Here is my monthly report on how our solar panel system did in May 2026. We have:
- 20x400W panels = 8kW, facing west
- 5kW GivEnergy inverter
- 9.5kWh GivEnergy battery
The house is in the UK at about 52° north. The system was installed in February 2024. The system was installed by Octopus who also supply our power and gas.
This is the year so far, all in kWh:
| Month | Generated | Used | Exported | Imported | Cost import | Paid export |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 110 | 518 | 106 | 522 | £88.53 | £14.91 |
| February | 237 | 592 | 226 | 580 | £79.08 | £33.97 |
| March | 590 | 484 | 599 | 507 | £74.47 | £68.30 |
| April | 937 | 283 | 927 | 326 | £37.71 | £112.71 |
| May | 1001 | 315 | 950 | 312 | £45.14 | £113.99 |
| June | 1009 | 465 | 954 | 405 | £60.83 | £124.07 |
| July | 1213 | 408 | 1209 | 414 | £57.47 | £150.16 |
| Totals | 5097 | 3065 | 4971 | 3066 | £443.23 | £618.11 |
2025 figures here.
July has been very dry and sunny so I got my highest mostly generation last month and was able to export most of it. I should be getting £10 from Axle Grid Services as they guarantee that even if their export events did not generate that much. There were only two in July that added up to less than £7. I have opted in to a new option that gives them more control to schedule when my system charges and discharges so I will see if that gives me better performance. It is tricky to measure when things change so much from month to month.
You can see that generation did not vary much over the month. The solar to grid total is less than the total above as we export from the battery at night. We can charge in the morning at a cheaper rate.
Given how hot it has been lately we have contemplated getting air conditioning. The solar panels could provide most of the power for that to keep the costs down, but we would only use it when necessary. I just do not get the idea of keeping indoors really chilly during the summer. I do not find that comfortable and it needs masses of energy to achieve something like 16C on a hot day. I have worked in places where some people turn the thermostat right down and I then feel like I need more layers. In some places it is a status symbol to have powerful a/c.
Plug-in solar should go on sale in the UK later this month. It will be interesting to see what demand is like. We are in for hotter summers with higher energy prices if we keep getting disruption of fossil fuel supplies. In some places even the nuclear power stations are having to shut down as the rivers they use for cooling are running dry. Solar panels may be slightly less efficient when it is hot, but they can generate power any time it is light with very little maintenance or need for other external resources.
The UK government may allow some further oil and gas exploration in the North Sea, but that is running dry. BP are selling their drilling business so I imagine they do not see much future in it. We will not run out of sunshine.
Shine on!
 |
The man behind: | @tenkminnows: Helping good Hivers level up @proofofbrian: A bot that checks for tag typos #BritList: A monthly list of Hivers in the UK |
