Is it worth our while?

Yep. Worth your while looking for sure. You use average energy usage which means it will contribute a decent chunk to drop your bills. And you already watch how much energy you use it seems. So that's a good starting place.

I'd suggest... you get quotes. And listen to the 'go for it' mate. :)

Avoid like the plague....not getting quotes :)

I am only setup 6 weeks maybe. But wonder why I waited so long. If we ever move house, we'll get solar there too. Our Nissan Leaf EV gets free 'motion lotion' some months of the year from solar. What's not to love about that? So worth considering that benefit if an EV is a runner in the future

the quality of the contractor is key in this, if you pick an honest bunch, who won't over sell, over install, dump you without fully testing and explaining the system (app, CTs etc, etc), then you can't go wrong. I would advise getting a smart EV charger in at the start, ready to go when you will need it (I assume Type 2 charger specification isn't going to be dumped anytime soon).

anyway, give it serious consideration and use the winter evenings to research it, line up an installation next March\April when PV production ramps up. go for it, just pick the right company!

Because there are no details. How much was spent? What size system was it? What is the yield? Was it installed correctly (sized appropriate for the house). All these things make the opinion hard to place a value on. However, there's 30-40 users who have documented their systems, price, yield and I'd say the vast majority (or perhaps even all of them?) would say it's worthwhile doing.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/126q1if4RJqtmB1z-M6cxuXr6TknY_SwKuwAjxZsxh8E/edit

I'd be of the meh camp.

All well and good installing a top of the range system. But as another poster pointed out, these would rarely have a pay back of less than 10 years. Any system running 24/7 for ten years will probably be starting to give up the ghost after 10 years.

So you might work out with less hassle to just pay for piped electricity and not have to be worrying about solar.

Certainly, I would have no intention of getting it. I prefer the simplicity of just having piped energy, a meter and pay the bill.

I live alone anyway, so my energy use is modest. A PV system, or indeed any sort of renewable energy, would have so long a pay back period that it simply isn't worth the hassle involved.

And the exact same rationale can be applied to the mate who said "yes, go for it". No detail about that system either.

Very true - but plenty of good quality information from people here on the forums who will testify that it's something "worth doing". Now if you decide not to do that, of course that's an individual choice and one that everyone is entitled to make. For sure it's a significant investment, but one I think changes your view on how you use electricity. In a good way.

As DC999 mentions though it's important that you engage with a trusted, reliable installer. Some of the big operators have very slick advertising, but the prices they charge would make a breakeven point in the 20-25 year period. It's nonsense. An accurately sized system for an average house will be in about the 8-12 year mark. Some heavy users will see break even points as low as 5-6 years, although it's rare.

As for the hardware, people get confused when they see "Panel guaranteed for 10 years" etc. This doesn't mean that they stop working at 10 years, but rather that they guarantee will say something like "At 10 years, they will produce 88% of the output at day 1". Your panels you buy today could still be producing electricity in 2050! (albeit they won't be producing the same amount)

I'm all for PV, but the prospect of having to read that quotes thread is enough to put Eamon Ryan off solar panels. It's over 110 pages long...

For someone considering solar, is it worth sizing your panels to cover your entire needs if possible, or sizing them to cover the baseload current from your house (daily house heating, water heating only)

No need to read the thread. Read the FAQ pinned to this forum. Get three quotes (use the reocmmneded installers or choose your own) and POST your quotes in the quotes thread. Couldn't be simpler.

YEah but the average Joe Shmoe isn't going to be up for DIY replacement of inverters and stuff. The average joe or jane soap would be doing well to even grasp that the device had failed, and could be years on from the failure before they realise that their bills are now higher because of the failure.

They are not going to have the knowledge or abilities to change a piece of equipment like that and will be relying on an electrician to come in and do it and supply a suitable replacement. If they can even get someone to take on the job.

I'd absolutely agree that this forum is an echo-chamber. What installation and maintenance savings are possible for enthusiasts is not applicable to the regular joe who has neither the interest nor ability to understand the workings of a system like this, even as simple as it all usually is. They are just not interested in it 99% of the time.

It might seem like that to you, but that is because you yourself, and your fellow entusiasts are knowledgeable. Analysing performance, planning upgrades, tracking output on smartphone apps. Ye are therefore biased.

But the average, non-enthusiast won't have a fraction of that knowledge or even the interest it these matters. For the average person walking the street, it is likely that the they probably don't even understand the fundamental principles of electricity, and neither do they have the inclination to educate themselves about it or the finer points of solar PV systems. They are not going to have the time, interest nor perhaps even the capability of looking at and interpreting information on a smartphone app.

My sister and her husband have a solar thermal system on their house, installed when the house was built. It has ceased to work for some years and they were absolutely oblivious to that fact. I offered to arrange for it to be repaired and they just shrugged their shoulders at the notion. They now just press a button for heat and hot water, having had their complicated heating controls replaced with a basic as could be flash programmer and boost button.

And they are not idiots either, both are smart people, work professional jobs. They are average people. But like most, renewable energy is just not something they are particularly interested in. I doubt they know the difference between AC and DC and I'would put money on them understanding the fundamental concept of an electrical circuit.

If I tried to explain to them how to track the performance of their solar system remotely via an app, they would glaze over - it would be like speaking Hindi to them.

For the average person, it just isn't important enough to them for them to bother their time learning about it.

@Girl Geraldine - "For the average person, it just isn't important enough to them for them to bother their time learning about it."

In your example you are talking about people with inherited systems though that didn't cost them anything in terms of time or money, not people who actively go out and have a system costing thousands installed.

But yeah I broadly agree with your point about people who have no interest in any of these systems. That's where a global existential problem like climate change comes in though, helped with a bit of an energy crisis. People like your sister and her husband, now still seemingly ignorant of what's happening in the world, will get a rude awakening when a kWh hits €1 and then they will get the finger out. I see it all around me already and PV installers are all out the door and materials are near impossible to get.

I dont think this forum is an "echo chamber". There are plenty of discussions around DIY versus COTS batteries for example - plus the ongoing debates on FIT veruss battery etc.

I dont really get why a "single person living alone" is even in this forum giving advice on NOT installing solar etc. If we took a poll of people who have success with saving money on electricity bills - your cohort would not be represented... you need to have a fairly healthy demand for exlectricity - and big bills to even look at solar.

Watch the video in the FAQ - the very first part of it is "do not install solar untill you try these things, reduce, change habits, switch provider annually etc etc)

A few months may be a bit optimistic. My system cost a bit under 2k and if prices don't skyrocket too much more it will still take 3-4 years to pay for itself.

+1 (good post btw)

We asked that exact Q and our installer said roughly 2k to move and put back up (was a very loose cost months ago over a coffee and before they all got mad busy). For 2k I'd likely move it as our kit is new and no learned curve for me (as I know that kit) IF I wasn't getting a price bump from having it

So if / when we do sell, we can

1) Sell 'as is' with the extra cost of the solar included. I reckon it would bump our house price. As @graememk says which gaff would you buy. I'd give estate agent the blurb on having the lowest energy bills in the area, and EV ready with the Zappi. Would be the truth, not spoof numbers (hate that marketing crap of zero bills). 10-15k is small beans in terms of house prices in Dublin anyways, so I'd expect we'd sell 'with the house'

2) Or we'll remove it if buyers won't pay for it and remove the few screw holes in the walls so it's back as was. And sale price doesn't include solar.

But it's deffo a good 'challenge' to have when selling

I got some very cheap 380W panels a few months ago that are 1.76m*1.04m. Those 560W panels at 2.30m*1.1m are just 7% more efficient per m2 panel, but I bet they are charging 100% more for them than what I paid.

Beware. Don't let those mighty high wattage panels fool you.