Solar Power - always a scam??

Mcfi5dhc

BFG wrote: »

I repeat : No-one on any of the solar threads has shown solar to be even approaching a sensible investment [Maybe you'd like to do it for us??].

Now, which bit of that is sceptical??

Lets put this to bed for two weeks or so, wait for the final guidelines for the Feed-In-Tariff, and then I'll post my calculations. As with the other thread (the only one started by me), you have to use some assumptions - I'll declare them on there as well.

In you opinion, what is a good payback time?

GSXRCarlos

BFG wrote: »

A neat little trick that a lot of these scammers are playing is the 'ROI' sleight of hand....

It goes like this.....

ROI stands for Return On Investment and it is similar to the interest you receive from the bank.

So if you spend £5000 on solar, and it saves you £500 a year, this is a 10% ROI.
The same £5000 in a bank or BS account will only earn you £50 interest ie a 0.5% ROI

So what you should do Mr & Mrs Potential Victim is buy the solar and get 20 YES REALLY 20 times the ROI that a bank gives you.

The calculationsare indeed correct and so it seems perfectly sensible to get 10% instead of 0.5%, but can anyone see the 'sleight'??

Give me £5000 and i'll give you £500 back a year for 10 years

jonesjw

You have the wrong bank account, if they only pay 0.5%.
Also, shares in some good companies pay more than 5% dividend yield & are more reliable than the sun in Britain.

BFG_2

jonesjw wrote: »

You have the wrong bank account, if they only pay 0.5%.
Also, shares in some good companies pay more than 5% dividend yield & are more reliable than the sun in Britain.

Have you actually read the thread, or are you just picking a bit at random???

Do you know what?? I can't be bothered explaining again........

timmmers

thescouselander wrote: »

I really recommend the book I linked to earlier, it explains the issue of sustainable power in terms someone whitout a technical background will understand. You will see that solar and wind power will never even come close to meeting the countries energy requirements.

Never ? Why is that then? Because they don't produce a constant and reliable flow right?

So when they get IR panels which work 24/7 and don't require sun, but can collect heat from the building they are mounted on or the earth...that won't at least pertly solve that problem?
http://sparkingtech.com/tech-sci-news/new-infrared-solar-panels-work-even-at-night/

Never is a long time. A long time in technology is years nowadays.

Solar panels add value to the house they are installed on when it's up for sale too don't forget...any lowering of utility bills for no outlay is likely to do that.

t

BFG_2

timmmers wrote: »

Solar panels add value to the house they are installed on when it's up for sale too don't forget...any lowering of utility bills for no outlay is likely to do that.

t

Are you sure??

Potential purchasers [other than PC grauniad readers looking for green badges] typically see a monstrosity hanging on their roof with the potential for massive maintenance and repair bills.

BFG_2

Timmers,

Your link is from 2 yrs ago....surely a 'long time ago'??

question

BFG_2

TWO SIMPLE QUESTIONS...but ones that solar advocates seem completely unable to answer...........

Would you recommend solar to anyone at the moment, and if so on what financial grounds/evidence??

thorsoak

Can I add our experience to this thread? In August 2008 we moved into our home - a bungalow which is cavity wall insulated and which has three solar panels on the roof. I do not understand the little monitor counter which is installed beside the airing cupboard, but I do know that when the little green light is on, the solar panels are working and it shows the temperature of the water at the top of the tank/at the bottom of the tank/on the roof

As an experiment, we turned off the oil-fired boiler, made sure that the back-up immersion heater was also off for a couple of weeks when we had lots of sunshine, just to see how hot the water would get. Well for about 4 days we did have sufficient hot water for showers and everything else we needed - and it was hot enough. The other days it could have done with being a few degrees hotter! So although it might not be sufficient to work on its own, its enough to mean that the boiler (or immersion heater) wouldn't have to work quite so hard, so making some savings.

This needs maintenance just once every 5 years - we had it done when we moved in, at a cost of £120.

I don't think that we would choose to instal solar panels, but as they are here they are making a slight contribution to saving energy.

yakky58

Thorsoak I think you are talking about DHW or hot water not PV electric. I have DHW and that does work in the summer less so in the winter. In the summer I get about 80% of hot water for free. In the winter much less but every little helps. I don't think I would invest in DHW unless I lved somewhere were sunlight was 300+ days of the year, like Australia.

PV has been a better experience for me. Most years I get > 2000 kwh which after some change of practice is about 40-45% of my usage. I have got some ideas to increase that.

Overall I am happy with the investment. Pay back on my spreadsheet is about 10-12 years and am 3+ along the way.