Are Solar Panels a good investment?
There are hundreds if not thousands of posts about this subject and a lot has changed in the last few years to affect Electricity prices.
For this article I’m going to review a 10 panels system facing south against a number of different consumption figures. Why 10 panels you may ask? well you only need a roof about 6.4m wide by 4.1m long to accommodate this system.
Annual savings or Return on Investment are calculated using MCS methodology and Electricity prices and Export are based on EON Next Drive tariff as this is the best tariff on the market in our opinion.
System Size - 4.55kw
Fox 5kw Hybrid Inverter linked to a Fox EP11 10kwh Battery system
System Cost fully installed £6,499
2000 kWh
Annual Consumption
4,448kWh
Estimated annual Solar output -
1,816 kWh
Expected Solar PV Self Consumption
with battery
2,632 kWh
Expected Solar exported
91%
Grid electricity independence / Self-sufficiency (with EESS)
Annual Benefit
Grid independence: Estimated annual electricity savings
£490.32
PV self-consumption 1,816 (kWh) x electricity tariff (£0.27)
£434.28
Annual income generated from Smart Export Guarantee % export of PV output x SEG rate from Energy Provider (PV export)) = 2632 x 16.5p (SEG rate) / 100
Payback Period
£6,499
Total Installation Cost
£924.60
Estimated Annual benefit
7 years
Payback Period (installation cost divided by estimated annual benefit): No Inflation
Annual Consumption 3000 kWh
4,448kWh
Estimated annual Solar output -
2,425 kWh
Expected Solar PV Self Consumption
with battery
2,023 kWh
Expected Solar exported
81%
Grid electricity independence / Self-sufficiency (with EESS)
Annual Benefit
£654.75
PV self-consumption 2,425 (kWh) x electricity tariff (£0.27)
£333.80
Annual income generated from Smart Export Guarantee % export of PV output x SEG rate from Energy Provider (PV export)) = 2023 x 16.5p (SEG rate) / 100
Payback Period
£6,499
Total Installation Cost
£988.55
Estimated Annual benefit
6.6 years
Payback Period (installation cost divided by estimated annual benefit): No Inflation
Annual Consumption 4000 kWh
4,448kWh
Estimated annual Solar output -
2,930 kWh
Expected Solar PV Self Consumption
with battery
1,518 kWh
Expected Solar exported
73%
Grid electricity independence / Self-sufficiency (with EESS)
Annual Benefit
£224.70
£791.10
4000kwh - PV Self Con 2,930 = 1070kwh x28p = £299.60
1070kwh x 7p = £74.90
£299.60-£74.90 =£224.70
PV self-consumption 2,930 (kWh) x electricity tariff (£0.27)
£250.47
Annual income generated from Smart Export Guarantee % export of PV output x SEG rate from Energy Provider (PV export)) = 1518 x 16.5p (SEG rate) / 100
Payback Period
£6,499
Total Installation Cost
£1,266.27
Estimated Annual benefit
6.2 years
Payback Period (installation cost divided by estimated annual benefit): No Inflation