Solar Panel Megathread

[shellbelle 10]

Are you buying these or just getting the free electric during the day?

[Miss_P 10]

well i would buy them the free ones have a 25 yr agreement and personally i would not like to try and sell my house with those stuck on the front for 25 yrs

[shellbelle 10]

Why not? They benefit from the free electric if you sell your property!

[Miss_P 10]

ok please yourself im not getting into a discussion but check the agreement carfully

[shellbelle 10]

If its your home the agreement is they have your roof space for 25 years. You benefit from the free electric during the day (if the sun shines that is) when it goes dusk the supplier sells the surplus back to the electricity agent. The downfall is you don't see the profit BUT if you bought the panels you would reap both the rewards. Should you sell your property you can either take the panels with you should the new vendor not want them! Leave the panels on the roof so the new vendor can enjoy the free electric during the day and you sell to the electric company the surplus or thirdly come to an agreement with the vendor to buy the solar panels off you and they take over the contract. Simple as that!

[Miss_P 10]

thats ok if buying i thought you was refering to the 25 yr agreement where the new vendors were stuck with them as they cannot get out of the lease

[martynh99 10]

We had ours installed March 2012 just before the rates dropped. We too are SW facing.

We bought the panels at a cost of £9100 , it's a 3.84kwh system.

 

In the last 9 months we've had a feed in tariff payment of £788.79, £608.18 & £185.18 making £1582.15 over 9 months, based on that alone it'll have paid for itself over approx 6 years. Over that time though, my electricity bill has reduced considerably so i'm expecting it to pay for itself over 3.5 - 4 years which means i'll have some free electrictity for as long as the panels last and for about 21 years, I should have a monetary income in excess of £1k a year (over time the PV panels detoriate on what they generate).

 

Since I had them installed the feed in tariff payments have dropped considerably(for new installs, I still get the higher unit rates) so this would need to be taken into account. As I said at the start of the post, I too am SW facing and in 9 months generated 3384 units on a 3.84 kwh system.

 

Hope that helps.

Edited January 27, 2013 by martynh99

[Strix 11]

there are also products coming onto the market to make the most of the available solar power instead of losing out by feeding in at a lower tariff then paying for units when you're using more than you're generating - such as a water heater which only heats when there is free electricity to use

 

If you're savvy you won't do things like running a tumble dryer whilst the washing machine is heating water, or boiling the kettle when the toaster is on

[Psyber 10]

In Australia there has been an interesting side issue caused by the common use of galvanised iron or colour bonded steel roofing. The tendency is to mount the panels in an aluminium frame and put non-conducting washers between the two different metals to minimise electrolytic activity between them corroding the roof cladding (and the frame).

 

However, once you lock them together with any sort of screw the circuit is completed. Using either stainless steel screws, or coated screws, reduces the effect but doesn't stop it entirely.

 

And even with our sunshine levels the time to break even on the original cost from savings is about 5 years - longer if trees shade the roof much of the day.

 

Prices have halved since our period of government subsidies ended, but electricity prices have risen over 17% to fund the supply companies buying in the green energy. Factoring that in extends the break even time.

Edited January 27, 2013 by Psyber

[maxmaximus 10]

We had ours installed March 2012 just before the rates dropped. We too are SW facing.

We bought the panels at a cost of £9100 , it's a 3.84kwh system.

 

In the last 9 months we've had a feed in tariff payment of £788.79, £608.18 & £185.18 making £1582.15 over 9 months, based on that alone it'll have paid for itself over approx 6 years. Over that time though, my electricity bill has reduced considerably so i'm expecting it to pay for itself over 3.5 - 4 years which means i'll have some free electrictity for as long as the panels last and for about 21 years, I should have a monetary income in excess of £1k a year (over time the PV panels detoriate on what they generate).

 

Since I had them installed the feed in tariff payments have dropped considerably(for new installs, I still get the higher unit rates) so this would need to be taken into account. As I said at the start of the post, I too am SW facing and in 9 months generated 3384 units on a 3.84 kwh system.

 

Hope that helps.

 

http://www.energysavingtrust.org.uk/Generating-energy/Getting-money-back/Solar-Energy-Calculator

 

According to this your payments are well over what they should have been, the annual payments for a 4KW system, south facing should be £669.

 

Income from Feed-in Tariff: £508

Money saved on bill: £87

Income from grid export: £74

This tariff is only available for systems installed before 31st January 2013

 

Even taking into account that you are on the older and better tariffs they still appear to be very high.

[martynh99 10]

http://www.energysavingtrust.org.uk/Generating-energy/Getting-money-back/Solar-Energy-Calculator

 

According to this your payments are well over what they should have been, the annual payments for a 4KW system, south facing should be £669.

 

Income from Feed-in Tariff: £508

Money saved on bill: £87

Income from grid export: £74

This tariff is only available for systems installed before 31st January 2013

 

Even taking into account that you are on the older and better tariffs they still appear to be very high.

 

We've generated in excess of 3300kwh over 9 months on the higher tariff(something like 44p/kWh)

[cookingfat50 10]

hi i had solor panels fitted for free by a company in maidstone with an office near kiverton, the only thinng is how do i find out how or if ive made any oney out of them or saved any money, you seem to be well imformed on this subject , may be you can give me some idea how i can .compare the the two regards steve xx