Solar panels - a real money-saver?

I've got 9 panels fitted, would have liked more but don't have the roof space. Along with a 5kw battery. I'm not a permanent resident, so on months when I'm not here, I feed much, much more on average into the grid than I use, but they won't give you more back than you use. My bill runs around 5 euros a month on average due to standing charges etc. I'm running a/c, pool pump, water heater plus all the usual power hungry gadgets. When I'm here in the summer months, I feed more to the grid, but my bills remain the same. In the winter months, I run about even due to less sunshine. Never more than 5 euro a month or so though. Yes, it's a fair sum to put in to get the system installed, but I reckon on around 5 to 6 years I'll have saved what I spent and after that everything after that is gravy.

Wow! That's an amazing report ... which prompts me to ask you about costs. The 5kw battery plus installation, what kind of sum are we looking at, a ballpark figure will do. Could you recommend any company you worked with?

Oh, one more thing: once everything is up and running, are there any follow-up costs or procedures worth mentioning?

Thank you so much for taking the time to answer.

Cheers,

Alex

Probably best part of 10,000 euro. If you’re a resident, grants are available(or were). I used SPsolar to do mine. Very happy with the work. Battery costs are less now as well. I’m thinking of adding another 5kw battery module. The initial setup is a battery and a control module, expandable to 15kw. I’m also thinking about a wind turbine, just a small one, but if the winds blowing it doesn’t matter if it’s dark or not, it’ll charge the battery. No real costs or issues, but it’s a good idea to keep the panels clean to maximise output. 

This is really good information. Just what I needed to begin making an informed decision.

Thanks a million and happy new year!

So, although they don’t pay you anything back ,  does that mean you are really only charged the standing  charges all year ?    My standing charges are about €19 ! with Endessa.      We’ve got them in Scotland and we get about £1200 a year back so got our 16panel 4kw money back in 4years!    

Do beware who you use.  The costs are high and electricity is a lot cheaper in Spain than the UK.  I suppose it depends on how long you plan to stay in the property, how much you will use it, the condition of your roof etc.  I know of someone who has had a lot of problems with the electricity company.  Just go in with open eyes and check out everything  you are told by the supplier before commiting.

Totally different setup to the UK.

Basically they only give you as much credit as the amount of power you feed to the grid. So if you drew 100 euro off the grid, but credited 110 euro, a hundred would wipe out your useage of 100 euro, but you wouldn't get that 10 euro back. Plus don't forget that you pay more for grid electric, than they pay you for what you feed in. There are one or other discounts and pluses and additions on my bill, but i've always got a couple of euros to pay.

In an ideal world your power going back into the grid(monetary value), covers anything you consume from the grid.

You could of course try different suppliers to see if there are any better deals out there. But I have all the power I need and don't pay very much for what I use with the safety belt I'm always grid connected. 

So far I'm very happy with the setup that SPSolar installed for me and can't find fault with Iberdrola.

It's as much as future proofing for myself and for my kids when they inherit.

Hi, we have twelve panels and a virtual battery system and are with Endesa. Before solar in summer we were paying around 150 to 180 a month due to air con use, we have a pool etc. We went down to to just our standing charge over summer and our friends who have an identical system paid one euro for August. Initial costs will be around 6.5k at the moment. A battery isn't normally necessary unless you are off grid as a virtual battery would suffice. Hope this helps.