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Solar panels are they worth it?
Thinking of maybe having solar panels installed.
What is the general cost of a 3 bedroom property maybe get the pool heated too
Has anyone else had them fitted and in general is it more than worth doing?
Cheers,
Steve
Posted: Wed Jun 3, 2026 1:55pm
Super helpful member
I had 13 panels fitted last September to optimise the space available on my roof (3 bed villa), plus an EV charger on the drive. Total cost around 7,500€.
Bought a Skoda Elroq 100% electric car in January. I'm more than pleased with both. I was a bit underwhelmed in the winter, but now that the spring and summer are here, the panels are making big inroads into my monthly electricity bill, typically down to 50€ from 100€, and also allowing me to charge the car at low level for nothing. I laugh when I drive past petrol stations.
Posted: Wed Jun 3, 2026 9:14pm
Super helpful member
Herefordjack wrote on Wed Jun 3, 2026 1:55pm:
I had 13 panels fitted last September to optimise the space available on my roof (3 bed villa), plus an EV charger on the drive. Total cost around 7,500€.
Bought a Skoda Elroq 100% electric car in January. I'm more than pleased with both. I was a bit underwhelmed in the winter, but now that the spring and summer are here, the panels are making big inroads into my monthly electricity bill, typically down to 50€ from 100€, and also allowing...
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... me to charge the car at low level for nothing. I laugh when I drive past petrol stations.
Sounds like you got a good deal - I just had 6 panels installed for 5,200 Euros but no battery (Iberdrola operate the virtual battery set-up).
In the UK, 15 panels and a 10kwH battery cost me £9.5k last year. Also a 6kw inverter whereas here I'm at a 4kw inverter.
Alot depends on the facing of the roof - I've been surprised at the limited difference between my north (with optimisers) and my south facing panels but I suspect that is due to the height of the sun during Jun-Sept and the rest of the months the north ones will be crap.
Posted: Thu Jun 4, 2026 8:07am
Super helpful member
George55 wrote on Wed Jun 3, 2026 9:14pm:
Sounds like you got a good deal - I just had 6 panels installed for 5,200 Euros but no battery (Iberdrola operate the virtual battery set-up).
In the UK, 15 panels and a 10kwH battery cost me £9.5k last year. Also a 6kw inverter whereas here I'm at a 4kw inverter.
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Alot depends on the facing of the roof - I've been surprised at the limited difference between my north (with optimisers) and my south facing panels but I suspect that is due to the height of the sun during Jun-Sept and the rest of the months the north ones will be crap.
Yes, I decided against a battery set up, which would have added significantly to the cost. I sell my surplus back to my electricity supplier Naturgy. The rate is less than half of the tariff for my bought electricity, but it's making a good contribution to bringing down the bills now that the sun is higher.
Posted: Thu Jun 4, 2026 11:22am
Helpful member
Four panels and a 2.5Kw battery/inverter setup, self installed.
Just under a grand. Happy days.
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Posted: Thu Jun 4, 2026 1:20pm
Legendary helpful member
George55 wrote on Wed Jun 3, 2026 9:14pm:
Sounds like you got a good deal - I just had 6 panels installed for 5,200 Euros but no battery (Iberdrola operate the virtual battery set-up).
In the UK, 15 panels and a 10kwH battery cost me £9.5k last year. Also a 6kw inverter whereas here I'm at a 4kw inverter.
Read more...
Alot depends on the facing of the roof - I've been surprised at the limited difference between my north (with optimisers) and my south facing panels but I suspect that is due to the height of the sun during Jun-Sept and the rest of the months the north ones will be crap.
The north facing panels will dop to around 50-60% output compared to the south facing, still reasonable.
I have a 20 panel installation with 10kw battery, required a 7.5kw inverter, costs £10.3K. I can boost the battery charge overnight at off-peak rates, which all adds to the savings.
I have looked at EV for my next car but the issue is the cost of charging away from home. At the moment it is fine for a second car as I could charge it really cheap at over night rates of 8p per kwh but going away from home (in the UK) is a different story. Undecided.
Rgds,
Aitch.
Posted: Thu Jun 4, 2026 1:51pm
Super helpful member
aitchc1401 wrote on Thu Jun 4, 2026 1:20pm:
The north facing panels will dop to around 50-60% output compared to the south facing, still reasonable.
I have a 20 panel installation with 10kw battery, required a 7.5kw inverter, costs £10.3K. I can boost the battery charge overnight at off-peak rates, which all adds to the savings.
Read more...
I have looked at EV for my next car but the issue is the cost of charging away from home. At the moment it is fine for a second car as I could charge it really cheap at over night rates of 8p per kwh but going away from home (in the UK) is a different story. Undecided.
Rgds,
Aitch.
You're right, prices for public car charging in the UK seem out of kilter compared to mainland Europe.
By the way, I recommend checking out the Octopus 'Electroverse' scheme for accessing public chargers all across Europe and the UK. It seems to cover a good proportion of all public chargers, they are all shown on the map that comes with the app. Just click on the symbol for a particular installation and you get all the info you need, such as cost, power rating, number of charging points and number currently available. When you sign up, you get an Octopus card which you use to access the charger, and the amount you've spent appears a day or two later in your nominated bank or credit card account.
Posted: Thu Jun 4, 2026 3:54pm
Legendary helpful member
Herefordjack wrote on Thu Jun 4, 2026 1:51pm:
You're right, prices for public car charging in the UK seem out of kilter compared to mainland Europe.
By the way, I recommend checking out the Octopus 'Electroverse' scheme for accessing public chargers all across Europe and the UK. It seems to cover a good proportion of all public chargers, they are all shown on the map that comes with the app. Just click on the symbol for a particular installat...
Read more...
...ion and you get all the info you need, such as cost, power rating, number of charging points and number currently available. When you sign up, you get an Octopus card which you use to access the charger, and the amount you've spent appears a day or two later in your nominated bank or credit card account.
Thanks for the advice, I'll take a look. What is annoying in the UK is trying to find out what it actually costs to top up a EV, apart from Tesla many tariffs seem to be a mystery (deliberately so in my opinion)..
How do you find the Elroq overall? It's one of the cars I had on a preferred list.
Aitch.
Posted: Thu Jun 4, 2026 5:33pm
Super helpful member
aitchc1401 wrote on Thu Jun 4, 2026 3:54pm:
Thanks for the advice, I'll take a look. What is annoying in the UK is trying to find out what it actually costs to top up a EV, apart from Tesla many tariffs seem to be a mystery (deliberately so in my opinion)..
How do you find the Elroq overall? It's one of the cars I had on a preferred list....
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...
Aitch.
I got the top of the range, the Elroq RS. I love it. The only annoying thing I've found about it so far is the lane assist. I'm not a fan of all these gadgets which end up with the car driving you instead of you driving the car.
You can switch the lane assist off - fine - except it automatically resets when you get out of the car, so you have to switch it off again when you start up if you don't want it. Only the flick of a switch, but annoying nonetheless...
Posted: Thu Jun 4, 2026 8:04pm
Legendary helpful member
Herefordjack wrote on Thu Jun 4, 2026 5:33pm:
I got the top of the range, the Elroq RS. I love it. The only annoying thing I've found about it so far is the lane assist. I'm not a fan of all these gadgets which end up with the car driving you instead of you driving the car.
You can switch the lane assist off - fine - except it automatically resets when you get out of the car, so you have to switch it off again when you start up if you don't want it. Only the flick of a switch, but annoying nonetheless......
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...
Thanks for the feedback. I agree about driver assist options that you don't want but have to disable every time you switch off and on again, seems every car has something annoying now.
Aitch.
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