Free solar power system. Is it a scam?

Lostrider

Sorry Crossposting.

skelly01

Are A shade Greener the only company offering this free service?

hethmar

Oh, I was getting really interested in this and we have big detached house with south facing roof then I see its only up t'north! We have more sun down here!

Never mind. One thing that occurred to me is wont the panels need replacing fairly often in that 25 year lease period?

SarahLucyD

hethmar - the panels are actually guaranteed by the manufacturer up to 25 years. I am told and believe that there are panels in Spain and Portugal that are still producing after 40 years! It is more likely that the inverter may need replacing at some stage, but we have budgeted for that eventuality. If any of the panels do stop producing, we will simply replace them as it is in our interest to do so considering that we only receive the generation tariff for the electricity that is being produced.

Sarah - ASG

S1976

So - free panels on your roof to generate enough for a family - free install and maintain for 25 years (unless you choose to have them removed free of charge) after 25 years either free un-install or choose to carry on if scheme is still going, if you sell your house I'm assuming either the new buyers will carry on or can choose to have them removed before sale? - any excess goes back into the grid, hence where A Shade Greener can make some money?

Actually if all the above is true and correct it sounds pretty good to me everyone gains and my roof does just sit there - hmmmm - doh not in my area I don't think lol Bah just my luck...

Cardew

S1976 wrote: »

So - free panels on your roof to generate enough for a family - free install and maintain for 25 years (unless you choose to have them removed free of charge) after 25 years either free un-install or choose to carry on if scheme is still going, if you sell your house I'm assuming either the new buyers will carry on or can choose to have them removed before sale? - any excess goes back into the grid, hence where A Shade Greener can make some money?

Actually if all the above is true and correct it sounds pretty good to me everyone gains and my roof does just sit there - hmmmm - doh not in my area I don't think lol Bah just my luck...

No they don't generate anything like 'enough for the family'. You can only use what is generated during the day, and of course there is much less generated in the winter.

How much electricity(of that generated by the panels) you can use in the house depends on your lifestyle in all day, or out at work.

Reports from those with PV panel seem to indicate that they can use about 40% of the total generated - so in the region of 1,200kWh per year, and saving £120 per year at present rates.

A Shade Greener make their money from the subsidy(FIT) given for all electricity generated.

The principle is quite simple, you are 'renting' out your roof with the 'rent' being what electricity you can use.

jimbms

Cardew wrote: »

No they don't generate anything like 'enough for the family'. You can only use what is generated during the day, and of course there is much less generated in the winter.

This all depends on how well you use your supply. I have similar size panels but fitted myself along with solar heating. If you change your lighting to a 12v system and get a battery bank to store exces power then it can be used day and night. next have a look at a lot of your appliances, by running a 12v circuit around the house you can then remove the 240v/12v transformer from a lot of them meaning you can use the 12v direct. You can also use mains to top up batteries when required and still it works out cheaper use. I find mine generate 70% in summer and 40% winter when allowing for amount of daylight I top this up with a vertical turbine. So all in all the amount it saves you is dependant on how wise you use the power available.

level200

Do these guys do teesside?

S1976

Some interesting information there Cardew and Jimbms - thank you.

Will have to look into this futher

Cardew

jimbms wrote: »

This all depends on how well you use your supply. I have similar size panels but fitted myself along with solar heating. If you change your lighting to a 12v system and get a battery bank to store exces power then it can be used day and night. next have a look at a lot of your appliances, by running a 12v circuit around the house you can then remove the 240v/12v transformer from a lot of them meaning you can use the 12v direct. You can also use mains to top up batteries when required and still it works out cheaper use. I find mine generate 70% in summer and 40% winter when allowing for amount of daylight I top this up with a vertical turbine. So all in all the amount it saves you is dependant on how wise you use the power available.

There have been a number of posts about 'harvesting' more of the generated electricity.

I wonder how much extra power you can save in the battery bank and then use in 12v lighting? 500 watts a day averaged over the year?

If so that is approx 200kWh a year - say £20 a year?

I wonder how much it would cost to rig up a charging circuit with batteries and run a 12volt circuit to the lights in your house - bearing in mind that many will not feel qualified to carry out this task - earthing etc.