PV Feed In Tariff

Milk that FIT for every penny you can; it will pay for my system; then I’ll enjoy it for free for the next 20 years.

Bord Gais finally got their finger out and added my microgen payment to my account. Money not yet in my bank account so will see how many months that'll take. Total of 216 euros worth of exports over the past year.

Yes, Active8 sent round a salesman, who quoted 16K for 4KW of panels, a Solis inverter and a 5KW battery. My local installer installed 6.4KW of panels, a KStar inverter with a 5KW battery for 13K. More for less. You pay extra for the salesman's commission. In this case, someone who knew next to nothing about what he was selling. My local installers all appear to be electrical engineers with a passion for solar. Although not qualified enough to solve my inverter's software problem, which I solved myself.

If you are a new customer to SSE then you can get a 15% discount (ebills and direct debit) on a Night Boost account (10.55c per KWh). They offer 24c per KWh in FIT so effectively, if you were a light user and bought back (between 2am and 4am) what you export in the summer, you'd be paid 13.45c for each KWh you used at night to charge up your battery.

Alternatively, if you extend into another 2 hours of the night rate (27.35c per KWh) you'd pay an average of 18.95c and still be paid 5.05c per KWh you used. My rural rate spreadsheet has SSE the best choice for a new account, charging up your 5KW battery once at night and once again before the peak rate.

My spreadsheet assumes you are exporting 1.5MW per year and charging your battery twice per day, 365 days of the year. In my case the export is greater and the battery charging is non-existent outside of winter so I'd expect a lower bill. Others might pay more but the spreadsheet is a good starting point for evaluating suppliers. I update it once a month to see how suppliers are reacting to each other and will use it next February to either stick with SSE or jump.

If you have an installer putting the system in then a grant would just about pay for the battery so no difference in cost but you get free power at night.

No divert here. I prefer to export than generate too much hot water. Most of which dissipates before it gets used. I heat to 60C+ once a fortnight and barely over 40C the rest of the time.

I've seen quite a few small systems springing up around the village, 3 panels max. I doubt they have a battery and I wonder what they are getting out of their system. They'll still have a sizeable electric bill. Panels are the cheapest part of the install. I'd get as many as the inverter can handle and as big an inverter as can be afforded. As aforementioned, the battery is free with a grant.

Can you explain how the battery is free with the grant?

Id rather put up more panels than spend it on a battery. Batteries increase the cost alot. Extra panels not so much.

Panels will be there decades later. The battery and more expensive hybrid inverter will need replacing long before the panels will.

I don't know if the rules have changed but when I applied for the SEAI PV grant it was dependent on getting a battery, which was worth the price of the grant. No battery. No grant. So, I got the battery, knowing it was paid for with the grant.

Ah right, that’s long since gone.

A battery is no longer part of the grant criteria. it’s now simply

€900 per kWp up to 2kWp

 €300 for every additional kWp up to 4kWp

Total Solar PV grant capped at €2400

Example: €2100 for 3kWp solar panels

I see. That might account for the tiny systems going up around the village. Hopefully, they'll see the benefits and build on it.

thanks, yeah I'm wondering if they would apply a reconnection fee. They might invent one. I'll need to look at the standing charge savings..

Don’t forget you need a BER to

reflect the panels in order to get the grant.

so the grant is actually the calculation as

detailed minus the cost of a BER. This could be €500 if it’s a large enough house and is useless to you unless you are selling up. Well they can be used to apply for some mortgage products.

if you have a recent enough BER then that company may give a good price just to add the solar to the calculations.

got my EI bill today as well but for Jan to March.. had everything including microgen.. curious when they will bill for March to May.. should be almost nothing if my FIT estimates add up.. wonder when you cross the 200 euro for FIT do EI flag it on your bill or is it something you have to track? I thought EI FIT was 24 cents? its showing as 21 on my bill.. and yours?

Do you have a smart meter or a standard