HOW MUCH DOES A SOLAR & BATTERY SYSTEM COST?

HOW MUCH DOES SOLAR & BATTERY COST

In this video, I take you through the costs we incurred to have solar panels and a battery system installed in our home.

Equipment:

- 5kw Solaredge Inverter
- 20x 400w Perlight Solar Panels
- 10kw Solaredge Battery
- Solaredge Modbus

The great guys from @OvalRenewables who installed our full system.

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[OvalRenewables]

Thanks for the video Rob! Its not an easy task working out the payback on these things as it is based on so many variable. Weather, consumption and tariff changes to name a few. We are extremely happy with how much you love the system!

[leemccluskey]

Thank you. Finally someone giving an accurate example of cost. I am sick of seeing adverts for solar systems where they say affordable pricing and then want your personal details to quote. I just want to see a rough cost of an installed system without getting multiple calls and emails

[nikkonch]

Very interesting. Extremely neat installation. We (2 pensioners) had a system installed a few weeks ago on our bungalow which fortunately has a long roof facing directly south, give or take a degree. When we first contacted a company 4-5 months ago there were already equipment supply problems, but we had full confidence in the company (in Hereford) to do their best for us. We ended up with 13 x 370w panels (not black, but actually we really like what we've got), so a total of 4.81 kwh, along with a 10 kwh Solaredge battery system including a 4 kw inverter. Our installation was very straightforward, with the battery and inverter installed on a north-facing external wall just outside where our internal electricity meter is, the panel cables routed through the loft. The installation took a day and a half, three guys on day one, two on the second day. We paid just under £12, 000.

I am certain that the decision to get a battery was the right one, even though it makes the cost recovery period years longer. The weather here just east of the Welsh border has been quite overcast much of the time since our installation (we missed the heatwaves) and our system has often been producing at a rate of just 1 kw or less - more than enough to keep essential background devices running but not enough to boil a kettle without drawing power from the grid. However, during the day the excess of this low productivity is stored in the battery and gives us a sensible amount to use overnight and on more power-hungry devices on occasion. Our least productive day so far was a paltry 5 kwh, but the best day was 24 kwh. Our battery generally recharges fully by mid-to-late afternoon. On one day we exported 14 kwh which we could not use, but on another only 0.14 kwh. I am slightly disappointed that a 4.8.kwh system often produces so little at this time of year, very late summer or vey early autumn, although I fully anticipated very, very low production in the winter, and correspondingly high production during sunny summer days. The Solaredge app is brilliant for showing you exactly what is going on, almost second by second - it shows that we are still using 0.25-0.5 kwh off the grid each day, for reasons I don't understand, and of course we still pay a daily standing charge.

Actually the real motivation to get a battery was to hopefully get on a cheap overnight tariff (albeit with a higher than normal daytime kwh cost). If we can do this when the power companies put these on offer again, I assume that in the low-productivity winter season for the panels we will be able to charge up the 10 kwh battery overnight at a very cheap rate and use the stored power through the next day without needing to use higher-rate units.

We are not a high-consumption family, and if we were I would probably opt for more panels and a bigger battery (or more batteries)? We have no regrets. It is nice to feel that you are in a small way contributing to reducing your own and the nation's need for energy produced from gas or whatever, while at the same time, in the long term, hopefully saving money. But it is a big up-front cost.

[bigbmber]

Thank you for sharing and being honest about the costs, and good to see the quality of work from Oval Renewables as well.

[ekrano]

I had a similar SolarEdge (SE) system installed this week, although a little smaller. 15 x Longhi 405W panels, 3.68Kw SE Inverter and SE battery. £14k. Quoted early this year. We had a long wait for the battery with an original estimated delivery of December. Almost a year from quote to installation, but fortunately the battery arrived August. System works great and pleased I went with SE. Looked at other systems and wasn’t impressed with monitoring applications (e.g Solar Man) amongst other factors. My installer only fits SE and Tesla as a rule but did offer GivEnergy as an option if we wanted it. In addition to the above price we added a Myenergi Zappi charger as we have an EV due.

As well as the equipment, spend time looking for a good installer. It sounds obvious but remember anyone can buy the equipment online. We had quotes from people who didn’t give me confidence they had the experience with Solar. Also avoid placing equipment in your loft, some installers will offer this but my research showed it was best to avoid due to heat affecting the inverter.

[hanguyen-mfle]

Great video! I like the way you’ve explained everything and it has brought us to decide it is for us also. Thank you so much

[Johnbro]

Thanks for sharing, we have had our system roughly two years now 7.5kw battery and 14 panels. Summer savings this year around 92%, winter savings around 50%, but it depends on sunny days mainly. Poor charge days are round about 38%, but in only takes the sun to come out to change that. Also changing the way you use energy, running dishwasher, washing machine and tumble dryer around mid day helps to save money by using the sun. We use a timer connecting to the immersion heater for water heating at optimum times, it’s not foolproof but it works for us. Now with energy prices rising, it comes into its own, just be smart when it comes to energy uses. The downside is your always looking for the sun being out and become a bit nerdy towards your own systems 🤣🤣. Good luck with your systems

[davidbarry]

Great video. Totally agree that it is worth paying more for an integrated system and also for the quality of the install by Oval. Thanks for taking the time to explain this so clearly

[garagemotorcare]

What a sensible, downtown earth, factual video.
Thanks

[barbsdee]

I had my solar system installed last March, similar all black panels but as it’s a small bungalow could only fit 12 panels but all face south. I had them installed by the same company that fitted an Air Source Heat pump a year later (paid a deposit to let them know I wasn’t going with another company) so they gave me a hearty discount on the solar, costing £6000! Although the ASHP system for domestic host water and heating cost £18k to install. I get a government grant of £11000 paid over 7 years. We only have oil in the village and the cost of oil has gone into the stratosphere 😱 Scottish power has reduced my monthly bill to £20!

[bill_heywood]

It is really important to give people this kind of detail and talk though your decisions and the cost implications. As you say it is an expensive capital outlay, but it is also a very savvy investment. Over the long term it will repay the upfront costs many times over and increase the value of your property. I’m looking forward to free miles in spring/summer once I get my solar and an EV. When a tank of diesel is £90 a pop, there are huge bonus savings to be had over and above the savings on home electricity

[JustMeTalking]

Our setup is very similarly advanced, happy to answer questions if you wish.

A+ rated Energy Performance Home
7.2 kWp Solar Array (East / West) 5 kW inverter
27 kWh Tesla Powerwalls battery storage & gateway 2
3 Phase Grid with Smart Meter
2 x 22 kW car chargers (Zappi)
1 x 7 kW car charger (Zappi) for Solar
1 x 7 kW 32A Commando Socket (backup off grid)
2 x Electric Cars (Tesla M3P & Skoda Enyaq VRS)
1 x Solar Water Heater (Eddi)
8kW Heat Pump - Air to Air (4 wall units)
1 Gbps Fibre Broadband on 6E mesh Wifi
1 x SpaceX Starlink on 6 mesh Wifi

House remains fully operational and connected during full Grid Blackouts.

[paulcooper]

Very good of you to give an honest brake down of the costs of such an installation, We didn't need scaffolding as our panels are only on our garage roof. Obviously trying to get an install at the moment isn't going to be easy as suppliers and installers can charge a premium. Didn't here you mention which Electrical provider you are using, If people aren't aware Octopus are paying 15p per KW for anything you send back and if you are on economy 7 you can fill your 10KW battery for 16p per Kw at night making the system work for you even on days with no sun. Worth mentioning as our previous supplier only paid 1.5p eventually raising it to 5p just before we changed, definitely worth being with the right supplier to maximise the payback on your investment.

[spearhrower]

I invested early in solar back in 2012 with a 3.5kw system and it paid for itself twice over now as the original install was only £6k. There were no hybrid inverters or batteries back then. But now there is so I'm upgrading to a Solis 6kw hybrid inverter and four 4.8 kw 48v Pylontech US5000 batteries that were only £1, 450 each. All told the upgrade with all the new wiring it will come to just over £9k but it will work in the event of a power cut but most importantly for me is that I can expand the system in the future.
A lot of these systems out there have limited scalability or expansion possibilities so if you want to add to the system with extra batteries or panels you can't. The batteries I chose can string up to 16 but with a hub I can have many strings. I've oversized my inverter for 2 reasons, one is that I plan to add more panels and the second is that I want more power avaiilable from the batteries, inverters can only supply from the battery what it is rated at I've had to wait a long time though as the supply madness continues but it was worth the wait as I know it pays for itself fairly quickly.

[michaelplates]

I now see by looking at the installation in the garage that you mean it when you say you are very particular - very neat and clean job - no unnecessary unsightly conduits and cables running on the wall - neat job - very impressed. Just the way I like it too.

[Calmdriver]

Thank you for your clear and helpful talk through your system and costs.

[Kiran_UK]

Interesting video, I've just instructed an installer on a very similar sized system, 22 panels (split across 4 roof elevations so a bit more scaffold too) instead of 20 but mine came in within £1500 so when you gave your total figure I felt a lot better. The guys we have instructed are also really good with the aesthetics so seeing a neat install reinforces that that was worthwhile too.

[guyc]

Great video. Lots of detail to help with our own planning. Looking forward to the lessons learnt video. 👍🏻

[nobotshere]

Thanks for the effort put in to do the video, I appreciate it's not easy to give up your time to share your experience. Ignore any of the keyboard warriors comments. The installation looks neat. You must be exporting a lot to the grid though? That volume of solar production I reckon your export must be 50%? Getting a battery was a wise move. Solar returns little in comparison to backup storage. We had a similar system installed in April, smaller array but more batteries. Wish I had gone for a higher inverter as only 3.5kw hybrid would be my tip on reflection. Keep sharing your experiences 👍

[ravingdavid]

thanks for letting us no on cost please keep updates coming on the solar as we head towards the winter be interesting to see what its like in the darker days