Free solar panel discussion

miles75_2

I have been offered free solar panels by 2 companies. After reading there contracts I decided to look into buying a system and have decided to do this. With free ones you must look into your electricity savings only as the (free company gets all the FITS ) then ballance this against the possible effect of re-selling your house (will a buyer want to take on the lease, its tied to your deeds).
My I suggest that anyone going down this line get some quotes from suppliers of the systems you will be supprised. As a rough guide an average price is £4000 per kwh fitted so a 2kwh system shoud suite most people would cost £8000 then you will get ALL the benifits for the full 25 years. There are web sites that show how much you will get. What ever you do think carefully and if in doubt get the free contracts checked out by a solicitor before you sign.
Solar is good so please make the right decision.

John_Pierpoint

miles75 wrote: »

Solar is good so please make the right decision.

Solar is good as the sun will continue to shine and using the panels (as against making them and fitting them) released no greenhouse gasses.

However the subsidy of (say) 35 pence per unit over and above the cost of using fossil fuel to generate the same units buys a very modest carbon saving.
The same money invested in insulation would save perhaps 100 times as much carbon.
[The same investment in birth control would be an interesting option but we won't go there - it is politically incorrect thinking:eek:]

Out government has signed up to saving 20% by 2020, they are beginning to panic, will anyone ever believe anything this off shore island says again?

They desperately need to have something that the great British public will start to boast about at parties and at the golf club - "I've taken down my tile hanging, filled the cavity wall, installed jumbo sized battens and covered the wall with 4 inches of "Celotex ( and now I'm in trouble with the local council for not asking for permission) " is a bit of a conversation killer.

Hands up anyone who thinks we will hit the 20% target.

shadowspy24

I am thinking of initially getting it for free from HomeSun but they do have the option of buying them out at any point in time so I would have the freedom to buy the panels if I see that it is financially more viable. This way it is the best of both worlds and they will also depreciate in value over time as well so I can get them cheaper once they have been on my roof for a few years.

BrummyGit

shadowspy24 wrote: »

I am thinking of initially getting it for free from HomeSun but they do have the option of buying them out at any point in time so I would have the freedom to buy the panels if I see that it is financially more viable. This way it is the best of both worlds and they will also depreciate in value over time as well so I can get them cheaper once they have been on my roof for a few years.

That's exactly what I've done - someone else takes the risk in the early stages, but I can buy them out if and when I choose. That also means that if I decide to sell my house and the buyer doesn't like the lease on the roof, I can buy the system at that point and sell the house including Solar - which will then be a key selling point.

suecoo66

Just thought would update you all as had EAGA surveyor visit today to carry out survey on behalf of Homesun to see if my roof fits the criteria for panels. As soon as he arrived he advised that as our house was within 500m of the sea we would not be eligible. Apparently 6wks ago they had an email from the manufacturer stating they'd had problems with panels that were on roofs of houses close to the sea.
If this is the case then I think the companies should be checking this on a map before coming out to do a survey.
So it looks like I won't be getting any panels as I can't afford them myself and was reluctant to sign up to ISIS contract without having even seen or speaking to someone from the company.
Also I contacted Tendring DC and they advised that the information that I was given about a blanket agreement from the government about not needing planning permission was incorrect. My house is not in an conservation area or a listed builing but I got an email stating that I would need planning permission. They also wanted to know the size of the panels, how much they would protrude from the roof and if there was an alternative site for the panels other than the roof.

Gizmosmum_2

suecoo66 wrote: »

Apparently 6wks ago they had an email from the manufacturer stating they'd had problems with panels that were on roofs of houses close to the sea.)

Haven't heard about any issues related to installs near the sea - could prove interesting living on an island!! Perhaps it's only Eaga's own panels that are the problem.


(Also I contacted Tendring DC and they advised that the information that I was given about a blanket agreement from the government about not needing planning permission was incorrect. My house is not in an conservation area or a listed builing but I got an email stating that I would need planning permission. They also wanted to know the size of the panels, how much they would protrude from the roof and if there was an alternative site for the panels other than the roof.

I'm a bit confuse did you mean Eaga said you need planning permission or the council? If it's Eaga then maybe some of the staff ne retraining. You don't need planning permission unless you're in a conservation area and even then for pv installed on a roof you don't need it - even if it's seen from the highway. If it's installed on land then you would need planning permission. Many council planning departments aren't really up to date with legislation - there's so much of it and they don't usually have enough staff to enforce it. I live in a conservation area, have panels on my roof that can be seen from the highway and didn't need pp.

Hope that helps

John_Pierpoint

Total chaos in the planning and building regulations departments at the moment - the "Condems" are upsetting the apple cart.

Lots of people worried about their jobs as cuts as "going local" gets rolled out.

Brought forward "Code L1 b" (Insulation) regulations have been restructured and no longer match the "deemed to satisfy" documentation for the new laws.

This sounds like mission creep as vested interests try to defend their territory.

At present you still need permission for an air source heat pump (can be noisy) but not for something more or less flush with your existing roof.

I went to a presentation last week where a woman owning a listed building in Peckham (Del boy trotter land?) who wanted to put PV panels on the back slope of her grade two listed home - local council say "you have got to be joking".
The lecturer from the National Trust poked about in his lap top and put up a "slide" of stone turrets and PV panels "That is a Grade 1 listed castle".
But he did go on to say that normally they take the route of least resistance and put the PV panels on a barn roof 100 meters away from the main building.

Cardew

Gizmosmum wrote: »

You don't need planning permission unless you're in a conservation area and even then for pv installed on a roof you don't need it - even if it's seen from the highway. If it's installed on land then you would need planning permission. Many council planning departments aren't really up to date with legislation - there's so much of it and they don't usually have enough staff to enforce it. I live in a conservation area, have panels on my roof that can be seen from the highway and didn't need pp.

Hope that helps

Your knowledge has been shown to be extensive on these matters(and mine is not)

However I live in a conservation area and the local council certainly do not agree with your POV.

This is the latest from the EST quoting the 2009 changes.

Energy Saving Trust

Solar PV and solar thermal (stand alone):
Permitted unless:

situated on a wall within any part of the curtilage of the dwelling house and would be visible from a highway in Conservations Areas and World Heritage Sites.

There are countless other council websites that say the same thing; a couple of examples:

http://www.surreyheath.gov.uk/planning/developmentcontrol/solarpanels.htm


http://www.sheffield.gov.uk/planning-and-city-development/urban-design--conservation/sustainability-guidance/micro-renewable/solar-panels

There is a recent case of the council objecting to PV panels(in a conservation site and visible from road). The house owner appealed and took it to a higher level planning committee and won the day.

Gizmosmum_2

http://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2008/675/contents/made - this act was passed in April 2008 allowing pv as long as it was on a roof that couldn't be seen from the roadside and this

http://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2008/2362/article/4/made followed up in Oct 2008 dropping the sloped roof bit and so allowing the installation of pv under permitted development in Conservation Areas.

A lot of planning Officers don't know about the update and in some cases it can be overuled by article 4 (whatever that is) but in most conservation areas installation of pv can go through as permitted development.

Cardew

Gizmosmum wrote: »

but in most conservation areas installation of pv can go through as permitted development.

That is, perhaps, not quite as emphatic as this statement:

You don't need planning permission unless you're in a conservation area and even then for pv installed on a roof you don't need it - even if it's seen from the highway.