Smart’ one, so I’m getting full credit for units returned. They came out hotfoot in February last year to change the meter, but ran into some technical difficulty, and we haven’t heard from them since.
Many’s the day our meter has gone backwards!

 

[RipVanRadio]

As above, most people seeking advice here will have a focus on the financial aspect, and payback will be important as many people can't afford to spend thousands on a project ourely motivated by its green credentials. People who are primarily motivated by reducing their CO2 footprint will know there are low or no cost alternatives that will yield greater CO2 savings than a solar PV installation.

Out of interest, do you know what the CO2 footprint of your installation is?



New users are not allowed provide recommendations.

Hi Leo. I do appreciate that payback is important, but it is not the only criterion.
Could you please elaborate on the ‘low or no cost alternatives’?
Please also explain how I find out the ‘CO2 footprint ‘ of my installation.
Thanks
R

 

[Leo]

Could you please elaborate on the ‘low or no cost alternatives’?

Walk/cycle instead of drive, choose local produce, reduce consumption of high-carbon foods, reject fast-fashion, invest in insulation, etc., etc.. Some of these will save significantly more CO2 than many Irish households installing a PV system if CO2 reduction is your goal.

Please also explain how I find out the ‘CO2 footprint ‘ of my installation.

I would have thought someone who called the focus on saving money 'depressing' and suggested we need to focus on CO2 reduction would have done their own homework.

 

[Zenith63]

Please also explain how I find out the ‘CO2 footprint ‘ of my installation.

Here's a UCD paper on the subject: https://researchrepository.ucd.ie/bitstream/10197/8490/1/sustainability-09-00302.pdf

The key bit to this discussion -
Results show that life cycle GHG emissions [manufacture to disposal] are 69 g CO2-eq per kWh generated by the [solar] system, significantly lower than the current [Irish] electricity grid mix emissions of 469 g CO2-eq per kWh.

A very significant chunk of the CO2 emissions in the lifetime emissions calculation of solar panels is energy/electricity used during the manufacture. So there's an interesting effect here, where the more solar panels you build and add to the grid (particuarly in China where most of these are made), the greener the next batch of panels you manufacture are. The likes of

 

[NR1028]

Hello, many thanks for the great information in this post. I'm currently gathering quotes for solar pv, a battery and an inverter. The roof can hold 18x340w panels and 1 quote includes a battery of 8.2wh. However as the battery is an expensive component does anyone have real world experience on how much of the battery gets charged during the winter months?

As both my wife and I work from home we can manage an even usage of electricity by sequential usage of appliances etc.during the day. In addition we have electric underfloor heating (downstairs) which is charged overnight using the night meter and night rate; this night meter could be an option to top up the battery during the winter months.