Will East and West Facing Solar Panels work in the UK? Our First Six Months Experience 

My east west system quote had a report to say it would be about 87%as efficient as a optimal south facing one so I don’t think there’s much difference going off that.

Thanks! Appreciate the comment

Thanks Chris!

Those are very good prices I paid £10,000 for a 5.85 kw array and 5kwh Puredrive battery. Installed end of Dec 22.

Thanks for the comment! The only info I got was that there was a known upgrade issue on the inverter. However, when the the installer sent out an engineer to resolve that, he also effectively did a factory reset of the batteries and manually upgraded the firmware. Since then (3 months and counting) the system has performed faultlessly.

Thanks! The batteries are only topped up to 20% overnight if required. There are videos online about how to setup to charge from the grid overnight, but given the issues I had with the inverter and the batteries not talking to each other for nearly two months, I elects to leave the system well alone. As of today (1st of May) I'm running pretty much on solar generation and battery storage and minimal grid import (and the April Video that I will start to create this week will explain that more)!

Thanks' for your comment. Happy that the data is useful to you! Sales value is an interesting point that I hadn't considered - mainly as we are not looking to move any time soon. I'm not sure that Energy ratings factor much in house sales here in the UK. We do have the EPC certification, that we are legally obliged to obtain for House Sales and Lettings, but I don't think many people pay much attention to it unless they have an interest in it.

@@East2WestSolar your EPC is similar to BER here which as in UK is legal requirement to sell a house. Better the BER higher the house value more and more people want higher BER and lower running costs. It’s a big factor here as it is in the EU.

Hi, do not understand your comment. Are you talking about whole year or just the last six months? As East West Solar only generated 1,259.41 kwh, but consumption was 3840.74kwh , so unless you are talking about including charging the battery from grid in off peak periods not sure how you achieve 60% / 80%?

Thank's for the comment! I may well have paid more - particularly as it's a reverse auction - I've no idea who else was in it. But the installers did say 60% reduction was conservative. As to the "lost" energy - it's a manufacturer issue rather than the installer - so not sure whether I have the time or inclination to chase it. But it's working as expected now - so hopefully that will continue through the lifespan of the install.

I only chose 7 on the East as during the winter the shading from next door's roof would have an impact. That being said, they are really performing well now in Spring during the morning. But the main thing is maximising the west pitch as it is completely unshaded once the Sun get's past noon. It's a shame I don't seem to be able to get a split of performance on each pitch from the data I have. That could probably give greater insight in to the performance of the East pitch.

Hi Kev. We have had days when we've produced next to nothing. The lowest generation we've seen so far was 100 watts (0.1kWh). But that was in the middle of December, so day light hours would only total just under 8 hours and the strength of sunlight was at it's lowest. But the following day we generated 1.8 kWh. It really does all depend on the weather, I'm noticing now that even on a cloudy day we can still generate 3-4 kWh, and as we have longer day light hours, a run of say 4 hours of really strong sunshine can really boost the numbers for the day.

@@East2WestSolar Hi Keith, thanks for taking time to reply, i was just going over your Nov/Dec/Jan charts, as we will likely end up with a similar system to yours, it looks like on over half of the days in those months we would meet at least half (or more) of our electric needs as we need about 8-10 kwh a day. Im still flip flopping weather to go for battery or not as it adds 40% on to the cost.

Thank you for your comment Jim. But by the same analogy, your calculations assume your 5% interest on an investment and the rate of inflation would be constant, which is unlikely. And don't forget that I'm sending excess generation back to the grid and getting paid for it, and while my contribution is not measurable as a reduction on UK reliance on Coal and Gas, there are 1000's of installations that do the same collectively, which can only be a good thing. Ultimately, the rational for installing this system was to remove the risk of continued energy price increases - which are 3 times what they were 1.5 years ago. And should the prices continue to go up, my payback is shorter; if the prices go down, it will just take longer for the system to breakeven. This isn't a means for me to make money, it just allows me more control on my energy bills. And of course the large up front cost means it's not viable for everyone, and I've not shied away from that point.

@@East2WestSolar Keith, to be fair to me, I did say "This calculation takes no account of interest or inflation changes", and you must know that if interest rates fall, so will inflation - they ARE constant in that they intrinsically linked. The rates change, but the link remains. So if I were to get less for my invested capital, I would also be paying less energy prices...which makes solar less viable for every penny drop. Many assumptions are made on a predictive calculation, and I did caveat that. Also, I purposefully did not cite your personal solar experience, but chose a typical one according to the solar industry. The data I gave comes from them. As for future energy prices, we have already witnessed that they have become politically sensitive (government intervention to cap bills), so the future path is only down, not up. I would seriously draw into the question the point of reliance on coal and gas. We have reserves of both - both could be extracted by nationalised means to make energy in this country very cheap. It merely lacks the political will based on an inane energy policy and incorrect science. Although self-sufficiency in energy production is vital, it must be affordable! The British government will come to realise that over the coming decades, as we head for cooler global temperatures [solar cycle 26, negative PDO, negative AMO, CO2 absorption saturation couple with a booming population] demand for energy will hugely INCREASE, not decrease. Thank you for replying. All the best.

You are completely correct, and inflation is not a factor because the investments yield 5% more per year than inflation itself. So, DIY solar or just batteries is the way to go. 4kW+5kWh+ inverter costs £3k. Saves £1k per year at £0.35kW/h current rates, so after 3 years you barely pay for energy for 10-25 years. Replace the inverters/stuff every 5-10 years for 1k. S&P500 can't beat this. If you don't have space for solar, just go with batteries, they reduce your bill by 3x.

@@squeaky_honda Purchase cost of a TYPICAL 3kW system with batteries - £10,000 Generates 2,500 kW a year At 27p per kWh that is £675 'saved' Minus the cost of maintenance and repairs which is £4,000 over the 25 years, so £160 a year This means we are down to £515 a year 'saved' We put that in a savings account (which with compounded interest comes to £10,724 after 15 years)...to pay for the new inverter and battery array which costs £10,724 (with inflation at around 2.5%)! So the overall payback from a TYPICAL system is £0 You get a big fat nothing from your solar panel array after 15 years. After this time, they have also degraded by 9%. This assumes the inverter and batteries only have to be replaced once. The above data even IGNORES the loss of interest (at £400 a year) on the £10,000 spent!!! It assumes you have been gifted the panels. If you buy the panels, then you lose interest on the capital at £400 a year. This means that not only do you never get your money back, it COSTS you money for every year it is sat on your roof. A typical solar array with batteries is therefore simply a complete waste of money. There's no payback, it COSTS you money.

@@barryfoster453 Exactly! That's why I went the DIY way for £3k. If I didn't have a large garden, I'd have completely skipped solar, I'd just install batteries. The materials are cheap but hiring someone to install them is a massive scam. A 400W panel costs £90 nowadays. The mounting-system for it almost costs more per panel. So, perhaps just install 2x the number of panels flat on the ground, it'll cost you less and give you more. Anyway, any £1 over the cost of materials makes the entire thing pointless. Domestic solar installers are scammers. There's this youtube channel Artisan Electric that installed an 8kW system for £35k. That shit can't pay for itself within 90 years! When it would need more repairs/replacements every few years. And within a year maybe your roof leaks and you have to replace it for £20k.