Solar Panels

bullrunner

Hey,

Does anybody have a solar panel in their house/apartment? Are they worth getting? How much do they cost to install/maintain?

Also I've heard that the government will give a grant towards the installation of a solar panel in a house (as its environmentally friendly). Anybody have any info on this?

bertie1

We live in Cork & we bought them Euro 2000.00 for 2 panels & the controller, got our plumber to install them when we were building a new house & our water is hot when the sun shines . they are a great job. Very little oil used since April for hot water.

http://www.solarpanelireland.com

PinkSniff

Hi ballrunner,

Information on solar panels + application form for grant available on Sustainable Energy Ireland website, ww.sei.ie

Hope this helps....

mukki

bertie1 wrote:

We live in Cork & we bought them Euro 2000.00 for 2 panels & the controller, got our plumber to install them when we were building a new house & our water is hot when the sun shines . they are a great job. Very little oil used since April for hot water.

http://www.solarpanelireland.com

at 14c per kwhour.... €2000 worth of electricity would run an immersion (rain, hail or shine) for nearly 20 years if you switched it on for an hour a day, nearly double that if you have night saver.

an immersion is also very reliable, needs no service and is cheap to install\replace

obviously an electric shower and an under sink heater in the kitchen would be even more efficient.

Mellor

mukki wrote:

at 14c per kwhour.... €2000 worth of electricity would run an immersion (rain, hail or shine) for nearly 20 years if you switched it on for an hour a day, nearly double that if you have night saver.

an immersion is also very reliable, needs no service and is cheap to install\replace

obviously an electric shower and an under sink heater in the kitchen would be even more efficient.

I feel there are a number of things wrong with the above post.
Yes 2000 euro would run for 15-20 years @ 14c per KW. But prices are going to increase so actual time will be les than half that.
When the goverment grant is taken into consideration the payback time is even less again. Only a few years now.
And most importantly people who go the route of solar panels (or similar) are not doing so solely for the purpose od saving money. They are doing it because they actually care about the environment.

Electric water heating is a huge comsumer of power, add this to the fact that Irish means of electrical production is a joke running at about 30% efficiency, it really should be avoided.

mukki

Mellor wrote:

I feel there are a number of things wrong with the above post.
Yes 2000 euro would run for 15-20 years @ 14c per KW. But prices are going to increase so actual time will be les than half that.
When the goverment grant is taken into consideration the payback time is even less again. Only a few years now.
And most importantly people who go the route of solar panels (or similar) are not doing so solely for the purpose od saving money. They are doing it because they actually care about the environment.

Electric water heating is a huge comsumer of power, add this to the fact that Irish means of electrical production is a joke running at about 30% efficiency, it really should be avoided.

i agree, i should have said in my post that i am getting mine fitted purely for enviromental reasons.

another point against solar panal value.... the 2 grand spent on your esb is spread over 10-15 years interest free, unlike 2k on panels.

I was looking at a panel at a country fair yesterday, I was not impressed in what was provided for €3,500. The unit was faced with twin walled polypropelene (sp?) instead of glass for starters!

I would guess that the system could be made for (far)less that €1000.

IMHO the only way to make real savings with solar is to make your own panels. You may need to make it larger than a commercial unit to get the same output, but the saving in cost will be worth it.

Mellor

Deleted User wrote:

I was looking at a panel at a country fair yesterday, I was not impressed in what was provided for €3,500. The unit was faced with twin walled polypropelene (sp?) instead of glass for starters!

I would guess that the system could be made for (far)less that €1000.

IMHO the only way to make real savings with solar is to make your own panels. You may need to make it larger than a commercial unit to get the same output, but the saving in cost will be worth it.

Would the saving earned by making your own not be cancelled out by the fact that you wouldn't be able to claim a goverment grant.
also the lack of a guarantee

eoghan.geraghty

bertie1 wrote:

We live in Cork & we bought them Euro 2000.00 for 2 panels & the controller, got our plumber to install them when we were building a new house & our water is hot when the sun shines . they are a great job. Very little oil used since April for hot water.

http://www.solarpanelireland.com

Did this price include a dual coil plus electric immersion stainless steel cylinder?
Did the installation qualify for a grant?

eoghan.geraghty

mukki wrote:

at 14c per kwhour.... €2000 worth of electricity would run an immersion (rain, hail or shine) for nearly 20 years if you switched it on for an hour a day, nearly double that if you have night saver.

an immersion is also very reliable, needs no service and is cheap to install\replace

obviously an electric shower and an under sink heater in the kitchen would be even more efficient.

If you get enough hot water from putting your sink element on for 1 hour per day you don't need any money saving tips, cos you are scrooge:D
Electric showers are not efficient, they are convenient.

The Novacastrian

We moved into a brand new eco-friendly house in May. 2 solar panels (Viessmann), sealed timberframe construction. We have had to heat the hotwater about 15 times and never had the heating on.

The controller is set up to record the KWh equivalent so I'll record it and post it up.

we think they are brilliant - 'free' hot water....

Mellor

Mellor wrote:

Would the saving earned by making your own not be cancelled out by the fact that you wouldn't be able to claim a goverment grant.
also the lack of a guarantee

The sei grant is €300 m2 so it depends on the cost per m2, the unit I was looking at was approx 3m2 and cost €3500 euro, therefore cost per m2 €1166 minus grant €866. so if you can build one for significantly less than €800 per m2 then it's probably worth the effort.

As for guarantee etc, well thats up to you.

endplate

Mellor wrote:

And most importantly people who go the route of solar panels (or similar) are not doing so solely for the purpose od saving money. They are doing it because they actually care about the environment.

But the person selling the panels goes out and buys a 3.5L Jeep then and offsets the enviornmental saving by the consumer. Sad reality of life at the moment:(

ceidefields

endplate - all the little changes add up. If we all take the attitude that what we're trying to do for the environment is being cancelled, then no progress will be made.

OP - we priced out solar panels but it turned out we couldn't install them due to a large tree shadowing our house We do have a high-efficiency gas central heater though.

Mellor

Deleted User wrote:

The sei grant is €300 m2 so it depends on the cost per m2, the unit I was looking at was approx 3m2 and cost €3500 euro, therefore cost per m2 €1166 minus grant €866. so if you can build one for significantly less than €800 per m2 then it's probably worth the effort.

As for guarantee etc, well thats up to you.

If units are that expensive then it is probably a waste of time.
but i am sure i've seen cheaper unots than that. If that is the current standard then it really is a waste of time, but i'd still do it for environmental reasons. Irish electrical standards are our biggest area for improvement, a few small steps would save buckets.

due to the nature of the grant, and this is typical irish behaviour, a cheaper panel with a lower output would be a better buy. As to reach the same total output a larger area is required and then the grant is larger.

mukki

this thread has totally turned me against them, i didnt really think too much into them before now.

think i'll install a 3 coil tank, and re-consider a solar panel ever 5 years

endplate wrote:

But the person selling the panels goes out and buys a 3.5L Jeep then and offsets the enviornmental saving by the consumer. Sad reality of life at the moment

good match for a 1.8 turbo petrol

bertie1

eoghan.geraghty wrote:

Did this price include a dual coil plus electric immersion stainless steel cylinder?
Did the installation qualify for a grant?

Yes the panels qualified for a grant and our plumber was on the registered installers list. No as we were building we just bought a 300 litre dual coil cylinder instead of a single coil cylinder.