We pay 80 euros per month for electricity and compared to trying to juggle which appliance I should switch on or off to use the electric that 12 or more solar panels littering the garden generate, and then buying back what I didn’t need at one point but do need now then give me 80 euros a month and no hassle or stress.
Hi Ian…
What was the projected timescale for recuperating your outlay? How many years …
We had solar panels for hot water only… back in UK around 1978/9. They reduced our boiler running-costs by so much, that we got our “money back” within 2 years…
We’ve been tempted to do something similar here, but the projections have never been particularly encouraging…
We pay a lot less than 80€ a month for electricity, though we do pay for a loan for the panels.
There is no stress involved - we don’t have that many appliances to juggle.
The panels are in the field adjacent to the garden where they catch the most sun throughout the day.
The panels are neatly ranged in two banks of six.
The point in getting the panels in the first place was to make a contribution in the fight against global-warming, etc. by using a renewable source of energy.
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We did look into this but, as I have said to John Hall, it wasn’t to economise although that is a benefit.
So, I’m afraid, I can’t answer you.
This thread got me thinking some more about the profitability, and as the local Bulletin Municipal which has just appeared in our letter box had a small article this year about the merits of kitting out one’s home with solar panels, I went and had a look at the website that was given in the article (insunwetrust). The site will provide you with a projection of how much energy your roof can generate if equipped with current solar panel technology, the estimated costs, and estimated gains, either as a production unit, or as an auto-consumption unit. It was actually really easy to choose a house roof from the satellite pictures the site provides, and that choice then projects the combination of good, and less good spots on the roof to place solar panels, and does the calculations for you.
The real surprise came when I saw the costings. It assumes an electricity bill of 1600 Euros a year, which you can adjust, but ours is currently only about 700 Euros/year. An average minimum installation cost of 19KE for a 55m2 roof covering, over 20 years (production), and 25 years (auto-consumption), showed that it simply wasn’t worthwhile investing that kind of money. 4KE at best gained over a 20 year period in production only, and over 25 years in auto-consumption with sell-back for excess, 6KE saved (240 Euros/year), and 14.5KE of gain (580 Euros/year). All of this without even considering loan financing (despite low interest rates).
I don’t get it, are these schemes only of any use to people who either have massive roofs, or else consume huge amounts of electricity ?
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I would add that the values quoted are maxima. I also have no idea how the site calculates the reduction in electricity bills, whether it is assumed to be constant or not, as that will necessarily impact the calculations.
Must confess… our solar panels were just that… not intended to “run” anything… just heat the water as it passed over the tubes… Simple system worked like a dream …sun-warmed water fed into the hotwater tank… or, in Summer, we could direct the steaming-hot water straight to the hot-taps… 
In our area there has been a lot of mis-selling of panels to generate electricity… I know folk who have ghastly loans and, for them, the promised financial projections have never (and will never) arrive. 
Just running a quick calculation through an online tool for loan repayment calculations shows that 16KE borrowed at fixed 1.5% APR would attract interest repayments over 25 years of just shy of 3.2 KE, and monthly repayments of between 44E (begin) and 64E (end) kind of puts another huge dent in the whole thing.
Obviously, each situation is particular to the roof type, angle, orientation, hours of sunlight, advances in technology, etc, but still, it gives an idea.
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Only 16k ?? that’s nothing compared to what locals have been duped into signing up for… I think folk can get carried away with the idea of “free” electricity plus an income from EDF… 
(if it sounds too good to be true… )
Hmm, actually 19.5K for “optimum” coverage (I was playing with the surface area), I did a rough calculation in a spreadsheet with the figures they gave me and a loan over 25 years - looks like I would be worse off by between 78E and 90E per month ! Think I’ll pass.
I don’t mind doing my bit for the planet but taking out a loan over umpteen years to get nothing back is a bit much.
I think we will keep planting trees and growing our own.
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16 k E ? is that Euros ?
I have seen several quotes of PV systems, and the ground mounted are a bit cheaper.
They recommend approx a 4kW system for a 2/3 bedroom house, which enables all standard appliances to run ( maybe not at same time, but…). The systems costings are about 6 - 8k £( depending on spec).
These systems also come with a battery pack which stores excess charge to be used throughout the 24 hour period. ( ie at night as an example )
Why try and sell back to a supplier at inferior rate, when you can store it for your own use.
I just don’t get all those figures being quoted.
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Hi, I agree sounds like off grid is the way to go if you can do this, that’s my future plan…
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KE = kiloEuros, a commonly used lazy abbreviation in French business correspondence / exchanges (without using the correct € symbol instead) . The site I checked and mentioned only did roof mounted costings, and yes, by all accounts, ground mounted installations are cheaper.
Depends on many factors -
Is one of your roof surfaces facing approximatety south? If not, you will possibly generate more electricity from a ground mount. But maybe not if there are high trees around.
You have to make the aesthetic choice as to which you prefer.
A ground mount is easier to install, but will create a large area of shade that you may or may not consider an advantage.
A roof mounted installation will help to keep your attic cooler in the summer, which could be an advantage.
You have a lot to think about. It would be a good idea to talk to local people who have installations of both types. You can learn a lot more from customers than from salesmen!
A big fan of accumulators/batteries for storing the electricity for when you want it.
Also like the efficiency of a heliotropic mount as per
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I do like the idea of a tracker, ( i think one or two of the other guys described a kit ? hmm maybe that was another thread )…
One thing that puts me off, is how they would fare in high winds. I would like a support frame, that you disable the tracker and lock the whole thing in position to support frame.
Trackers are not worth the cost anymore. When Solar panels were expensive, it was worth installing a tracker, that is not the case anymore.
I have tried to confirm this information, but still not 100% sure. As I understand, if the installation is on the roof, it is possible to sell excess electricity to EDF, but if it is on the ground, then EDF will not pay for the electricity supplied to them.
I could get excited about solar if I had an electric car and was able to fund the fuel for free.
But reading this thread seems to me that it would be an impossible task so I’ll steer well clear for now.