Solar panels?

Firewalker

We have been thinking about putting solar panels on our house - one thing we have rather a lot of is roof, really. And the other part of the story is that our roof needs changing anyway. Have tried to do some research about that but it all looks quite confusing. Hence, decided to resort to the wisdom, knowledge and experience of the people on this forum.

I would be very happy to hear more about:

1) Solar panels and the places to get these (and the needed infrastructure) at good price;
2) Anything to watch with the Government scheme for local electricity production
3) Experience of having/installing solar panels
4) How expensive is doing that (comparatively; we are looking at about 20 sq meters of solar panels)
5) Does it work out cheaper combined with changing the roof

Eagerly awaiting some replies to this one.

Firewalker

diable

From what I have heard its a waste of time as it will be years before you get any return on your investment.

I think someone will be alone soon to put it less bluntly ;p

Battleaxe44

I checked out the costing regarding solar panels and found it prohibitive. I asked around regarding any incentive schemes, got no good response at all.
We had Solar in Australia and did this when the house built, so the costs were absorbed, the water storage heater was so different to the run of mill ones over here.

Before anyone starts we had days we did not have sunshine and this does happen frequently.

I worked out that it would be nearly ten years before the cost of installation over here would be cost effective.

My son worked out it would be cheaper to import all the materials needed and get a local plumber and electrician to do the installation.

Unless this government gets serious about this, and is prepared to help offset the costs, no-one will do it.

ormus

dont waste your money.
its just another con, and the ex DG salesmen are on the job too. they are promising vitually free heating and or electric for life.
absolute balloney.

the payback period will be at least 20 yrs, if ever.

the only way to make it pay is to DIY it with used materials. ie using old radiators as solar water heaters, (heat exchangers), and linking it into your existing heating system.
(ie twin DHW cylinders).

the wind turbines are a similar con.

Mcfi5dhc

Battleaxe44 wrote: »

I checked out the costing regarding solar panels and found it prohibitive. I asked around regarding any incentive schemes, got no good response at all.
We had Solar in Australia and did this when the house built, so the costs were absorbed, the water storage heater was so different to the run of mill ones over here.

Before anyone starts we had days we did not have sunshine and this does happen frequently.

I worked out that it would be nearly ten years before the cost of installation over here would be cost effective.

My son worked out it would be cheaper to import all the materials needed and get a local plumber and electrician to do the installation.

Unless this government gets serious about this, and is prepared to help offset the costs, no-one will do it.

I have Solar PV, and I live in the UK (North Wales)

It may well be cheaper to import everything in, and DIY it, but you won't get a penny in grants. In fact, nearly all grants have gone now, a few exist from certain councils, but very few. The main financial incentive is called the Feed-In-Tariff which guarantees for the next 25 years a rate for every unit you generate (41.3p for solar electric) - yes, it will still take a few years, quite possibly 10 to pay back your PV, but better than previously. You will not get the 41.3p if you DIY it.

In the past two years, I have had zero days where I have generated nothing - though I have had many days though wehere output was low (especially winter). Saying that though, I have had many days where I have generated far more than I needed, even in rainy North Wales, and exported it to the grid.

OP - you could always get Solar PV tiles - you can get FIT on these, but these are expensive. Saying that, a whole new roof is going to cost a lot anyway. Does the roof need completely replacing, or just a repair? If just a repair, may be worth getting retro fitted PV like mine.

You'll find loads of threads about this in the Green n Ethical Forum, many of which I have posted (so you can find costs etc)

Thanks

Mcfi5dhc

ormus wrote: »

dont waste your money.
its just another con, and the ex DG salesmen are on the job too. they are promising vitually free heating and or electric for life.
absolute balloney.

the payback period will be at least 20 yrs, if ever.

the only way to make it pay is to DIY it with used materials. ie using old radiators as solar water heaters, (heat exchangers), and linking it into your existing heating system.
(ie twin DHW cylinders).

the wind turbines are a similar con.

There are two types of Solar - heat, and electric

With heat, I completely agree with your comments (until next year when the govt has promised extra subsidies - see what happens then)

Electic - see my comments above - these will pay back in around 10 (or a bit less)

Wind turbines - again, more than one type. Small crappy ones, fixed to the side of your house - agree with what you say completely. Bigger ones in a rural location, atop a mast, will payback fairly quickly, but have their own pros n cons

ormus

with price of PV panels in the uk, itll be almost impossible to payback within 20 yrs. if ever.
and for the average home, the only days you will be exporting electric back into the grid is when the house is empty for the day!

its a bit like buying a diet product for a huge sum. in the small print it says, "must be used as part of a calorie controlled diet".
solar/wind energy is similar, "must be used as part of an energy useage reduction programme"

Mankysteve

Firewalker wrote: »

I would be very happy to hear more about:

1) Solar panels and the places to get these (and the needed infrastructure) at good price;
Try the Micro generation certifcation scheme website for there list of installers, Checkout https://www.navitron.org/forums for company recommendations.
2) Anything to watch with the Government scheme for local electricity production
You must use both MCS accredited equipment and installers to able to get FITS you cant do it any other way at the moment. This may change as there's a lot of hostility over this point. There's no grants scheme left now.

3) Experience of having/installing solar panels
4) How expensive is doing that (comparatively; we are looking at about 20 sq meters of solar panels)
You genrally go by Price a KW ill look up the cost when I'am back at home. Ive got it all written down somewhere.

5) Does it work out cheaper combined with changing the roof
Should help to reduces the cost a bit. You can get Solar panel roof tiles but there capacity not as much as standard panel and there very expensive, I'am not quite sure if it would be cheaper overall than a standard roof with standard panels or not but if you've already got the scaffolding up and such that should save you some case.

Ignore the naysayer and do your own maths. They tend to believe every thing they read without actually doing the research them self. You'd be looking at absolute worse case of payback about 20 years(most panel are guaranteed for 25) properly more like 10-12 years. Although its a poor investment for your cash if that's all your interested in there's better way to invest.

The jury still out for me on solar heating its so difficult to measure and quantify and i havent seen many decent studies to make my mind up.

here a good link
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/1838505