Tips on installing solar panels

Several homes have started installing solar panels and this is a collection of tips for home owners considering installing solar. Solar is the most green solution and is guaranteed for 28 years. The process has become much simpler without bygglov. This website is a collection of tips from different home owners that have installed solar panels. If you have questions or have a tip feel free to contact sol@lisebergsvilla.se.

• Cost
• Installation
• Production
• Elcertifikat
• References

[Updated 2018-11-05]

Cost

The costs may vary and has come down a lot over the years. Lately the prices have kept steady. Typical installation costs.

5kW package 79,000 kr

11kW package 145,000 kr

The government subsidies 30% of the installation so for the above cost goes down to 55,000 and 101,000 SEK respectively. With today's incentives the installation pays off in 8-10 years. The subsidies are not expected to be disappear soon. Here is the information from Energimyndigheten and as soon you have signed an offert you can send it in (https://www.energimyndigheten.se/globalassets/fornybart/solenergi/stod-till-solceller/ansokan-om-solcellsstod.pdf)

Note-When Länsstyrelsen replies asking to show proof that the installation is complete use the following link. All information relating to the completion of the project can be done once you login with mobil bank id. https://www.boverket.se/

Installation

Here are a couple of tips about installation.

Solar Panels:

• East and west also produce solar energy and not only south. Advantage with East and West is that you get production in the early and late afternoons specially in the summer months. Statistically speaking morning is more often sunny so East also has that advantage.
• Shade affects production so avoid if possible having solar panel next to chimney.
• Best is to have no trees and plant trees that do not are not higher than the solar panels. If you have trees consider trimming the width so the shade is limited. A single branch affect production.
• Integrated solar panels into the roof will cause them to become hotter and affect production. Best is to have them on top the roof and well ventilated. If you feel strongly about installing them in the roof here are some links. (http://elbilsnytt.se/takpannor-med-solceller-i-hos-jorgen-strandberg/)

Inverter:

• The inverter has to be close to the outer wall. A circuit breaker has to be located on the outside of the wall so electrician can turn it off when working with the electricity in the street.

Production

Do not start the solar panel until the meter is replaces by Ellevio. Ellevio has taken less than 2 weeks to replace the meter. The reason for not starting the solar panel is that the meter cannot tell the difference if you are producing electricity or consuming. You will be paying for your own production!

Here is an example of 2 different installations. The first snapshot is an example of the best production this summer and there are no trees affecting the production. The second snapshot is an example of an installation in August, good morning sunlight and afternoon was cloudy/tree shade.

SolarEdge provides a product called Optimizer which is not supported by all inverters but can be interesting. The optimizer is installed with each pair of panels and shows production per solar panel. This makes it easier to see if a panel is not functioning correctly or if has a lot of shade.

Something else to consider is adding a smart meter. A smart meter helps view the consumption together with the production. Below snapshot shows energy consumption in red, energy that is sold in green and blue is own consumption of produced energy. Without a smart meter it is not possible to determine how much energy is actually sold and can tell you how much energy you consume. The reason there are some red spikes is that the bärgvärme was turned on and off due to the cold weather.

Note-Older houses may not clearly identify the wires for 3 phases. The wires should be black, grey and white. In some cases they may all be black which is not good. When electrician installs the smart meter make sure that the bärgvärme works correctly afterwards. The reason the consumption is as high as 7kWh in the below snapshot was that the compressor was not running correctly due to the incorrect order of the phases. Direct electricity was used. Ouch! The fix was simple but good to check.

Elcertifikat

When selecting a energy company consider any incentives to choose them. Something that increases the value of the energy you product is Elcertifikat. To increase the value of your solar energy register your installation with Energimyndigheten. The form is pretty straight forward. Then you transfer your certificates to your energy company. Without this certificate you can get 5öre for each kWh, with certificate you get 25öre. Reason this certificate is valueable for the energy company is that they can prove to their customers the source of energy is solar power. Ask if you get help from energy company to apply. Here is webpage with more information from Energimyndigheten (http://www.energimyndigheten.se/fornybart/solelportalen/vilka-stod-och-intakter-kan-jag-fa/sa-har-ansoker-du-om-elcertifikat-och-ursprungsgarantier/)

Be aware that Vattenfal offers 40öre for kWh but only the first year.

References

These are the companies used by our members and reason they selected them. The list is not an endorsement by Lisebergvillaförening. To get more information contact sol@lisebergsvilla.se.

Installers:

NordenSolar (http://www.nordensolar.se) +46 85 333 8668

Energy companies:

Göteborg Energi (https://www.goteborgenergi.se) tel 031-62 62 62