Free solar panel discussion

Nang

SavySave wrote: »

Hi all

The idea of all this has interested me for some time...
I wanted to try out my scenario and see if you're all able to help fill in the blanks.

My understanding...
I pay circa £14k to have the panels fitted myself.
The FITs scheme pays me a guaranteed £900 (or so) per year for 25 years.

BTW

If you are interested in seeing how much FITs income a installation can generate check out https://www.uksolarcasestudy.co.uk

Where you can check on the monthly progress on 3 sites in the north of England.

One of which has been up and running since March.

grahamc2003

M4ximillion wrote: »

Just out of interest, why do you think this would happen? People are gettng greener by the minute - everyone i know recycles everything now, its kind of the done thing and if you dont do it you are frowned upon. Leccy is going up in price and will keep going up, we all know that. Solar is getting more popular - look at Germany, so why would the uk suddenly go anti solar? If I were to listen to you i wouldn't have freebies and i wouldnt buy them either, so i guess that you are anti solar full stop or are there some instances where its ok to have solar, in your opinion?

M4, 25 (or 26!) years is a long time, and I can't tell the future. Just because you can't think of any circumstances where solar panels may go out of favour doesn't mean they won't. That is why the risk is unquantifiable, and not zero as you seem to think.

Also, you can listen to me and have free solar panels, or buy them if you want, it really doesn't bother me one jot. All I'm doing is posting my views on a bulletin board, just as you are.

I think solar is a viable energy source in some places. Take Corfu - almost everyone there has solar hot water, it probably makes a great deal of sense to them. And it makes sense in much of the hotter parts of the world.

But if you want electricity as cheaply and efficiently as possible in the UK, then solar PV won't give it. For anyone using solar PV, there is an insanely high cost, 10 times the going rate, paid for by everyone with an electricity account. I don't mind subsidies per se, but I do where I consider the subsidy to be a waste, and where the same amount of money could be used to much better advantage. I know you don't give much thought to anything else except the thought of a 'free' £80s worth of electricity a year, but for you to get that, other consumers have to pay something like £1200. See the nonsense now? If not, wait until the costs of these schemes rise to more than £80 on each domestic bill, and from then on (if we're not already there) even you will be losing out, with the extra cost on your bill being greater than the subsidy you get back. (Of course, the big companies - Bgas, eon etc - now offering these 'free'schemes will still be getting their index linked £1200 per installation subsidy, probably amounting to several tens of millions pa.

I'm not against anyone taking advantage of the fit system, I'm just saying the fit system itself is madness, and even those individuals taking up the 'free' offer who think they gain financially from it, and other schemes, will soon be losing out financially.

Would you rather I didn't post my thoughts here for some reason?

M4ximillion

grahamc2003 wrote: »

M4, 25 (or 26!) years is a long time, and I can't tell the future. Just because you can't think of any circumstances where solar panels may go out of favour doesn't mean they won't. That is why the risk is unquantifiable, and not zero as you seem to think.?

I didnt say it was zero risk - i just wanted to know why you think people would suddenly turn against it and youve not given any reason that you can think of other than it is a risk. I guess youre right there are risks with everything but if we thought that way would we do anything at all? I wouldnt go on holiday abroad in case plane crashed.

grahamc2003 wrote: »

Also, you can listen to me and have free solar panels, or buy them if you want, it really doesn't bother me one jot. All I'm doing is posting my views on a bulletin board, just as you are.

Agree

grahamc2003 wrote: »

I think solar is a viable energy source in some places. Take Corfu - almost everyone there has solar hot water, it probably makes a great deal of sense to them. And it makes sense in much of the hotter parts of the world..

The bloke who came to see me from ASG said that the panels operated better when it was cooler so whos right?

grahamc2003 wrote: »

I know you don't give much thought to anything else except the thought of a 'free' £80s worth of electricity a year, but for you to get that, other consumers have to pay something like £1200.

Are you saying that theyre paying an extra £1200 a year???? Sorry, Im not exactly einstein but even i know thats wrong, think youve done your sums wrong this time. And yes youre right, i dont give much thought to anything except the idea of free leccy because im skint. When youre skint you think differently.

grahamc2003 wrote: »

I'm not against anyone taking advantage of the fit system, I'm just saying the fit system itself is madness, and even those individuals taking up the 'free' offer who think they gain financially from it, and other schemes, will soon be losing out financially.

But its here to stay and theres nothing we can do about it so if we can take advantage of it we should.

grahamc2003 wrote: »

Would you rather I didn't post my thoughts here for some reason?

I think youre too sensitive and dont like it when anyone questions you.

Cardew

M4ximillion wrote: »

Solar is getting more popular - look at Germany, so why would the uk suddenly go anti solar?

Solar PV is only popular because of subsidies. It would go anti-solar

1. Remove all the massive subsidies(e.g. FIT) and virtually no PV would be generated.

2. Spread the word on just how much all other users have to pay in extra payments on bills for just about the most inefficient method of electricity generation known.

energysavingexp

grahamc2003 wrote: »

M4, 25 (or 26!) years is a long time, and I can't tell the future. Just because you can't think of any circumstances where solar panels may go out of favour doesn't mean they won't. That is why the risk is unquantifiable, and not zero as you seem to think.

Also, you can listen to me and have free solar panels, or buy them if you want, it really doesn't bother me one jot. All I'm doing is posting my views on a bulletin board, just as you are.

I think solar is a viable energy source in some places. Take Corfu - almost everyone there has solar hot water, it probably makes a great deal of sense to them. And it makes sense in much of the hotter parts of the world.

But if you want electricity as cheaply and efficiently as possible in the UK, then solar PV won't give it. For anyone using solar PV, there is an insanely high cost, 10 times the going rate, paid for by everyone with an electricity account. I don't mind subsidies per se, but I do where I consider the subsidy to be a waste, and where the same amount of money could be used to much better advantage. I know you don't give much thought to anything else except the thought of a 'free' £80s worth of electricity a year, but for you to get that, other consumers have to pay something like £1200. See the nonsense now? If not, wait until the costs of these schemes rise to more than £80 on each domestic bill, and from then on (if we're not already there) even you will be losing out, with the extra cost on your bill being greater than the subsidy you get back. (Of course, the big companies - Bgas, eon etc - now offering these 'free'schemes will still be getting their index linked £1200 per installation subsidy, probably amounting to several tens of millions pa.

I'm not against anyone taking advantage of the fit system, I'm just saying the fit system itself is madness, and even those individuals taking up the 'free' offer who think they gain financially from it, and other schemes, will soon be losing out financially.

Would you rather I didn't post my thoughts here for some reason?

Where do you get your figures from? £1200 pa for leccy
mine is more like £300 if that
also has anyone noticed a big rise on their leccy bill to pay for the fit's because i have not.
also i am wondering if you have solar pv or not
and if not is it because your house is not suitable.
you say you dont like paying the subsidy were you consider it to be a waste.
well what about your tax bill, most of that goes on wast.
if i felt as strongly about it as you do, i would get my leccy cut off and produce my own.
but you cannot do anything about the tax bill that you still have to pay and that is a real wast of money.

Mcfi5dhc

M4ximillion wrote: »

The bloke who came to see me from ASG said that the panels operated better when it was cooler so whos right?

Solar PV loses efficiency at high temperature, so the man from ASG is correct

Solar Thermal (hot water) works best at a hotter temperature

The are very different technologies and cannot be compared

(thats also why solar hot water won't work as well in winter in the UK - see later in this thread)

energysavingexp

Mcfi5dhc wrote: »

Solar PV loses efficiency at high temperature, so the man from ASG is correct

Solar Thermal (hot water) works best at a hotter temperature

The are very different technologies and cannot be compared

(thats also why solar hot water won't work in winter in the UK)

my solar hot water works fine in winter.
just looking at the temp on the panels right now .and it's 43'
and 39 in the tank.
the only time they stop working is when they are covered in snow

Nang

Cardew wrote: »

Solar PV is only popular because of subsidies. It would go anti-solar

1. Remove all the massive subsidies(e.g. FIT) and virtually no PV would be generated.

2. Spread the word on just how much all other users have to pay in extra payments on bills for just about the most inefficient method of electricity generation known.

Sorry but I don't understand the grammar in this sentence.

Are you saying that without the subsidies the solar power plants would disappear overnight?

Or that people should make the UK go antisolar by spreading the word that it puts most peoples energy bill up?

Or perhaps you are saying both?

Can you clarify please.

Mcfi5dhc

energysavingexp wrote: »

my solar hot water works fine in winter.
just looking at the temp on the panels right now .and it's 43'
and 39 in the tank.
the only time they stop working is when they are covered in snow

Does it do enough for all/most of your uses in winter?

If it does, great - I'll retract my statement.

If not, maybe I was right, or maybe I should have worded it more like "It doesn't work as well in winter"

energysavingexp

Mcfi5dhc wrote: »

Does it do enough for all/most of your uses in winter?

If it does, great - I'll retract my statement.

If not, maybe I was right, or maybe I should have worded it more like "It doesn't work as well in winter"

It works about 50/50 from dec-feb
so your last quote would be better:beer: