Rosher.Net

Ok, second full month – mostly filled with dreary grey skies and intermittent but torrential rain… can’t expect too much. But January 2014ce has at least improved, if only slightly, on December 2013ce. Last month we collected 67 kWh of solar energy. This month it is 72kWh

You can see in the first week of the month where the generation was a bit flat. In part that was down to me calling the installers back to resecure some of the footings. The high winds of the New Year had produced an annoying vibration that kept us awake at night – that seems to have gone now, thankfully. Partly too down to me playing with the Owl Intuition PV Meter.

So, doing the math, and still assuming we’re doing it right as we haven’t yet had an actual payment from the FiT…

Solar Generation Feed in Tariff: 72 kWh x £0.149 = £10.73
Solar Export Payment: 72 kWh/2 x £0.0465 = £1.67

And of course, the assumed reduction in electrical consumption by 72kWh (minus the 17kWh we exported) which otherwise would have been charged at £0.1245 = £6.85

Making an effective income for January 2014ce of £19.25

Adding this to the rolling figure, currently made up only of December 2013ce’s £19.87 = £39.12. Meaning that the solar roof recoups its costs in only 25 years!!! Of course, that’s based on the two least sunny months… Roll on Summer.

Mains consumption this month 492kWh not counting the solar generation used. When we started, our previous twelve-month consumption was 6300kWh. I would assume we use more power in the winter months, so it would appear we are using about seven percent less electricity? That will only accelerate as we move into the sunnier months, and will only be proven after the year is up.

You can read all the solar blog by clicking on “solar” in the category drop-down, and you can find the solar meter table here.