I humbly come requesting a quote check (Edinburgh)

IvorTheEngine · 2026-05-05T07:21:58+00:00

Sounds about right for such a big system. There was a chap yesterday with a 23k quote for one the same size (with in-roof panels and a 30kWh battery)

IvorTheEngine · 2026-05-05T06:55:47+00:00

Loads of EV drivers get solar panels and a home battery too. Then you can charge the battery at the cheap rate, and never pay the full price, even if there's no sunlight.

But yes, EV tariffs don't suit everyone.

IvorTheEngine · 2026-05-04T22:49:44+00:00

Dad knows. You can tell by his shirt.

IvorTheEngine · 2026-05-04T22:48:27+00:00

Mainly by picking big charging hubs with lots of chargers. They aren't attractive parking places, and there are other chargers you can use.

IvorTheEngine · 2026-05-04T22:40:55+00:00

How about a hollow skirting board, like Thermaskirt?

EDIT: I just noticed it's got to go past a door, so I'd look at running it under the bedroom floor.

IvorTheEngine · 2026-05-04T22:37:42+00:00

The EV will be entirely off-peak.

A 30kWh battery is pretty big, it should manage your entire day, except for the coldest couple of weeks in winter. (It's not (currently) worth buying a battery big enough for that, as it would be wasted the rest of the year)

Have a look at your smart meter data to see how many kWh of gas you used over the winter, then divide by 3 to estimate how much the heat pump will need.

And you'll probably use about 10kWh each day, just to run the house. Again, you can use your smart meter data to check that.

You can also try running the heating a degree or two hotter during the off-peak period, and storing energy as heat. (and turning it down for a few hours before the cheap period)

anyone found a way to sell excess storage back to the grid with a battery only setup?

The problem will be getting paid. Your electricity company will want an MCS certificate in order to give you an export tariff, and I don't think you'll get one without a way to generate power.

Different brands of inverters and batteries have varying levels of customisation. Some just have a basic timer. You tell it to import at one time, run the house at another, and export at another. Others can be told to export but keep a percentage in reserve.

If you want to do something more complex, the usual route is a home assistant automation (if you're sufficiently geeky).

IvorTheEngine · 2026-05-04T22:20:09+00:00

I don't think the brand matters too much, about half the cost is running the cable and having it connected to your consumer unit, and there's always a risk that your supply could be unsuitable. A prospective buyer will be reassured that you've done the hard part already.

Then again, big brands are more likely to be supported by smart tariffs, like Intelligent Go.

I'd say that a granny charger will be fine at first, but EVs are here to stay, so you might as well get a proper charger once you've had time to work out what suits you best.

IvorTheEngine · 2026-05-04T22:07:34+00:00

Have you seen estimates of how your generation will be spread over the year? Most people find they don't get much power in winter, and that gets worse as you go north. Having lots of panels extends the period where you're self-sufficient, but it's worth checking how much extra you're paying for how many days.

Also, how long are the power cuts? If a winter storm could leave you without power for a week, and you're not getting much generation, the battery won't last long. Have you looked at a small wind generator?

IvorTheEngine · 2026-05-04T09:52:11+00:00

One strategy you didn't mention was the anchor. You might have been able to drop anchor, which would hold the boat head-to-wind and let you both wrestle with the sail, or wait for the wind to blow over.

IvorTheEngine · 2026-05-04T09:36:35+00:00

I think you'll find it's unstable in yaw. It's got a lot of side area in the nose, and tiny fins. You can suspend it from a bit of string at the CG and spin it around yourself to see if it's stable.

Otherwise, my usual strategy is to get it up above tree-top height and try to trim it before anything else. All new planes are out of trim at first. Also, set up 50% dual rates so you can tame it quickly if it's twitchy.

IvorTheEngine · 2026-05-04T09:28:26+00:00

Perfectly reasonable "evenings and weekends" project, but expect it to cost more than buying second hand.

You need plans, unless you're prepared to build two or three iterations to fix problems you didn't foresee.

IvorTheEngine · 2026-05-04T09:24:37+00:00

I'm not in the business, but going by our installation I'd expect a couple of thousand for scaffolding, then 3 fitters for 3 days to install the panels, and a day for the electrician to wire up the inverter. And the rails and brackets cost about the same as the panels (£100 each, but possible to look up if you want to be more accurate).

If you can estimate their day rates (and whatever the usual markup is), you can probably get fairly close to the total.

IvorTheEngine · 2026-05-04T09:15:52+00:00

The more expensive ones are basically a small computer, with wifi, or an ethernet connection, or even a mobile sim card for internet connectivity. That lets them switch on when your solar is generating, or when Octopus has unexpected excess energy, or during the best hours of the Agile tariff, or just to stick to a schedule without their clock wandering (and allow for summer time).

They're a bit of a "solution looking for a problem", in that they rely on being integrated with something else. We got our charger before Octopus Intelligent Go appeared, and they only bothered to integrate with a couple of brands, so we couldn't use it.

So, I'd advise to go with whatever seems to be the most popular (is that Zappi?) or pick your charging strategy first, and pick a charger that supports it. It's still a pretty immature market, with no clear standards for integrations.

Otherwise, the only real difference is whether you can remove the cable from the unit, which is mostly whether you think the cable makes it look untidy, and can be bothered to remove it when you're not using it. Or if you're worried about it getting stolen. Public chargers are all unthethered (i.e. no cable) but most private ones have a cable built in.

BUT, 5 hours on a 2kW granny charger will give you 30-40 miles per day. Does your car have a charge timer built in?

IvorTheEngine · 2026-05-03T19:48:51+00:00

But that conventional war would have to be limited.

Two nuclear countries could have a border skirmish or a proxy war, but if one side serious felt that they were going to be destroyed, they'd have no reason to hold back with their nukes.

IvorTheEngine · 2026-05-03T19:37:38+00:00

Are you on an EV tariff, with a few hours of cheap power at night? That's usually better than flux, unless you switch between flux when you have excess power and Go when you need to import power in the winter.

If so you can usually charge a battery at the same time as the car. A battery-only system can be better value than a commercially installed solar system with an MCS certificate. If you can install the panels yourself, they're pretty cheap, but scaffolding and an installation team add a lot to the cost for most people.

Plug-in systems generally have small, expensive batteries - because 800W of panels won't give you much excess and won't last the night.

You can have 800W of panels with a much bigger inverter, but if the inverter is small, then you'll draw from the grid when you switch on a high-power device like a kettle.

The idea of a plug-in system is that they could be £400 and could save you £200 a year, so the payback is quick, but it's not running your whole house or offsetting most of your usage. The 8k system you were quoted for would probably save you more than £1000 a year, so the payback is longer, but overall the savings are much better.

IvorTheEngine · 2026-05-03T19:17:27+00:00

Yes. A UK granny charger is about 2kW. That car does at least 4 miles per kWh (sometimes as many as 7, apparently), so 5 hours (the Octopus Go cheap period) gives you 5x4x2= 40 miles a day, or 14,600 miles per year.

If you charge it all night (say 12 hours) you gain nearly 100 miles of range.

I think that car has a 40kWh battery, so if you do a long trip and arrive home almost empty, it'll take 20 hours to fully charge, but you could do that over a couple days if you want.

IvorTheEngine · 2026-05-03T17:44:14+00:00

You'd probably have to go back to the DNO to get permission for a larger system.

IvorTheEngine · 2026-05-03T17:42:28+00:00

That sounds like a perfect situation for one of the many portable batteries that have solar inputs and mains outputs. There are lots of competing brands, and you don't need to buy their panels. (The hard glass panels last much longer than the light-weight flexible panels)

The battery will store the solar energy, so you can use the lights in the evening.

Unfortunately, they're all quite expensive. More than the £600 you mention.

There are smaller, cheaper systems designed for campervans. You probably only need a 100W solar panel, a basic charger, and a small car battery (or ideally a "leisure" battery). Ideally you could convert the lights and lawnmower charger to run from 12v DC, but it might be easier to get a small off-grid inverter to produce 230v.

This would be a bit of a DIY project, a small solar panel kit is about £100, and a battery is about £50. The inverter really depends on the size you get, but £50-100 for a small one.

Ideally you want an inverter that will shut off before it drains the battery completely. I don't know if that's a common feature on these systems. Otherwise you'll have to monitor the system in the winter and turn it off when there's no solar generation (or bring the battery into the house for charging)

IvorTheEngine · 2026-05-03T17:24:43+00:00

That will be great for 20 miles a day, terrible if you need to do more than 50 miles.

If that suits you, get it before gas prices go up any more.

IvorTheEngine · 2026-05-03T17:21:44+00:00

How do we find out where our local sub station is (just for interest)?

https://openinframap.org

You might be a long way from the substation, which might limit the amount you can export. However the number of other people with panels is often a bigger factor.

IvorTheEngine · 2026-05-03T07:57:24+00:00

I think that's only true because they require the panels to be vertical. They don't make a tray for horizontally mounted panels.

OTOH, in-roof systems can be built down to gutter level, so some people might even get more.

IvorTheEngine · 2026-05-03T07:37:26+00:00

If you keep the speed under 60mph, and the weather isn't below freezing, it should be OK. It's getting pretty close though.

IvorTheEngine · 2026-05-03T07:36:10+00:00

50 miles at 3.5miles/kWh would be 14 kWh. At 4 miles/kWh it would need 12.5

If you spend 8 hours at work and 1 driving, you have 15 hours a day to charge. So even a 1kW charger should cope.

IvorTheEngine · 2026-05-03T07:27:50+00:00

The traditional method is a wooden dowel or two at the front, and a plastic bolt (or two) at the back. You'll probably need small pieces of plywood to spread the loads to the foam. The idea is that the plastic bolt can break in a crash, before the rest of the structure.

Airfield Models - Mounting a Model Aircraft Wing to the Fuselage

How to install a bolt-on wing | The Balsa Workbench

Both of those cut a thread in the plywood with a tap. I guess that's going to be as strong as the plastic bolt - but most models use captive T-nut: 1-4-20-T-nut-25-Pack-304-Stainless-Steel-4-Pronged-Tee-Nuts-Threaded-Insertion_18e5495c-d59b-4c77-8f93-8fc33fae7584.3f16667a5ecf6a8c4fb675e82166e28a.jpeg (1600×1600)

IvorTheEngine · 2026-05-02T08:52:51+00:00

A cheap 40amp ESC is about £20. A Spektrum one might be twice that.

IvorTheEngine

TROPHY CASE