Solar for Beginners [ask your questions here]

Read the below thread and it will give you links to see how much you can generate, where the sun will be all year around your house and loads of other tips. https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058234646/interested-in-solar-pv-read-this-faq-first#latest

Because soft-limits aren't reliable enough to prevent the full 8kW from being discharged onto the grid in the event of a fault.

But if you applied for an NC7, you could up the inverter/charge/discharge? To?

I'd be perfectly happy if I could fully charge my 24kWh battery in the Pinergy 3 hour window.

Yes once your paperwork is completed you should get paid for excess regardless of the meter is activated or not in my experience

Hi all,

I'm looking for a registered electrician(I'm located in Dublin North area) who can connect my solar system to the consumer board. Everything is already installed — panels, inverter, wiring, isolators, etc. I just need a qualified person to make the final connection to the consumer board and ideally help fill out the NC6 form required for ESB Networks.

System is in place and ready — just need someone to sign off and connect safely.

Recommendations welcome, especially from anyone who’s had a similar job done recently.

Thanks in advance!

Not anymore, a smart meter is needed.

The OP had mentioned in the post that they already had a smart meter.

Yes you can I am doing the same thing at the minute with the same smart meter non activated setup

Thanks you. I had gone through and had used a couple of calculators, but they don't take into account selling back to the grid. Currently my payback is 36 years apparently.

Hi thank you so much for taking the time to break that down. I think part of the issue is that currently my average annual electricity cost is under 600e, before I do any retrofit. That means a 12k installation takes 20 years, but yes I really should be hoping for a cheaper installation, though this is also impacted by roof/space issues and costs. This throws off any bills savings based calculators, if the benefit of the returns (750e) generated applies only to future bills (600e per year) meaning I would keep accruing credits. I do still think it is worth it but might wait to go in with my local solar meitheal.

Yeah, I can't answer the question of is it worth it to you. Like many here, I'm a little biased with a solar installation already (2x of them actually) and they've served me well. You do tend to treat electricity differently when you have an abundance of it - and that's ok.

Definitely would search around though on the quotes. The one-stop-shops have historically been nortoriously expensive compared to simple supplier + grant route. €6-7K should get you a decent system up and running, maybe go with 3.5Kwp in panels coupled to a 3.5kw inverter, you might see something closer to €5k.

Hi All

We moved house a year ago to a 1970s detached house. We don't have the cash at the moment to do a deep retrofit of the property. However, we are trying to do bits and pieces of additional energy efficiency and comfort as we go along. For example, we replaced the boiler recently with an A rated gas condenser boiler.

We are now considering adding solar panels to the house but would be great to have some idea of what we are looking for before we get quotes because it is all a bit of a minefield.

I have set out below what seem to be some important vital statistics about our usage and lifestyle, as well as a picture of our roof (which we think should be very good for panels) and would be grateful for any advice about options. Thanks all in advance.

• Meter Type: Smart Meter
• Plan Type: Standard Plan (not Smart Meter Plan)
• Average Usage: We are here 12 months and we use roughly 350 - 400 units per month
• Car: No electric car but we plan to replace our car in about 2 years, at which point we might buy an electric
• Lifestyle: We are a busy family with two working parents and two small kids. Effectively, we are out of the house for most of the day and do have pinchpoints in the evening when we all get home, have to get through dinner, washing and do most of our washing and dishwashing in the evening. However, we could of course adjust our lifestyle on that. Our washing machine has a delay function so we could run dishwasher on our way out the door in the morning and have the washing machine run a delay function later in the day.

We would see this as an investment so within reason we are not looking for the absolute bottom dollar scope but we would want it all to make economic sense.

Thanks again.

One initial suggestion for you is to register with ESB networks, which will allow you to download your detailed usage data. You can then upload this into a site called Energypal.ie which will help you select the right plan for your specific needs today. Any companies you get quotes from will likely ask for details of your plan and they will model payback periods accordingly.

I went EV first and solar second and in many ways they have stayed completely separated. I can export my solar at €0.18c/kWh during the day and buy electricity at night for €0.07/kWh within a defined time window, so it doesn't make sense for me and lots of others to charge from solar. On that basis, don't let the future EV decision overly influence your decision today on solar.

If that is the orientation of your house in the picture, where the ridgeline is almost North / South, then you will likely be looking at panels on both sides of the roof. One set will be east facing to get the morning sun, and the other will be west facing for the afternoon / evening.

Any reputable installers you get a proposal from will do some modelling for you on estimated usage patterns, size of the panels, battery, payback period etc., but if possible, talk to neighbors, friends have have used specific installers and get a recommendation if possible. Finally - understand your payback period - the time it will take you to recover your initial investment. For me it's modelled to be 6.5 years, but it will be different for everyone. You'll only know that once you start to get proposals from installers. As you say, it has to make economic sense.