Solar Power - always a scam??

BFG_2

So in summary, you're scammed more if you buy in Scotland than in othr areas.

The headlines again - solar is a scam.

HTW

Are you aware that in April 2010 a Feed in Tariff will be available which will pay 36.5p for every unit produced by retro fitted PV panels and a further 5p per unit for every unit exported back to the grid. This is guaranteed for 25 years and will be index linked.

BFG_2

HTW wrote: »

Are you aware that in April 2010 a Feed in Tariff will be available which will pay 36.5p for every unit produced by retro fitted PV panels and a further 5p per unit for every unit exported back to the grid. This is guaranteed for 25 years and will be index linked.

And your point is???????????????

If it's something to do with how solar is financially a brilliant idea [because of this 36p]....read the rest of this thread....................it's not viable. Or have you got any evidence that it is viable??

HTW

I have not said that solar power is brilliant.
I asked if you were aware of the Feed in Tariff

I have read the previous posts and in April 2010 all the figures used to support peoples claims in the previous posts will be out of date.

Also as I said in my first post I can get 10k interest free which I only have to pay back when I sell my house. So overtime inflation will devalue the 10K and if house prices rise before I sell my property then I will have had solar power installed without any immediate cost to me. I can also receive a grant of 2.5k for the solar panels.

Under the new system for every KWh I generate and use I will receive the equivalent off 46.5p which is made up of 36.5p from the feed in tariff and the 10p saved because I do not have to buy a KWh from the supplier.For any units I export back to the grid will be paid 40.5p

The Feed in tariff lasts for 25 years so if I banked all the money I received over that time and the interest was compounded I may well make some money.

BFG_2

HTW wrote: »

I have not said that solar power is brilliant.
I asked if you were aware of the Feed in Tariff

I have read the previous posts and in April 2010 all the figures used to support peoples claims in the previous posts will be out of date.

Also as I said in my first post I can get 10k interest free which I only have to pay back when I sell my house. So overtime inflation will devalue the 10K and if house prices rise before I sell my property then I will have had solar power installed without any immediate cost to me. I can also receive a grant of 2.5k for the solar panels.

Under the new system for every KWh I generate and use I will receive the equivalent off 46.5p which is made up of 36.5p from the feed in tariff and the 10p saved because I do not have to buy a KWh from the supplier.For any units I export back to the grid will be paid 40.5p

The Feed in tariff lasts for 25 years so if I banked all the money I received over that time and the interest was compounded I may well make some money.

I get everything you're now saying, but I'm still non the wiser as to the financial viability of solar.

Are you saying that solar is now [or in April 2010] viable from a financial POV???

All your figures ref 36.5/10/40.5/10 yrs/£2500 etc must surely allow you to answer the very question I have posed....Solar ...a scam[financially] or not??

It's a very,very simple question and one that can be answered by anyone with a few simples calcs and some sensible data, yet people seem to talk about 5 thousand ways of justifying solar and skirt around the £ [other than a sleight of hand comparing ROI on solar with savings in the bank]

As an aside - the main thrust of my OP was that the companies selling solar lie massively about the savings and payback; IMO if companies told the truth wrt savings etc, they wouldn't sell many systems [ie it's financial foolishness [was going to say madness] to buy solar],

HTW

Under the scheme I mentioned then I would say yes solar is viable, because I would not have to spend any money now to get a PV system on my roof and I would get paid for every KWh it produced.
I would agree that without the interest free loan and grant it would not be cost effective to spend all that money for the return you would get. Your could just invest the 12.5k and use the interest to subsidies your electricity bill
As for solar hot water its a waste of time effort and money

daytona600_2

any solar company quoting pay back time in 6 months
hang up the phone
depending on system size should take 5 to 10 years
but lifespan is 25 years plus
30% payback - 70% will earn you money with on grid export tarrifs
3kw on grid roof system £10k installed including grants
will earn £30k over next 25 years
by selling your energy to the grid
try getting that return with a bank
and will save the planet
unless you want cheap nuclear energy in the future

ff

BFG wrote: »

True or false?

Solar power doesn't work. Sorry what I mean is there are no solar power systems that are cost effective.

This means that by the very nature of the science, any company selling solar power systems are scammers.

They rely on blatant lies such as 'pays for itself in 6 months' or 'reduces your electricity and gas bills by 75%'

daytona600_2

scotland gets low sunshine in the winter 1/3 hours
but 12/16 hours in the summer
way up north hardly gets dark at all
and we get £4000 grants
use grants to install dual-axis suntrackers
and get 35 to 45% higher ouputs
about same as fixed system in southern europe

Cardew wrote: »

It most certainly NOT a misconception.The Highlands are not good for solar(compared to other parts of UK.

It is nothing to do with the quality of air etc but the fact that Scotland's latitude is further north than Cornwall.



In fact I have seen a brochure for solar panels wher they quote a mean average output of 1,000kWh in UK and state it ranges from 1150kWh in SW England to 850kWh in Northern Scotland.

Some parts of the Artic have the best light in the world, but it ain't much good for solar energy;)

Cardew

daytona600,
You should declare you work for a solar company and are just posting misleading spam.

daytona600_2

yes cardew i own a solar power scompany

just trying to state the fact that solar is percieved to be expensive by the man in the street

this is not the case

just some suppliers in the uk over-charge by large amounts

if i can help save people several thousands per system
over some of the quoted prices on this forum
i have been in electrical distribution for 2 decades
and pass on direct factory prices and bulk buying

i hope saving the uk consumer is not seem as spam

scott

Cardew wrote: »

daytona600,
You should declare you work for a solar company and are just posting misleading spam.