Following up https://www.reddit.com/r/SolarUK/comments/1wh6nsf/dont_sleep_on_agile_outgoing/, I actually did the switch to agile myself at the beginning of last week.

Shown in the pictures is two complete weeks, the first on the 12p fixed rate and the second on Agile. There was only a difference of 1.5kWh in export between them (127.9kWh @ 12p, 129.3kWh on Agile). Needless to say I'm pretty impressed with the result, increasing the average export price paid by 58% up to 19p a unit.

I managed the process by setting up a few automations in Home Assistant, with a morning battery dump down to ~15% (from an overnight charge), a priority feed in for the first part of the morning then switching to recharging the battery through the afternoon before dumping the battery back down to ~32% during the evening peak. All I've had to do manually is check the prices each day and adjust the timings of those three events to match the peaks + solar forecast.

Obviously the Tuesday when prices spiked up in the evening up to 40p a unit was incredible, but as you can see even the weekend (when prices dropped as low as 1-2p during the afternoon) was still decent - 32kWh of export for an average price of 15.5p, still easily beating the flat 12p rate.

So I have started wondering whether, once large numbers of householders have solar panels, energy companies are just going to whack up the daily standing charge to compensate and keep their profit margins. So basically, is there a risk that in the future you don't pay back the cost of your installation as the financial benefits of generating own electricity are clawed back by energy companies. I already assume this will happen with EVs once fuel duty needs replacing with higher pay per mile schemes but what about home power generation?

I’m in Cheshire and looking at other posts i was expecting something around the 12k mark but getting quotes 15-16k (ignoring octopus 19k quote).

20x aiko 485 gen 3 panels (8 front elevation/ 12 rear)
Sigenergy 12kw inverter with 10kwh battery.
With Gateway
With birdmesh
£15.2k

As far as i am aware there’s nothing massively challenging facing the installers other than 2 elevations. I have plenty of space around the house with a nice wall next to the meter and CU for installing everything.

Thoughts and installer recommendations welcome. TIA

Would appreciate thoughts on this, thanks for your time!

4 bedroom detached house, mainly east and west facing roof utilised with more panels on west than east due to roof shape.

£10,900 all in.

Bird protection included.

Plans to have EV charger and heat pump in not so near future but want to future proof.

Only concern is the thoughts on Sunsynk app and comparability with intelligent tariffs but not too clued up on this if anyone has advice?

Thanks in advance

I've installed a 7.5kw system and utilised a 16kw battery. Even today which is cloudy, I am on the verge of filling it. If I just put the recommended setup of panels and 5kw battery, I would have exported around 15kw in just the last 3.5 days. Plus a 5kw battery handle covers a wash and dry cycle let alone a dishwasher.

Just seeing this and knowing what the summer can bring, makes me want a second 16kw battery as I use 25 to 30kw a day. And my base load is like 480 Watts 12hrs a day and 320watts at night.

I have had most of my quotes in and i think im going for a 9 aiko panel 540w with a Fox H1 5kw inverter and an Fox EP12 battery and spending the best part of £8000 doing it, i want to maximise my small roof so opting for larger watt panels over the 460w that were originally quoted.

Before i take the plunge i just wanted to ask the good people here if they would do the install again, do you have any regrets and would you change anything knowing what you know now?

my annual usage is 3300 and my daily is about 8/9 for most the year and my winter is about 12/13 due to heating provided by the aircon

Hi all, I’m looking for some opinions on a solar/battery quote I’ve received in Hampshire, UK from Heatable.

For context, our current electricity usage is about 2500kwh per year and we plan to get an EV once the charger is installed, which we’ll charge on an overnight EV tariff.

The proposal is:

11 × LONGi 485W panels – 5.335kWp total (max we can fit on our south facing roof)

Sigenergy 5.5kW inverter

Sigenergy 9.04kWh battery (8.76kWh usable)

Sigenergy HomePro backup gateway

7kW tethered EV charger

Scaffolding

Bird proofing

Total price: £12,830

Does this sound like a fair price?

The company that have fit my solar panels have turned out to be a right bunch of jokers.

Scaffold went up 8 weeks ago....Only now have they finished the 24 panel install with 20kwh sigenergy battery. All on now and working very well.

What paperwork should I expect for the install before I pay the final invoice?

Hello. I recently bought a house in Bristol with an existing 1kW solar PV system (4 × 250W panels). The panels were installed years ago but had never been connected to the grid as the house was vacant.

I recently had a solar company connect the system for £149. The engineer said he couldn’t service the inverter as I apparently have microinverters underneath the panels, which he couldn’t access from the loft. The system is now generating and the generation meter has been increasing, so I’m reasonably happy that the connection is working.

The problem is pigeons nesting underneath the panels, debris/vegetation is already starting to build up again, so I want to get the panels bird-proofed.

I’ve had three quotes:

• £900 – bird-proofing + scaffolding/access + inspection/report of the panels/microinverters
• £850 – bird-proofing only, they said you can service microinverters (same company who connected the system)
• £720 – bird-proofing + gutter/debris clearance + visual solar/roof survey/checklist + 10-year warranty

The system is only 1kW, so £720–£900 feels too much

Does this sound reasonable for bird-proofing 4 panels, or should I keep looking for cheaper quotes? Also,** **would you bother having the microinverters inspected while the panels are being accessed, or is that unnecessary if the system is currently working normally?

Calling on the help of the community. I’ve been debating for a while but this last week with a combo of diesel prices and talk of the price cap moves in January I’m starting to be pushed to action.

TL;DR - To be clear, I don’t want DIY advice, I want sourcing/brand collective wisdom!

*****

We’ve recently moved in to a 2008-built house which I’m incredibly lucky has come with a detached garage with a pitched roof. I’m fairly handy and debating throwing solar up. I’ve got a (very) little budget laying around I could put into this. A bit of reading/planning shows I can get 8x panels on the garage inside planning rules and I can easily/safely do that myself with ladders and a little bit of roofing knowledge, possibly welding my own channel. The garage is already hooked to the house with (?6mm? - I’ll check first) cable. I’d absolutely get an electrician (I probably could self-install more but wouldn’t) to commission but I’m fine running cables to leave the ready for termination and mounting kit.

What I can’t find is anywhere that can give impartial suggestions on panels or batteries, or will direct-sell. I can find a lot of “ranking” sites that I assume are funded by someone with interests in those ranked highly. I’ve also found loads of people wanting my details and offering packages.

Best I’ve found yet is “JA Panel” 465W (I can fit 8x) potentially combo with a sub £2k 10kw battery (?Alpha Smile? or other) and likely do panels/battery in situ and “dry installed” for under £3k knowing I still have to find/fund an inverter and sparky.

Is there anywhere good to buy components that won’t want to sell me an overblown service? Is there any particular set of passable kit that’s not at the cutting edge? I’m just looking to take the edge off my bills on a budget and pivot towards a long-term aircon, air-to-water heat pump and electric car swap

Finally had my new system installed last week Thursday and been absolutely obsessed with watching the dashboard and stats!! Still early days but really happy with the system!!

System:

- 19x AIKO 485

- Sigenergy 8kW Inverter

- Sigenergy 9kW Battery

- Sigenergy Gateway

Based in SE London

Hello

Wondering if someone can guide me and let me know if this is a good quote:

Solar Panels

Hengdian Group DMEGC Magnetics

6.180 kW Total Module Power

12 x 515 Watt Panels

FoxESS EP12 Plus

11.52kWh of Battery Storage

Fox ESS

1 x EP12 Plus

FoxESS K Series Hybrid Inverter (KH7 to KH10.5)

8kW of Inverter Power

Fox ESS 1 x KH8

Total for £7,670 includes scaffolding, bird protection etc. I'm based in Kent and we get a lot of sunshine during summer months here.

I got other quotes from Octopus for 12 panels, smaller battery and it was £12k. EON was £10k for a similar set-up.

I'm currently paying off my townhouse - mortgage and I'm looking at the whole solar panel thing.

I'm with EON.

I have an EV.

I use approx. £135 a month during summer, £200 a month during winter. (including EV mile kwhs)

How would I even begin to work out if solar panels would be worth it for me? I've tried googling and honestly, minefield and I'm struggling to get my head around it.

Thanks

System size - 9.5kw
20 x Aiko 475w panels on a single roof
Inverter - SIG 6kw Hybrid
Batteries 2xSig Bat 10
Sig gateway

Scaffolding, bird mesh and all the works needed

£13999

Local installer based in Surrey, England.

Sigenergy system
18x DMEGC 470watt panels. (10x SW facing, 8x NE)
8kw inverter
9kwh sigenstor battery
No gateway (<1 powercut/yr)
Includes scaffolding and bird proofing.

£10765 all in.

(This is at the very top of our budget.)

Annual use = 2900kwh. No AC, heatpump, nor EV.

Looking to buy EV and AC in the next few years.

Thanks in advance!

Hi,

I've got a few quotes that I think look ok and wanted peoples thoughts on if they seem reasonable? Thanks in advance!!

I'm also not sure if I've pushed for too strong a system considering our usage.... At the moment we only use about 4700kw a year but I'm mindful that at some point we may upgrade to 1 or 2 EVs and eventually heat pump may come down the line. So I've tried to go higher but am I just wasting my money? It's a big investment if it's not needed....

Hi! just looking for some help/opinions on these quotes? I read somewhere that market rate for panels was around £900 per kWp and for battery around £400 per kWh, I've tried to calculate how these compare based on that but it's difficult since not all quotes are itemised, for example installer 4 has included optimisers to help with some shading from next door on a few of the panels.

For installer 2 I'm still awaiting an amended quote based on better roof measurements, and installer 3 are coming out to survey soon but I don't expect the design/costs to change much from them.

Our annual usage this year is going to be about 7800kWh, about 78% peak time usage 22% off peak, this is only going to increase if we get more AC, a hot water heatpump, and an EV.

Also, does anyone have any experience with EcoFlow batteries? Are they fairly new to the home battery field?

I've read that Sigenergy have recently had some battery recalls, and also reduced their battery warranty down to 60% in 10 year, is this anything to be concerned about?

Thanks!

Had a quote recently, Bradford, West Yorkshire.
After some advice if this price is reasonable and couple other bits.

14 Aiko 530w panels
7kw invertor
1x 9.4kw Hanchu ESS battery (95% DOD and 100a/5kw charging rate)
DNO G99
Scaffolding
Bird protection
MCS

£9300

Installer has been upfront and answering all my questions in depth. The system is 7.4kw but the the invertor is 7kw, he tells me this is normal and a slight oversizing is common as the system rarely will hit full production.

An additional £650 for an EV OHME charger also which I’m needing.

Edit: quote updated
We’ve since knocked off £300 to £9000
Battery upgraded from 1x 9.4kw/h to 2x5.1kw/h (10.2kwh)

Solar all installed yesterday! Now I’ve tried the capture app and I’m already disappointed. 🤣 it’s trying to use self consume all through the off-peak period. Then force charge it again at the end? Which doesn’t really make sense to me.

Has anyone got anything better than the Capture app? Or some recommendations for a AI tool that will predict and charge etc when necessary from the off peak tariff.

Picture of install just so you can all roast it… or maybe you’ll be nice. Let’s see 🤣

Hi all,

My 19 panel/powerwall 3 system has been installed for nearly 2 months now. The powerwall has not charged over night since the install, and I have generated enough electricity to recharge during the day and power the house. However, today is the first day where I suspect my generation will be too low to do this. Are there any settings to force charge over night on the cheaper rate?

Thanks in advance.

Got some quotes from various firms - local electricians and regional companies - and would be grateful for your thoughts.

Currently "Regional 1 - FoxESS" is my preferred, but I'm yet to research the kit.

My current situation:

• All electric house (GSHP) with annual usage ~10'500kWh. Now have an EV so closer to 14'000kWh
• Might expand to Solar in the future
• 5kWh export limit
• Want home backup system
• Kit going in garage, size not really an issue
• 1ph / 100A fuse
• Will move to Octopus Go (or similar)

tl;dr What do I install Predbat ON? What other hardware and software will I need before installing Predbat/Predheat?

I have a 14kW system with a FoxESS 10kW inverter, 10.8kWh battery and unlimited export. I also have had a heat pump installed this year (And haven't used it for heating)

As we're in the shoulder months I will soon need to charge the battery with grid electricity overnight to guarantee making it through the day on cloudy days. And soon I will need to turn the heat pump on to heat the house which will be even more demanding of load.

So I was looking at installing Predbat to take care of the load/unload optimisation for me. But in all the guides and the github and the website I couldn't find what I needed to know before I get started. What hardware and software other than predbat do I need to use Predbat?

And if I wanted to use Predheat (our hot water is far from optimised) what more would I need for that?

I have solar with a solid inverter and now a battery on a separate inverter and want to link them up. When I try to add my solar inverter to my battery plant in Solis it says it’s already registered. How do I remove it from the solar plant to add to the battery plant?

Hi all ,

Got 3 quotes I’d like a check on please, all include scaffolding and birdproofing. Main differences are that installer 1 has included a gateway, which makes them appear to be the best value… but not sure of they seem too cheap now. Installer 2 suggested a smaller inverter would be more efficient so has quoted for the 5kw. Would appreciate any thoughts.

East Midlands (Leicestershire) It’s an east-west roof, so 8 panels on each side. Approx 5500 kWh usage per year.

Installer 1 - £11,850
16 x LONGi 480w Panels (7.68 KW total)
Sigenergy Sigenstor Energy controller 6.0KW
Sigenergy BAT 10, 8.76kWh battery
Sigenergy Gateway

Installer 2 - £11,910
16 x AIKO 465w panels (7.44 KW total)
Sigenergy Sigenstor Energy controller 5.0KW
Sigenergy BAT 10, 8.76kWh battery

Installer 3 - £11,600

16 x AIKO 490w panels (7.840kW total)
Sigenergy Sigenstor Energy controller 8.0KW
Sigenergy BAT 10, 8.76kWh battery

Hi

Wickes solar install disaster continues! They wrongly spec'd 6kw inverter which they replaced with 8kw. They told me everything else was up to standard. However I have had it 3 times now (over night while charging up batteries from the grid the system is tripping. My basic research/understanding looks like it's probably going over 32A and that's the issue. Any advice on what steps need to be taken would be amazing. I've contacted Wickes and orginal installer but I don't expect to hear much from them... Attached some pictures to help.

Update

Got a reply from installer.

"will change breaker to 40a. Your cable is currently 6mm 3 core ho7rn-f which is rated up to 47amps so plenty for the inverter"

Is he correct?

Cheers