Our green home journey, part 1
At CGI,?we're?known for doing complex things well and I've been?channelling?some of that?mentality?at home over this last year in our journey to become more green in our energy usage.
We've had the basics in place for years; the cavity wall and loft insulation, the double glazed windows, a super efficient gas boiler and a Tado smart heating system. Plus me as the slightly annoying husband/father, constantly moaning about lights being left on in empty rooms and my son sitting in shorts, in winter, with the radiator cranked up...
Solar panels have always eluded us though as the numbers have never quite stacked up. However, adding in the possibility of going electric for our cars started to shift the solar numbers in a positive direction over our previous "do nothing" for the last few years. (Yes, I do business cases for our home as well, for which I'm sure my wife finds me an insufferable bore.)
We have a complex roof, which makes any layout less than ideal for solar panels. Ideally you'd want a south-facing roof, rectangular in shape where you can fit two rows of panels in one simple array. This is generally considered to be the optimum layout for the UK with east and west-facing offering slightly lower performance. Our roof has always been tricky, but with the help of Spirit Energy in Reading and my dogged determination to find a solution that works for the long term,?we've finally?had the panels installed yesterday. As you can see from the graphic below, it's very much "if it fits, it's going on," including a couple on a lower roof portion. Complex racking, multiple cable entry points through the roof, not easy...
This time of year won't show them at their best of course. The sun's low in the sky, more cloud cover than usual, but here we are on day 2 and they're doing Ok in the early autumn sun.?Once the generation exceeds 1.4KW, the excess solar will start charging my EV and/or my wife's hybrid.?
Earlier this morning, our MyEnergi app showing the panels just starting to wake up:
Above shows one car fully charged (the tick), one about to start (the play icon), solar generating 1.8kW, exporting 1.4kW back to the grid (for a small fee) and the house consuming just 400W.
The pic below was mid-morning, car charging now with all the surplus solar going to one of the cars:
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There are still things to complete though. It was too wet yesterday to install the bird protection (reducing the likelihood of pesky birds nesting under the panels). We also had the roof cleaned prior to the panels going on, removing all the moss, lichen and a fair bit of loose mortar. Once the bird protection is done, we're having a solar reflective coating applied to the roof, which should help keep the house a little cooler in summer and improve performance of the panels as well #coolroof. We also have a Tesla Powerwall battery on backorder, which may still be some way off, but that will help further, allowing us to store excess solar generated during the day and consume it in the evening when the sun goes down. Once all this all beds in, next on "the roadmap" will be a heat pump, so we can remove our dependency on gas, looking to run that from solar power as much as possible as well.
We've gone with SunPower Corporation Maxeon Solar Technologies v6 panels, Enphase Energy , 2 x myenergi Zappi chargers and soon a Tesla Powerwall 2
My smart meter, yesterday afternoon: Never happier seeing a 0.
It would be easy to say "who doesn't like free electricity" but the reality is it still comes at a cost, at least initially. The panels are pretty much the most efficient (but expensive) you can buy at the moment, but with our roof shape, anything less was not worth considering. However they do come with an extensive 40yr warranty, so over their lifetime I expect they will pay for themselves several times over.
Sometimes you've got to play the long game, and with the climate crisis, that's really how we all have to think.?Happy to be playing my part.
More to follow on the specifics of the setup though and when I've got some more data to share.
By the way, the postings on this site are my opinions and do not necessarily represent CGI’s strategies, views or opinions.
Principal Consultant at CGI
2 年Hi Roy, this is fascinating. I'm really interested in making this happen for myself, but probably like most people I don't know enough about the subject matter to make it happen. How much did Spirit help you through this process, did you need to lead them, or were they very much the driver once you made the commitment?
Director Consulting Services at CGI
2 年Great article, was starting to consider this as well. Not sure sun light in Ayrshire makes this viable!
Director Consulting Expert & Senior Solutions Architect at CGI
2 年Well done Roy. We did a similar project back in March and have already nearly recouped 10% of the cost. I think that the East / West facing arrangement will actually work out well for you. The total yield might be less than with a pure South facing configuration, but you will generate more electricity early and late in the day, when it is often needed. This will help you get the most out of your battery and avoid importing overnight / early morning. I think this will more than offset the loss of a few extra kWhs that you would have sold in the middle of the day - for a lower price than you import at. It will be interesting to see how it works out. Do post updates!
Account Development Director
2 年Great article. I will be following progress with some interest as we consider the solar panel journey.