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Show HN: Helios – what plug-in solar could generate for any address in Britain

helios.southlondonscientific.com

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Re: Show HN: Helios – what plug-in solar could generate for any address in Britain

#13

Post by ruaraidh »

domh wrote: post #11

Would be good to be able to select multiple points on the compass and have it tell me the best place for it (front and back garden)

Good idea. I want to add specific options for different mounting locations (sheds etc) as well.

Re: Show HN: Helios – what plug-in solar could generate for any address in Britain

#15

Post by toomuchtodo »

ifh-hn wrote: post #12

> Worth it. The kit pays for itself in 7.1 years; over 20 years it's good for about £1,095 net. This is my issue with this sort of thing. Am I going to have this kit in 7 years? Or would I upgrade to better stuff at the technology improves?

Depends on your energy requirements and future technology and energy costs. At the moment, one should value this outlay as a fixed income equivalent investment [1].

The panels have a ~25 year warranty though [2] (at which point, they should still produce ~80% of rated output), so it’s entirely possible to just leave them in place. At a certain age (~55-60), these are the last PV panels you’ll need to buy, as they’ll potentially outlive you (assuming developed country life expectancy).

[1] https://magnifina.com/articles/rooftop-solar-yield/

[2] https://www.energysage.com/solar/solar-panel-warranties/

Re: Show HN: Helios – what plug-in solar could generate for any address in Britain

#16

Post by ruaraidh »

toomuchtodo wrote: post #14

Great work. Is it possible to use this dataset to calculate total plug in solar potential within the geographic constraint?

Oh, that's such a good idea! I suppose the challenge is knowing where there are installable surfaces are (or at least making defensible guesses). I'm going to have a go at this...

Re: Show HN: Helios – what plug-in solar could generate for any address in Britain

#18

Post by pjc50 »

ifh-hn wrote: post #12

> Worth it. The kit pays for itself in 7.1 years; over 20 years it's good for about £1,095 net. This is my issue with this sort of thing. Am I going to have this kit in 7 years? Or would I upgrade to better stuff at the technology improves?

Why would you replace it if doing so is uneconomic?

Panel lifetime is very high. The scope for efficiency improvement is not huge (unless there is a cost breakthrough in multi band photon capture). It's not a car, phone, or computer. It's more like the rest of the house electric infrastructure.

I had my rooftop solar over 10 years ago and basically intend to leave it until some maintenance issue forces action.

(Also, the kit secondhand value is hard to determine but far from zero; 30-50% maybe?)

Re: Show HN: Helios – what plug-in solar could generate for any address in Britain

#19

Post by IshKebab »

ifh-hn wrote: post #12

> Worth it. The kit pays for itself in 7.1 years; over 20 years it's good for about £1,095 net. This is my issue with this sort of thing. Am I going to have this kit in 7 years? Or would I upgrade to better stuff at the technology improves?

The technology is unlikely to improve meaningfully in 7 years. And you'd only upgrade if it was a financial improvement so it makes complete sense to give an estimate based on keeping it for 20 years.

I don't see what your issue is.

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