Free solar panel discussion

furndire

When deciding to have solar panels there are so many things to take into account e.g the orientation of the property, whether or not you get shading from trees, other properties etc.

If you can afford it, definately better to buy outright at the moment because of the Feed In Tarrif (FiTs) 41.3p that you get for every KW of electricity that you produce - that's my opinion.
With the free panels you only get to use the electricity you produce, but the company installing them gets the FiTs. This time of year you don't produce much - this month we have produced 110 KW.

jellyhead

This is such a long thread - I hope I don't offend anyone by coming in at the end and asking something which may have already been covered but I can't find it ....

I gave my details to several websites, ages ago when martin's newsletter mention it. Isis have got back to me, but their contract says that if you need the panels taking down while you repair your roof, you have to pay for isis to take them down and then put them back up.

How much is this likely to cost? I thought I remembered other companies saying they would cover the costs of removal/replacement if you needed to repair your roof. Our roof is probably 12 years old, and the contract is for 26 years so I am guessing that there might be a need for repairs during that time.

furndire

There are certainly some dodgy contracts on some of the free ones.
I first thought about the free ones, from a company called ShaderGreen, they seemed a very open and honest company. I could have had the panels from them, but decided that I would get my own.
I can totally understand where you are coming from re the length of this thread. The information is all in here, but getting very difficult to sift through.
Have a look at post 1730 for a list of the "free" companies
We bought and had ours installed by a company called EvoEnergy of Nottingham.

Have a look on here http://www.uksolarcasestudy.co.uk/ - there is someone from the North West who Nang (MSE er) who is following up on 3 places at the moment.

If you look for posts made by me, I have commented on a few things re panels - purely from a novice point of view

Gizmosmum_2

sho_me_da_money wrote: »

In addition to saving money, can someone save me the hassle of reading through 86 pages and tell me if:

1) Should I got Solar
2) Is it better to buy outright (I can afford it) or get them done for free?
3) Who is the best provider for the northwest?

I would be grateful if you could answer the above as if it was you who was making the decision.

Thanks,

Much better to buy outright if you can afford it, go the MCS site ,http://www.microgenerationcertification.org/mcs-consumer/installer-search.php and you can search for installers close to your postcode. Get 3 quotes to make sure you're not only getting the best price but the best service and the best products. If you can keep it local you'll keep your carbon footprint even lower...

sho_me_da_money

furndire wrote: »

When deciding to have solar panels there are so many things to take into account e.g the orientation of the property, whether or not you get shading from trees, other properties etc.

If you can afford it, definately better to buy outright at the moment because of the Feed In Tarrif (FiTs) 41.3p that you get for every KW of electricity that you produce - that's my opinion.
With the free panels you only get to use the electricity you produce, but the company installing them gets the FiTs. This time of year you don't produce much - this month we have produced 110 KW.

Thanks mate.

Can I ask what the Shade from trees is all about. Why is that important?

Also, If I was to buy outright - how much would it (roughly) be to purchase the panels and have them installed?

Are there any Government Grants available?

Once they are installed, who do I speak to with regards to the FITS and payment of them?

After they are installed do I cancel my contract with my current leccy provider?

Lastly, how often do the FIT amount get paid? is it in the form or cheque or direct bank transfer?

furndire

Any shading effects the sunlight reaching the panels, and lowers their performance.
No Grants available.
The company who installs the panels will tell you all you need re how to get FiTs payment.
No you don't cancel contract with electric provider. (You will still be paying for electric as the electricity produced is not stored, so you will still be using leccy from the grid when the sun isn't shining)
You get the FiTs payment every 3 months, I get choice of paying into bank, or cheque, or off leccy bill.
Unfortunatley if you are seriously thinking of getting panels, you really are going to have to go through a lot of this, and other thread re panels.
Your best bet would be to get a couple of firms round to tell you about the whys & wherefores. Don't sign anything, and compare prices.

Did you have a look at the 2 links I posted? The company who dealt with the Max's in Bolton property is on there - he is very pleased with them, so may be worth giving them a ring. http://www.uksolarcasestudy.co.uk/ look on the top of the page, and you will see "Systems in detail" click on there. The cost of his system is on there as well.

There is really a lot to take into consideration.
There are also different sizes of systems - I took the decision to go for the largest system allowable to get the maximum FiT payment. If you go over 4 KW the amount of FiT paid goes down slightly.

Nang

Got December figures are up now on :-

http://www.uksolarcasestudy.co.uk/

and for those interested, and have also completed all the data on the systems on the "Systems in detail" page, including pitch, direction, cost etc.

Snow has been a bit of a problem for me and I have a blizzard in progress at the mo (its a bit like living in the alps). It seems if there is even a little bit of snow covering panels the system is rendered almost inoperable until it all slides off.

Elainemary

Wow! You have all been busy since I last caught up with this string. It's great to see Homesun are prepared to engage with their potential customers and not just ignore sites like this. I'm just back from a month in the Caribbean - touring the Islands -and have to say that as hard as I looked - on any visible roof and regardless of it being a cheap or expensive property - I didn't see more than 3 panels in the 10 Islands I visited. Now I know some people can't afford them, but I would have thought that rich(er) people would have seen the benefit Solar can bring in the kind of weather they get. Maybe there's some other reason for not having them in 80+ degree sunshine 300 days a year.
Can someone enlighten me as the people in the Caribbean couldn't?

Cardew

Elainemary wrote: »

Wow! You have all been busy since I last caught up with this string. It's great to see Homesun are prepared to engage with their potential customers and not just ignore sites like this. I'm just back from a month in the Caribbean - touring the Islands -and have to say that as hard as I looked - on any visible roof and regardless of it being a cheap or expensive property - I didn't see more than 3 panels in the 10 Islands I visited. Now I know some people can't afford them, but I would have thought that rich(er) people would have seen the benefit Solar can bring in the kind of weather they get. Maybe there's some other reason for not having them in 80+ degree sunshine 300 days a year.
Can someone enlighten me as the people in the Caribbean couldn't?

Actually solar PV can work well with Air Conditioning in the hot summers.

However the high cost of installing Solar PV makes it totally uneconomic, even with the higher outputs, unless there are very large subsidies(FIT - 41.3p/kW in UK) and I suspect the Caribbean has no subsidies.

Even in the hotter US States there is little domestic PV demand - even in 'Green' California which gives tax breaks.

furndire

Thanks Nang. Looks like Max is well up with his panels. Who would have thought it "come to sunny Oldham"

Just a slight change on ours, I have just come across some paperwork that states my roof pitch is actually 46, not 49 as I originally thought - sorry for that.