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Solar Power - Garden Office/Workshop

Tony Lockhart said:
So, no new builds allowed on the northern slopes of hills in Scotland?
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That's a bit harsh........ The Building reg's up here require higher standards than south of the border you know. There is a formula that needs applying so you can either opt to build to a high standard or a lower one and then have to fit such as Solar PV or a heat pump. I'm sure that's why you see some houses up here with just a slack handful of Solar PV panels (when there is clearly room for more - take a drive around Inverurie and you'll see what I mean) - somebody has calculated the minimum they need to do to qualify with the current reg's.

or maybe I'm just cynical..............

Regards

Richard
 
Richard Lines said:
The gap between cheap and day rate on such as Economy 7 is going to reduce as more domestic heating goes over to electric and there is a greater number of EV's
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Although as I understand things a major component of overall demand is industrial use which won't change.
 
Richard Lines said:
I've been doing RE since 2008 and keep very much abreast of these things which is not to say I'm an expert....................

The very simple answer here is ensure the new build is built to near passivehaus standard in the first place as this will be money much better spent than investing in sufficient Solar PV + battery storage etc. etc. to cover your needs.

If you insulate it well enough there are some quite cheap A2A wall mounted "heat pumps" which will be provide more than sufficient heat.

In very simple terms Solar PV will only return 10% of your expected output on average through December/ January.

Battery storage - in most cases this doesn't make outright sense on a domestic scale. Believe me I have a Tesla PW2 and 12kW of Solar PV. In your first year a battery system will be 90% efficient at best and it will deteriorate at 3% a year to which you then add the 1% annual deterioration in your Solar PV panels. You'll need to ensure you are on the best TOU tariff you can find as most of the battery charging during the winter season will be by cheap overnight electricity. The gap between cheap and day rate on such as Economy 7 is going to reduce as more domestic heating goes over to electric and there is a greater number of EV's in the population which mitigates still further against any "logic" in installing a battery storage system (even, IMHO, allowing for any reasonable forecastable increase in electricity prices).

Get a trench dug across from the house and lay a suitable SWA cable.

If you want do something green then look to installing Solar PV on the house/ garage roof and install a more environmentally friendly heating system.

Regards

Richard
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Samcat got it but you have nailed it. You're still not getting a like though.
 
We have a Solar PV (3.74 kW peak) system on the roof (16 panels) installed in 2010. It was fitted before the general cost reduction in systems, but the Feed in Tariff has paid for it, and we're now in 'profit'.

It generally generates 3400 - 3850 kWhours a year, and in the 11.5 years it's been fitted, it's just shy of a total of 40,000 kWh.

We still pay for about 3800 kWh through the grid (as most usage is when the sun don't shine). I have fitted a Solar iBoost, which diverts 'export' electricity to my immersion heater, so I do save money on gas water heating (mainly during the Summer).

Whilst we can see 25kWh on a good sunny day, during the Winter months 1-2kWh is more normal.

Not looked into a storage battery in detail, as I just can't see the payback, and I've not got an EV (but might in the next few years).

We're in Godalming, so similar to Sussex.

I agree with the general consensus, that maybe the office requirements could be (mostly) covered with Solar (but only during the day in the sunny months, and the battery capacity would determine how long during the evening), the Workshop would be likely to need the Grid anyway.

I have washed my panels a few times (up a ladder with a hose feed 3m extending brush - not for the faint-hearted), and it is noticeable that it clears dust (similar to swirls on a dark coloured car after a half-hearted wash!) Not sure whether it makes a big difference to the panels ability to generate, probably only by a few percent anyway. I mainly rely on rain also, and hope the pigeons are not perfecting their aim.
 
Yep, when we looked into monetary payback a powerwall in 2019 didn't quite work. However the carbon payback definitely did.
 
Beware the shadows. It's amazing how little can cause a drop in output.
 
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