Selling House with Solar PV

Milliewilly

izzzzythedog wrote: »

sorry still dont agree

firstly the look of it , a period property could mean anything , id agree a solar array poking out of thatch isnt appropriate but the majority of the housing stock in the uk could easly accept solar panels without it being noticed , my house isnt south facing , far from it , i built a 30 foot shed which is more than handly and stuck 5 on there , i could have gone for a solar array that is fixed on a pole in the garden

http://www.solar4power.com/images/solar-array.jpg

or could have simply created 6 foot fence panels with an intergrated solar panel in each , theres a million and 1 ways to mount them and majority of people could if they could find it within themselves to buy them

you may have made no mention of maintence or space , so what ? its appropriate to the debate as a whole

as for increasing a propertys worth is a given that any expensive undertaking on a property gives it extra worth be it a garage , a conny or an extension , the ability to heat and light a house and even make a few quid is ....... why am i even typing this ? someone must be a brand new type of stupid not to appriciate this is massively desirable and a serious asset to the property

the cost implications are hard to envisage , a new build with a cert recieves a premium as has been listed and yes it will follow interest rates for ever to create a small income , the future power requirements and abilities to create are an unknown but that means nothing , the here and now is what matters , the initial cost is justified twice over by the lack of a bill , a future source of eco power just isnt on the horizen , there will be no cold fuson reactors avaliable as B+Q within the next 12 years as there is simply no-one out there with a fresh patent waiting to manufactor anything that is better than what we have now , no thermal dynamic machines no for the home gravity power plants , nothing , i dare say in time something may come crop up but we can only run with what we have and allow science to improve on it , as for the time frame who knows who will even be alive in 12 years ? no-one knows for sure where they will be and what they will be doing and it would be a waste of life to think `whatif ` with all that we do , much better to say sod it and opt out of the paying bills and take that chance IMO

'Brand new type of stupid' - because I don't appreciate the ugliness of solar panels however you try to dress them up on a pole shed or fence panel!! If your panels are not SW facing then they are not running a maximum efficiency anyway, the UK is not the sunniest of places.

The initial cost is not 'justified twice over' by the lack of a bill if the initial cost far outweighs what you reap in selling a few pence back to the grid and no bill each year!

If your last paragraph had contained a few full stops and correct spelling I may have started to take you seriously (I am a Graduate Scientist BTW so I can comprehend the arguement you are trying to make).

The point is they are ugly and are not adding saleability or value to the house price to potential buyers.

Estate Agents are not viewing the panels as a marketing plus hence the OP's question.

poppysarah

jimofwales wrote: »

This is interesting, if you tamper with the export meter you could export everything you generate at 36p, and buy what you use at 10p.

I don't mean from a renewable source - I mean just resell them the stuff they sell me...

;-/

silvercar

izzzzythedog wrote: »

the cert is for the set up at a property , remove it and stick it onto another property then you need to reapplly and as far as i know you wont get the higher rate on extra elec created as you need the grant to be able to and as you already own the set up you will have already recieved a grant for it , double jepody , nothing to stop you selling it on though and using that money to create a new set up recertificated or offering it in situ to the next owners for the same value you would expect to recieve

I understand now. Though I wonder whether you will get enough for it, that it wouldn't be worth taking it with you and getting a new grant by adding to it and recertifying?

if its already fitted a new owner recieves the benfefit instantly 2 ways , firstly a morgage is based on vrs stuff including your elec bill , going on the fact it cant be seen as an outgoing at the new home it increases your top line and increases the chance someone can afford a morgage in the first place , it also removes the cost of elec in the second instance , good stuff

The main hurdle in getting a mortgage at the moment is size of deposit. generally 10% deposit is required (though 5% is around). Adding to the supposed value only increases the deposit required. Even though the buyer should see the benefit of reduced bills. Generally lenders offer on a salary mulitple. So your typical buyer gets a mortgage of max say 3 times salary and having to find a 10% deposit; your electrical saving doesn't come into the lenders equation. Of course it helps the future owner with bills, but it doesn't help secure a mortgage.

John_Pierpoint

The FiT started this month but II thought that people who installed prior to a date last year don't qualify for the 41.3 pence per unit price (The government still had some money then and gave them a nice big grant) I thought there was a golden 6 months when (as it now turns out) installations have qualified for both the grant AND the FiT rate?

(Lots of jokes about taking down the panels and then getting a competent person to refit them (somewhere else?) to qualify for the FiT?)

Mcfi5dhc

I've been away for a few days, good to see some debate about this.

My panels are SW facing, and my house is just a bog-standard semi - nothing listed, thatched etc. Even though they are at the front of the house, in full view of the street, few people see them. Those that do stop and stare, sometimes for ages (especially amusing when I open the front door and they don't notice me!)

Some of those that haven't noticed them have been electricity sales people - makes me laff when I send them packing, and ask them to turn round as they march away and then they see them.

They are considered to be maintenance free - some people wash the bird poo off them, mine are self cleaning pilkington glass covered, so shouldn't really need any maintenance (if they did, it would just be a wash with a hosepipe, not a rebuild or anything).

If Tories don't get in, I'll either take them with me, or try Johns jokie solution above!

The grant has gone, but I got one (they were £8k before £2k grant)

All in all, my panels will reduce a bill by about £700 a year (this will go up with inflation) - but only if I get the 41.3p. My electric bill is about £30 a month, so will get negative bill around £300 a year

Finally are they ugly? Less ugly than a coal powerstation in your back yard! Silent, clean, green electric and and a good steady income - I'll always have them wherever I live from now on.

John_Pierpoint

Beware of your neighbours calling you an eco fascist and throwing rocks at your panels - when they find out about the transfer payment from them to you.

Mind you I feel a bit like that when my land owning neighbour sweeps past in his BMW 4x4 and I know that the average family is subsidising him to the tune of 20 - 30 quid a week in higher food prices and Euro grants from our VAT payments.

I'm amazed that those on 60 GBP Job Seekers Allowance don't make more of a fuss.

princeofpounds

Firstly, don't expect that people will allocate the full value of the solar panels to any assessment of the house's value. This is for two reasons. The first is that they probably won't understand the system and how to value it. The second is that this income stream is riskier than a house as it depends on government policy and in many ways is more representative of running a micro-business.

In theory the value of the system is the present value of future cashflows, discounted by your appropriate hurdle rate. We could argue all day over what the hurdle rate is, but this is not a risk-free enterprise so it is NOT going to be the interest rate on a bank account or even a bond!

(So the poster earlier who told you to multiply the income by 25 was close to the truth, but forgot to adjust for risk premia).

Personally I would value it as equity in a micro private business that will shut down once the policy measures disappear, and I would probably model both policy scenarios and apply weighted probabilities to each to come up with a proper valuation.

You would probably be able to value it with a lower risk premium, like a bond, if the policy environment was guaranteed, but it's not.

Can't be bothered to do all that right now in detail, but if I use some broadbrush assumptions you are looking at a value of around £4k, and that's if someone actually *understands* business valuation.

sairy2005

We have just bought a bungalow with solar panels. (the type that just heat the water). I didn't know any thing about them when we bought the house but they are great. They are on the back of the bungalow and you really dont notice them unless they are pointed out.
We knew so little about them when we first moved in (in the really bad weather) that I kept the gas central heating (water heater) on because I didn't belive that they would work that well.
There are only two of us but we get all the hot water we want and more besides.

JodyBPM

To be honest, if I was looking for a house, I wouldn't pay more for one with solar panels. I'm quite interested in green things, so it would make the house more attractive to me, but I wouldn't expect to pay a premium for it.

anotherginger

Milliewilly wrote: »

Sorry - IMO Solar panels look so horrible I would rather have a higher heating bill than them on the roof. I can see the benefit of cheaper / no bills but aesthetically it would put me off buying altogether and adding a premium to the price would imo stop people viewing.

Its like paying for all the extras when you buy a car - its money lost when you sell but may add to the desirability.

what an idiot. it's not just higher heating bills, its higher energy consumption, which means a higher carbon footprint.

IMO i would see solar panels as a selling point, especially PV. i guess you just need to get the right people viewing!