Solar Panels at Home

srhutch said:
bigbensnr said:
Its definatley better to pay for the install and retain the feed in tariff for yourself.
I've just put a price together for a 16 panel system in southampton facing due south/south east and over the 25 year periodic he should expect a return of £45,000. Cant beleive there is a better investment at this moment in time.
I'm happy to answer any queries you might have.
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That figure sounds high, and what happens when the Gov reduce the FIT amount, which is going to happen.
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At the moment, it is set like that. I agree, governments can recall it but it is a committment they make for 25 years at the moment. I asked the same question to most installers I got around, and they all said the same more or less: As the UK government has to meet the Kyoto agreement levels by whatever date, the penalty for failing it is higher than the cost of running the scheme.

Also - note that it is NOT the goverment that pays the feed in tariff, it is you and me via the electricity bill (the so called green tax). The electricity company is making the payment to you (you will get the payment also made by them, not government).
 
ksher said:
British Gas gives the following figures (using 2.3 kWp solar PV system)

Average annual saving on your electricity bill
Generating your own electricity means you don't have to buy it from your supplier - you'd normally pay us 13.194p per kWh if we supplied your electricity1. The average customer will generate 1,785 kWh of electricity per year so if you generated 50% of your own electricity each year you'd save:
£118.76 (977.5 kWh x 12.15p)
)
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There are quite a few house (large and small) by me with panels and they are bloody ugly.

Whatever the savings are (if any) it would put off the majority from buying if and when you came to sell
 
Insurance is a good point, I did check that with mine and the cost is about £100 a year to insure 31k.

Panels on the roof also have a disadvantage that you can not clean them. They need cleaning, which is a positive for my installation as ground mounted are easy to clean.

However, as it is main voltage, I have to put a fence around mine to avoid Jo Burglar electrocuting himself :x

Kryton, I investigated having my company pay for mine, but as the return is tax free it becomes very messy and the final calculations is that it is better to pay for it yourself.

Also note the cost of replacing the invertor(s), on systems you pay yourself you have to allow for 1k to replace it (or 2k for mine as my proposed system is twice the size). Expected life time between 10 - 15 years or so.

There are a lot of variables in this calculation, and there are no two situations the same and if you have any plans to move, forget it.
 
ranski said:
There are quite a few house (large and small) by me with panels and they are bloody ugly.

Whatever the savings are (if any) it would put off the majority from buying if and when you came to sell
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Agree on the roof systems, would never have one as they are sooooooooo ugly.
 
Mrs srhutch had already said no, so it was just a pipedream anyway :poke:
 
Wind turbine useless, so is ground pipes. Cost of maintenance and running the pump takes 80% of the electricity produced :)

Panels need planning permission as well if over a fairly small size.
 
im in a town & you can't really see one side of my roof (which also happens to be south facing), & is allowed despite being in a conservation area.

I'm tempted, as whilst I might not live here for 10+yrs, I shall probably rent it after that.

I use a lot of electric too, but surely the 12-14% calculation is including saving on your bills also? I thought it was more like 10%.
 
srhutch said:
bigbensnr said:
Its definatley better to pay for the install and retain the feed in tariff for yourself.
I've just put a price together for a 16 panel system in southampton facing due south/south east and over the 25 year periodic he should expect a return of £45,000. Cant beleive there is a better investment at this moment in time.
I'm happy to answer any queries you might have.
Click to expand...

That figure sounds high, and what happens when the Gov reduce the FIT amount, which is going to happen.
Click to expand...

As long as the original system is fitted before april 2012 the feed in tariff will be 43p p/kw/h going up with inflation and tax free.
The tax free side may possibly change but the rate is set in stone.
After March 2012 the feed in tariff is being reduced but as yet has not been set.

I agree the estimated yeild on the price i put together seems high but panels are becoming increasingly more efficient plus the sun always shines in sunny Southampton which is why nobody owns a coupe :poke: and if there wasn't the profit in it there wouldn't be companies fitting it for free to gain the feed in tariff.
 
So if I have a system fitted my FIT will be 43p for ever if fitted before March 2012, although as you say this in effect could be reduced by tax later on.

I really don't think the free option is worth it for me as we are low users during the day, so to purchase a system and return all the energy to the grid would appear to be the better option.

Guess I need to get some quotes to install at my cost and do the sums.

I'm lucky like Andy where my panels would be on the back of the house so not visible.
 
srhutch said:
So if I have a system fitted my FIT will be 43p for ever if fitted before March 2012, although as you say this in effect could be reduced by tax later on.

I really don't think the free option is worth it for me as we are low users during the day, so to purchase a system and return all the energy to the grid would appear to be the better option.

Guess I need to get some quotes to install at my cost and do the sums.

I'm lucky like Andy where my panels would be on the back of the house so not visible.
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43p per kilowatt hour and that figure goes up with inflation for the 25 year term.
I agree that if your not at home during the day then the free fittied system seems pointless.
If you pm your post code, roof direction and estimated size of your roof with roof angle i can give you some idea of cost and yield figures.
 
Can you imagine your feeling as a potential purchaser turning up to look at a house only to discover that if you buy it you are contractually obliged to use the electricity contract that a previous owner has entered into!!
This is untried territory from the viewpoint of selling your home and the implications are yet to be felt.
I haven't looked into some of these deals but have to say i would be wary of signing yourself up to an electricity deal for 25 years. Would you do it with British Gas?
I'm all for the green option but my cynical nature says no one is in this to be charitable.
Mrs roofless and i are hoping to build an extension to our home, i would love to have solar but assuming we might move within the next 10 years i find that the cost of installation is greater than the saving, in 10 years time the panels may have just paid for themselves, at which point they have probably reached their life expectancy. (this is for heating not pv for electricity by the way). Returning to the PV subject, take legal advice from your solicitor, it's worth spending a little now to avoid a big problem later. Personally i think this 'free energy' sales pitch is going to provide a host of problems in the future particularly when you come to sell, let's face it on average we move every 7 years!
 
Yes, but can you imagine going to buy a house which had free electric, & was giving a return based on the panels .. I think it's a selling point if it's done correctly & will only add value to the house.
 
roofless said:
Can you imagine your feeling as a potential purchaser turning up to look at a house only to discover that if you buy it you are contractually obliged to use the electricity contract that a previous owner has entered into!!
This is untried territory from the viewpoint of selling your home and the implications are yet to be felt.
I haven't looked into some of these deals but have to say i would be wary of signing yourself up to an electricity deal for 25 years. Would you do it with British Gas?
I'm all for the green option but my cynical nature says no one is in this to be charitable.
Mrs roofless and i are hoping to build an extension to our home, i would love to have solar but assuming we might move within the next 10 years i find that the cost of installation is greater than the saving, in 10 years time the panels may have just paid for themselves, at which point they have probably reached their life expectancy. (this is for heating not pv for electricity by the way). Returning to the PV subject, take legal advice from your solicitor, it's worth spending a little now to avoid a big problem later. Personally i think this 'free energy' sales pitch is going to provide a host of problems in the future particularly when you come to sell, let's face it on average we move every 7 years!
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Your electricity contract is not effected, you can use any supplier you want and chop and change as often as you like.
 
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