At RenewSolar, We are attempting to make the step into solar a very very affordable solution with great value and rewards. When RenewSolar started back up again a few years ago, we offer the lowest priced options and worked with charities to provide solar to families who were struggling. A means tested solar installation as it were.
We sold a lot of these systems as they were affordable and easy to install, and in most cases they were never installed on roofs. this of course could keep the costs down. Some of the installations became more inventive, with Solar Pergolas, Solar Porches and such like.
When we looked into “what is the cheapest way we can install solar” at the time solar panels were costly, then at the time used solar panels were cheap, so offered a way to make solar affordable but cutting a larger part of the cost. Today the pros and cons of used panels is mainly about the size to power ratio. We did sell these systems for clients as well as for charity.
Solar panels generally come in two sizes, a 170 x112 and 200 x 13 While this may seem like the same thing, the power in the smaller size can be 160w to 440w, typically used panels are around 250w to 375w making them around 4 years old. The reason solar panels are changed and used panels come on the market, is due to the value they hold. older panels are around 12% efficient where as the new panels are 22% hence the growth in power. But when you have a solar farm where the difference can add up over hundreds of solar panels and in turn this effects the profits, it make sense to sell them on.
Used Solar Panels are available from our shop and priced around £20.00 each. This makes them a bargain for allotments or places where you wouldn’t want to put costly solar panels. but equally they are at home anywhere else as they look new (silver rather than black) so are great as a cost effect alternative if you have space.
Two used solar panels will give you 570w of solar power, where as a solar panel around 535w new would cost you around £90.00, this gives you a £50 saving on your solar installation.
Growatt inverters are small and well designed for inside and outside use, they are small and neatly designed so do not look out of place. Tidy enclosed wiring can make for a very neat internal installation. We picked these inverters because they looked good and worked. They have a low start up voltage and at the time there were very few inverters that had this as an option.
This was key in its selection as fewer solar panels means lower voltage, which they could start up with as few as two panels.
The Growatt inverter and these Min – TL’s came in a range of power sizes, from 750w to 5000w therefore there was a option to have a bigger system with more power and the prices dropped, currently the Growatt Min 1500w is £179 Growatt 1500 TLX — RenewSolar
It was also important for us to have access to smaller power inverters as then tend to be easier to install for DIY without significant risks. Plug in solar was a big thing and for many DIYers it was often a case of installing small solar to off set the power use in the day, and connecting to a sub distribution unit in garages or garden offices.
The big toss up we heard from customers was that they were considering off grid in the shed and how much this could cost and what was required and also if they did this could they power the house. Well not really is the simple answer as you would have to run cables through the house from the off grid system or retro fit sockets which were separate from the homes grid supply. Then of course there is winter, where solar isn’t so great.
“I want to install solar in my shed but how can I use the power in the house when im not using it and to lower the bill?“
So the only way this worked was by installing a grid tied inverter. this means No battery or going for a hybrid inverter system which is a whole different ball game and a big jump in costs.
One of the key points we do make with Grid Tied Solar is that the power is made during the day, excess is exported and you save based on what you use from what you make. As were were in covid times this made little difference to most people who were using power at home during lockdown. The power what was made was used up mostly, but as people returned to work, they were out working while the main bulk of power was produced.
This short coming grated our “make solar work for you” motto and why it was important for people to install a minimum system that met there daily loads. For example it is likely that a house will use less than 250w of power while empty during the day. It was only weekends and setting timers that the system provided most of its benefit and there had to be a balance between power from the solar and what it would not cover.
A washing machine may use 2.2kw of power, so therefore do you cover the power needs with solar or pump excess back to the grid for the companies to profit from it? There was so much Green credentials that you could really sell.
lets face it most people were fuming at the big energy company profits as they hiked up the costs of electricity, so no one wanted to export for free.
FIT (feed in tariff) was a lot of a scam which ended in March 2019. The value was captured by the government who set up companies to take money while offering grants and price promises. There were the “rent a roof” where by by some weird concept people bought in. You paid for the solar installation, which was over £13,000 in most cases, then you had a fixed price power bill based on your current use. and the install companies were getting paid for the power your solar produced. This meant that the companies were making up to £0.65kWh. and the customer was paying for that?!!
RenewSolar were on the ball and retracted from solar, as companies were being paid to install the solar, then making more than £4,000 per year per customer, effectively for free. While this was bad enough, the rent a roof lock in caused suffering to millions. As many companies were fly by night and went bust, they were still being paid from the FIT scheme for over a decade and there is more than likely still some around being paid.
RenewSolar was targeted at these customers who were scammed into the conversion of the FIT installations and rent a roof to redesign the installation to stop paying other and “making solar work for you”. a renewed Faith in solar as it were. – Yes that the Renew in the name, not renewables. 🙂
So getting back on track.
Solar from the little Growatt inverters and a few used panels. – £120+£179= £299
this should be good for 1.65 MWh per year. That’s a saving of around £475 per year.
What happens will be that you will see the power of solar, and how much you export, so the next step which most took was the hybrid inverter and a battery. RenewSolar kicked the back side of the UK supply lines by dropped 75% off the battery prices. Since then the battery market price dropped however many are hanging on brand names. the cost of living has had an impact which has caused most to float the price of the battery higher to make a profit while in the real world the prices have been dropping.
To give you an idea of the “price gap” in batteries, you can buy a name battery from a regular solar installer that is 5-7kwh for the same cost as our 50kWh battery. do take into mind that the cost of batteries tends not to scale, bigger is lesser. pay less get more. which in todays UK market is really unheard of. You will still pay far to much for a hybrid inverter as the government tax and regulations cause a very larger price rise over anything else.
I mention this as buying a mini system can be money not well spent, but it is a step that most people try, and other go down the illegal route, which can lead to fires and whats terms as making magic smoke.
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