Solar panels in a 1980s built house any advice

coleen

hi we have a 1980s built bungalow with a long south facing front roof. We currently use oil heating and have electric fireplace in living room with an electric shower and underfloor heating in a bathroom that we added on 10 years ago. We do not have a ber rating on the house.
What type of questions should I be asking when I get a quote?
Would we still keep our oil boiler which is old but works well still.
what could we expect to pay for this new system

bullit_dodger

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058356366/solar-panels-in-a-1980s-built-house-any-advice

How long is a piece of string?

Have a read of (at least) the last 5-10 pages of

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058329045/domestic-solar-pv-quotes-2024-no-pm-requests-see-mod-note-post-1

That will give you a good feel for the state of the market. Bungalow with long facing south roof ideal for solar and easy for the suppliers to install normally. I'd be looking at 6Kwp in panels if not more, but it's dependant on factors such as your current consumption, are you planning an electric car? Migrating to a heat pump at some stage, etc etc etc.
Difficult to answer definitively as it's very specific to your house/consumption, but generally (generally) people do well with 6Kwp of panels there abouts.

conor_mc

The mention of heating/boilers indicates a possible confusion - are you aware of the difference between solar thermal and solar PV? Solar thermal heats water (but usually just your hot water tank and not for your heating system) while solar PV generates electricity. At this stage, the solar thermal market is dead so you are most likely looking at solar PV.

The FAQ post is a great place to start preparing yourself

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058234646/interested-in-solar-pv-read-this-faq-first

coleen

Thanks yes I need to start reading . I would be looking at solar pv and would be thinking of getting an EV in the future. My annual use is 5;900 kWh

I will see about getting 3 quotes and come back if I have some questions

conor_mc

Good rule of thumb for south-facing in Ireland (east/south Ireland at least) is 1kWp per kWh used, so in your case 5.9 kWP or about 14x 430W panels would offset your full year electricity usage. Add more if you want to offset your future EV charging too.

plasticfish

Having gone through this process last year, put as many panels on the roof as you can afford. the panels are relatively cheap when you have the installers on the roof already, and the more panels you have the greater the number of days in the year you will generate more than you consume, which really takes the sting out of the electricity bill. anything extra you export will offset your standing charge.

coleen

Thanks for that info I will check out how many I can fit on the roof