Free solar panel discussion

mickflynn39

beedydad wrote: »

Micky

interesting comments. Question?
what is the difference between a solar farm gaining FIT's as a commercial business - and a commercial business (could be the same company) gaining FIT's by dividing their solar "farm" into fragmented bits by placing them on donor rent a roofs?

Not a lot but is another loop hole not foreseen with the Regs.

At least with the farms there would be a proper contract to provide a rental to the landowner and/or a cut in the FIT. whereas the domestic rent a roof don't pay a rent at all - but they suggets that you will benefit by cutting your bills - which is variable and not guaranteed!

If it was up to me I would restrict the scheme purely to domestic users. Then I would market the scheme properly. Nearly everyone I know is unaware of the scheme. I only found out about it just over a week ago watching BBC breakfast telly when they had the Moneybox presenter on. I've now signed a contract and my 4KW system is programmed for installation in March.

Poosmate

Hi all, I finally managed to catch up on reading this whole thread. Had to start almost from the beginning as it has been so long!!! I'm so glad I did read the whole thread and would recommend anyone else to too.

Anyway, I believe I was the first to mention Homesun on this thread (or it might have been the other one on Green & Ethical) and to be honest I was very intrigued by Homesun's offer of £500 + £5pm. I was particularly interested in the buying of the system at a later date but I misunderstood the "straight line depreciation". I thought it would be over say 11 years (however long it took for the FiTs to pay for the system). However, seeing the depreciation figures posted by Krish (worked out over 25years somewhere in the pg 80's I think) I was horrified that if I wanted to buy out at 10 years, the buy out cost would still be around £9k!!! That's for a system that has more than likely paid for itself in it's 10 year life through the FiTs.

It's all irrevalant anyway, as I'd already decided I wasn't going to go for any of the free installations (although I was knocked back by Honesun. Thank God!). I realise the error of my ways now.

If/when I get a system fitted on my roof (purchased) I'll be very happy for any reduction in my electricity bill. I won't be busting a gut to use every last watt - not possible as I work full time anyway, but I will try to use as much of it as I can at the weekends. I will see the "free" electricity as a bonus. If I was to be able to save £100 off my bill I'd be made up, it's almost a third ff my annual bill! I won't be holding my breath though.

Poo

mickflynn39

Is it feasible to use photovoltaic solar panels to produce hot water? I know there are different solar panels designed for hot water but I was thinking of installing a storage cylinder with an immersion heater. Or is is more cost effective to install the solar panels designed for hot water? I was only thinking of using the immersion heater during the day when my photovoltaic system was producing 'free' electricity and my gas combi boiler at all other times.

[Deleted User]

You would be very disappointed Mick if you think that PV will power your immersion heater. Today is dull and wet and total kwh generated today is 0.4. Yesterday our PV produced 3.7 kwh. Using an immersion heater will make your system very expensive to use

we also have 2 solar panels which feed into the bottom coil of our dual coil tank. Water store temperature was yesterday raised from 18 to 44 and we just needed to top up the heat in the top part of the tank, so we put the wood pellet stove on for a couple of hours. The solar panels are very efficient at heating our water. We moved in last june and have never had to use the immersion heater

zeupater

mickflynn39 wrote: »

Is it feasible to use photovoltaic solar panels to produce hot water? I know there are different solar panels designed for hot water but I was thinking of installing a storage cylinder with an immersion heater. Or is is more cost effective to install the solar panels designed for hot water? I was only thinking of using the immersion heater during the day when my photovoltaic system was producing 'free' electricity and my gas combi boiler at all other times.

Hi

It's very unlikely that even an array of 4kWp would be able to produce enough power to run a standard (3kW) immersion heater on a regular or consistant basis without having to rely on importing power. It would almost certainly be cheaper to heat your water with gas.

This question has been raised a number of times on this forum in order to maximise the use of self generated power and the issue always comes down to the automated control of the heater so that it only switches on when there is enough spare generation, combined with using a lower power, or variable power, immersion unit. Currently, there is commercial equipment available to control such a setup, but at around £1500 it's not really a viable option if you're looking for a return on investment of any form.

Solar thermal panels would provide a good percentage of your hot water in the summer and help a little in the winter, but until the RHI scheme payments are finalised (similar to the FiTs payments) these systems currently provide a poor, or even no, return in terms of payback.

HTH
Z

mutty_hc

hi all - an odd q I know.

I had the isis solar page open and was contemplating signing up to see if I was eligible.

I left my pc and it seems my kid accidently clicked the continue part.

I'm just curious - does this mean I will just be checked and then contacted? I haven't entered some binding contract or what not. (which I can't see - but I do need to ask)

Could someone shed any light on this for me? With it being a Sunday I can't contact them, but I may give them a ring tomorrow.

Thanks.

madmick50

Thanks for clarifying that issue Kittie and Zeupater. My photovoltaic solar panels will cover most of my main roof but I do have another suitable roof on my extension that I could use for solar panels for hot water. Do you know if the RHI scheme is likely to be a good investment as a brief look at the current costs of a system are nowhere near being feasible in terms of payback.

Cardew

madmick50 wrote: »

Thanks for clarifying that issue Kittie and Zeupater. My photovoltaic solar panels will cover most of my main roof but I do have another suitable roof on my extension that I could use for solar panels for hot water. Do you know if the RHI scheme is likely to be a good investment as a brief look at the current costs of a system are nowhere near being feasible in terms of payback.

You will have to wait until June to see how(and if) Solar Thermal will becovered by RHI; as you say it is just not viable without a big subsidy.

However any installation will have to be installed by an accredited MCS installer and it is a racing certainty that they will inflate prices.;)

[Deleted User]

our solar panels were installed by the mcs certified co that installed our PV panels. They were already installed on our new house. I doubt if they will be cost effective as a retrofit but I have to say that we are thrilled with them and also by the fact that our carbon footprint is so low. We didn`t know about FIT and RHI before we bought. I still have no idea about the workings of RHI but I do know that we will be eligible for the panels and stove. If I had to choose one system then it would be the solar panels

Gizmosmum_2

kittie wrote: »

our solar panels were installed by the mcs certified co that installed our PV panels. They were already installed on our new house. I doubt if they will be cost effective as a retrofit but I have to say that we are thrilled with them and also by the fact that our carbon footprint is so low. We didn`t know about FIT and RHI before we bought. I still have no idea about the workings of RHI but I do know that we will be eligible for the panels and stove. If I had to choose one system then it would be the solar panels

Are you sure you'll be eligible for RHI - my contacts are telling me that nothing is certain and solar thermal may not even be included. Nothing is being guaranteed before the June announcement.