Are Solar Panels Worth It? March 2023 - 8kWp Solar Edge + 13kWh Growatt Battery

Reviewing the data for March 2023:
How much solar energy did we produce?
How much did we import from the grid?
How much did we export? and most importantly, how much money did we save?
Do Solar Panels work in the snow?
Are Optimisers worth it?

Our system: 8kWp SolarEdge + 13kWh Growatt Battery.

Links:

Big Motoring World where I bought my second hand Renault Zoe EV:

[juttley]

Hi Josh, another good video, thanks for posting. I like watching and comparing to my own set up and costs. March for us was a total cost of £87, which is for a large 5 bed house with an EV (all electric as no gas or oil). 8KW array (4 south and 4 east) with a Tesla power wall and zappi car charger. I am getting excited now that the weather is changing a lot. I managed to get 17kw into the car during the day on Friday, with the batterys AI deciding it did not need to charge over night and so our full days cost for electric was just 27p as I used 0.9kw in total. Not sure why I used anything as the battery and solar should have covered it in full, but I seem to have some phantom drain from the grid. Really looking forward to the summer where I hope to be off grid for long portions of time. cheers John

[richardsterne]

Well presented video. What part of the UK are you in rough location will do. I am in North Wales and considering a solar system so location information is of use to me, To judge weather it will be worth it.

[grahamclark]

Good videos. Iv driven an electric car for 4 years but just got my solar 4.6kWh and battery fitted start of Feb. Live in Scotland so and got 220kWh in solar in March. Your videos are giving me a good guide as I reckon I will make about half of your production each year. I was thinking of switching from Octopus Go to Octopus flux for the summer months. What are your thoughts on it? Probably worth it for you if your exporting that much energy.

[laurencedamazer]

Hi, good video, however I do not think spreadsheet at 8.24 is quite correct. The four lines below Grid Consumption Kwh. do not add across i.e. car charge Jan 23 = 509.5 and so does the Overall Total = 509.5 I think the monetary values seem to be okay? Unless I am missing something.

[MrKlawUK]

your battery charge drops really slowly. What is your average baseload usage in the house overnight?

[libertyequalityfraternity]

Thanks for creating and sharing this video.

A suggestion? Add some more return on investment perspectives.

Let's say you're avoiding £125 per month in utility costs, and £125 per month in petrol costs.

That's £250/month saved. That's £3K per year.

If your solar system costs £15K, and let's say your ZOE cost £15K, then let's say you've 'invested' £30K.

You're "earning" £3, 000 in savings. In purely financial terms, a return of 10%.

[purely financial = excluding other 'earnings' - eliminating a gas hob means you are no longer poisoning yourself and your family with nitrogen oxides every time you cook; you're reducing annual CO2 emissions by 6 tonnes + whatever a petrol-engined ZOE would emit; locations where you drive no longer have nitrogen oxides, carbon dioxide, etc]

Can you obtain a 10% return by putting that £30K in a bank account? No.

Another perspective.

Now let's say you work and pay basic rate taxes; in simple terms, you pay 20% income tax and 10% national insurance.

You would need a salary increase of approximately £4, 300 that would mean you take home an extra £250/month.

In other words, your £30K investment is equivalent to a £4, 300 pay rise.

[these are simple calculations to illustrate a point]

I think these two ways of looking at it add a richer perspective.