Solar power viability/ Trende

[taneandy]

We put panels up on our roof last year too.
The feed in tariff has been dropping quite quickly in recent years, but so has the cost of installing panels.
The simulation we were given estimated that the cost of the panels would be paid off in about 8 years, and the actual amount of generated electricity has been exceeding the estimate most months.

Installing a battery would probably have cost almost as much as the panels themselves.
The main financial benefit from installing a battery obviously comes once the 10 years fixed feed in tariff comes to an end, but the companies we spoke to didn't seem too optimistic about a battery being effective for much longer than 10 years.

[Jansen]

Timely thread.
I’m planning on putting in a 10kw system and have been looking at the various battery systems. The domestic makes seem to be twice the price and half the capacity of the Tesla power wall so I’ve decided to just wait for Tesla to ramp up production. Hopefully there’ll be more availability within the next 5 years.

[Jake]

Aren't some EVs usable as a backup battery?

"EV" is blasphemy in my house, high octane only

[Teflon]

Batteries will be important in the future, but I think they are still too expensive to be viable. Given how much research is going into them though, I am hoping that will change. If they were about half the current price, I would be tempted to get one for our manshon mainly for keeping the electricity on after natural disasters

You might consider purchasing a relatively inexpensive, quiet, and highly efficient Honda diesel power generator for the home. As an emergency backup it can run a long time and more diesel fuel is easy to find even during a disaster. Only concern is the exhaust might bother the neighbors but if you have a windy balcony like I do then it shouldn't be an issue.

[Moneymatters]

I've got a solar company visiting later this week to present their estimate for solar on my house. Roof is weird shape with limited south facing exposure but I'm hoping to get over 4kw in total.

1. I do have a bunch of west facing roof that's at a good angle (I think about 30 degs). This is Tokyo. What efficiency drop should I expect?

2. What are the intelligent questions I should be asking this firm?

3. When I've looked into this online ages ago, I saw many people in Japan getting 4-5kw installations pushing to get an additional Power Convertor thrown in. But I couldn't quite understand why.
Is that for redundancy or something?

4. I am planning to get an EV in the future but that could be 3-5 years away. The dream would be for it to be charged from the house, and for it to be able to charge a few key appliances in event of a brown out.
Any reason/benefit to do that preparation work whilst installing the Solar or better to leave that for a later date?

thanks in advance.