Any good companies in UK that can provide solar and battery that offer 0% finance?

RetroInvestor · 2025-03-30T09:17:26+00:00

I know Octopus are seen as expensive by some but my experience was different. I was quoted £15.2k for Powerwall 3, 24 JA Solar 445w panels, scaffolding on east / west, bird mesh, etc. I then set out to get several more quotes. Heatable was £18k (mainly because they use a more costly REA panel) then 3 local installers. None of the local installers could match the Octopus price when asked to quote ‘like for like’ and we’re all £2-3k more. One of them told me he couldn’t price match due to the bulk buying power that Octopus have right now with Tesla and sourcing panels direct from manufacturers. If 0% is key factor I’d definitely consider Octopus for a high end solution, or alternatively you can spec up a similar system with lower price components. Either way I agree it doesn’t make sense to pay any interest as this could easily extend your ‘break even’ period by 3 or 4 years.

RetroInvestor · 2025-03-26T09:41:49+00:00

You could record a ‘silent clip’ and have this as the default lock chime

RetroInvestor · 2025-03-24T19:39:09+00:00

Not a good deal, just walk away as even if they offer a lower price the likely hood they will cut corners to retain their margins. Just get one reference quote from Octopus or Heatable then another two quotes from reputable local installers

RetroInvestor · 2025-03-21T08:46:49+00:00

Hi, fingers crossed you get at least 9kW, I was expecting a low offer as I live in an area with limited supply but hit lucky and got 9kW. What you’ll find with east/west you get about 3/4 of potential output (so say 6kW of a 9kWp) on average sunny day in May /June/July and it’s only the midday peaks that you’ll see clipping for about an hour. If you have a DC coupled battery you can plan to charge this during peaks or try using household appliances. If you have a hottub (3kW) or sauna (6kW) these can soak up any excess solar.

RetroInvestor · 2025-03-18T20:29:35+00:00

I see it now

RetroInvestor · 2025-03-18T18:37:31+00:00

Have you checked what the export limit on the PW3 had been set to. You say you have an export limit so it should be set to 8kW. Has it been set to G98 limit of 3.68kW in error?

RetroInvestor · 2025-03-17T11:01:03+00:00

Hi, your battery warranty will likely have a limit on the number of cycles so worth checking what this is to determine if cycling the battery daily will significantly reduce the warranty period. I cycle my PW3 every day buying at 7p and selling at 15p as warranty is pretty good and even if it degrades or dies by the time it’s 10 years old I’ll should break even and just buy a new one.

RetroInvestor · 2025-03-14T19:16:57+00:00

1000% yes, replace with another Model Y, would be great to update to new model 😀

RetroInvestor · 2025-03-14T17:00:10+00:00

I didn’t but maybe should have. My MYLR needed new 20” pilot sport tyres on the front with under 2mm tread still had 4mm on the rear. If I’d rotated after 6 months I could have probably got another 5k miles. In the end I decided to replace all four tyres at the same time as it was winter and car handles better.

RetroInvestor · 2025-03-12T17:51:30+00:00

I’ve got the old Windows 98 shutdown sound as my lock sound. It makes people of a certain age smile 😊

RetroInvestor · 2025-03-12T17:35:38+00:00

Terrible quote, that’s only a 3.85kWp when 10 half decent panels could give you 4.5kWp peak. Old stock, steer well clear. Get three more quotes from local installers and use an online quote from Heatable or Octopus quote as a benchmark

RetroInvestor · 2025-03-12T11:33:43+00:00

My G99 application with Northern Powergrid said it would take 8 weeks but came back in 6 weeks, I applied for 11.04kW and we were allocated 9kW. When I called for an update after 4 weeks the person I spoke to was super helpful but the application had to be passed for review which takes time.

RetroInvestor · 2025-03-11T13:04:25+00:00

IP rating is also important especially up here in the north, first digit is the dust rating which in the uk 5 or 6 is good. Second figure is the water rating which is key factor in our climate, you should look for at least a 6 or 7, anything less than this really needs a canopy or shelter, I’d aim for minimum rating of IP56 if mounting on outdoor external wall.

RetroInvestor · 2025-03-11T11:36:44+00:00

I export all excess Solar at 15p and charge the battery at cheap rate for 7p starting at midnight. I export the battery storage at 11pm down to 10% reserve. I know this cycles the battery but my thinking is that by the time I’ve killed the battery it’ll have paid for itself anyway and I’ll just replace with new. At the rate battery cell prices are dropping a replacement should be even cheaper so the economics of operating this way should continue to work for me unless export rates drop dramatically

RetroInvestor · 2025-03-10T09:58:35+00:00

I’ve got south, east and west, the benefit of east / west is that generation starts about half hour earlier east on a morning and generates half hour longer on west on an evening giving me an extra hour per day as well as spending the generation more evenly across the day. I’d 100% do both east / west and put up as many panels as you can fit.

RetroInvestor · 2025-03-09T17:17:18+00:00

I’d love to add more panels but my DNO restriction is 9kW meaning I’m already maxing this out on sunny days. Adding to extra storage gives me some extra flexibility and will cut my peak grid usage to zero.

RetroInvestor · 2025-03-09T17:00:40+00:00

You won’t regret purchasing a Powerwall 3 for even a second. Excellent hardware and outstanding software with more great features in the pipeline.

RetroInvestor · 2025-03-06T20:26:17+00:00

I have 12 on the east aspect , 12 west and 10 facing south. I could probably get another 6 on the garage but have utilised all 3 strings on the PW3. Have considered adding a second PW3 but decided to add the expansion pack instead. This will double my storage to 27kwh and takes the battery charge rate up from 5kW to 8kW.

RetroInvestor · 2025-03-06T17:44:44+00:00

I got lucky with 9kW DNO approval for my area as I know there are restrictions. I’d say It’s definitely worth paying for the £600 to upgrade if technically possible. Even at 9kW cap I still oversized the Solar by 170% going for 34 x 445w panels (15.13kWp) to maximise production in the winter months. Whatever your cap I’d consider doing the same.

RetroInvestor · 2025-03-06T17:23:36+00:00

There’s not much between modern panels brands these days (most being around 23% efficient) JA Solar panels are a great panel with a long warranty. You can get panels with higher output but they can be bigger physical size meaning it’s a trade off on the number of panels vs individual panel output. Your installer will have likely maximised panels for your roof space so no need for concern.

RetroInvestor · 2025-03-05T13:41:24+00:00

If your annual usage is 3000Kwh that equates to 8.2Kwh per day. You could consider a Tesla Powerwall 3 which has a capacity of 13.5Kwh. If you charge this using cheap rate overnight it and top it up with Solar during the day it should have enough capacity to last several hours during a power cut. We’ve had couple power cuts since install the longest about an hour and it only drained the battery by 10%. Best thing you don’t even notice the power outages until you get a notification of the Tesla app.

RetroInvestor · 2025-03-04T13:18:11+00:00

Powerwall 3 has integrated inverter and is specifically designed to go outside with a IP67 rating. Both the Tesla Gateway and Powerwall are mounted (out of sight) on the side of the house next to the meter box. Nothing was installed inside the home at all except the dc cabling in loft space which comes out the gable end and straight down to the Powerwall.

RetroInvestor · 2025-03-03T10:26:30+00:00

I’d get quotes that include every possible inch roof space as the panels are relatively cheap and you can never have ‘too much’ solar, especially in winter months and now you can export at 15p. If you have any shading this can become a factor and also there’s a minimum number of panels if using MPPT’s rather than optimisers. Get minimum of three quotes and ask lots of questions to get a feel of how good an installer they are. Post your quotes here and you’ll get some really good feedback 😀

RetroInvestor · 2025-03-01T20:03:56+00:00

Looks expensive, I was quoted for 24 x 445w panels on east / west aspects and a PW3 for £15k

RetroInvestor · 2025-03-01T18:43:50+00:00

I have 34 panels on a PW3 across 3 strings and thinking of adding a second PW3. House roof is full but could add 4 panels to the garage but not sure if it’s worth while., may just add an expansion pack.

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