That’s really not worth it. The proportion of fixed costs is too high for such a small system. Installation, electrician, scaffolding, inverter – these costs are unavoidable, and even if the inverter becomes a bit cheaper and the installation goes somewhat faster, the difference won’t decrease proportionally with the system size. A 2 kWp system might deliver around 1.5 kW of power at peak times. That is enough for self-consumption but only in summer and only if you run devices around noon and cook at midday – but not simultaneously, because at 1500 W minus the base load of the house, you quickly exceed the limit with either the stove OR the washing machine running and have to buy additional electricity. From autumn to spring, it hardly covers even the base load.
With a realistic 30% self-consumption rate and an optimistic 1000 kWh/kWp per year, you might save about 600 kWh. That means approximately 150 euros saved annually on your electricity bill – please do your own calculations.
This is not to say that photovoltaics aren’t worthwhile. I have my own system, and after a year of operation and initial billing, I can provide some reliable insights about whether it’s worth it. Yes, it is, if the system is as large as possible (but under 10 kWp, otherwise unfavorable conditions apply), so you have enough margin to switch as much consumption to electricity as possible. Selling excess electricity back to the grid no longer pays off; self-consumption is much more valuable. Increasing self-consumption is an art and takes time, but you can improve it with targeted measures without relying on storage, which unfortunately still isn’t economical, not even close.
For example, we acquired an electric vehicle (Twizy), installed a split-type air conditioning system (heating during transitional seasons and cooling in summer), and plan to replace our instantaneous water heater with a domestic hot water heat pump next year. We also use app-controlled smart plugs to maximize the use of surplus production.
In the first year from Nov 2013 to Nov 2014, we consumed 1890 kWh from the energy provider, whereas before that it was 3500 kWh. Still, out of the 7367 kWh produced (7.28 kWp system), we only used about 1200 kWh ourselves. That means we also reduced our overall electricity consumption. Keep in mind the Twizy and air conditioning system were only installed in October 2014.
Therefore, I recommend choosing the system as large as possible to have enough margin for self-consumption and to enable energy use above the base load for as much of the year as possible (but November/December/January still look very bleak, with almost no production then). Prefer stronger panels if space is limited. Better to assign solar thermal panels to the facade, where they make more sense, than to sacrifice roof area.
Also essential: keep researching here in the forum (technology! tax issues!!) and get multiple quotes – guideline prices are 1300-1400 euros per kWp, so for your system size, no more than 3000 euros! Possibly a bit more due to the higher share of fixed costs. But as I said – better to build a somewhat larger system, i.e., at least 4-5 kWp.
With a realistic 30% self-consumption rate and an optimistic 1000 kWh/kWp per year, you might save about 600 kWh. That means approximately 150 euros saved annually on your electricity bill – please do your own calculations.
This is not to say that photovoltaics aren’t worthwhile. I have my own system, and after a year of operation and initial billing, I can provide some reliable insights about whether it’s worth it. Yes, it is, if the system is as large as possible (but under 10 kWp, otherwise unfavorable conditions apply), so you have enough margin to switch as much consumption to electricity as possible. Selling excess electricity back to the grid no longer pays off; self-consumption is much more valuable. Increasing self-consumption is an art and takes time, but you can improve it with targeted measures without relying on storage, which unfortunately still isn’t economical, not even close.
For example, we acquired an electric vehicle (Twizy), installed a split-type air conditioning system (heating during transitional seasons and cooling in summer), and plan to replace our instantaneous water heater with a domestic hot water heat pump next year. We also use app-controlled smart plugs to maximize the use of surplus production.
In the first year from Nov 2013 to Nov 2014, we consumed 1890 kWh from the energy provider, whereas before that it was 3500 kWh. Still, out of the 7367 kWh produced (7.28 kWp system), we only used about 1200 kWh ourselves. That means we also reduced our overall electricity consumption. Keep in mind the Twizy and air conditioning system were only installed in October 2014.
Therefore, I recommend choosing the system as large as possible to have enough margin for self-consumption and to enable energy use above the base load for as much of the year as possible (but November/December/January still look very bleak, with almost no production then). Prefer stronger panels if space is limited. Better to assign solar thermal panels to the facade, where they make more sense, than to sacrifice roof area.
Also essential: keep researching here in the forum (technology! tax issues!!) and get multiple quotes – guideline prices are 1300-1400 euros per kWp, so for your system size, no more than 3000 euros! Possibly a bit more due to the higher share of fixed costs. But as I said – better to build a somewhat larger system, i.e., at least 4-5 kWp.
Hello Elina,
Thank you very much for the detailed response. Since we are still in the preliminary planning stage, the scaffolding will be in place anyway. Do you know any reliable companies in Lower Saxony that you could recommend? Private messages are also welcome.
Thanks, Xinette
Thank you very much for the detailed response. Since we are still in the preliminary planning stage, the scaffolding will be in place anyway. Do you know any reliable companies in Lower Saxony that you could recommend? Private messages are also welcome.
Thanks, Xinette
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nordanney6 Dec 2014 13:30If you decide to buy one at all, it’s definitely better to invest a few euros more in a larger system. For at least 7 kWp (kilowatt peak), the net cost (as a business owner, you can claim the tax back from the tax office) should be well below €10,000.
I have a recommendation, if I may share it: the company Clen Solar, which operates throughout Germany. We deal a lot with tradespeople, and this was almost the only bright spot for us in 2013 where everything really worked smoothly from start to finish. Their offer was good (not the cheapest but not expensive either). Since they have installed hundreds of systems, they were the only company among those we contacted with knowledge about shingle roofs and how to properly secure the system without causing leaks. The others only knew about tile roofs. It was also important to us that the company focuses primarily on photovoltaics and does not necessarily operate locally. While local providers are generally preferred for trades, eventually everyone in the village has their own PV system, and if the company does not expand its service area accordingly, it will eventually go out of business. This happened with some providers who already gave us quotes. If we had ordered from them, the warranty would have likely been worthless.
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nordanney7 Dec 2014 12:46@ Elina
Good company, they operate throughout Germany and we were very satisfied with them as well.
Good company, they operate throughout Germany and we were very satisfied with them as well.
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