[Hermit Dave]

From what I remember, just the scaffolding costs 1500 or so. Add additional grand for labour.

Like mentioned about get as many as you can install.

I was starting to look at scaffolding for DIY however I’ve spend my meagre savings on 6.6kW charger for Leaf30 and Phev Box for outlander. Additional panels will have to wait a bit


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[Hermit Dave]

I didn't read your reply before I responded, but I agree. The real winners are the scaffolding firms. Their pricing is a real eye opener, for assembling about 150 metres of tubing and some boards. I guess there must be plenty of work, so they can price high. They are all vat reg too so that immediately adds another 20%.

It might be cheaper to hire a tower, or a cherry picker...

Yeah been looking at HSS tool hire. I need to climb the second story roof and the way they did extension (previous owners) means there is a 1m gap between top floor and ground floor.


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[Hermit Dave]

BTW solar unless you can consume it makes no sense without batteries now.


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[Hermit Dave]

Makes less sense maybe, but you can sell you excess solar in the market now, Octopus Energy used to pay good rates in 2020. I got the last of FIT and deemed export so until they pay over 6p kwh in the open market any time of day i would be worse off.

I have no idea what Octopus pay. Some tariffs are not eligible for outgoings. My day rate is 14.2p so unless they are paying equivalent it makes no sense exporting.

Battery would also enable charging at off peak hours and satisfy background usage


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[Hermit Dave]

Trust me no way an installer ( the two blokes that actually go on the roof and do the nuts and bolts) is going to work from one of those. If they fall they are in trouble.

I did small single install on kitchen extension last year. Height wasn’t an issue as it’s single storey - but not sure about doing out on main roof. Was trying to rope a roofer who wasn’t interested


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[Hermit Dave]

I've been looking at near-500W panels...

Product not found!

www.bimblesolar.com

And wondering if it's sensible to replace my 16x250W panels installed five years ago, when 4kWp was all you could install to keep within the highest paying FIT band.

Although the 500W panels are physically bigger, I've worked out I can squeeze in 24 panels on both aspects (east/west).

That would give me 12kWp to replace 4kWp!

Assuming the DNO and FIT supplier agree...

And here I was installing 7 year old 245W used panels


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[Hermit Dave]

If you plan to only be at the house for 6 years or less, is it worth doing? Not sure there will be a payback in that time, and debatable whether they will add enough to the house price to cover the costs of installing them.

If you consume all the electricity generated you might have a break even period of 10 years. You can always take the panels off and with you when you move though


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[Hermit Dave]

I'm not sure that's right - we have 2 250w panels that started last year, but non-optimal placing, better this year, but we've now generated over 500kWh since then !

Wow I have restricted south facing 2x 245W and they have generated over 400kWh since I installed


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[Hermit Dave]

Isn’t in roof less efficient than on roof due to heat build up due to the reduced airflow under the panels? Maybe that issue has been overcome now?

That’s correct. During hot days (how many do we have really!!), the heat buildup causes a drop in generation by a 3rd.

Since there is no ventilation on in-roof, it’s likely to be more frequent


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[Hermit Dave]

I am going through that process at the moment so know a bit about removing a defunct chimney. I'm mostly taking it down due to a leak which I think is from the top haunching, but to be honest I don't need the chimney, it's draughty, and the chimney breast takes up a lot of space in one of the bedrooms. I submitted a simple building control notice which I think cost me £130 as the total cost was under £2k. I got in a Structual Engineer to do calculations on replacement timbers on the roof. That cost me about £300. As I mentioned earlier the biggest cost will be scaffolding. But the OP may want to strongly consider a SE anyway to check the roof timbers can support the additional weight of the panels. I know if I was buying house with PV on, Id be mostly concerned about the integrity of the roof structure and waterproofing.

@Trevor Larkum - do you install in-roof pv? Someone on here posted some photos of their property, which was almost like a replacement roof from metal sheet panels, with the PV bolted through. There were no tiles under the panels. Seemed a very smart way to reduce unnecessary loading and avoid hooks etc.

1.6m x 1.0m panels weigh about 18kg. I think the tiles weigh significantly more especially when wet.


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[Hermit Dave]

We do install in-roof PV, yes. They are popular because of aesthetics but cost perhaps 20% more. They may operate a little less efficiently because of heat build-up, but they do include some integral ventilation channels. They make a lot of sense if your roof needs work anyway as they replace a lot of expensive tiles (plus you get to save on scaffolding).

Maybe I should get you to do me a quote too. I’m just outside London EN7 6TT.

South facing roof is 4.2m x 4.2m. I do have a chunk of east and west facing roof too


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